Way back in August before a ball had even been kicked, Andrew Brookes was feeling optimistic, claiming that "there is no reason whatsoever why Forest can't make a serious bid for the play-offs". There were high hopes all around, although Kooba warned "the worry for me is the squad depth. The team itself is equipped to push for a top 12 finish this season, but when the inevitable injuries surface, the best squad prevails."
But it
didn't take long for those high hopes to be reduced with an
opening-day defeat to Portsmouth. It took the wind out of the
fans' sails a bit and early doubts were cast over Paul Hart's
abilities, but as Alex Walker put it: "Still, it's only the
first game of the season and Hart has plenty of time to prove
himself. Hopefully we've got our worst performance out of the way
early on (I hope that was our worst performance - any worse than
that and I'll jump off Trent Bridge with an elastic band round my
ankles)."But the Reds bounced back with a draw against Preston and then a four-nil win at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Chris Denman commented: "David Johnson has been in fine form so far this season, as have Marlon Harewood and Jack Lester, and they ran the Owls ragged. If Paul Hart's team can continue to play like this then we are in for an enjoyable season."
The revivial of David Johnson was a common topic of discussion and Peter Collison had faith in him continuing through the season: "As well as showing the fans that we could hammer sides just like we used to, it was also the showcase for the forgotten talent of David Johnson - he of the scary hair. DJ's time at the City Ground is reminding me of a former Red, now plying his trade at Everton."
Al Gunn was setting off for six months in Zambia of all places during his gap year, "conveniently arranged to miss potentially the best season of football at the City Ground since those long-forgotten days of 'Nottingham Forest four, Middlesborough nil'."
More
impressive performances against Gillingham and Grimsby and the
optimism was growing. With Forest established in the play-off
zone, Daniel Harding took a look at Forest's play-off rivals and
offered this piece of advice: "This division is there for
the taking - consistency is the key, no matter how much quality
you have."One of the high points of this season was playing our local rivals again. In anticipation of our away game against the sheep, Chris Denman said: "The excitement between now and the 20th will build up by the day. I can't wait. The atmosphere is going to be something special. Let's welcome the sheep to the First Division by footballing them to death and out-singing them at Prideless Park."
Sadly, the game turned out to be a bit of a damp squibb, ending in a nil-nil draw. However, the game against Leicester at the City Ground the following weekend was a different matter, with Forest coming from two goals behind to rescue a point. "With a mountain to climb Forest came out fighting and with a passionate crowd behind them upped the tempo to earn a point. Jack Lester was certainly the difference maker, adding a little pace and passion to freshen things up," was how Andrew Brookes summed things up.
As the season developed, it was obvious that the division was going to be highly competitve with a host of teams still very much in the running. After Forest's convincing win over Bradford City, Daniel Harding commented: "The results over the weekend showed that quality is not the defining factor to success in Nationwide One, but it is successful when allied to grit and determination."
Forest's
grit would be tested over the next few weeks as their form
faltered somewhat. Defeats against Burnley, Bradford and
Portsmouth in the month of December led some to cast doubts over
Forest's credentials. After the home defeat against
league-leaders Pompey, Andrew Brookes commented: "This
performance opened up plenty of questions about Forest's
long-term promotion credentials as they were comprehensively
out-played by Portsmouth. One of the main questions is, do Forest
have a squad deep enough to sustain a play off challenge?"A break from the league was provided with an FA Cup tie at Premiership strugglers West Ham. Forest were out to prove themselves and put in a strong performance. "Forest outplayed West Ham for large parts of this game and although the result wasn’t the one we would’ve wanted, there was no faulting the effort and performance that the team put in," said Andrew, summing up the controversial defeat.
Despite this moral-boosting performance, league form continued to be dissapointing. A frustrating draw at Preston made it three draws in a row, and the game at Wimbledon looked to be heading the same way - with Forest having thrown away a two goal lead - until David Johnson scored an injury-time winner. "Everyone was just about coming to terms with another throwaway by Forest when DJ flung himself at a desperate cross from Louis-Jean. Somehow the ball found its way into the net and everyone went slightly mad," recounted Alex Walker on his report of the day out in London.
That kicked off a good period of form, and, after beating Crystal Palace, Forest got their biggest win of the season, thrashing Stoke 6-0. Marlon Harewood was the star of the show with four goals in the first half, but as Alex Campbell commented, "it was a thorough team effort. Nobody in the side can be criticised today. A mention must also be offered to Andy Reid who was superb today."
Since coming into the side over Christmas, Reid had been superb, putting his fitness problems of last season behind him. He was described by various LTLF writers as "magnificent", "brilliant" and, taking David Johnson's words, "our little Luis Figo".
He
wasn't the only player getting the plaudits. Our star loan
signing Darren Huckerby was also making a big impact. In only his
second game, he formed a devastating partnership with Harewood as
the Reds put four past Gillingham. "Both players ruled the
final third of field throughout," commented Alex Campbell.
"The tremendous pace of both of them caused consistent
problems for the Gillingham defence. Harewood's skill was again
sublime ... and of course he helped himself to a goal. But then
there is Huckerby, who not only scored two (the first a contender
for goal of the season) but also worked extremely hard".By now, the excitement was building for March 19 and our home game against Derby. Shortly before the game, we went to speak to Des Walker and he had this to say: ""I grew up under a manager who absolutely hated Derby because he got sacked by them. When you're playing against Derby youth team and the manager's on the touchline going absolutely mad, I grew up under that hatred. For me it's always there and always will be. If I became manager that hatred would still be there."
Although Walker didn't get to play against the sheep, his teammates did him and everyone else at Forest proud with a stunning 3-0 victory. Columnist Ivan Murfin has extra reason for wanting to put one over our local rivals, with his family split down the middle between Reds and Rams. "The most anticipated game of the season was upon us. People took the day off as if it were a national bank holiday. All bets were off, it seemed no self respecting sheep shagger was prepared to put his money where his mouth was. In fact they were pretty quiet when all said. The confidence from the Rams fans in our house was low and if this was a reflection of the playing staff from their respective workplaces then Dreby were in for a thrashing. For me nothing less would do."
After beating Derby, and the subsequent victories over Norwich and Ipswich, things were looking very promising for the Reds and one thing was on everyone's mind. Alex Walker was confident, writing "So, friends, book your flight, train, taxi, bus, whatever, to Cardiff and spend the rest of the season relaxing and enjoying Forest playing some of their best football since the days of Brian Clough."
However, Peter Collison was a little more cautious, citing previous upsets in the play-offs: "As we near the end of the season and find Forest on course for a play-off spot, it’s getting me a bit worried. To be honest, I would have preferred automatic promotion or nothing at all than the lottery that is the play-offs!"
By this time, a play-off place seemed guaranteed. But Forest still had a tough run-in, including a game away to promotion certs Leicester City. Sadly, Forest slipped to a one-nil defeat in a match that, in the words of Alex Walker, "saw our players subjected to constant battering, kicking, elbowing, shoving, pulling and any other form of intimidation you care to think of."
Still,
that minor set-back didn't stop Forest collecting the points they
needed to secure their place in the play-offs for the first time
ever. Now the speculation really began. Al Gunn back from Zambia
and controversial as ever, was sceptical as to the benefits of
actually gaining success in the competition, suggesting
"Let's take it a bit slower and mature in the first division
like the best of cheeses, until we stink of quality so much that
the Premiership giants dare not eat us for fear of the effect it
will have on their digestion."Meanwhile, Alex Walker argued that Forest's long-term future depended very much on us being succesful in the May games: "You don't need me to tell you how vital this [Premiership] money would be in not only securing Forest's long-term financial future, but also allowing Paul Hart to continue the great work he has done in his first two seasons as manager with minimum disruption. On the other hand, failure to reach the top flight would almost certainly mean losing a number of first team players ... you don't need me to tell you how much harder that would make next season's campaign."
Of course we all know what happened next. After the first leg draw, TrickyMatt summed up every Forest fan's feelings saying: "I am a bag of nerves regarding Thursday night’s second leg as I write this and I cannot wait for it to be over. We deserve to play at the highest level, but you have to earn it, now we have a chance to."
But
as Forest were forced to accept the reality of another season in
Division One with 4-3 aggregate defeat to Sheffield, Andrew
Brookes mused: "It has been described by many as being a
classic encounter, packed with excitement and talking points.
Maybe this was the case for the neutral observer but for me, the
rest of the 5,000 Forest traveling contingent, and no doubt those
in pubs around Nottingham, it will be remembered as a night of
bitter disappointment. We had the final in our fingertips, but
the jubilation of a 2-0 lead was quickly extinguished by the
feeling of complete and utter dejection as Sheffield United
booked their tickets for a trip to south Wales."As the dust settled and emotions levelled out a bit, the writers of LTLF started reflecting on a season of great acheivements:
"I cannot deduce anything other than a successful season for Forest. It all ended in tears, for Des, Johnno and I at least, but hell, we did ourselves proud all season long." - Ade O'Connor
"After witnessing the coming of age of a lot of our players, it’s a shame that they had got so close to the Premiership only for it to be taken away from them. If nothing else, it's experience for the players, but defeat in such a big game for the club is always hard to take." - Peter Collison
"Defeat in the play-offs may have sealed a long-term destiny of life in the first division and financial insecurity, but at least we tried our best to avoid this fate. Instead of just fading away into mid-table obscurity, we threw everything we had at the ambitious and unlikely goal of promotion and did ourselves proud. In the end, we weren't quite good enough, but that still doesn't change the fact that this season's escapades have restored a great deal of pride to Nottingham Forest." - Alex Walker
"When speaking in consideration of our progress this season, and not necessarily of this term’s latter occurrences, it genuinely is hard to be disappointed in any way at all." - Alex Campbell
"Our 'kids' are just starting out, learning the game and all it’s professional traits. It was a delight to see our boys pass them [Sheffield] off the pitch at the City Ground and even though the result wasn’t what we wanted or deserved, one thing is clear: in a year or two, we will be destroying sides like United so much so that we will be pitting our wits against another United who, whilst also play in Red, are far more accomplished and famous than our rivals from South Yorkshire." - TrickyMatt