Review of an eventful December
02/01/05 | by Adam Gray

I said at the end of my previous piece that December would be a make-or-break month for Nottingham Forest. It was certainly one of the most eventful this season, especially off the pitch. After the humiliation of the defeat against Derby, Joe Kinnear finally did the decent thing and left the job to somebody else. As I write, that somebody is Kinnear’s former assistant Mick Harford, but who knows if he is to be the permanent replacement? Despite our awful run of results this month – the QPR win excepted – too much has changed in my opinion for it to consign us to certain relegation as my “make-or-break” prediction suggested. Instead, we will have to see where January takes us.

Despite the defeats, our players now finally seem to realise the importance of getting themselves out of trouble and during the Christmas period we were very unlucky not to get draws against West Ham and Sunderland respectively. Before that, we were also hard done by not to hold on for a win against Leicester. I know draws aren’t going to get us very far, but one can take heart from two committed performances which could, maybe should, have given us a foundation to build on.

Although Mick Harford is not yet the manager on a permanent basis, he is already being allowed to spend some money. The arrival of Neil Harris from Millwall is a positive move, even if he has only been signed to replace Jack Lester, who will sadly miss the rest of the season with the horrific injury he sustained at Derby. We also welcome Shaun Derry, who is on loan from Crystal Palace. Going the other way for one-month loans are Kevin James, on loan at Boston, and Craig Westcarr, who has gone to Lincoln City, where he has already started scoring following his New Year’s Day debut.

As we move into January, we have the prospect of making significant progress in our bid to stay up. The first month of the New Year brings us crucial visits to Ninian Park and to the Withdean for six-pointers against Cardiff and Brighton respectively. There is no reason why we cannot go on a mini-run in my opinion; as I write, we have already taken three points this year from our victory against Stoke. Although QPR away is not the most glamorous of draws, January also gives us the excitement of the FA Cup. We may be second-favourites to win that tie, but you can always dream of victory and a draw against Chelsea in the 4th Round!

Finally I would like to sign off this month by wishing you all a very happy new year.

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