It all started so positively. Many writers were being guardedly optimistic about the team's chances after all the talk of promotion from the club. Daniel Hawkins wrote: "Assuming the team perform to their achievable standards, we are going to have one big party at the end of the season, along with the Premiership football that we so richly deserve."
Alan Fisher was a little bit more skeptical, but still positive: "I'm far from convinced, but I'm certainly not unhappy with how things seem to be progressing in the football sense at least. I await our new signings with interest and hope to see the conclusion of this nonsense with the council."Unfortunately the new signings never arrived and "this nonsense with the council" dragged on, casting a miserable shadow over the whole club. Alex Walker commented: "We probably don't need to know all the facts, but what we do need is some reassurance of when this situation will be resolved. Doubts over the club's future are hardly helpful when the club is promising promotion and progress."
Neil Heath rounded on those predicting a bad year for the Reds, saying: "The pessimists have already written the script for Forest's 2004/05 season. And so accordingly we're going to struggle again and we won't possibly reach the play-offs. I wonder how Greece coach Otto Rehhagel and his players would have done at Euro 2004 with that attitude. They wouldn't have got through the group stages."
But sadly his optimism was misplaced as Forest's campaign got off to a poor start with a series of draws and defeats. Adam Gray remained confident that it could be turned round: "Despite our distinctly average start, Forest have rarely looked like a bad team, and certainly not a bottom three outfit. The comeback from 2-0 down at Home Park, despite the fact we still lost, filled me with confidence that the lads have the belief in their ability and are up for the fight."
Tricky Matt summed up feelings when he wrote: "All in all I am very depressed, and I know I am not the only one.
I guess we have to grin and bear it, and these times make the good times seem so much better."Tony Stevens talked of his frustration about the club's fortunes: "During Paul Hart's time in charge I used to hate it when the club kept referring to the supposed five-year plan for our Premiership return. It just shows how things have changed that hearing the club referring to any kind of plan at this point in time would at least give me some hope that the future isn't as bleak as it is looking at the moment."
Joe Kinnear, a hero just months previously, was beginning to take some criticism. Alex Walker suggested that the blame should be attributed to the chairman and not another scapegoat manager: "What worries me, as supporters move their vicious crosshair from Doughty to Kinnear, is that they are being fooled by the same routine they fell for less than 12 months ago. History is repeating itself, yet no-one seems to be learning the lessons."
Ian Widdowson agreed: "The problem is that our chairman (who has always kept a low profile) refuses to pacify and answer questions of the ever-growing restless public. He reckons a club shouldn’t fire all its bullets before the start of the season, but all Doughty has been doing is firing blanks!"
Events took a tragic turn in September with the death of Brian Clough. Ivan Murfin was just one of many to pay their tributes. He wrote: "More than anything we thank you for the honour we had in being Forest fans, the respect we achieved in the football world and our link to the greatest football manager that has ever been."
With the club in still in grief and shock, Forest pulled on an incredible win over West Ham, their first of the season. Tricky Matt commented: "Brian loved football just like the rest of us, and what happened today illustrated why we love it so much. At times frustrating then suddenly amazing. It was a fitting end to an emotional day, a real movie script ending and you know what, Brian would have loved it!"
Life had to go on, but unfortunately it was getting worse for Forest. However, Keir Gough came to the defence of the chairman, arguing: "I can fully see why Doughty doesn’t want to keep on pouring money into the bottomless pit of NFFC – the guy has put in millions out of his own pocket, he can’t keep on bank-rolling the club forever."
Joe Kinnear seemed intent on bringing attention away from Doughty with a series
of high-profile media gaffs, including a childish feud with Neil Warnock, insulting
fans and
missing press conferences leading Alan Fisher to thunder: "You are making the team into a laughing stock, you are calling the fans who plough their cash to pay your wages morons, you shirk your responsibility to face the media after defeats – you are a disgrace to football and certainly a disgrace to the badge of Nottingham Forest."Alex Campbell argued that sacking him would solve nothing, saying: "Sacking the manager is such a cliché in modern football – as soon as the going gets tough, the gaffer gets going, often due to supporter pressure." Meanwhile, Daniel Hawkins pointed the finger at both the players and the coaching staff.
But ultimately Joe had to go, and, as Carl Blackborow declared after our humiliating defeat to Derby which sealed his fate: "The chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' rang loud. For once, the referee wasn't the culprit. It was our own manager ... it was the moment that the fans knew he hadn't just lost the game, he had lost the plot."
So, with Kinnear gone, Mick Harford took over, but a permanent replacement was still to be confirmed. As Paul Severn wrote at the time: "A new era is now upon us – a chance to wipe the slate clean and let another man come into to clear up the mess that is Nottingham Forest, whether it’s Mick Harford, Trevor Francis, Dave Jones or anyone else."
Indeed, it was none of the above. After an indifferent few weeks under Harford's charge, Gary Megson was appointed as boss. Despite doubts among many fans, Alex Walker cautiously backed the new manager: "Forest need grit to get out of the current relegation scrap and they need sound management to get out of the current division – Megson is capable of delivering both and proving the doubters wrong."
Megson didn't get a great start, but Adam Gray remained optimistic: "It
doesn’t look good, but being the optimist I am, I’m sure we will make a
fight of it, beginning with a vital game at Millmoor on Saturday against
rock-bottom Rotherham United" In the end, the game was drawn 0-0, yet
another humiliation.With the sales of Andy Reid and Michael Dawson, depression was widespread around the club. John Courtney made what he admitted was an empty, but none-the-less unsettling, threat: "I’m Angry. Really, really angry. Not to mention irritated, frustrated, exceptionally disappointed and for the first time in my life, getting to the point where I simply do not want to support the shambles that has become Nottingham Forest FC any more."
Fortunately, a bit of timely joy was provided as the Reds earned an unexpected replay against Tottenham Hotspur, thanks in no small part to a certain left winger. Elliot Stanley summarised: "I need not harp on about Kris Commons for too long as anyone at the game will not need any persuading that this guy possesses massive talent. But what I will say is that the chants of 'Commons is better than Reidy' may prove to be absolutely right."
Relegation was drawing in, but at least Megson had restored some hope. Alex Campbell wrote: "It’s a mammoth task, but it really can be done. It’s important not to make the previous mistake and invest our unrestricted faith in a manager too soon – but the future seems much brighter under the stewardship of the ginger one."
But a series of poor results later and time seemed to be running out for the Reds. Anthony Cooper said: "Let’s just hope the club we all love so much sorts itself out and we can do something to get out of this mire. There’s no point blaming anyone. We have to accept that we can’t use scapegoats as an excuse – that’s gone on too long now."
But as Forest continued to capitulate to weaker opposition (such as the 3-0 home defeat to Plymouth), Alan Fisher was driven to desperation: "I can cope with relegation. I don’t like it, but I can’t deny we deserve it. What nearly brought tears of frustration today was the fact that we are going to end up in League One with a whimper, not with a fight."
Eventually Forest were condemned to their grim fate with a 2-1 defeat a QPR.
Paul Severn immediately turned the heat on
the players: "Forest's relegation has been a total disaster and sorting through the wreckage and rebuilding is a monumental task for any manager. The squad is large and ridden with underachievers and low-level
players."Alastair Gunn advised that the club needed to use the summer wisely to rebuild: "Whoever we get rid of and bring in, it’s a busy summer ahead. The management are really going to have to move and move fast to appease the manager, those players they wish to keep and, in so doing, the fans."
Nick Miller was convinced that, despite not being able to keep us up, Megson was the best man for the job: "It is absolutely the right decision to stick with Gary Megson. He found a bunch of ill-disciplined, overweight, unfit, uncommitted wasters. Anyone who can think of a better way to survive than tightening the defence, improving fitness and trying to fight, please raise your hands."
After a thoroughly rotten season, Andrew Brookes took the only sensible approach and decided to look to the future: "There is now a genuine chance for a fresh start with new players, a new season and a new league, and, dare I say it, a real chance of promotion (or at the very least, a few wins here or there!)."
Here's hoping he's right! See you all next season and thank you for your support.