Summer was great wasn’t it? Sure, the majority of Saturdays were relatively hum drum without so much of a hint of anxiety registering in our vacant minds along with all the other emotions we’d become accustomed to in the months prior to the break but at least we could always look at the league table when in need of a cheap thrill. Just the sight of Forest sitting proudly in second place alongside a big ‘P’ was all it took in order for you to find yourself regressing back to May 3rd 2008 and in the process reliving all the excitement that came with it.

Fast forward to the present day however and the league table has become something to fear. It’s been a while since I had to actually summon up courage to switch over to Sky Sports News for fear of inadvertently stumbling across a vivid reminder that Forest are currently lodged in the relegation zone. Like the aforementioned League One table the current Championship standings also bring the memories flooding back…only this time of the excruciatingly horrible relegation season we endured back in 2005.

But come on…we’re only seven games in, there’s no reason to panic now right? Right?!

Well, hysterical hypothesis aside, no, probably not but I can’t help but feel slightly uneasy. With our once assured defence creaking and key players treading on unexploded WW2 bombs things have certainly looked rosier. Even the pre season bandwagon of relentless optimism has suffered a flat tire allowing it’s negative counterpart to gain ground…so what exactly is there to be positive about?

The one important thing to remember is that our main target should be for a season of consolidation with any greater achievement being regarded as an unexpected bonus. Whilst our start hasn’t quite been the one we spent all summer hoping for at least the expectation level has rightly been lowered this season. It doesn’t really matter if the promotion contenders pull away from us and whilst it’d be nice to be in the mix for Premiership come late April only the blindest of optimists would have regarded this as a realistic target. Though in fairness after so many seasons of targeting nothing other than promotion many could be forgiven for not yet undergoing the realisation that we’re not amongst the strongest teams in this division as of yet.

There’s also the fact that we have actually been playing pretty well, at least at home. Granted the Burnley match was a disappointment but when you’re up against a side who might as well have been armed with baseball bats and sawn off shotguns a free flowing performance isn’t the easiest thing in the world to summon up. I also don’t think that anyone would have begrudged us from coming away from the Charlton match with a comfortable 3-0 victory given the chances created and overall performance…some may view it as two points dropped and whilst it would be hard to refute that viewpoint I feel it still does a disservice to what was all in all an extremely encouraging display.

So, is it time to push the panic button and attempt to pull off another mutiny against the club? For now the answer to that question is a resounding no…we may not be the finished product but there’s still plenty of pieces still in the box.

I’m sure even the Taj Mahal looked somewhat disjointed whilst it was still being built.