I could just have easily written this end-of-season column a week ago after last Monday’s result put us safe. With Southampton already relegated and us guaranteed to stay up, the only talking point left seemed to be why on earth had I already paid £28 for what would be 90 minutes of meaningless football. Meaningless and pretty dire, as it turned out.

Forest’s three goals flattered them and Southampton just seemed to run out of steam, despite being good value for their lead for most of the match. Can’t say the same about their fans, however. The Saints faithful were excellent throughout. They must have known this game was going to even more pointless from their point of view than I did, even before last weekend, but still they packed their corner (where Forest fans won’t be sitting next season, despite the strong rumours). There was a fair amount of vitriol being aimed at Rupert Lowe, which is understandable, but generally Spongebob Squarepants and co were hugely entertaining. They cheered our goals, outdid ours fans in the D-I-S-C-O stakes and generally offered the value for money the game didn’t. Why then, were the soppy kids in the Upper Bridgford End singing “You’re support is fucking shit” at them? It was clearly anything but. The lads up there probably don’t remember Forest’s similar slide down the Football League all that well, but they should know it takes some gusto to watch your side be spectacularly relegated and still get behind them with vigour like they did. Anyway, enough about them...

Forest fans can now look back at the season with a few cringes and much relief. Ultimately I think nineteenth is a good finish when you consider how narrowly we snatched promotion last season and the number of injuries we’ve suffered. The summer should be interesting with Billy Davies already talking up chances of promotion and an apparent £20million transfer kitty available. I’m not going to get too excited yet though. The club have been guilty of overstating their ambitions in the past and the unenviable fates of Norwich, Southampton and Charlton (all clubs who have had their time in the sun) remind us what a prize survival in The Championship really is. And yes, this year has finished with Forest near the top of the form table, but it’s a makeshift team at the moment, built thanks to the generosity of bigger clubs. Davies will need to start from scratch next year, with only a few current names likely to feature in any promotion-chasing side.

Earnshaw, Morgan and Cohen are really the only players that don’t need replacing. Blackstock and Camp would be useful additions, but even then you haven’t even got half a side. It’s not the amount of money we’ll have to spend that concerns me, it’s the time we’ll have to spend it. Four months should be enough to build a good side, but never underestimate Forest’s ability to dither. Our attempts to sign players in the January transfer window and subsequent loan window were farcical. And they only decided what to do with season ticket prices after safety was confirmed. Clearly the club didn’t have as much faith in the side’s ability to stay up as the manager. But most clubs have been selling season tickets for 2009/10, not to mention next season’s shirt, for several weeks already. Makes sense when you’ve got 29,000 people at your shop window to try and sell them something, does it not Forest?

Hopefully when it comes to transfers they’ll pull their fingers out – or rather stop sticking their noses in, if you can stomach that image. Billy needs free reign to build his side without interference from the suits and the sooner he can do it, the better. Some big clubs are changing leagues this summer so a bit of swift and shrewd transfer dealing could get the players we need. If Billy Davies has backed down from his talking of Premiership football when the next campaign gets underway in August, then we’ll know he hasn’t been able to build the side he wants, and it probably won’t be his fault if that happens. Forest have an infuriating habit of leaving things late, as Sunday’s match demonstrated. And though nineteenth position was acceptable, I’m hoping next season our future isn’t decided quite so close to the finish. Have a good summer everyone. You deserve a break!

Lost That Loving Feeling




 

Left Brian: May