Better But Worse

‘Have you ever been more confident of a defeat?’ I asked on the train down. ‘No’ was the inevitable response. My last remnants of positivity suggested we might put in a decent display after the incompetence of Tuesday but I could see little hope of coming away from Upton Park with anything other than zero points.

Trig did his best to miss the train but just made it with seconds to spare; joining PL and I aboard the 09:34 to London Kings Cross via Grantham which, incidentally, must be one of the coldest spots in Britain. We arrived well before midday and made the short journey to Shoreditch to meet Cags and took in a couple of bars; The Bricklayers Arms and The Last Blue Spot. Trig was visibly shaken at having to pay £4.15 for a pint!

The only pub in sight between Upton Park station and the ground was the Queens but, after queuing for a short while, we decided that it simply wasn’t worth it so we headed inside. A short line had formed at the turnstiles where two burly looking chaps were frisking selected individuals with serious intent. I initially thought I had been spared this moment of intimacy but, as I sauntered by, one of them grabbed hold of me to stop my progress and, without a single word, thrust his hand in the direction of my jacket pocket and squeezed so he could determine the contents. If I had had a carton of Capri Sun in there I swear it would have exploded such was the force used. As I continued on my way I remarked that some forewarning would have been nice and this caused him to shoot back some angry but inaudible comments at the same time as performing the process on PL, whose programme plastic wallet was sadly destroyed by the ferocity of the search.

A healthy enough following from Nottingham was joined by an annoying contingent of Cockney’s. I have nothing against the majority of these people but a few of them are absolute clowns with little grasp of the basics of football. I think they stand out mainly because Cockney’s are generally loud and abrasive and have ridiculously stupid accents. We were unfortunate to have one of these types behind us who continued to shout ‘ABSALUTE CLARSE’ after every simple pass was made. While a completed Forest pass was certainly a shock to us all, this guy was taking it to extremes.

The performance was 100% improved from Leicester but that doesn’t really mean we were fantastic. At times, we looked very good and created numerous chances that were wasted. Mcgugan and Tudgay (twice) were the primary culprits and, as in previous games, we failed to turn dominance into testing the opposition ‘keeper. As things began to settle immediately before half-time we were all stunned to concede a penalty for handball. It is up there with any of the bad decisions we have witnessed this season and the replays on the giant screen during the break were enough to produce a collective groan from the away contingent.

We failed to maintain the standards in the second half but still could easily have grabbed that elusive goal. Instead, we went two down through another handball. I never saw a thing and nobody appealed but the linesman flagged. Nobody panicked at first and then PL screamed that a penalty had been awarded. I couldn’t believe it. Trig insists it was the right call but I never it although TV replays, which I am yet to see, may show it more clearly. Either way, it was game over. The last minute goal brought some slight relief but, even though it ended our drought, there was little delight from us Forest fans.

I couldn’t bring myself to clap them off at the end due to my anger still existing from Tuesday but it had undoubtedly been a vastly improved effort and I won’t often ask for much more. If we had lost most games like that I sincerely doubt I would be anywhere near as disappointed with either the players or the manager. While welcome, I unfortunately possess little faith that it will be repeated in our next game against Burnley because I cannot recall us putting in two acceptable performances on the spin all season. We are now entering the category of games that will be labelled ‘must win’, especially at home and anything else is unlikely to be good enough. Despite the positives we are looking in deep peril more than ever due to other results. It was definitely better but things are now looking far worse. If the four point gap gets extended we are going to find it ridiculously difficult to climb out of danger.

After that it is Pride Park. It is hardly a game many of us are going to relish but I would hope that the players see this as a major opportunity to win back some favour and show that they possess some fight for this club. And I don’t care how crap we are, how embarrassing it may be or that it’s on the television; everyone should be making the effort to get themselves there. If we can’t sell this one out then we, as fans, are simply not doing our bit. For me, everything else goes out the window for this one.

COME ON YOU REDS.

Written by Oldroyd