The match itself was summarised perfectly by the chanting fans. After Forest scored their second goal in several minutes after the half hour, the commendable 3,000 Forest following in the Jimmy Seed sang "you're going down with the Derby." In response mid-way through the second half, the Charlton fans behind the opposite goal sang "you're going down with the Charlton." That's just about all you need to know about the outcome of this game and goes a long way to explaining how rapidly Charlton fans have come to terms with the outcome of this season.
Today's match was make-or-break in many peoples' eyes and was why the season's highest attendance by some way of 24,553 were present to see it. Prior to kick-off we had the annual minutes applause in memory of all of those connected with the club who have died in the last 12 months. The Forest fans joined in the applause and the scene was set for a battle royal.
To counter the threat of Tyson and Earnshaw, Phil Parkinson opted for a 4-4-1-1 formation with the 5 foot 9 inch, 32 year-old journeyman Deon Burton being relied upon to score the goals, something he's failed to manage from open play in seven games so far. He was at least supported by the outstanding Jonjo Shelvey but we had already set ourselves up to fail.
The midfield welcomed Matthew Spring in place of Nicky Bailey and he partnered Jose Semedo for the first ten minutes before Jose limped out and was replaced by Matty Holland. Lloyd Sam was wide right and Darren Ambrose got his latest chance in place of Rat Bouazza. As expected, Graeme Murty made his debut at right back, so expect a transfer request or something similar from Yassin Moutaouakil before much longer - you can't blame him. Hudson was back at centre-half with Jon Fortune and McEveley returned at left-back.
In line with recent home performances, Charlton started strongly and should have taken the lead. Twice within the opening three minutes Jonjo Shelvey split the Forest back line to send Burton clear and on both occasions he failed to score. The first saw him have to run 25 yards in on goal and he fired into the side netting from the corner of the six yard box. The second was a better chance as he had half a second more with less to do from a better angle, but he shot straight at the advancing Paul Smith. Whilst Burton should have scored, the biggest problem was the fact that he was alone upfront. If he had someone to his right on both occasions I believe the outcome would have been different.
Charlton continued to attack and Lloyd Sam turned two defenders inside-out in the box before rolling the ball to Matthew Spring but his snap-shot also hit the side netting. We continued to win possession in midfield and Forest were struggling to create anything. Nathan Tyson prowled around doing a decent impression of Stan Collymore and the dentally-challenged Robert Earnshaw looked mismatched against the towering Jon Fortune. As in so many matches recently, it looked hard after 25 minutes to see the opposition scoring.
Then it all went wrong again. After finally forcing their first corner and finally getting some men forward, Forest scored a soft opener. An innocuous looking cross evaded the Charlton backline and was knocked down for Tyson in space in the box (think Dexter Blackstock) and it was one-nil. We nearly equalised a minute later when Shelvey did brilliantly to get on the end of Charlton header and volleyed powerfully only for Smith to block that too. With the next attack, it was two nil. Another ordinary ball over the top was not cleared by Hudson and Earnshaw skated in on goal. He had the time he needed to lob Elliot and it was mission impossible again.
Booed off at half-time, Parkinson forced his side out five minutes early and they did a team routine with Kinsella in the freezing cold. It had no effect and Forest looked comfortable throughout the second half. Both Tyson and Earnshaw were replaced as Billy Davies held on for the points. Charlton huffed and puffed but we can't play against a side that defends in depth and we were reduced to frantic shuffling and passing in the box as we tried to get shots on target. Darren Ambrose did force another fine save from Smith near the end but it was all he did throughout the game. You might have expected a better-than-average showing from the man with his tail between his legs, but I didn't. Other than that, all we managed was a sequence of hit and hopes that went nowhere.
On seventy five minutes the ground began to empty slowly like a bath with the plug out. The steady trickle continued, much to the amusement of the Forest fans, and the ground was approaching half-empty after 90 minutes. Five minutes of added time were played but it could have been another 45 and we wouldn't have managed two goals. Phil Parkinson will look for the positives here and there were some, but his first elusive win, frankly, still looks as far away as ever.
Coming away from the ground I found myself thinking how many sides in League One will bring 3,000 fans like Forest did today and the additional financial losses we will incur with relegation. After the dire accounts for 07-08 which were revealed this week, an equally shocking set of figures for 08-09 looks almost guaranteed and you begin to wonder how much worse things might get? The Board forced a fire-sale of players in the Summer which has precipitated our current plight and we know that they have also had to increase their personal debt burden to keep the club afloat. On the basis that they collectively don't have unlimited funds, you have to wonder if their last contributions were just that, which might explain some of the increasingly strange decison making of late e.g. the full-time appointment of Phil Parkinson after a disastrous trial period and the ongoing desperation of temporary loan signings. If that's the case, is Administration a real possibility as relegation becomes increasingly likely and the points deduction that goes with it might look more attractive for a chance to clean the decks?
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