It wasn’t a great day at the office for Forest assistant manager David Kelly yesterday, as he watched his lacklustre side suffer a 3-1 defeat at Barnsley.
Having only won once in 58 years at Oakwell, it should come as little surprise that the lads came away with nothing from this game. That said, the team selection on the day didn’t help matters either, with 4 central midfielders picked for the starting lineup. With the absence of Robert Earnshaw up front yet again, and no wide men in the side, you had to wonder where the goal threat was going to come from for Forest.
Kelly told the official site. ‘I am disappointed to give a goal away so early, but we got back into the game well and had a couple of opportunities in the first half and were much more involved in the game in the second.’
It would be grossly unfair to lay the blame for this defeat on David Kelly, who was only standing in for the virus stricken Billy Davies. Some sympathy must be afforded the manager as well, who hasn’t exactly been supported in the boardroom by way of new additions to his squad. By Davies’ own admission, this side overachieved last season and the clubs’ refusal to strengthen over the summer has left him rather short of options regarding team selections.
The defeat at Barnsley sees us slip down to 15th place in the table and whilst it’s still early days with only 11 games played, it appears our season is already mapped out. A mid table finish would be about right for this current crop of players, which is fine and dandy for a club without ambition and one wishing to retain it’s Championship status. Despite the claims of our Saviour and Chairman Nigel Doughty that he wants us back in the Premiership, he’s not doing much to enhance the clubs’ chances of achieving it, with his blatant refusal to support the manager. Next up, it’s struggling Middlesbrough at the City Ground on Tuesday night and a poor showing in that one will see even the rosiest of rose tinted specs finding it difficult to be positive.
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