This wasn't supposed to happen. It was meant to be Nottingham Forest's best season in 30 years. The best squad this century, a European campaign and a chance to further ourselves in the Premier League.
The downward spiral since August is well documented. But now every time it feels like we have the chance to progress, we get sucked back into trouble. Which is pretty much the definition of a relegation battle.
Wolves and Burnley could be dead and buried – that doesn’t mean Wednesday’s home game against Rob Edwards’ Wolves will be easy – but dropping points against Leeds United, who looked to be down and out themselves, does not help our cause.
There are now five or six clubs in the battle to avoid 18th place and the rest of the season is going to be ups and downs. We're not the only ones going through a crisis – everyone from Newcastle United in 12th down is having a moment, and you have to wonder what the bottom three will be come May.
Friday’s 3-1 defeat against Leeds wasn’t helped by the disruption to the back five – with a newly arrived goalkeeper, two full-backs out of position and one of our most valuable players unavailable at centre-back. However, two of the transfer window’s new additions had useful cameos, and Luca Netz and Lorenzo Lucca could have pivotal roles to play in the coming weeks.
A weekend off will hopefully give the players time to regroup ahead of the Europa League play-off tie against Fenerbahce as well as matches against Liverpool, Brighton and Manchester City. Four wins and a couple of draws from our remaining 13 games will probably be enough to see us safe, but where and when those points come from is hard to know.
On paper, Sean Dyche is the man you want to see you through this kind of storm. But being nominated for January's manager of the month doesn't mean much in February if we play like we did against Leeds United. This wasn’t supposed to happen – but it is.
Find more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club
