Nottingham Forest once again find themselves languishing far too close to the bottom of the table in the Championship and fans will be hoping that another relegation to League One is not on the cards.
The former European Champions currently sit 20th on the points table and are just two points away from the relegation zone, which features a Premier League winning club and an F.A Cup winning club. So they are in good company.
The Reds are on a barren run at the moment, as they have gone seven games without a win (6 losses and one draw). Their last win came against a nine-man Newcastle United side back in early December.
But despite the two-man advantage, Forest squeaked over the line. They had to rely on an 86th-minute own goal to claim all three points. The Reds also saw two of their penalties saved by former goalkeeper Karl Darlow!
Any long-standing Nottingham fan will tell you that they have seen it all at their club and to be fair, they really have.
They have seen League and European success in the 70s, League Cup success in the 80s, finishing 3rd in the Premier League in ’94-95 just a year after promotion, and then all the heartache suffered in the playoffs between 2002-2011. However, this time history looks to be repeating itself in the form of a possible relegation to League One; just as it did in 2004-05.
This simply cannot happen to the Tricky Trees, who are the only European Cup champions to fall into the domestic third division. Forest spent three seasons in League One last time despite being favourites to bounce back at the first time of asking.
It has been a bumpy old road for the City Ground outfit over the past few seasons, which has not been made any easier with the way the club has been managed. In 2012, the Al-Hasawi family took over Nottingham Forest and named Fawaz Al-Hasawi, the chairman.
It can only be described as a nightmare for Forest fans, who have been promised the world and were left with nothing. Back in 2012, Fawaz Al-Hasawi claimed that the family had a long-term plan for the club based on the next 3-5 years.
Well, the five years will be up in July, and what do Nottingham Forest have to show for it? 8 different permanent managers, three seasons in a row of failing to break into the top 10 and a team bereft of confidence. Not the legacy Al-Hasawi had in mind.
Mr Hasawi has made a lot of mistakes and these errors seem to continue as the club prepares for a takeover (80% of shares) from an American consortium led by John Jay Moores and Charles Noell.
Astonishingly Mr.Hasawi is expecting a pay rise if the club gains promotion or avoid relegation in the coming seasons.
An audacious attempt to cling on to the club has not gone unnoticed by Nottingham Forest fans who are urging Mr Hasawi to end all ties with the club and leave the club to rebuild after his disastrous era.
As for the new owners, coming into such a broken club, they aim to bring in more technical staff to help build the outfit up as a business enterprise and a highly functioning football club.
Moores and Noell plan on bringing in a Chief Executive, a Financial Director and a Director of Football as soon as the takeover is complete.
They also plan on improving the scouting set up once they have completed the deal. Forest’s player recruitment can only be described as woeful as players have not cut the mustard.
A win in their next league game against Birmingham is paramount for the relegation threatened side and their manager Philippe Montanier; who will be hoping it is enough to secure his job.
Only time will tell if Nottingham Forest stay up this season, but they will be hoping that new ownership will breathe a new sense of life into this shattered side.
