©
Nottingham Forest 1999
Nottingham
Forest 0 v 1 Tottenham Hotspur
ht 0-0 attn 25,181
Well
that's it, we are back where we came from last year in such style.,
not mathematically, but realistically.
We came up as a good side which
needed strengthening, and are going back as a side that needs completely
rebuilding.
Here are some facts of the season so far: Players used:
34 compared to Manchester Utd. 22 we have scored 0.90 goals per game
Top scorers Freedman 8, van Hooijdonk 6, Rogers 3 Yellow cards 82
Red cards 5 average gate 24,555 an increase of 19.52%
The
match, I find it hard to put fingers to keyboard tonight to sum up
how I feel about today's game so will give you
The Daily Express report:
http://www.sportlive.net/events/event_home.tpl?id=11992 Nottingham
Forest had football's version of an eleventh-hour reprieve as Marians
Pahars' late equaliser for Southampton at The Dell staved off relegation
for the City Ground club. Pahars scored five minutes from time to
force a 3-3 draw with Blackburn on the south coast and ensure Forest
can still stay up mathematically. Had Rovers or Charlton won, Ron
Atkinson's side would have gone down today but their fate is now likely
to be sealed in the next seven days, with the Addicks hosting Tottenham
in midweek and Forest going to Aston Villa on Saturday. Steffen Iversen
was the man whose goal put the Midlanders within touching distance
of relegation, the Norwegian firing home on 62 minutes after Christian
Edwards had failed to properly clear Chris Armstrong's cross. Mark
Crossley should have done better with Iversen's shot, the keeper getting
his hands to the near-post effort but merely helping it into the net.
However, anything other than a Spurs victory today would have been
an injustice, such was their dominance. Crossley, who denied Gary
Lineker from the spot in the 1991 FA Cup final between the teams,
saved an Allan Nielsen penalty deep into first-half stoppage time
today after Richard Gough had fouled Iversen. Edwards also had to
clear off the line with the Forest keeper stranded after Tim Sherwood
had turned the ball goalwards. Armstrong had good claims for a penalty
waved away when he appeared to be upended by Edwards, while the striker
headed over from six yards out after the home defence _ not for the
first time this season _ had gone AWOL. As the hosts pressed forward
looking for a draw, Nielsen fired just wide and Armstrong failed to
cross to Iversen with the goal gaping. Forest had a handful of chances,
with Dougie Freedman again their most dangerous player by some distance.
He forced Ian Walker into a good save, while the Scot sent an effort
onto the roof of the net immediately after Iversen scored. With time
running out, Walker denied Marlon Harewood when the young striker
found himself in the clear but an equaliser would not come. All in
all, it was a sorry day for Forest but their poor performance was
little different to the ones they have produced week in, week out
this campaign. The Premiership grim reaper has been eyeing up the
City Ground for some months now _ the only issue has been who would
put them out of their top flight misery. Forest have been on football's
version of death row since February, with it being a matter of when
rather than if last season's Division One champions would go straight
back to the Nationwide League, and today's stay of execution is unlikely
to be repeated. Dave Bassett could not halt the slide and paid the
price, while Ron Atkinson came in too late to have any realistic chance
of staving off what is now an inevitable relegation _ their third
in seven years. But one has had the feeling for most of the season
that even Roy Race, the man who has performed so many comic-book miracles
for Melchester Rovers, would have been unable to keep Forest up, such
was the team's plight during and after their Premier League-record
run of 19 matches without a win. Only four members of the team which
kicked off the campaign at Arsenal in August started today and that,
as much as anything, shows up their problems. Pierre van Hooijdonk's
three-month strike did not help; neither did the sale of Kevin Campbell
_ now proving his worth with crucial goals for struggling Everton
_ and then Colin Cooper. The money that has been used to bring in
players has not been spent very wisely, with £1.5million striker Neil
Shipperley for one proving far from good value. To put it simply,
Forest have been nowhere near top-flight standard this season and
could end with the lowest number of points in the Premier League's
six-year history _ they are six short of the current record of 27.
They have little left to play for but pride and the team, and their
long-suffering fans, are now resigned to beginning the new Millennium
in Division One
Ferdinand