I was not bothered if we didn't win, but I definitely didn't want to lose, even if the game wasn't important. I thought I would find it hard to feel motivated about the match itself, and wanted to be at the City Ground more to say thank you and goodbye to Billy Davies and the players, but when Southampton took the lead early in the game, I began to care more and more and was desperate for us to score an equaliser. It didn't look like it was going to come as Southampton began to dominate and take control of the game, but Forest finally gave the majority of the 29,000 sell-out crowd something to cheer about when substitute Joe Garner, for the second time this season, lobbed Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davies to equalise out of nothing. And just three minutes from time Luke Chambers, who had impressed in his preferred centre-half position, powered home a header from a corner to give Forest the lead, which was a bit harsh on Southampton who had at least deserved a point. Then Rob Earnshaw made certain of the three points with virtually the last kick of the game to take his tally for the season to 17 goals.
I was a bit disappointed with the atmosphere, as I thought the fans would be in good voice, but I suppose the fact that we were losing the game until the last 15 minutes was a bit of a dampener. Thankfully, though, it all went right in the end, and we ended the season on a high, with a six-match unbeaten run, with three wins at home and three draws away – exactly the kind of form that was required to pull away from the relegation zone. In the end we finished seven points clear of the drop zone in 19th place, with five teams below us. Many Forest fans had a feeling for much of the season that it would be either us or Norwich who would be joining Southampton and Charlton in League One, and although Norwich were above us in the table just a fortnight ago, they lost their last three games, while we earned seven points from nine. When we looked at the run-ins of the teams fighting against relegation, ours appeared to be the easiest, and Norwich and Barnsley's seemed quite tough. I thought Barnsley would go, but even though their win over Plymouth on the final day was their first win in nine matches, they still avoided relegation by six points. Norwich went down with a whimper, losing
Even though they were for much of the season our enemies, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow for the thousands of green and yellow-clad people who were watching at the Valley and back at home on a big TV screen. It just reminded me of what we went through four years ago as Forest fans, as Norwich and Forest are very similar clubs with big fan bases. Norwich are currently going through what Forest were back in 2005. They have no direction and a complete lack of team spirit. They will go down to League One and be forced to rebuild and like us will emerge a stronger Club when they finally come back to the Championship. I think relegation is not necessarily a bad thing sometimes, even though it hurts like hell when it's confirmed.
I'm still feeling so happy that Forest stayed up. It's probably the best feeling I've ever had actually. I think it tops last season because I didn't spend nine or ten months last year with my stomach churning. To be honest, we were so rubbish for most of the season that I didn't expect to get promoted at all. The last day when we went up after beating Yeovil was and still is the best day of my life, but the feeling of incredible relief that I have had ever since Monday night is something else, I can tell you. If I could bottle that feeling, I'd be a multi-millionaire. Now I'm really looking forward to the summer and experiencing a 'Billy Davies pre-season'. There's already plenty of rumours of signing this player and that, and there was even a piece in the Daily Mirror about us having £20 million to spend! I don't believe that for one second, but Nigel Doughty knows that we must strengthen the squad significantly this summer to avoid a repeat of this season. Next season we will hopefully be capable of challenging for a top six position. I cannot see us being involved in a relegation scrap with Davies at the helm.
He is the best manager we have had in a very long time, and he knows exactly what he's doing. He has already identified several transfer targets, and apparently we are very close to clinching a double deal with QPR for both Dexter Blackstock and Lee Camp! Camp would be a very welcome permanent addition to the squad and he has made no secret of his desire to return to the City Ground after such a successful loan spell with us. We should have bought him in January, but for one reason or another the deal never materialised, and we ended up having to risk playing Paul Smith until we brought in Iain Turner, who then got injured for the last few games. Luckily for us when Smith came back in he performed very well. But if Camp does sign this summer, would Smith be content playing a substitute role for the whole season? His shot-stopping is excellent at times, but he needs more than that to be a successful goalkeeper at this level, and unfortunately he is found wanting in several areas.
There's no doubt that Davies' loan signings have played a massive part in our survival, and it would be nice to think that several of them might come back next season. As already mentioned, Blackstock looks likely to sign, and we may also be signing Chris Gunter on a long-term loan deal. Gunter has said in various interviews how much he's enjoying playing at Forest and he's very keen to return, even on a permanent basis if Spurs are willing to sell him. Spurs signed him only little over a year ago for £3 million. They would probably want to recoup a significant portion of that if they were to let Gunter leave, but I don't think they would want to let him go anyway. I think our best bet is getting him here on loan for the whole season. I hope some kind of a deal can be reached as he's really made a huge difference in defence in the seven games he's played. His attitude is also first class, and if Forest want to be a team with a winning mentality, it's players like Gunter who will help them achieve it.
