Opinion: Nottingham Forest fans who booed after Huddersfield Town defeat need to get real

Forest came back to earth with a bang on Saturday at the hands of an impressive Huddersfield Town side.

The West Yorkshire outfit were expected to roll over and surrender at least a point, given the contrasting forms between the two clubs.

Admittedly I did not see us losing this game before kick off especially when I saw the formation.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog then you’ll know what I think about playing one up front at home, it has served us well on the road though.

So when Dougie Freedman set up 4-1-4-1 I was a little peeved but understood why.

Having beaten both Leeds and Middlesbrough with a similar set up the manager used this as his reason for doing so. Regardless of formations and tactics the manager wasn’t responsible for the horror show that unfolded; to a man the entire team had a terrible game.

By contrast the away team were slick and expansive; they looked like the side boasting a long unbeaten run as opposed to having no wins in their last five.

They were especially effective down the right flank through the link up play between Tommy Smith and Joe Lolley. The pair combined brilliantly before Smith’s cross was put through his own net by Matt Mills.

As the half progressed Huddersfield got better and Forest capitulated, pass after pass went astray not to mention the control.

The Terrier’s zipped the ball about at pace and looked very impressive at times, so it was a relief to get to half time trailing by just the one goal.

A chorus of boos echoed around the City Ground which annoyed me immensely, yes it was bad but people have short memories. Not so long ago we were contenders for relegation.

The second period was slightly better but by now the confidence was at rock bottom, players were not themselves and changes had to be made.

Dougie made a double substitution but for me got it wrong; he replaced Gardner and Ward with Grant and Burke respectively. Robert Tesche was allowed to play on despite having his worst game in a red shirt to date; it was also a missed opportunity to throw on Chris Cohen.

Whenever we did get the ball as far as the forward line it was well and truly dealt with by Joel Lynch, the former red was outstanding for the away side.

The Terriers lived up to their nickname all over the park, as they chased down anything that moved.

There were a couple of penalty shouts and half efforts but in all honesty we didn’t deserve a goal in this game, even a late switch to 4-4-2 failed to change our fortunes.

Although Huddersfield weren’t allowed as much of the ball they still looked dangerous on the counter, they reminded me of Leicester at times.

Soaking up the play and breaking at speed. They must have been buoyed on by hearing the jeers and abuse that some home fans resorted to from virtually the first bad pass. Talk about sing when you’re winning.

Luckily, most of the fickle fans had left the ground when Huddersfield went further ahead through Phillip Billing in the 83rd minute.

The Dane capped a great performance with a stunning strike from well outside the area.

So with the stadium half empty, a second definitive round of boos rang out at the final whistle. It was simply a bad day at the office and that’s all there is to it.

Tactics and formations had nothing to do with it; I don’t care what anyone says.

Regardless of the reasons, who the hell is justified in abusing a group of players that have grafted their hearts out during the unbeaten run?

If we were putting in performances like Aston Villa on a weekly basis, then fair enough. But we aren’t, if you were booing you can always support Derby; you’ll probably get a free ticket too!

What do you think? Email [email protected] with your views