It was the same old story again at the City Ground as Forest produced sporadic stylish interludes of play against Palace but woefully lacked a cutting edge and were duly punished.
Paul Ifill's piledriver and Shefki Kuqi's opportunist chip after a disastrous Paul Smith mistake added more misery onto an abysmal start to the season, leaving the Reds five points adrift of safety.
Player ratings -
Paul Smith - 5
Heaven alone knows what he was playing about going walkabout to gift Shefki Kuqi the chance to finish the game. Not only did he make the wrong decision to come rushing out but he did not seem to bust a gut to try and scramble back and rescue the situation.
James Perch - 6
Didn't do an awful lot wrong and certainly looks more assured at right back than Chambers.
Julian Bennett - 7
Was perhaps our best attacking threat throughout the game, both through forward runs and headers from corners - although perhaps should've scored with one of three decent chances.
Kelvin Wilson - 6
Comfortable enough at the back and nearly scored with a late desperate long range effort. Looks classy but that doesn't hide the fact that he plays lazy balls from the back that are in truth more wasteful than those of his much maligned defensive partner.
Wes Morgan - 6
Occasional sloppy touches will do nothing to ease the at times unfair criticism he gets. Didn't really allow Beattie to have much of an impact but unfortunately he didn't need to for Palace to collect the points.
Guy Moussi - 6
Had a poor start with weak touches and wayward passing but picked up as the game went on. Still fails to live up to the hype that grew up after his towering showing in the season curtain raiser against Reading.
Chris Cohen - 5
I'm fed up of the 'Chris has got a great engine' line. Does an awful lot of running but when does he ever change a game? Great at winning a throw in or playing a precise ball on the half way line but doesn't hurt the opposition in either penalty area and lacks strength.
Matt Thornhill - 6
Started quite well and wins his fair share of tackles but never really got on the ball in dangerous areas to make a telling impact on the game and faded a little before being substituted.
Lee Martin - 5
Full of flicks and tricks but again doesn't hurt the opposition. Wasted a series of free kicks and corners and was rightly substituted.
Garath McCleary - 7
Should be praised for his direct, dangerous forward runs. Was unsettled by CC swapping flanks but deserves to hold down a starting role.
Nathan Tyson - 5
Like Martin and Cohen he looks the part but does nothing to hurt the opposition. He has pace but little else to test a Championship defence and desperately needs a partner (Cole perhaps) to play up front with with. Serious doubts remain about whether this level is just too high for him.
Subs - Andrew Cole showed some half decent touches but for me should've started after apparently starting to show some form at Hillsborough. Arron Davies was as anonymous as ever and Luke Chambers still managed to look weak despite only being on for a short time after Guy Moussi went off injured.
We might not be the worst side in the division for a propensity for flamboyant possession but in terms of scoring goals and earning wins the facts are plain. We are bottom of the league and desperately need to find an improvement before we are cut even further adrift.
The old adage of 'judge the table after 10 games' is coming back to haunt Calderwood. People are doing just and it's making sorry, sorry reading.
The desperate chopping and changing of personnel and formations is not working. Tyson simply cannot play at the helm of a 433/451 which seems a formation more suited to an away, counter attacking game. However, CC doesn't seem to trust the likes of Cohen and Moussi to run a game in midfield and appears to believe we will be overran by the opposition in a 442.
We can't rely on Garner and Anderson to come straight into the side and save us. Neither is proven at this level and will need games under their belt to settle into the side.
The lack of defensive and midfield signings in the summer was naive and CC seems to be realising that now. Like his players he will be learning the challenges this division brings - he needs to learn fast and come up with a winning formula by the time the international break is over or this could be a long, long season.....
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