I haven't been looking forward to this...

5 days later, I feel as though I'm possibly finally recovered from my huge emotional hangover. Don't get me wrong, I've felt worse... The play off trouncing against Yeovil had me in tears long into the new season... but the game on Saturday was up there with one of the worst days I've ever experienced; however, only from a performance perspective. 

I do have to come out and say it; Derby County 5 - 0 Nottingham Forest. 

I was never entirely confident entering the game. There was an element of hope surrounding us, but from what I could tell on social network sites and from fellow bloggers, in honesty, Forest fans went into that game with a 'if we get a point it's an achievement' view. 

Nevertheless it was a typical derby day feeling. Derby County were trying out their new South Stand regime and had moved the away fans into the corner of the ground- I'll say more on this later. The weather was pleasant and the air was tense. 

The game- from a Forest perspective- was awful. 

From the first whistle, Derby players showed their passion and their desire to win. Something which I can't recall any Forest player doing, at least not for the full 90 minutes anyway. 

Derby hit us with the first goal on 5 minutes and it was all down hill from there. 3-0 down after 35 minutes was not the way any Forest fan expected the game to go, even those who were the more dubious going into the game. Terrible Forest defending and relentless Derby attack assured that we were put to bed before the first half had  even finished. 

Jamie Ward tore into Jara with ease, charging down the left wing time and time again. The defense was easily broken down with every attack and left Forest goal keeper with nothing to do except watch as his back up let him down and see the ball pass him 5 times. 

The first 3 goals were without a doubt entirely Forest's awful defending, though credit must be given to Derby players for taking advantage of our poor display. Many teams who have played us never capitalised on the easy pickings our defense offered. Derby did, another sign that they turned up to the game with a winning attitude. 

The fourth goal was an absolute screamer from Russell, with no decent defender or world class goal keeper ever stopping the ball from going in the net. The fifth, a penalty from Craig Bryson who sealed up his hat-trick and a day in history for Derby County Football Club, and a day to certainly forget for my own club. 

Derby never looked as though they were worried. Forest passed the ball 'ok' but were easily troubled and every mistake seemed to lead to another goal. It could have easily been more. 

The problem all Forest fans seemed to have with the result is the fact that none of the players showed any interest at all. The increasing injury list, loss of captain and leader Andy Reid, dwindling confidence and behind the scenes mind games from the manager were always going to play a huge part in any game, especially one of such magnitude and one which means so much to the fans. 

However they are professional football players and B team though we were, our team cost more than Derby's team on that day. The likes of Simon Cox and Jamie Mackie did not come cheap. Majewski never wanted to show up and Guy Moussi seemed to have left his strength at home. Billy Davies' insane tactics saw Paterson being replaced by Greg Halford and Jara was allowed to continue make the same mistakes over and over again. The starting tactics of playing one lone striker up front also left a lot of Forest fans despairing into their pre-match pints and pies. 

The players did not want to play for the club on Saturday. They didn't appear to care. Derby players turned up and beat what they had in front of them, which is exactly what you need to do in football. 

We were indeed on a poor run of results, but so were Derby, not scoring in 4, yet managing to slot 5 past us in one day. 

I believe many Forest fans would have accepted a defeat, but the humiliation we received was undeserved. There's not much else I can really comment on regarding the game- especially from the perspective of a Forest fan.

However, this leads me onto a much lighter point of the fans' participation that day. 

First Derby County, who had indeed changed their stadium arrangement. Of course, the whole ground was on a high, justifiably so, but still, painstakingly I have to praise the support. It was loud, the ground shook and it was exactly how football games should be- a whole stadium roaring on the team. This was from the off. And yes they went 1-0 up within 5 minutes, but the noise generated from the ground on Saturday was fantastic. The new South Stand arrangement is a stroke of genius and if their fans are half as vocal as Saturday in their other games once the new season comes round, the players are always going to be up for it. Regardless of opposition. It would be nice to see something like this at The City Ground. 

And although this could be classed as bias (I don't know), I have seen plenty of Derby fans praise us too...

From a fan perspective- I've never been prouder to support Forest. I thought the Forest fans were absolutely incredible. It hurts to be hammered that badly to your fiercest rivals but at 3/4-0 the away end should have been almost empty and half the seats would probably have been missing from anger. The noise and the atmosphere (whether it projected or not) was wonderful. The fans got behind our none existent team and put in the performance that we can be proud of. We didn't deserve the beating we got or the lack of effort the players put in- any fans willing to sing through a 4th goal at their local rivals needs to be acknowledged. It only lasted 15-20 minutes. But most fans stayed till the very end, determined to see off a dismal display. 

It was £35 for to watch that game, we were destroyed 5-0, we saw no passion from the players and our own manager fobbed us off at full time... but the fans stayed classy and kept heads held high (trust me it was hard- the game did hurt). 

On both camps- Forest fans have shown a lot of sportsmanship (not all of course but we can't have miracles) and Derby fans have been gracious and modest in their win. Both sets of fans recognised a serious problem at Forest, and although there's been a few digs, I've witnessed more than a few Derby fans saying that our fans don't deserve this treatment. For that I applaud the club and it's fan base. Forest fans have held their hands up and said "congrats".

We will always hate each other, but the class shown by both sets of fans has been unbelievable. If you want respect, you give respect.

There's not a chance that I am wishing Derby luck for the play-offs, nor as I'm sure Derby fans will wish us luck in getting to the play offs. But Derby, you deserved your victory, enjoy your celebrations and lets hope Forest turn up the next time we play. 

Forest fans- we are the only thing keeping this club above water at the moment, we need to carry on, regardless of who we bring in as manager or how the players perform. As long as we turn up and carry on our support, we'll be fine. 

Forest PLAYERS- it's about time you started playing for our club and not for the wage packet at the end of the week.