The Sports Psychology Blog
This Sports Psychology blog comes after Nottingham Forest lose ground in their quest for automatic promotion from League One, after defeat at Bournemouth.
Football: Nottingham Forest - Expectations!
'It was a bleak afternoon. There were no redeeming features in our performance. We leave with our tail between our legs'. The words of Nottingham Forest manager Colin Calderwood after defeat at Bournemouth. A result that leaves Forest jostling in the pack of clubs seeking promotion.
This is Forest's third season in League One. A division they were expected to walk out of immediately. A division that their history and buying power was deemed to be far too big for. A club steeped in history. Twice former European Champions.
But a club now developing an identity crisis. The memories of being champions of Europe linger long. But a further failed promotion attempt will condemn Forest to another season in League One. How long before Nottingham Forest start to become known as a League One side? A point whereby the football club's DNA begins to change?
May be another year in League One would benefit Forest. It may be the point when a new reality sets in. When the club finally catches up with itself. No longer chasing a future based on the glories of the past.
Perhaps a time when Forest will be able to reinvent themselves and rebuild steadily, without the suffocating pressure of expectation. The pressure of expectation that magnifies failure. But with a realistic self-view that reflects where they are now. A self-view that allows critical decisions to be made in the correct frame of mind.
It's not an easy transition for a once successful club to make. But when Forest resist the feeling of where they 'should' be and settle to where they 'are', then maybe that collective settlement, free of expectation, will attract the success they yearn for.
