Former Nottingham Forest star Mark Crossley insists that the club have next to no chance of putting together a promotion push this season.
The club have endured a terrible start to the Championship season under the management of Chris Hughton.
Forest have lost all of their first four fixtures and subsequently find themselves in the relegation zone.
Do you think that Forest will be fine financially?
Yes, there is nothing to worry about
No, I am worried
Forest have been active in the transfer window but have yet to actually spend any money on a player.
Their signings have involved three loans, with Philip Zinckernagel, Jordi Osei-Tutu and James Garner joining from Watford, Arsenal, and Manchester United respectively, while they have also brought in goalkeeper Ethan Horvath on a free transfer.
Crossley believes the club have somewhat drifted in recent years, with the last six seasons seeing just two top-half finishes; a ninth-place finish in 2018/19 and a seventh-place finish in 2019/20.
In 2020/21 and 2017/18, they finished 17th, while they finished 21st in 16/17, and 16th in 15/16.
And Crossley believes they have grown used to simply finishing in mid-table in the second tier.
Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, he said: “I think they’ve become a club where in the Championship, it just looks like a mid-table finish year in, year out, and it’s frustrating really, because having been at the club, and I know how well it’s supported and how big the club is, there’s not a lot happening.
“It’s a bit tired, and I cannot see a promotion push this season whereas years before I’ve been going ‘maybe this year’.
“They’ve flirted around the play-offs a little bit but I’m afraid this year, the Championship seems to be pretty strong.”