The season is fast becoming a disaster.
We are hurtling toward League One and showing few signs that we have anything like the ability or the resolve to survive.
There has been eighteen games already, and for the last 16 I have drifted in and out of a cloud of ignorance.
On numerous occasions I have assured enquirers that survival will ultimately unravel itself before us, and in doing so I have reassured myself.
Even now I find it difficult to envisage relegation; the despondent, shell-shocked murmur of anguished supporters, the return of tears and terraces and “You’re not Famous Anymore”...
Even now I am contenting myself in some ludicrous assumption that everything will fall into place.
But it won’t.
A series of brave performances have fuelled the fires of tolerance recently. But this evening’s televised humiliation brings with it the foreboding clarity of pessimism.
All of a sudden, the draws against D*rby, Birmingham and Bristol City are no longer indicative of a revival. Instead they have been exposed as the plucky but ultimately fruitless product of a side that is working hard, but simply isn’t good enough.
Today we were out-worked, out-passed and, frankly, out-played by an average side with fewer players.
It was a mess.
We didn’t control the ball at any point in the game; our midfield was a vacuum of dead space as our wingers pushed on aimlessly and our defence gave them impossible balls to follow.
In attack we were reduced to chasing lost causes and pointing the finger of blame.
The one player likely to bridge the chasm between our attack and the rest of the side was Chris Cohen, who was eventually dumped at left back to clear a path for show pony Lee Martin.
And it is on this point that I bring to the table the most compelling evidence to date that Calderwood is not only incapable of fulfilling his duties, but also undeserving of any further backing:
[Reporter]: A lot of people are wondering why Chris Cohen, one of the more creative members of the midfield, was moved to left-back there?
[Calderwood]: The decision was made to bring a bit more pace to the attack.
And with all due respect, it was the right decision.
Can somebody explain that to me? Because from my vantage point I saw Lee Martin have three touches, and I saw Nottingham Forest lose.
The manager went on to dismiss talk of his sacking with a quip about the BBC Radio Nottingham reporter sitting closer to the stands than he does.
It’s just not good enough.
I’m not entirely sure what basis there is for allowing another false dawn.
We might beat Doncaster, we might even beat Barnsley too, but Calderwood has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he just doesn’t have enough in his locker.
For some people it will be a major relief, for others a shame that things couldn’t work out.
But at the moment Doughty is only delaying the inevitable.
