NOW we know how Walsall felt.

Exactly a year after we stayed up by just one goal at the expense of the Saddlers, our luck ran out and, by the same margin, our five-year stay in the Championship has come to an end.

It really was a heartbreaking day for the players and the excellent travelling support who went up and down an emotional rollercoaster throughout the 90 minutes in Nottingham.

At half time we were safe, despite losing, but at the final whistle, a draw wasn't enough.

Yet again we were undone by our failure to hold onto a lead. While Stan has turned our fortunes around in the last six months, time and again we went a goal in front and conceded an equaliser.

If only we'd held onto just one of those leads we'd still be looking forward to trips to Leeds and Wolves, rather than to the somewhat more dubious delights of Colchester and Scunthorpe.

Personally, I had a nightmare day. Traffic problems meant that I missed the kick-off of our biggest game of the season, and then in the second half someone behind me kept telling me that Ipswich were winning and that Coventry had made it 2-2 against Crewe, so I actually thought we were safe even when Eugen Bopps's stunning strike flew in.

The next few weeks are now massive for the club. With 12 players and Stan all out of contract, Paul Scally has a lot on his plate.

If we can keep the nucleus of the squad and Stan at Priestfield, then I can see no reason why we won't be title challengers next season. But if Stan goes we could be in deep trouble.

As we saw when Stan took over in December, the big names won't be queueing up to take the job, and we could end up with a manager who won't be able to provide us with the sort of squad we will need to challenge in what is going to be a very tough division.

There are so many negatives to going down (dwindling crowds, the LDV Vans Trophy and having to play in the FA Cup first round being just three of them), so let's just hope that we can keep the gaffer and get a squad capable of delivering promotion in 12 months time.

Related articles:

How the season unfolded
Ternent: my lowest day
Forest v Gills: match report
Forest v Gills: how the players rated
Counting the cost of relegation