Carrot or stick ?

Forest were 8 points clear in November. 8 points !!!! Then Christmas came along. Some of the players reverted to type and decided to celebrate promotion 6 months early and more vigorously than professional sportsmen should. Cue the usual back page stories Forest fans have gotten bored with.

Fast forward to now and suddenly we've got the attacking free-flowing machine we always knew we had, it just never seemed to be let off the leash.

And the two main cogs in this up and coming unstoppable force ?

Kris Commons & Jack Lester.

What do these two players have in common ?

Both are out of contract at the end of the season.

Jack Lester probably has one more contract in his legs from Forest, while Commons enjoys living with his mum too much to want to move to the West Midlands.

It's amazing what the lure of a shiny new deal can do to improve effort on a Saturday afternoon.

Next season, can we start these contract negotiations in November, so the motivational aspect can be used to full effect.