Fans of Nottingham Forest haven't had a great deal to shout about in recent years and if truth be told the club has been regressing towards the abyss for quite some time now, much to the dismay of several thousand ardent supporters who continue to back the club's fortunes, both at the City Ground and on the road.

The club has recently opted for a change on the managerial front and that has seen another transitional period come into force for the Reds. On the pitch, the inability to score goals at one end and keep them out at the other is proving a lethal concoction on the banks of the River Trent and after morale-sapping defeats to Preston North End and Hull City, it seems pretty conclusive that Aitor Karanka has a daunting challenge on his hands at the East Midlands-based club.

It is December 9th since Forest last scored a league goal at home and their woeful run of form in the Championship is a genuine cause for concern.

The Reds' new Spanish boss has ruled with an iron fist since arriving at the club and since his arrival Forest have offloaded six players, whilst the outgoings have been outweighed with 10 new signings to try and revive the team's flailing fortunes.

Under previous boss Mark Warburton, Forest were desperately trying to give youth a chance and that wasn't always the most proficient tactic given that the Reds were bullied out of several games under the management of the former Rangers boss.

Karanka has recruited well, very well to be honest, especially if you look at the pedigree of the players he has signed. Jack Colback won promotion to the Premier League with Newcastle United, Adlene Guedioura and Lee Tomlin reached the top flight with Middlesbrough, whilst Ben Watson signed for Forest on a free having featured 12 times for Watford this season.

The problem that the ex-Boro boss is now faced with is that he has fundamentally pushed the restart button at the halfway stage of the season and although the squad was in desperate need of improvements, the club will slip ever closer to the relegation zone with every passing defeat.

Experience is going to be massive for Forest over the next 15 games and Karanka doesn't need me to tell him that. After all, he is the one that has gone out and signed these players who boast such worldliness and the real test now is how he gets them all into the team on a frequent basis.

It has been a while since the Reds have been able to call upon such an experienced plethora of players and this does mean that some of the younger players will need to stand up and be counted if they are to retain their places among the starting XI.

Karanka now has a pretty large squad of players to choose from and whereas before some were of better quality than others, it already seems like the ones that he has signed possess superior quality than their positional counterparts who were already in place at the club.

The real challenge for the meticulous Karanka in the immediate term is to ensure that the transition into the side for the incoming players is as smooth as possible and if it isn't then Nottingham Forest will once again become embroiled in a battle to keep their status as a Championship club given their current run of abysmal form.

Nottingham Forest fans, were you at the City Ground yesterday? How bad were they? Do you agree with us that Karanka needs to quickly assemble his best team and stick with it? Let us know in the comments below!!!