Pride Park, July 4, 2020.

With 96 minutes on the clock and Nottingham Forest 1-0 up, Joe Worrall lunges in on Morgan Whittaker as the ball breaks clear in the Forest half. Free-kick.

40 yards out, Wayne Rooney approaches the ball, and there is no immediate sense of alarm. This is Forest, after all, Sabri Lamouchi’s Forest. The Reds had developed an unwanted habit of conceding late goals, but had the third best defensive record in the division.

It was the sort of solidity that easily translated into results, and at that point, Forest were fourth, enjoying their best season since the playoff campaign under Billy Davies in 2010/11. They were on course for their third win in a row, a result that would have moved them above Brentford and into 3rd.

It had been a mature performance, too. After Lolley waved his wand of a left-foot to conjure up the opening goal, Forest had defended obdurately, using their nous to see the game out comfortably. In many ways, it was a typical performance from a Lamouchi side, with grit overruling guile and efficiency outweighing style.

Rooney’s lofted ball into the penalty area, although well-executed, should have posed few problems. Except what followed was, in every sense, inexplicable.

Brice Samba, culprit-in-chief, dives into the sea of red and white bodies to claim the high ball. The Forest goalkeeper fumbles under pressure from Figueiredo and Matt Clarke. The ball falls to George Evans. Evans’ ball back into the penalty squirms through Figueiredo’s legs. Matty Cash is unable to clear. Chris Martin throws his head into the chaos. Goal.

With Pride Park empty, there was no roar, no rapture, just a heavy silence as the players trudged town the tunnel. Two points squandered, right at the death. None of them could have known it at the time, but after that crushing disappointment, things would only get worse.

Forest, in fact, have not won since. From that game onwards, they needed three points from their last five to secure a playoff berth. They picked up just two.

Crashing out of the promotion race after a six-goal swing on the final day, the demise of Lamouchi’s Forest has been stark and complete. And it all began at the home of their arch-rivals, Derby County.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis had an all too familiar decision to make. Stick with the manager, or twist.

Points-wise, Lamouchi had overseen Forest’s most successful season in nine years, cultivating a harmonious dressing room atmosphere in the process. The former French international was a popular figure among the players, and had succeeding in shaping the once unreliable Matty Cash into arguably the division’s most formidable right-back.

And yet, if truth be told, the football was insipid. Forest appeared shorn of innovation all season long in the final third, persistently failing to exert control on the ball in the games they were expected to win.

The results were unsustainable, too, judging by the underlying data. According to FBref, Forest had the highest conversion rate in the division, scoring 35 out of every 100 shots on target. Lamouchi was indebted to the precision of Lewis Grabban, with the striker becoming the first Forest player to score 20 goals in a season since Marlon Harewood and David Johnson did so 16 years ago.

And yet Marinakis kept his faith in the Frenchman. The arrival of goalkeeper Abdoulaye Diallo on Monday made it eight signings so far this summer, all recruited to plug last season’s gaping holes.

Marinakis has never been averse to a summer splurge, but what was surprising, and refreshing, was his fundamental belief going into the break. The Greek shipping magnate has worked his way through 13 managers in a decade at Olympiakos and three in four years at Forest, but here he was, pinning his faith in Lamouchi and, specifically, the continuity he provides.

The summer began with a post-season debrief in Athens. Lamouchi discussed with the hierarchy where things went wrong and how best to remedy the issues, with the primary outcome being a marked shift in the club’s recruitment policy.

Jack Colback, Lyle Taylor and Tyler Blackett - three players with proven Championship credentials - all arrived in the space of a week. Unlike the many low-profile imports that have flowed in and out of the club over the last five years with the softest of footprints, these were players with an intimate knowledge of EFL football and its demands. And their presence on Trentside was no fluke.

Forest’s business did not stop there, though. Fouad Bachirou - a more sprightly substitute for the aging and injury prone Samba Sow - was next through the door, followed closely by Luke Freeman, the attacking midfielder on loan from Sheffield United. Miguel Angel Guerrero, Loic Mbe Soh and the aforementioned Diallo made up the newest additions to the squad.

And so, as Forest’s curtain raiser against QPR got underway, there was great cause for optimism. Freeman had been earmarked as someone who could help shoulder the creative burden in the final third, while Taylor would add an extra stick of dynamite to Forest’s attacking options, easing the load on Grabban.

Although feeble, the Carabao Cup defeat to Barnsley the week before was not read into too much. Forest had showed little desire to venture out of their defensive shell, and were punished accordingly, but to many observers, the fixture was nothing more than a glorified friendly.

For them, the new chapter began on Saturday at 3pm. This was a fresh start, a new beginning.

By half four, it seemed anything but.

The performance was not that bad; it was the result and the timing of the result that was most sobering. Forest would suffer a 2-0 defeat at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, left to rue several missed opportunities and their own lack of innovation in the opposition’s half.

Lamouchi highlighted the need to “be more pragmatic and not give anything away defensively” in his post-match interview, with Figueiredo having recklessly conceded the second-half penalty. He admitted his side have “to get better – with the ball and without the ball”, explaining the need “to be more efficient in both boxes”.

Another “disappointing result”, another inquest, and the resumption of a familiar plot. Viewed in isolation, this is a narrow defeat, one from which lessons can be learned. Viewed with context, it’s three wins in 17, it’s no win in eight, and, crucially, it’s a defeat that demonstrated little stylistic change from last season.

Throughout pre-season, Lamouchi suggested in interviews that he was trying to tweak Forest’s attacking game plan to incorporate more rhythm and flair, but little evidence of this could be found here. Granted, this is only one game and solid conclusions cannot yet be drawn, but it would appear that if things do not change and the trend continues, the pressure on the manager will continue to rise.

Decisions such as the reluctance to start record signing Joao Carvalho and the persistence with two defensive midfielders drew hails of criticism from fans last season. On Saturday, Carvalho did not even start.

Lamouchi places great emphasis upon work ethic, and is understood to have been frustrated with the attitude of the Portuguese playmaker. And so, as Forest’s form began to deteriorate, labouring with a vacuum of creativity in the midfield, Carvalho featured sporadically.

Such obstinacy did not go down well with fans, and nor did the loyalty to the likes of Adama Diakhaby and Ryan Yates, players who featured regularly in matches in which an impact had to be made, and players who persistently failed to do so.

True, it takes time for a manager to get to grips with his squad and effectuate his chosen philosophy, and perhaps with just 53 days between the traumatic end to last season and the start of this one, there was little opportunity to press the reset button. Lamouchi experimented with three at the back and a 4-4-2 during the friendlies, systems which, after a longer pre-season in which there would be more time to adapt, may well have made an appearance on Saturday.

It would be wrong, though, to brand Lamouchi as a victim of circumstance. Before, he had the team performing at a level greater than the sum of its parts. Now, with Freeman, with Taylor, with Grabban, with Joe Lolley, Forest have the requisite firepower within their ranks, and there’s nowhere for the manager to hide, not anymore.

He has been backed by the hierarchy, and it is time to repay that faith. With promotion to be won and pressure mounting, the clock is ticking.