Football can be interpreted in many ways depending on your disposition as a fan. 

For instance, the positive Forest fans might point to their unbeaten start to the season as something to cherish and build upon.

However, the pessimists might highlight one win from four and a draw with League Two Bury as worrying signs.

Is the glass half full, or half empty?

Far be it from us to rubbish anyone's opinion, but it is far too early to draw any sort of conclusions from the early results. Clearly, there's quality in the Nottingham Forest squad as they have remained unbeaten, but there's also a feeling that Aitor Karanka doesn't know his strongest starting eleven. Is that a surprise, given the players he has recruited so far?

Their trip to Wigan this weekend will not be straightforward, the Latics have been scoring for fun and although they're susceptible at the back, they look to be one of the sides featuring in the middle of the pack. They've got good players capable of hurting any side, especially one like Forest that may be finding their feet and settling into a rhythm.

Therein lies the reason to be patient. Forest have signed so many players, most of them good and some of them too good for this level, but as yet they've not settle into a rhythm. Against Reading Carvalho and Dias, the two marquee signings, came off before Forest grabbed the winner. Against Bury, new signings Byram and Hefele were on the pitch when they conceded a second minute goal.

So far this season, in four matches, Karanka has used 23 different players, with 22 different starters. In the league he has started 15 players across their three matches. contrast that with the 1979 European Cup winning season, where a core of just 20 players started all season long.

That might be a reflection on the modern game, but it also highlights the consistency that isn't yet in place at Forest. Leeds have only started 11 players in the league, Swansea 12 and Middlesbrough 12. All those sides had relatively busy summers and yet this early on, they're finding some sort of constant, some rhythm and reason to their play.

This isn't a reason to be worried at the City Ground, not yet, but there is a pressing desire to find a pattern that works and to develop it. Wholesale changes every week will only serve to destabilise the side and will lead to inconstant results and perhaps even a certain lack of understanding on the field.

The fans must be patient in a world that almost disregards that as a virtue. football is a quick-paced unforgiving game in which 90minutes can turn a summer transfer coup into an expensive misfit, or a promising manager into a tactical clown. If Forest are going to challenge the top two this year, then everyone just needs to be calm and ready to wait for their best football to manifest over time.