Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Barnsley

After last week's debacle here against Norwich, and with Tuesday's visit to The Keepmoat failing to atone for it, it was not rocket science to work out that nothing less than a win was imperative today. After all the speculation over Calderwood's tenure, defeat today would surely mean the end, and a draw unlikely to prolong his stay either.

But thinking more about it, that is really only half the story. With names of possible successors being bandied about in the national press all week the predictable debate throws up all kinds of 'what if...' scenarios, and as my friends quite rightly pointed out, the prospect of Billy Davies moving in to take over conjures up all kinds of feelings of dread, much worse than when Megson took over (and whilst I'm no expert I was spot on where that one's concerned), and that's even before you take into account how under Davies things all went pear-shaped at The Sheep Dip and indeed Deepdale, just a couple of miles from where I live. All of a sudden, for all his faults, keeping hold of Calderwood - at least for the time being - sounds by far the most sensible option.

All very well saying this after the event, but today was one of those games we simply had to grind out a result. If the boys were feeling under pressure today they certainly did not look it, eve if the first twenty minutes of so looked like the poorest football we've seen all season. We were boosted by the return of McGugan back in midfield from suspension, Lynch at left back and Earnie to partner Tyson up front, which ought to have compensated for the loss of Cohen after taking a knock last week.

Barnsley had the best of the early exchanges, with Camp being the busier of the two keepers, especially when having to parry away a stinging shot by Campbell Ryce from 25 yards, and the same player also presented a threat when setting up a chance for Jon Macken who really ought to have done better from six yards. No doubt still haunted by that glaring miss he managed here eight years ago in that game against Preston - just about the only game we can ever claim to have had a homer of a referee. I still can't get my head around the fact that Macken's transfer to Man City a couple of years later represented City's bigest ever signing at the time - peanuts compared to today's silly money signings of Robinho.

Let-off or not, it wasn't working for us. We'd been pinned back inside our own half, and it was Brendon Maloney, fresh from being recalled from Rushden & Diamonds this week who really came into his own with some superb tackling - the aforementioned Macken being on the receiving end more than once. Up front however, it just wasn't happening. McGugan squandered a couple of free kicks, and Earnie was struggling to establish any kind of link-up with Garner or Tyson.

Credit then to Calderwood who had the sense to spot this and do something about it by movingTyson out wide where his pace was likely to pull apart a stubborn Barnsley defence. Ten minutes later we were in front after Tyson managed to break away down the left before crossing to find Garner who was in a perfect position to head home past Heinz Muller.

Totally against the run of play it may have been, but it did wonders for Forest's confidence. We might even have grabbed a second shortly before the break had the referee given a penalty when Garner was practically chopped in two just six yards out, but this is Forest we're talking about here, and us being given penalties is obviously not in any referee's rulebook.

Fortunately the half time break this week helped us build on our first half performance, unlike last week where it looked like someone had pulled the batteries out of every player wearing a red shirt. McGugan, who had, by his standards, had a pretty poor first half was a different player now, one minute playing provider, the next having a go himself, one effort from the edge of the box crashing against the crossbar. Tyson, still playing wide (this time down the right) was still causing problems for the Barnsley defence, although the diagonal crosses were difficult for Garner and Earnie do do much with, and need more work for them to do more damage. Garner, however, was unfortunate to be on the receiving end of yet another clattering - and a yellow card - when he might easily have had a penalty after going down heavily in the box following a collision with a defender. Yet again though, we were taking the lion's share of punishment meted out by the ref, whilst Barnsley's Bobby Hassell lived up to his name by practically wearing Wes' shirt, the number of times he pulled at it, but as for getting booked for it? Forget it.

There was time for changes as Earnie and Anderson (both well applauded by the home support) were eventually replaced by McCleary and Thornhill, (and later for debutant James Reid to come on for Garner) and as Barnsley started to pile more pressure there was more than a few of us starting to stir uneasily in our seats. Once again it was Moloney to the rescue to deny Rigters, and, most spectacularly for Lee Camp to pull off an amazing save from a De Souza free kick three minutes into stoppage time, which had managed to sweep past a wall of players. That, only five minutes after Foster had crashed the ball against the cross bar with Camp beaten. Talk about live dangerously!

But we held out, and at the final whistle the screaming City Ground crowd, who had been magnificent all afternoon broke into cheers of delight in acknowledgement of a hard fought victory, with the players saluting them in return, and in thanks for their patience.

I suppose it's easy to wonder what might have happened had Barnsley snatched a late goal, or worse, but for the moment let's acknowledge the changes that worked today. And I'm sure I was not the only one to express relief at the sight of Luke Chambers remaining on the bench. With Brendon Maloney proving a revelation today, I hope this will give us a new look to our back line. McGugan - good to see him back, but proved rather hit and miss with free kicks and corners, although sending them in low and with pace seems to be his way which I'm all in favour of. Joe Garner continues to make his presence felt, although his temperament seems to have made him the wind-up target of other teams, and today's yellow card - his third in seven games - ought to serve as timely warning just as Tyson - who notched up his fifth today - prepares to miss the next game.

So Calderwood lives to fight another day, with about as much certainty as the most vulnerable participant in I'm A Celeb, Get Me Out Of The Strictly X-Factor Now! Some further consolidation needs to be done before we sample the delights of the Ricoh Arena, followed by the visit of The Blades - always a popular encounter for Forest fans. Maybe the fightback has begun in earnest this time, as today's win sees us leapfrog over Doncaster, and back to within four points of safety. To make it out of the bottom three in time for Christmas, now that really would be some Christmas present.

In the meantime, as far as who manages the show, let us just be careful what we wish for!

Ref Watch: P Crossley - Once again, an official with selective vision, judging by the yellow cards he did - and didn't - dish out. Unusually however, his assistants did quite a decent job today.

Entertainment Value: Probably the least attractive home fixture of the season, which compared to the games played here so far just about matched expectations. Scrappy and disjointed for long periods, this was never going to be a game for the likes of Stubbs & Co at the BBC to even think of talking about. 4/10

Atmosphere: Boosted by the tenner-a-ticket offer, this swelled the crowd to our biggest of the season and the fans played their part today. The recent disappointments were totally forgotten and the fans got behind the team in the way you'd expect of a home crowd. Impressive.

Highlights: The changes made midway during the first half started an improvement in the way Forest played, and Garner's goal was suitable reward for that. Lee Camp's saves, heart-stopping moments though they were, were of top drawer calibre.

Lowlights: First twenty minutes was scrappy and disjointed; Tyson's booking to earn himself a one-match ban, just when he's becoming increasingly important to our attacking style.

Stinker: No-one played particularly bad, although Earnshaw looked distinctly out of sorts today. All the same, it was good to see him back.

Stormer: Sponsor's choice went to James Perch, and whilst I acknowledge his contribution it was Lee Camp who kept us in it, however my choice of the day was Brendon Maloney who was simply a revelation on his return from Nene Park.