Saturday's defeat at Bournemouth may have ended play-off hopes but a glance at Forest's record in 2013/14 can be taken as a starting point for next season under Stuart Pearce.
Away from home, with their games now completed, the Reds have taken 28 points from 6 wins and 10 draws against 29 in 2012/13 from 7 wins and 8 draws. Their total number of defeats in the league is the same as 4th-placed side Queens Park Rangers and that is despite the dramatic dip in form of recent months.
Something clearly went drastically wrong towards the end of Billy Davies' time at the club but at least the recriminations are already out of the way and the first few weeks of the post-season will not be taken up with the managerial rumour mill overshadowing anything else.
Pearce will have been able to take a watching brief himself on occasion and also received plenty of feedback from both within and outside the club. He and the club he served so well before may be coming together at just the right time as Forest aim to build bridges and he looks to build a managerial reputation in keeping with the one he had as a player.
Caretaker manager Gary Brazil reverts back to his academy role at the end of the season but believes there is plenty to build on for the new man in charge.
He said: “We’ve got players on the pitch that are going to have the chance to stake a claim for being in the squad and being in the team with Stuart next year. He’ll also want to shuffle his pack and he’ll want to bring in players himself.”