Duncan Ferguson was under no illusions that his first step into senior management would be tough - but not even he could have imagined it would have been this difficult.
The wait for a first Forest Green win goes on after Accrington Stanley came from behind to beat his side 2-1 at the Wham Stadium on Saturday.
Ferguson has long cut a confident figure that Rovers can avoid the drop, but even he must be losing hope after this. They remain rooted to the bottom of the League One table.
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If things had turned out differently, the Scot could have been preparing Everton for their trip to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon. Instead, he found himself here in East Lancashire.
Life has been tough for Ferguson since joined the Gloucestershire club in January. A last-gasp defeat to Shrewsbury Town in his first game in charge was a sign of things to come. Luck has not been on their side.
But here, things couldn’t have started any better for the former Everton man. His team, cheered on by a healthy number of Blues supporters, dominated the opening 40 minutes.
Jordan Garrick should have fired Forest Green ahead before Myles Peart-Harris wasted another glorious opportunity. Ferguson’s message to his forward was a clear one after the miss.
“Next one, Myles,” the former Scotland international shouted from the touchline. But not even Ferguson could have imagined what was to come next.
A few minutes later, Peart-Harris was in on goal again. This time, the forward made no mistake, poking the ball past Lukas Jensen in the Stanley goal.
Rovers continued to dominate. And in return, the Stanley fans who were in attendance started to grow restless. They are also concerned about the threat of relegation to League Two.
But then in the blink of an eye the game turned on its head. First, Oliver Casey was shown a straight red card by referee Declan Bourne for a high challenge on Nathan Butler-Oyedeji. Ferguson was far from impressed by the call.
“We were in control of the match then the referee got involved in a decision I don’t think he need to get involved with," he said after the game when asked about the call.
"He can quite easily give the boy a yellow card and we all move on. But they surrounded him, like they did all game, he [the referee] fell for it. I thought it was a poor decision. That absolutely changed the game.
“The whole match changed on that decision. The referee gave himself plenty of time to think about it but they surrounded him and he vowed to the pressure.”
To rub salt into the wound, Stanley drew level from the resulting free kick when Aaron Pressley headed home at the back post. The goal, just like the red card, left Ferguson furious.
He could hardly believe what he was seeing. And his anger only grew when Rovers were denied a penalty before the first half was out.
For the opening 15 minutes of the second half, the visitors, to their credit, battled well, but all their hard work was undone just after the hour mark when Rosaire Longelo cut inside and fired the hosts ahead.
Ferguson, who is assisted by former Everton midfielder Tony Grant, did his bit on the sidelines to try and lift his side. But it was to no avail.
Forest Green failed to register a shot on target after falling behind and now sit 11 points behind Stanley, who sit one place above the drop zone, in the League One table.
“I think there was always a threat of relegation when I came in. We were at the bottom of the league and we are still at the bottom of the league," Ferguson said post-match.
“I’m encouraged by the performances we are putting in. At the end of the day, I don’t look at the league and to me I just go into the next game all guns blazing.
“You don’t want to be looking at the league when you are in the position we are in. We just want to make sure we look at the next game.
“I would suggest we have played well in every game I have been here and it is only Ipswich Town that have turned us. One game out of seven. We just can’t seem to get that break that we talk about and some decisions we feel have gone against us.”
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