They were not exactly putting the flags out in Nottingham yesterday as Ron Atkinson was formally appointed Forest manager until the end of the season, charged with the near-impossible task of saving the Premiership's bottom club from relegation.

Atkinson will have earned every penny of the £500,000 bonus on offer if he manages to keep Forest in the Premiership by the expiry of his £250,000 five-month contract. They have now gone 18 Premiership games without a win.

The challenge starts on Friday when the 59-year-old will take up his 11th managerial appointment after returning from holiday. He faces a baptism of fire the following day at home to Arsenal - also his first opposition when he took on an almost identical job at Sheffield Wednesday 14 months ago. "It's a massive task, it's no good me saying anything else," admitted Peter Shreeves, who will be Atkinson's second in command at Forest, as he was at Wednesday. "Confidence in the team is low. But if there's anyone who I think can do the job better than Ron, their name doesn't come to mind easily."

That is not what Forest fans feel, however and certainly the statistics would indicate that Atkinson's powers are on the wane. After being sacked by struggling Aston Villa in November 1994, he joined Coventry where, after only narrowly avoiding relegation, he was pushed upstairs.

In 1997 he took over at Wednesday, a side struggling because of injuries, and though he lifted them to Premiership safety, his contract was not renewed.

His first task at Forest will be to use his undoubted personality to lift morale, then strengthen the team, although the board have only promised him £2 million to spend.