This run will not be about the verdicts. This cannot be about the verdicts. Footballers do not care about these things, the stuff out of their control. Besides, all of them are earning cut-price transfers elsewhere were Manchester City to suffer relegation anyway. And cut-price fees mean bulkier salaries.

So to them the current climate, the circumstances around City – their recent history and their immediate future – does not overly matter. Sure, there might be the odd one who is slightly more philosophical and inquisitive about appeals and appendices but the majority won't be giving it much or any thought.

City insist on their innocence publicly and privately; until that changes, their players and Enzo Maresca carry on regardless. There were the usual jeers here, there were ditties about cheating, but that surely cannot affect them.

Instead, the performances over the past few weeks, this a third consecutive Premier League defeat and now sinking six points adrift of Arsenal, cannot be excused by the findings of an independent commission. The problems are football problems.

This is a squad who appear uncertain about specific aspects of their game. Namely how to build from the back – and that is prompting individual mistakes. It happened against Ipswich Town and at Aston Villa. On the river Trent, it was no different.

The statistics say City dominated another game and they deserved more but the eyes tell another story.

Too many errors. Too much arm waving. Too much feeling sorry for themselves when decisions go elsewhere. Oliver Glasner is not stupid, he will have seen examples of this play out in parts of City's victories as well as reverses.

As Liam Delap raced into the corner to celebrate his second with 17 minutes left – a huge day in his career against the club which moulded him – Glasner was dashing down the touchline with unbridled joy. 

Forest displays have deserved more than their points total so far and this was vindication for their fifth manager in 14 months, who suggested he fancied sampling Nottingham’s nightlife afterwards. Delap was exceptional, some personal redemption after criticism.

The way in which Glasner nudged James McAtee further forward, stationed higher from the off in order to pressurise the visitors, spoke to an idea that City arrived here ready to be ruffled and have been wearing a look of fragility.

By the time this was eight minutes shy of half time and McAtee was nicking possession from Elliot Anderson, drawing a foul that sparked another onslaught on Gianluigi Donnarumma's box, Forest were already two clear – and had been for some time. Phil Foden warmed up on the touchline, laughing and hugging with Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Forest preyed on City insecurities. A midfield structure that is simply not working at the moment, easily railroaded. A defence allergic to the basics and an epidemic of individual mistakes – either as a result of nervousness or blase attitude on the ball.

Straight to the mistakes. A real collection, these: the first in the fifth minute and the others 13 minutes afterwards. Jair Cunha wheeled away after picking Josko Gvardiol's pocket, meandering forward into the box and side-footing into the far corner largely unchallenged. Gvardiol seemed to have the air of a man who felt invincible when gathering possession before being eased off it.

Later, as Delap thundered forward 45 yards unchecked to hammer past Donnarumma, you wondered about the communication between these City players. Anderson and Iliman Ndiaye left things to each other near halfway, Xaver Schlager gave his thanks – finding Delap – and the City academy graduate bulldozed clear. Marc Guehi waved him through, Ruben Dias dithered and Maresca bowed his head.

Remarkably, this was the first time in seven years that City had gone two down inside 18 minutes. Dias looked aghast at Guehi, who was then hooked at the break alongside Gvardiol. Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki both stood in the centre circle, hands on hips.

It later emerged via replays that Anderson had been arguing with Abdukodir Khusanov in the build-up to Forest's opener as well, proof that City were nowhere near close to producing what was expected when on the ball in their own half.

Glasner had the weapons at his disposal to make this work but even the Austrian must have been surprised at the way in which they tickled City's soft underbelly. They had not scored at the City Ground all season. All change when owner Evangelos Marinakis made his first trip to see a game since Glasner's appointment, which felt particularly handy, with Yates having delivered a spinetingling dressing room speech pre-match.

Anger permeated the eyes of some City players as the whistle went. Cherki stormed down the tunnel, animatedly discussing how to play through Forest with Fernandez when they re-emerged. 

Their lifeline came after 52 minutes, a Ryan Yates deflection from Jeremy Doku's cross sitting up for Cherki to hammer home a half-volley off the bar. Doku soon almost squeezed another effort past Matz Sels and the mood shifted, City briefly creeping menacingly like the monsters they are portrayed as.

Maresca had introduced Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly, with both affecting the upturn. An admission of selection errors, perhaps, although O'Reilly is managing an ongoing back issue and is set for therapy on it over the international break.

City will need some of that as a collective. Delap won the ball inside his own third, gliding past Anderson, and Forest's explosive counter ended with Delap spearing a shot in off the post after Morgan Gibbs-White carried possession unopposed for 60 yards. Delirium, Glasner darting to the corner flag. 

The quirk of this is that City's failings mean Manchester United drop into the bottom three.