Ron Atkinson made his final appearance in premiership football as Nottingham Forest's interim manager, taking charge in January 1999. Bought in on the promise of an alleged million pound bonus if he helped Forest survive, 'Big Ron' did little to endear himself to the Forest faithful by climbing into the incorrect dugout at the beginning of his debut match in charge - against Arsenal. In true Big Ron style he was later heard joking that he'd thought Forest had Dennis Bergkamp on their bench. But he was unable to succeed in keeping Forest clear of demotion, and for the third occasion in seven years they were relegated as the Premiership's bottom club. Atkinson's reign was short, but not too sweet, as shown by his record in-charge. He managerial record was:

When the board reached a decision not to renew Atkinson's contract, several high profile names were mentioned for the open manager's job, including Glenn Hoddle (ex-Swindon, Chelsea and England), Roy Evans (ex-Liverpool) and Brian Little (ex-Leicester and Aston Villa).[citation needed] The club's eventual choice was 33-year-old former England captain David Platt, whose short spell as head coach of Italian Serie A side Sampdoria had just ended in relegation.

Former England captain Platt was named as Nottingham Forest's player-manager in July 1999. He made few expensive signings during his two-year managerial spell at the club, but these acquisitions were unproductive[citation needed] and Forest never really looked like achieving promotion back to the Premiership, finishing only in mid-table. Their fortunes were not helped by financial problems and a constant need to sell their best players in order to pay off the debts that were caused by specific signings that Platt made,[citation needed] including the Trio Of Italians who only made a handful of appearances between them but cost over £5 million (Gianluca 'Bepe' Petrachi and Salvatore Matrecano from Perugia plus free transfer Moreno Mannini from Sampdoria). Platt left to become England Under 21 coach in July 2001 and he handed over the reins to youth team manager Paul Hart. By now, Forest's days as a top club were now very much a distant memory and no players remained from their successful days in the top flight.