Jay Rodriguez scored the first two goals with his head to break his league duck for the season before Chris McCann, Ross Wallace and Charlie Austin all found the net on a miserable night for Steve McClaren and Forest, whose only consolation came through Ishmael Miller's goal on the hour mark.
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| Man of the Match Kieran Trippier |
The 5-1 drubbing leaves the former England boss on thin ice while it will undoubtedly be the most satisfying win of Howe's fledgling Burnley career.
The young side he has assembled delivered big time against a side dripping with Premier League and International experience, the blueprint for success that he drew up with Messrs Kilby, Flood and Tindall over the summer was now in front of him on the Turf Moor pitch.
Hoping to build on the impressive display against Southampton on Saturday, Howe stuck by the same XI and the Clarets could have been ahead in the second minute.
Ross Wallace's free-kick from in front of the Longside was met by Charlie Austin but neither he nor David Edgar could turn the ball home.
The breakthrough wasn't long in coming though, just four minutes in Brian Easton and Junior Stanislas worked an opening down the left, and the former West Ham man's cross was perfectly nodded down by Austin at the far post for Rodriguez to swoop and score.
While Rodriguez will be pleased with his five Carling Cup goals, this first league strike of the season will mean so much more to him.
After the terrific season he had last year and the summer of transfer speculation he endured, much is expected of the England Under-21 this term and with striker partner Austin finding the net on a regular basis in the league the goals last night will do Jay Rod the world of good.
It may well be reading too much into things but the fact Rodriguez pointed to creator Austin after the opening goal and ran to celebrate with him gives the indication that a strong partnership is beginning to form there, and how deadly a duo could they prove to be at this level?
After waiting eight games to open his league account, it was almost inevitable that Rodriguez would score again and he did just ten minutes later. How does that over-worked cliché about buses go again?
Stanislas again made room for a cross down the left, and his delivery was inch-perfect for Rodriguez to glide in front of Luke Chambers and glance emphatically past an increasingly-irritated Lee Camp in the visitors' goal.
With confidence on the brittle side and no home wins to brag about yet it was about as good an opening 20 minutes as we could possibly have wanted, but had Miller been able to head Joel Lynch's cross down and in instead of down and wide it could have been a different story.
Burnley got away with one and Austin and Rodriguez came close to adding a third before McClaren decided he could take it no longer.
Chris Gunter has played Premier League and International football and he isn't a terrible player, but he was having an absolute stinker up against Stanislas on the Burnley left. McLaren's response smacked of desperation.
Gunter was replaced by striker Robbie Findley after just 27 minutes, he went up front while Matt Derbyshire went to right wing, Andy Reid went to left wing, Joel Lynch went to centre half and Luke Chambers went to right back. Quite honestly the Forest side looked to have no idea who was supposed to be where and resembled a horse that had dismounted its jockey and was now aimlessly running around.
With all due respect to McClaren though, the changes brought a goal, sadly for him though it was a third past Camp.
Stanislas made it a hat-trick of assists when his corner was met by Andre Amougou half an hour in, the big centre half's effort was blocked but Captain McCann was on hand to poke home his first league goal of the season.
As the Burnley players congratulated their skipper the visitors conducted a post-mortem of the goal, pointing fingers and shouting with arms outstretched.
Of their starting XI, six have played Premier League football and on paper it is a side that should be in the top six. The likes of Miller, Reid, Derbyshire and Jonathan Greening are all quality players but it just isn't working under McClaren.
His success in the European outposts of Twente and to a lesser extent Wolfsburg were impressive and deserve credit, but back in England under the severe media scrutiny that a former national team manager has to expect, it's hard to see The Wally With The Brolly ever succeeding with the press on red alert to keenly chart his downfall after every defeat.
McCann's goal, deserved for his solid display alongside the outstanding Marvin Bartley in midfield, wasn't the end of the first-half punishment though as Forest caused themselves another self-inflicted wound.
Wes Morgan's sloppy pass was intercepted by Wallace on the half way line, and the diminutive winger simply ran straight for goal before side stepping Lynch to give himself half a yard to fire a left foot effort past Camp into the bottom corner.
Four-nil up at half time, and as the players headed for the dressing rooms at half time it was the children of Padiham St Leonard's to take centre stage.
Their Africa-inspired performance covered the whole pitch and when the Forest players, sent back out ten minutes into the half-time break, attempted to use half of the pitch to warm up they were roundly booed by the home fans for getting in the way of the youngsters' fifteen minutes of fame.
At 4-0 it was a carnival atmosphere that the home fans well and truly bought into, had those kids appeared to do that show with the score 0-4 though I'm not sure how charitable the fans would have been.
So as the Elephant, the 12ft woman and the 50 children left the pitch, there was probably only one more thing Burnley fans wanted from the night, an elusive clean sheet.
Not since Hull failed to score past Grant in March at the KC Stadium have the Clarets managed a shut-out and despite all the hoping and wishing the wait goes on.
Radoslaw Majewski had his chance on the hour mark from a well positioned free-kick but his effort smacked against the windows of the club's new Football University half-way up the Jimmy McIlroy stand. Instead it was former West Brom striker Miller who breached Burnley's defences, firing under Grant with 30 minutes remaining.
Even the most optimistic Clarets will have thought 'surely we can't throw this away' and taken a nervous glance at the clock, but in truth the goal had little galvanising effect on the visitors at all.
It could easily have been 5-1 minutes after the Forest goal when Bartley, starting to look like a Championship player, weaved his way to the edge of the box only to lose control of the ball and fire wildly over on the stretch.
Then the alarm bells rang again at the back as Findley beat Grant after coming in off the left only to see his effort clip the post.
With 20 minutes remaining though, Burnley had their fifth goal and Charlie Austin had his sixth of the Championship campaign.
Easton's left wing cross looked too deep for everyone but Austin rose high to loop a header back over Camp and across the line before the Forest defence could clear.
Austin, like Bartley, is beginning to look like he belongs at this level. Howe has invested money and belief in a score of young players and with youth comes inexperience and naivety, but as these players play more games in the Championship the better they are getting.
It would be a crime not to mention my man of the match, Kieran Trippier. Last night was far from his most adventurous display going forward but you pick a full-back first and foremost to defend, and time and time again last night various Forest players attempted to get the better of the little Man City star only to be blocked off or robbed of the ball. Tyrone who?
All that was left was for Lewis McGugan to thump a deflected effort off the post and Zavon Hines to dink a delicate effort over Camp that didn't quite have the power to reach the goal line before Morgan rushed in to clear.
Howe left the pitch to a hero's reception, and rightly so, it was the performance he has been waiting for from him young lions. With a trip to a struggling Millwall on Saturday, let's hope Eddie remembers to take Tuesday night's blueprints with him to The Den.