Nottingham Forest’s surprise resurgence under new manager Steve Cooper
Nottingham Forest’s surprise resurgence under new manager Steve Cooper
Things were looking bleak for Nottingham Forest come the start of the season, having failed to win a single opening game and picking up just the one point in August, Forest sat rock bottom of the Championship, and following a further two losses in September, Chris Hughton was sacked. Caretaker manager Steven Reid was given the reigns while the club looked to find a replacement who could rescue the clubs disastrous start to the season.
Not many would have expected much from the Caretaker manager, as Forest were seen doomed for relegation, but Reid managed to haul the team to their first win of the season, a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield and with their first 3 points of the season secured, the club appointed ex Swansea City manager Steve Cooper as the man to revive their season.
Cooper, who took Swansea to the playoffs the season prior and having left after becoming unsettled, was appointed with the number one goal of keeping the club in Championship, but with the club’s strong recent form, more could be on the cards.
Having failed to pick up a single point in the clubs first 4 games, Forest have now picked up 7 out of a possible 9 under the new manager, with a 3-0 thumping over Birmingham City compounding Forest’s recent electric form.
The club now sits seventeenth in the Championship, having been rock bottom only a few weeks ago, a feat many would have seen as impossible, with much of the success attributed to the new manager whose influence has seemingly spread throughout the club and lifted the fans and players alike.
Striker Lyle Taylor told BBC Radio Nottingham: “The atmosphere around the place is fantastic and as a player, you go about your business, you go to work but if you can go to work and enjoy what you’re doing, get some sort of real buzz about the place and a real sense of achievement and then take that onto the pitch as a squad, not just as 11 players but as a squad, you’re going to do well and that is all led by the man at the helm.”
Preparations now turn to Saturday’s game against Blackpool who currently sit twelfth in the Championship, a win could see Nottingham Forest climb to thirteenth in the table, if other results go their way, a turn in form and league position that will shock many who deemed Forest to be favourites for relegation.
Nottingham Forest’s resurgence under Cooper is just the start, with the manager planning a Norwich-esc revolution at the club, having told the Nottingham Forest fan forum: “As a rule of thumb, teams that have done well in the Championship and got promoted have had homegrown players in there that just run a little bit more with that youthful enthusiasm”.
Steve Cooper’s time at Nottingham Forest is just beginning, and with a club that has faced tough times in recent seasons, fans will be very excited at the prospects that Cooper brings to the club.
By Jack Clark
Feature Image Ross Jones
