SITS TIGHT leave Coop in cold sweat
STEVE COOPER did almost as much as he could have done to persuade Greek shipping tycoon Evangelos Marinakis not to throw him overboard.
If only his Forest players had not missed three easy chances to sink Wolves, then Cooper might have steered himself further away from the rocks.
As it is, it will probably be another nervy Sunday for Cooper as Marinakis decides whether or not his captain should walk the plank.
At the end – as they had done after midweek defeat at Fulham – Forest fans sang Cooper’s name and warmly returned the Welshman’s applause after the final whistle.
His waves, defiant thumbs-up and hugs for his players will have looked a little too much like a final farewell for some of those fans. Did he know something they don’t?
Marinakis is unpredictable and volatile but Cheikhou Kouyate, Anthony Elanga and
Harry Toffolo will all know they could have made Cooper’s position more secure had they taken their opportunities.
After Toffolo had given Forest an early lead, Matheus Cunha levelled before Kouyate missed a sitter before the break.
Elanga slammed a secondhalf shot against the bar, before Toffolo headed over from two yards out.
Having suffered in midweek,
Cooper had done what any sane manager would do after losing 5-0 to Fulham – he made seven changes.
It worked, up to a point – that was when Forest took the lead in the 14th minute.
Cooper’s decision to flood bodies into a five-man midfield seemed to confuse Wolves.
When Neco Williams – pushed further forward into the type of role he plays effectively for Wales – curled a delicious cross from the right, Toffolo had only to choose which side of the goal he wanted to score in. But
the lead inhibited Forest and they began to sit deeper, in the vague hope they might be capable of absorbing 76 minutes of home pressure.
And the equaliser would have annoyed Cooper, given that it might have been preventable had his defenders – especially Moussa Niakhate – not switched off as Pablo Sarabia rolled the ball into Cunha’s path.
Hugo Bueno had a shot blocked soon after and Nelson Semedo fired over the bar as Wolves dominated until halftime.