YOU DROP Cooper not hanging around
STEVE COOPER says the revolving dressing-room door at Nottingham Forest will keep turning until the transfer window closes.
As the two-time former European Champions prepare to host their first Premier League fixture at home in 23 years against West
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LIKELY TEAMS NOTTM FOREST: today, they do so against the backdrop of a huge upheaval in their playing staff.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis has already bankrolled a £100million splurge – with a glut of new faces arriving at the City Ground during the close season.
Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis is primed to be added to
Cooper’s squad this week along with free agent Cheikhou Kouyate. And the Forest chief insists the spending is not over.
He said: “We have signed a lot of players – and we will continue signing players. By the way, I’m open to talking about it.
“We’re nowhere near finished in terms of players coming in and leaving.
“The sooner the better obviously, because then you can get your group together and the window shuts. But this is the situation we are in. We’re not looking at it negatively. It’s part of the journey.”
Cooper knows there is a buzz about the amount of work that Forest have done. However,
a significant chunk of their Championship play-off-winning side were loaned to them.
Djed Spence, James Garner and Keinan Davis were only ever temporary stop-gaps – but all of them played an integral part in the club’s promotion to the top flight.
Cooper knows that a huge question mark hangs over the club as to whether he can forge a bond that will see them adapt to life among the big boys this term.
He said: “At the moment, the narrative is, ‘Look at Forest, there’s a load of new players, are they going to gel?.’
“If that’s the case, I think it’s an easy one to focus on – but I understand it, and yes, that’s the situation.
“There’s still a lot of players and staff who were here last season. So there’s a lot of continuity on a daily basis with the routines. The club captain is Joe Worrall and the vice-captain is Ryan Yates.
“They’ve been here years – let’s not lose sight of that.
“The question is how quickly you are going to become a team. And that’s about togetherness and a culture.
“But the real way to become the team you want to be is by living and breathing it every day.
“It’s by being consistent, sticking to the plan. To be the team we want it has to be not just on a matchday or by giving an interview, it has to be the way we live every single day.”
With Forest’s return, questions about the club’s history – with the achievements of two-time European Cup winner Brian Clough – are at the forefront.
Cooper, however, has embraced the challenge. He said: “We will always stand on the shoulders of those great teams and we stand on them proudly because this club was built on that era.
“This summer I really loved getting to understand it even more and meeting the likes of John McGovern, Garry Birtles and Frank Clark – I had an amazing phone call from Nigel Clough during the summer.
“We are always looking to really understand the past because it just motivates us to create a future. It sounds a bit cheesy but it’s true.”