Swans man not surprised to see Cooper prosper
STEVE Cooper doing well at Nottingham Forest doesn’t come as any surprise to Swansea City defender Ryan Manning.
Cooper takes the Reds to face his former club tomorrow looking to make it eight games unbeaten, having lost only once in his 13 games in charge.
It will be the first time he has returned to the Liberty Stadium since leaving in July, after two years at the helm.
He took the Swans to the Championship play-offs in each of his two seasons in South Wales – with the aim to replicate that promotion push on the banks of the Trent.
“I think any manager that gets a team to the play-offs two years on the spin is obviously doing things right,” Manning told the BBC.
“Last season we got to the playoff final, we were 90 minutes away from the Premier League.
“You have to look back on that as a really successful season, even though it was not the ending you would want.
“He is obviously a really good coach, a really good manager.
“He is able to get results in the Championship and he has done really well over the past few seasons, so it’s no surprise that he is doing well at Forest as well.”
The Reds go into the weekend’s clash in 13th spot, six points adrift of the play-off places - a significant climb from being rock bottom when Cooper took over.
During his time at Swansea, some supporters criticised their team’s style of play, pointing to a lack of goals as results were sometimes ground out.
“We got to the play-off final,” responded Manning, who was signed by Cooper from QPR.
“There were 20 other teams who watched us on 29 May and thought, ‘what we’d do to be in their position, with a chance to go to the Premier League.’
“It can’t have been too bad, what he was doing here.”