On The Road FOREST ON FIRE
Cooper the right man to rouse sleeping giant
IT WAS the finger-jabbing finale to an abject evening. another home defeat, another wasted chance to record a first win of the season and tem-pers were beginning to fray.
while Chris Hughton was seeing out the final hours of his short tenure, an irate fan wanted to make a point. Digit raised towards the directors’ box, his request for managerial and boardroom change was still politely delivered.
Losing 2-0 at home to Middles-brough on september 15 had pushed the supporter to the brink. Owner Evangelos Marinakis, in absentia, got there first and it was cheerio Chris, wel-come steve Cooper.
Or should that be, come in No22? Cooper is Forest’s 22nd manager since the great Brian Clough’s departure in 1993 — actually the 24th appointment as stuart Pearce and Billy Davies did the job twice — and not counting interim bosses. Lasting a season at the City Ground almost deserves a long-service award.
Ex-swansea manager Cooper, 41, has been given a contract until 2024 and every step he has taken since replacing Hughton has been on the money. Results help, too, of course. ten points from a possible 12, and a first home win of the sea-son in front of another huge crowd (27,946) had the place rocking.
‘I want the players and staff and supporters to all connect because if we can become one it will be really hard for opponents,’ Cooper said. ‘we’ve got to be obsessed with keeping it going. when I heard about the size of the crowd today, I thought we have to thrive on that and if we can play some good footy, that’s my job.’
Forest fans will want to buy into that philosophy, especially if there are players who have come through the academy.
Brennan Johnson’s attachment to the club started when he was eight. Having been loaned out to Lincoln last season, he has become an integral part of the Forest team and it was his third goal of the season which opened the scoring. His father, David, was a striker at the club, too.
the raking cross-field pass which sparked the three-man move came courtesy of another homegrown player, Joe worrall. Ryan Yates and substitute alex Mighten have also progressed locally.
Earlier in the season, Forest would probably have gone on to
REX lose this match, their heads dropping after sloppy defending led to an equaliser from Jerry Yates.
the opposite was true on satur-day, with Lewis Grabban capping the comeback with a fifth goal of the season.
Forest enjoy a special place in the football annals. History oozes out of every pore, from the photos of the legends which adorn the wall outside the boardroom, to the full-throttle singing of the club’s anthem, even if the lyrics to the tune of Mull of Kintyre give the game away.
the Christmas No1 of 1977 was adapted as Forest marched to the title — in the old First Division — on their journey to becoming champions of Europe.
Cooper says it makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up when Forest fans break into song. Embracing history is always a tricky proposition. Joe Kinnear (manager No7 post-Clough) ordered the pictures be taken down because he was convinced his players were suffering from an inferiority complex.
Cooper’s first request was to take part in a supporters’ forum, where a youngster from independent fans’ group Forza Garibaldi sought reassurance that the corridor of legends was not under any threat. It is not.
the welshman, together with assistant alan tait, last week sought out John McGovern and Garry Birtles, and the wide-eyed football men listened to the tales of the history boys. Cooper wasn’t even born when trevor Francis’ goal won the first European Cup against Malmo in 1979.
Not that he has any intention of living in the past. the club recruited american Dane Murphy from Barnsley as their CEO in the summer and there are stadium development plans close to being finalised.
a brighter future beckons and the hope is that everyone will be singing along to the same tune into the Premier League.
Mull of Kintyre anybody?