Cooper can’t see Forest for team
STEVE COOPER has the international break to find a team out of his £150million Nottingham Forest spend.
Boss Cooper is reeling after four successive defeats and 14 goals conceded.
It’s not what Greek owner Evangelos Marinakis expected when he sanctioned a summer spend on 22 new players.
He has already sacked the manager of his Greek club Olympiakos and is renowned for his ruthlessness.
Successive home defeats to two clubs Forest were promoted with – Bournemouth and Fulham on Friday – leaves Cooper vulnerable.
Next up after the break is a trip to struggling Leicester and Cooper needs to improve his new team before that East Midlands derby.
“I’ve spoken about this with the lads, we’re aware of it and I’ve challenged them to become a team,” said the Welshman.
“That comes when you have real trust with each other. But trust comes over time.”
Cooper celebrates one year in charge this week and a remarkable 12 months it has been, with him taking Forest off the bottom of the Championship to playing Premier League football for the first time in 23 years.
“We’ve lost four games on the bounce – that’s not good at any stage,” he added. “But while we’re becoming a team, we have to stay with it in terms of points.”
Forest have been ahead in both their last two games and collapsed, leaving them with one league win all season.
“That’s on me. I have to make sure we improve,” said Cooper.
Fulham climbed to sixth with their win at Forest and boss Marco Silva praised defender Tim Ream. He said: “He’s been a top player and captain for me ever since I arrived at this club.”