Becoming a team is about daily behaviour not going off on a bonding’ session and climbing a mountain
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, 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 said: “We’ve 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.”
Buzz
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 hangs over the club as to whether he can forge a bond that will see them adapt to life among the big boys.
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, it’s an easy one to focus on – but I understand it, and yes, that’s the situation. There are 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 are you going to become a team? And that’s about togetherness and a culture.
“If you want to be all of those things, for me it’s about daily behaviour.
“It’s not about a team-bonding session where you all go off and climb a mountain.
“All of those things can be important. 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 match day or by giving an interview, it has to be the way we live every single day.”
History
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.
Asked if he feels the hand of history on his shoulders, Cooper said: “It’s never been on my shoulders. We will always stand on the shoulders of those (Mainz) (Troyes) (Atalanta) (Bayern Munich) (Huddersfield) (Huddersfield) (Man Utd) (C Palace) (Man Utd)
TO COME
EMMANUEL DENNIS £15m CHEIKHOU KOUYATE
(Watford)
great teams and we stand on it 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 – people who should always be here as much as they want to be around the club.
“I’ve enjoyed learning about it. 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. We don’t want to fear the hand of history. In fact, we take pride in it.”