CLASSY NECO
Star aiming to impress boss
NECO WILLIAMS is already turning into a Grade A student at Nottingham Forest.
Boss Steve Cooper pounced for £17million Williams from Liverpool in the summer having been linked with a permanent move for loanee Djed Spence.
Right-back Spence (below) joined Tottenham from Middlesbrough instead in a £20m deal but Cooper has no regrets after seeing the start Williams has made at the City Ground.
And he has already been impressed with the way Williams is approaching the challenge.
Cooper said: “The exciting thing about Neco is he loves the growth and the learning and he likes to reflect on games.
Thinker
“He likes the detail we go in to and we have to make sure we provide it for him.
“Some players just draw a line under a game and move on but Neco is a thinker and we would like to give him an opportunity to do that.
“He has had a really good start and done some really good things and I know there are things he is desperate to get better at.”
Wales international
Williams has come straight into the Cooper setup, while Spence is unlikely to feature for Tottenham when the teams meet today.
Cooper insists that Williams was always on his priority list in the summer recruitment drive, which has seen 17 players arrive with more to come.
Demand
He added: “It was topical with Djed, he was part of last season’s success, but it was a case of not losing out on Neco rather than waiting for one or two others.
“What we did was look at all the options at every single position and it was important to get some early ones done. Neco was in high demand at
Liverpool and we were in the mix for him.
“Once we met and both wanted to do it, it was too good an opportunity.
“We’ve done it with other players where we have signed them because the deals are there to be done and we couldn’t take the risk of waiting for others.
“They are different players and I don’t want to compare them as it’s not fair and Djed is a Spurs player now. That is not my domain. But we are really happy with Neco.”
Cooper is also taking new steps as a Premier League manager and looking forward to the challenge. He added: “I just want to be authentic. I want to be myself.
“I’ve coached professionally for 20 years, done tens of thousands of games and sessions, a lot of it at academy level and I’m clear about the coach and character that I want to be.
“A good representation for the club you work for and this is a club with a great history and values and beliefs. And I do my best to live up to that.”