Jamie Carragher has shared what Steve Cooper told him was an absolute nightmare about managing Nottingham Forest. The Reds departed with their head coach on Tuesday to end his two-year tenure.
It is Nuno Espirito Santo’s responsibility to turn around the club’s finances. Having managed Wolves, Tottenham, and Al-Ittihad in the past, Forest is his third Premier League club.
Cooper was adored by Carragher. He’s previously expressed positive feelings for the Forest head coach, who handled his son James in the Liverpool academy.
Evangelos Marinakis made the decision to terminate Cooper’s employment at Forest. It followed one victory in 13 games, which included a humiliating 5-0 loss at Fulham in which Marinakis threw his matchday pass into a bush outside the stadium.
Carragher and Cooper have a private talk.
The Sky Sports analyst has shared with viewers what Cooper told him following his departure from Forest. Given the relationship he developed with the club’s fan base, it’s safe to predict that Cooper will be devastated to lose his job.
This is Carragher’s explanation of what Cooper told him about Forest management. Not unexpectedly, it had to do with the large volume of players at the football club that he had to manage.
Carragher said, “I spoke with Steve Cooper,” on the Stick to Football podcast. He remarked, “I do believe that’s probably the one club where the manager—I know this—has some players coming in who he doesn’t know anything about.” I thought he deserved it.
“He stated that the player is not at blame. The manager is unable to dismiss him with impunity. He responded, ‘They are good lads. He mentioned that two or three of them are also skilled players. He therefore cannot simply say, “I’m not playing him, I never bought this one.” They are honorable boys. He added that the training site is a nightmare because there is no way to conduct a session there.
“He claimed to have an Argentinean boy who made the game-winning penalty in the World Cup. I can’t even get him on the bench, he added. It’s not like you’re telling a few young guys to go train with the under-23 team when you’re doing the team shape or anything else.
Cooper laments Forest’s lack of players
Cooper certainly has a point, and Forest needs to think more cohesively about the recruitment plan. After being promoted to the Premier League, the Reds bought 23 players; they added seven more in January and thirteen more in the most recent summer.
That is simply not sustainable at any level. With so many players signing on a regular basis, it’s difficult to see any football team being genuinely successful, hence it’s critical that the team realize their mistakes.
Everyone at Forest wishes Cooper well on his departure. In addition to being a great head coach, he is also a top man in this day and age, as seen by the work he has done for the city.
