TOM COLLOMOSSE: Nottingham Forest would be taking a huge gamble sacking Steve Cooper despite going seven games without a win – but after spending £160m, owner Evangelos Marinakis will swing the axe if he fears his side are headed for the drop
- Forest dropped points at home as they threw away a lead to draw 1-1 vs Wolves
- The club have relied on their City Ground form for success in the Premier League
- Marinakis was angry at some decisions from Cooper and could risk a change
If Steve Cooper does not see out the season and Nottingham Forest are still relegated, the narrative will write itself.
‘Volatile owner Evangelos Marinakis pays the ultimate price for his decision to sack the club’s best-loved manager since Brian Clough.’
But as with most things in football, the situation is not quite that simple.
Imagine this scenario: Forest are relegated on goal difference. Cooper would be rightly praised for coming so close to survival under highly unusual circumstances – 30 new players, for example – and would almost certainly land a Premier League job.
Forest, meanwhile, would have to handle an instant return to the Championship, probably sell Brennan Johnson and Morgan Gibbs-White, and brace themselves for a new financial reality. Marinakis would spend the summer wondering what might have happened had he made a change.
Steve Cooper has shown he is a good coach but that doesn’t mean Nottingham Forest won’t be relegated
The club threw away a lead at the City Ground on Saturday as they drew 1-1 with Wolves
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis stormed the tunnel after the game in frustration
Wolves have numerous flaws but were 20th in the table when Julen Lopetegui took over last November, and are now three points clear of the bottom three – a point better off than Forest. If they can steer away from danger, chairman Jeff Shi will look back on the decision to appoint Lopetegui as one of the best in the era of Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate who bought Wolves in 2016.
Removing Cooper would be a huge risk. He is an excellent coach who has performed a minor miracle at Forest. When he took over in September 2021, they were heading for League One and he ended up taking them into the Premier League.
He has managed brilliantly to unify players, staff and supporters at a club who were in a mess when he arrived. Johnson has turned into a genuine Premier League star through Cooper’s guidance. Cooper is 43, and nobody should be surprised if he is in charge of a Champions League club before he turns 50.
Brennan Johnson has become a Premier League star and the club will lose him if they are releagted
None of that means they will avoid relegation this season, though, and that is the sole consideration for Marinakis right now. As he probably saw it, £160million on transfer fees alone – not to mention the increased wage bill – should have guaranteed comfortable survival at the very least. There are many mitigating circumstances but they matter little as far as he is concerned.
That is why the owner marched into the tunnel to take players to task after his 1-1 draw. He was unimpressed with some of the second-half substitutions and also thought Forest should have pushed harder for the win after Johnson’s opener had been cancelled out by Daniel Podence with seven minutes left.
If Marinakis concludes that Cooper cannot keep Forest in the league, he will act. He has seen other clubs change manager and benefit – Unai Emery at Aston Villa, Sean Dyche at Everton and Javi Gracia at Leeds have all made a difference, with Roy Hodgson also making an immediate impression by winning the first game of his second spell at Crystal Palace.
Then there are other elements for the ownership to consider. Forest have taken six points from a possible 39 away from home, meaning they are effectively relying on 19 home games to keep themselves above the line. Cooper has been unable to correct that.
Marinakis needs to decide if he wants to risk a change or continue to back Cooper
How about the January signings Cooper backed? Chris Wood, on about £100,000 per week, was ineffective and is now out injured for the rest of the season. Jonjo Shelvey does not look mobile enough for today’s Premier League.
Andre Ayew had been playing for Al-Sadd in the Qatar Stars League for the previous 18 months. Unlikely to be the man to make the difference in a battle for Premier League survival.
But some of the signings made above Cooper are no better, symbolised by Jesse Lingard, a £6m-a-year ownership vanity project who was not even in the squad against Wolves. It is a transfer policy that would make Brighton owner Tony Bloom or Brentford counterpart Matthew Benham scream with horror.
So now to the key question: stick or twist. Wolves twisted and while they in just as much trouble as Forest, they are better off than they would have been under Bruno Lage. As for Forest, Marinakis’ next call will surely be the most important of his entire ownership of Forest.
