Nottingham Forest’s procurement of Steve Cooper as manager is the most positive news for years at City Ground. His appointment ends a long list of aging, household names that invariably relied on the 4-2-3-1 formation and a worryingly familiar mantra of “avoid defeat rather than attempt to win a football match.” Seven points from his first three games in charge certainly constitutes an immediate effect and more importantly the goals for column looks wonderful in comparison.

Chris Hughton’s last game in charge prompted some furious fan reaction across the social media platforms which is no surprise these days, let’s face it, the vitriol and distain sometimes expressed after a solitary defeat is enough to break the resolve of the most ardent of manager and supporter alike.

The comments alluding to his playing style and the results it manifested were completely justified in my opinion, but as usual, the necessity to target certain players for hate wasn’t too far behind. Perhaps the most controversial angle of attack from the fan base was that channelled toward the Greek owners of the club. It’s fair to say that the tenure of Evangelos Marinakis and Sokratis Kominakis hasn’t been a bed of roses. Since taking over at Nottingham Forest, which was in a horrendous state, on and off the field of play, they have failed to win over the NFFC supporters by relying on a perpetual string of average, overseas imports, and an unconvincing link to Marinakis’s main club Olympiacos. So, when things reached rock bottom following the defeat to Middlesbrough, I wasn’t surprised to see Twitter erupt like the volcano on La Palma. I read several comments requesting a protest against the owners, to hopefully be spearheaded by a flag and banner brigade of the Forest supporters. Whilst I sympathized with a handful of valid points, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between our rivals down the A52. Derby County are in an unbelievable mess and face a realistic possibility of going out of business like Bury FC; a situation which certainly puts things into perspective when our owners, despite their misgivings, are pumping around twenty million pounds a year into the club.

In an article I wrote shortly after the capitulation versus Middlesbrough I asked for change as opposed to replacement.
I used the term insanity to describe the Modus Operandi of our club given the regurgitation of the same behaviours time after time. But as I alluded to, I pleaded for change of direction as opposed to a Bolshevik revolution. In layman’s terms, end the baffling transfers of highly paid nobodies and hire a manager who wants to attack the opposition and who will dare to deviate from the monotony of 4-2-3-1!

Well, it seems to all and sundry that the hierarchy at Nottingham Forest are willing to adapt and throw caution to the wind having appointed Steve Cooper. Interestingly too, the club have retained the services of Steven Reid on the coaching staff, another indication that communication between the players, staff and owners is positive. Reid gave Forest their first Championship win of the season when he deployed a 3-4-3 formation and humbled Huddersfield Town in their own back yard; interestingly, that very formation has been the preferred choice of Cooper since his arrival, coincidence? One can only assume, and I use the word assume carefully, that the employment of Dane Murphy has impacted things behind the scenes prior to the arrival of Steve Cooper. Much has been made of the loan recruitment of both Max Lowe and Djed Spence in the last transfer window, whilst Hughton was still in charge.
Many NFFC supporters were quick to notice the potential for wing back duties by the aforementioned players should we ever dare to change the shape.

At this point it would be easy to get carried away, seven points from three games and lots of goals to regale upon. However, as the new gaffer touched upon, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially at the back, comments he made shortly after the Birmingham victory in which we could well have conceded as many as we scored to be honest. I speak for thousands when I say that I’m delighted to have Steve Cooper at Forest, a man who knows how to attack, a man who’s achieved back-to-back play-off qualification and a man who’s won a World Cup with England; quite simply, a breath of fresh air.