Why Cooper deserves praise following Nottingham Forest's successful Premier League return

There are several strong contenders for the Premier League Manager of the Season award. Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta, Eddie Howe, Unai Emery, Roberto De Zerbi and Marco Silva are the six head coaches who made the shortlist, while Thomas Frank and Gary O’Neil can feel a little hard done by to have not made the cut. 

So too can Steve Cooper. The Welshman oversaw a 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday which preserved Nottingham Forest’s top-flight status. Cooper has been dealt a difficult hand this season, yet he has fulfilled his remit with a game to spare. 

Cooper has done a magnificent job at the City Ground. Never mind the Championship, Forest might be in League One right now without him at the helm. He inherited a team in September 2022 that was in the relegation zone of the second tier after taking one point from the first 21 available.  

Cooper instigated an immediate improvement and Forest surged up the table. They ultimately finished fourth before beating Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town in the playoffs. 

Forest were always going to be busy in last summer’s transfer market. Several members of their promotion-winning squad departed at the end of their contracts or returned to their parent clubs.  

Yet it was hard to discern a clear recruitment strategy. Evangelos Marinakis, the colourful chairman, opted for a scattergun approach. 21 players arrived in total, so it was no surprise that Forest started slowly: as Cooper struggled to integrate so many new faces, his team lost six of their first eight matches. 

Some of those summer signings have made big impacts this season. Morgan Gibbs-White has been Forest’s standout performer, Taiwo Awoniyi is their top scorer, and Serge Aurier has been much more reliable than he was for Tottenham Hotspur. 

On the flip side, Jesse Lingard has underwhelmed, Omar Richards has yet to debut after numerous injury setbacks, and Lewis O’Brien was left out of the Forest’s 25-man squad for the second half of the campaign. 

That was in part because of another influx in the winter window. Between New Year’s Day and the start of February, Forest went on a five-match unbeaten streak and climbed to the heady heights of 13th. 

The mid-season market brought another seven acquisitions. Again, some have worked out. Two Brazilians, Danilo and Felipe, have shone in midfield and defence respectively. Yet Jonjo Shelvey has barely been seen and Andre Ayew has started a grand total of one Premier League game. 

This second influx destabilised Forest once more. The East Midlanders were also unfortunate with injuries, which bit hard in the spring. But it is surely no coincidence that their two worse spells of form this term came soon after the arrival of several new players, before Forest improved once Cooper had settled on a favoured side. 

The hope is that Marinakis has learned his lesson. In an interview with Sky Sports after the Arsenal win, the Greek was not shy to claim part of the credit for Forest’s success. No one could accuse him of being parsimonious, but sometimes less is more. Marinakis also suggested the reason he did not sack Cooper earlier in the campaign was due to a lack of realistic replacements rather than fan pressure. Either way, Forest are grateful that Cooper won that particular battle with the owner. 

Just like Chelsea, outgoings will be just as important as incomings at the City Ground this summer. The last few weeks have shown that Forest have a very decent spine - Felipe, Danilo, Gibbs-White and Awoniyi - to build the team around. Cooper has a defined style of play - Forest rank bottom of the possession table and joint-third for shots after counter-attacks - and purchases should be made with that in mind. 

The squad needs to be trimmed, though, and Forest must be ruthless. It is hard to see how the likes of Shelvey, Chris Wood, Lingard, Steve Cook, Jack Colback and Ayew have much of a future at the City Ground.  

By releasing or offloading some of the deadwood, Forest would create space for four or five targeted, well-thought-through additions in areas of weakness. 

"If I ever lacked belief or confidence there is no way players would have it," Cooper told BBC Sport on Saturday. 

"I have a long way to go before I am a proper manager but if I am serious about managing this club I needed to show I could do it in difficult moments as well."