Does Steve Cooper really know what he’s done?
On 21st September 2021, Steve Cooper took over from Chris Hughton as Nottingham Forest manager.
Sitting rock bottom of the Championship with a solitary point after seven games, Nottingham Forest had not been guilty of such a poor start to a season since before the First World War.
On an almost unimaginable scale, Steve Cooper managed to take a mediocre, provincial Forest side from the bottom of the Championship to the Premier League within less than 9 months. An amazing achievement that even the most optimistic of Forest fans couldn’t have dreamt of.
Beating Huddersfield 1-0 at Wembley in a painfully dull game of football, finally saw Nottingham Forest return to the Premier League after 23 years of Championship and League 1 football, including play-off disappointments and more manager appointments than Asda. It was a period of pain and disappointment.
For those of us who grew up and witnessed Forest dominating Europe for two seasons, seeing Forest trawl through season after season of lower league battles was like gnawing through one’s wrist.
Sporting Survival
Not only had Steve Cooper managed to promote our beloved team with a collection of loan and academy players that was wallowing in Premiership inexperience, but he managed to secure survival by beating Arsenal 1-0 on May, 20th 2023.
My question is at this point, does Steve Cooper know what he has done? Does he really appreciate what it means to Forest fans to be back playing premiership football?
Some would argue that Forest belongs there, but, in my opinion, despite the Brian Clough glory years, any team can only maintain the right to play at the highest level by merit alone.
You can’t even claim to play good football anymore. Premiership survival is all about grinding out results, gaining momentum and finding a winning formula to push onwards and upwards.
It is a miraculous accomplishment – there is no doubt about it – and considering the circumstances, the squad, the injuries, and decadent ‘Match of the Day’ doubters, Steve Cooper managed to pull off the kind of sporting survival that has not been witnessed since a plane full of raucous Uruguayan rugby players crashed into a South American mountain range.
Transformation and Revitalisation
The return to a second season in the Premier League has transformed the city and revitalised the fans.
Once again, there are more Forest shirts on display in Nottingham than Manchester City and Chelsea, and people are discussing the games with enthusiasm and waiting in tense anticipation for the next fixture’s starting XI: ‘Will MGW be on the right? Will Toffolo start? Is Danilo fit? Has anyone else pulled a hamstring whilst shaving?’
These and many other unanswered questions are constantly echoing around the streets of Nottingham as Steve Cooper’s Red Army gives us all something worth cheering about; something worth debating; something worth getting out of bed for.
Thanks to Steve Cooper, Nottingham Forest fans have relearned to substitute mundane weather conversations and unneighbourly gossip for interesting, in-depth analysis about Nottingham Forest’s tactics in, arguably, the best domestic football league in the world.
When the real glory, glory days finally came to a close as Forest bowed out of the European Champions Cup in the first round to a lacklustre CSKA Moscow, the fans never imagined travelling to Gillingham and Preston to play third-tier football. It was always going to be there; the door to Europe will always be open and accessible to Nottingham Forest.
Garry Birtles made his way to Manchester United and Peter Shilton received a sainthood, as Forest began to usher in a new generation of players who were trodden on in Tokyo in a physical battle against Uruguayan Copa Libertadores Winner, Nacional, and the next time Forest would be in a prominent international semi-final, they would be cheated by Anderlecht and their £27,000.00 loan to a referee.
European Expectations
Martin O’Neill once said that the players were concerned that the European Cup might be ‘the only trophy they win’ in one season! These days, just one European Champions League medal can cement a player’s career into the history books and give him or her a six-figure book deal. In the days of Brian Clough, one European Cup just wasn’t good enough.
I remember seeing Forest lose away to Birmingham City, 4-3, and Cloughie described the game as one of his favourites because it isn’t very often that you see a player (Ian Wallace) score a hat-trick and finish the game on the losing side. Wallace left the field with the match ball and a disappointed look on his face. I mean, what more does a player have to do to help win a game?
But what did I expect? I had been spoiled by the high expectations of a team that, to this day, sits amongst an elite few to have not only won the European Cup but to have won it back-to-back.
Forest was the first team to appear in three successive League Cup finals and subsequently made Wembley an occasional fixture until the mid-90s. The only records they would break in subsequent years would be for getting thrashed at home.
Surely, I knew that one day I’d be watching Forest entertain the Galácticos of Carlisle United on a cold Monday night in March. Of course not. We never thought the bubble would burst that loudly. It shocked us into years of midtable mediocrity in the Championship and too many seasons in League One.
When was the pain going to end?
Well, history now tells us that it was 29th May 2022. And who is to blame? Well, several players, staff and fans have contributed to this memorable occasion but one name that stands out amongst the Trent End crowd is Steve Cooper.
He is a man of the fans; he understands the club – he gets it – and he’s most certainly one of our own now but does Steve Cooper know what he’s done?
Well, he’s a humble guy and he talks to fans – he seems to understand the culture of the club – he feels passionate about Nottingham Forest – you can hear the emotion in his voice when he speaks fondly about the city and, he says he loves this club.
Currently, going into a tough task at home to Villa, Forest has a home record that can only be rivalled by Man City and Liverpool, and I conclude by saying that I believe that Steve Cooper does know what he’s done. I think he can feel it. He has a certain empathy for the fans and is openly grateful too, and anyone who can feel the emotions, frustration and pain that it takes to be a Forest fan, surely understands the extent of his success.
The only sad part of this story is that one day in the future near or far – Steve Cooper will no longer be the manager of Nottingham Forest.
How his tenure will end, nobody knows. He could be whisked off by the FA to manage England; he could find an exotic role in Spain, or he could be ceremoniously sacked by Marinakis after failing to beat Everton and Bournemouth at home.
Time and Space
But one thing is for sure, we hope that Steve Cooper gets that time and space needed to provide the club with Premiership stability. And, above all, we will never forget that man for what he has done. We’ll never forget that day at Wembley in May; the Taiwo goal against Arsenal, and what life was like before Steve Cooper came to Nottingham Forest.
As a Forest fan – and I’m sure you’re with me on this one – I hope, eventually, one day Steve Cooper will know exactly what he’s done… because, for those of us who are committed to the red side of the Trent, he has actually changed lives.
