Nottingham Forest fans might not have much time for Nathan Jones but his departure from Southampton has impacted Chris Cohen. Jones’ trusted lieutenant has left St Mary’s Stadium following the decision to sack Jones after a run of one win in nine matches.
Jones hasn’t covered himself in glory at all with Southampton. If anything it’s been a genuine case of Stoke 2.0 for the manager who just seems like the perfect fit for Luton and a disastrous one anywhere else.
Cohen joined Luton in September 2020 to reunite with Jones. The pair played together for Yeovil Town and quite clearly, the duo have remained good friends ever since.
Last season the pair worked wonders at Luton. The Hatters reached the play-offs against the odds before narrowly losing out to Huddersfield over two legs in the semi-final.
Now, Cohen is out of work. He proved himself as a very capable coach during his time with Forest, doing some great things with the under-21s in roles as assistant and later manager.
Quite frankly, Forest let Cohen slip through the net. He had served his time with the academy ranks and at a time when the first team were struggling, perhaps Sabri Lamouchi would have been wise to promote him.
Jones departure has impacted Cohen and perhaps Forest could use him
The talented coach spent 11 years with Forest as a player. He’d have made more than the 303 appearances that he did make on the banks of the River Trent.
Cohen is a respected character within the game. It’s fair to say that he’s one of the game’s good guys and he’s always been very open about his desire to see Forest do well.
With that in mind, could Cooper try and bring Cohen back to the place where he’s worshipped by the supporters as part of his backroom team?
It has to be said that at this stage it seems a little bit unlikely. Cohen might want to take stock of his first Premier League experience first before jumping straight back on the bike.
Cooper does like to work with talented young coaches. Following the departure of Steven Reid in the summer, he chose to promote Andy Reid from the under-23s into his senior team.
Appointing Cohen would make sense. He seems to fit the ethos of what Cooper looks for in a coach and it’s fair to say that at 35-years-old he has a very bright future in coaching.