Danny Murphy has just delivered his verdict on the situation surrounding Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper live on TalkSPORT.
The Reds were beaten 2-1 at Leeds United last night to slip level on points with the team in 18th place in the relegation zone.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis isn’t happy with the results or the performances. As a result, speculation has been rife over Cooper’s position at the club.
Murphy doesn’t believe that the head coach should be in any danger though. He’s praised the job he’s done at Forest and thinks he deserves more time.
He said live on TalkSPORT: “He took them from the relegation zone in the Championship to the Premier League in one year and that’s phenomenal.
“There’s no guarantee of success. If one manager stands out as someone who should get a stay of execution this season it’s Steve Cooper.
“If you put it in context, Forest have probably got to the Premier League too quickly, given the squad of players they had last season.
Cooper led the club to an unlikely promotion last season, despite the club sitting bottom of the league when he replaced Chris Hughton.
Naturally, that will only buy him so much time though. Marinakis is ambitious and last night, it appeared that the players weren’t playing for their manager.
Murphy has delivered verdict on Forest boss Cooper
Murphy is spot on. Forest would be mad to sack Cooper with just nine games of the campaign remaining and the show must go on.
The atmosphere on Trentside could seriously turn if the head coach is relieved of his duties. He has embraced the culture at Forest and is seriously good at what he does.
It’s been a challenging period for the Reds. With so many new players to blend in, however, this was always a likely scenario.
Remarkably Forest are still in with a chance of survival. With a tough run of fixtures to come, however, it remains to be seen what Marinakis is thinking.
Hopefully, he doesn’t do anything hasty and Cooper will be in charge at Villa Park on Saturday.
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