Tony Cascarino has claimed that he’s got some sympathy for Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper. The pundit has been discussing the club’s aggressive approach to recruitment, with 30 new players signed since promotion.
It’s not the first time that Cascarino has risked the wrath of Forest supporters. Earlier this year he told TalkSPORT that he thought Cooper might be the first manager to lose his job during 2022/23.
Forest are currently in freefall and yesterday’s defeat has put them back into the bottom three. The Reds haven’t won since early February when they beat Leeds and that was nine games ago.
Now, Cascarino has defended Cooper and taken aim at the club’s recruitment policy. He was speaking on TalkSPORT earlier today about the fact that so many new players have been added to the ranks.
He said: How do you manage so many new signings and make it work? Once you go over 20 new players in a football club, you’re asking for trouble. I don’t really know how you make that work.”
Cascarino does have a bit of a point, although there is a lack of research evident here. The Reds were promoted with five loan players, whilst Brice Samba and Lewis Grabban moved on in the summer.
As a result, a big recruitment drive was somewhat necessary. Okay, perhaps 30 was overkill but ultimately, Forest have had to contend with a number of injuries to key players.
Cascarino shows sympathy to Cooper
This season has been a bit of a slog for Forest. They will be desperately trying to secure enough points to stay in the Premier League but right now things aren’t looking particularly positive.
Perhaps Forest did sign a few too many players. Certain signings simply haven’t worked out for the club, whilst others have already departed the club on loan.
Cascarino’s comments won’t go down too well with the Forest fan base. Plenty of supporters are often keen to remind the pundit of his comments earlier in the season regarding Cooper’s future.
His latest claim does have some substance, however.
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