Garth Crooks has suggested that Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper deserves an apology from Roberto De Zerbi.
Brighton won 3-2 at the City Ground on Saturday and at the final whistle, De Zerbi went absolutely berserk.
The Italian manager raced onto the field to celebrate wildly. In truth, it’s hard to imagine him being quite so happy if Brighton go and lift a trophy!
Forest head coach Cooper didn’t appear happy with his counterpart. Crooks concurs with the Reds incumbent and has given his take on things.
BBC pundit thinks Cooper deserves apology today
Crooks believes that Cooper has every right to be disgruntled with De Zerbi after his antics.
Naturally, there is nothing wrong with celebrating but the way he went about things was a little bit over the top.
Crooks told BBC Sport: “Steve Cooper was unhappy with the result as he was with Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi forgetting to provide a handshake after the game, after getting carried away in the euphoria.
“I’m sure it was nothing personal but a call on Monday morning offering Mr Cooper an apology wouldn’t go amiss.”
De Zerbi out of order but shows how far Forest have come under Cooper
Nobody wants to see the passion go out of football but as a manager, you simply have to address your opposite number first.
De Zerbi wasn’t out of order with celebrating but he should have shaken the hand of Forest head coach Cooper first.
Brighton clearly valued their first win in the Premier League for two months. Forest had only lost to Newcastle and Manchester United at home in 2023 and the City Ground is a tough place to go.
Cooper deserves a bit better from De Zerbi though. The Forest boss would never dare to behave in such fashion and Crooks is right to suggest that an apology is the best course of action here.
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