Steve Cooper and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s careers are intrinsically linked, with the pair working together at Nottingham Forest and at the international level.
The winger hasn’t always gotten on with his coaches, as emphasised when Thomas Tuchel humiliated Hudson-Odoi when he was at Chelsea. At Forest, though, his managers have been perfect.
Forest signed Hudson-Odoi when Cooper was still in the hot seat, but it’s his crucial displays under Nuno Espirito Santo that have been even more noteworthy, especially Hudson-Odoi’s winner at Anfield.
This season has been productive enough that Hudson-Odoi has been linked with an England call-up, but his successes all link back to Cooper, something he has reflected on in an interview.
Callum Hudson-Odoi hails Steve Cooper
Speaking to ITV Sport ahead of Forest’s FA Cup semi final against Manchester City, the winger was asked about the influence of Cooper on his career to date, something he was very candid about.
He said: “Huge. I think at the time before coming here [Forest] I had other offers at other places but for myself, having a conversation with Steve really made it much easier for me.
“He’s an amazing guy and I’ve worked with him for the Under 17s World Cup so I think it made it easy for me when he and the club came, I was 100% coming.”
Cooper has been linked with the West Brom job in recent days so he could get the chance to impact more careers like he has done with Hudson-Odoi. However, it wasn’t just the 24-year-old who represented England at that World Cup and went on to grace the City Ground pitch.
Two other Nottingham Forest gems starred for Cooper’s England
Hudson-Odoi helped Cooper to England glory back in 2017 in a side littered with today’s stars, including two other players who would go on to wear the Garribaldi Red:
- Jonathan Panzo
- Morgan Gibbs-White
Clearly, one has had a more fruitful Forest career as Gibbs-White is one of Espirito Santo’s most important players. Panzo has only made a single appearance for Forest amongst a plethora of loan moves, currently enjoying a temporary spell at Evangelos Marinakis-owned Rio Ave.
Hudson-Odoi tipped Panzo to be a star after playing with him in that England tournament but it has yet to happen for the defender with Espirito Santo yet to consider him for any minutes.
Still, the three of them are intrinsically linked through the influence of Cooper, with Hudson-Odoi especially having a lot to thank the ex-Forest manager for.
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