Nottingham Forest’s coaching staff has developed since Steve Cooper became their manager in September 2021. So, who features in the tactician’s backroom team at the City Ground?
Manager: Steve Cooper
The Reds named Cooper as their latest manager as Nottingham Forest endured a poor start to the 2021/22 Championship season under Chris Hughton. He took charge with the club at the bottom of the table. Yet the Welshman’s debut season in charge ended with promotion.
Nottingham Forest secured more points than any other second-tier side over the remainder of the season after appointing Cooper as their manager. He then plotted wins over Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town to come through the play-offs for their Premier League berth.
Cooper further guided Nottingham Forest to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since the 1995/96 season in 2021/22. While the Welshman guided his Reds to the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) semi-finals for the first time since losing the 1991/92 final in 2022/23.
His efforts as Hughton’s successor saw Nottingham Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, give Cooper a new contract in October 2022. The new deal running to June 2025 also removed a £1.5m release clause from the tactician’s original terms, which were set to end in June 2023.
Assistant first-team coach: Alan Tate
Cooper added Alan Tate to Nottingham Forest’s coaching staff as an assistant upon replacing Hughton as their manager. He had earlier worked with the Welshman at Swansea City before the tactician resigned in July 2021. They also guided the Jacks to successive play-off finishes.
Tate initially stayed on at Swansea after Cooper resigned to work under Russell Martin. But he would later accept the offer to join Nottingham Forest’s coaching staff. It also marked his first backroom role away from South Wales having started as an U18s coach with the club in 2016.
Swansea afforded Tate his first coaching position after retiring at Port Talbot shortly after the long-time Jacks centre-half left the club. The Manchester United product enjoyed 313 games with Swansea – including two earlier loan spells – between a number of loan transfers away.
Assistant first-team coach: Jamie Robinson
Nottingham Forest added to their coaching staff upon securing promotion into the Premier League in July 2022. Cooper named Jamie Robinson as another first-team assistant as they reunited at the City Ground. The pair had earlier worked together in the England youth fold.
Robinson was the Football Association’s director of development from 2011 to 2022. He was also the development coach from 2005 to 2011 after a four-year stint as Shrewsbury Town’s academy boss. Cooper coached England’s U16s from 2014 to 2015 and their U17s until 2019.
Assistant first-team coach: Andy Reid
Cooper promoted Andy Reid to the first-team coaching staff at Nottingham Forest in August 2022. The Irishman had served as the Reds’ U21 manager since August 2020 after taking up the position following six months as the No2. It was also a return to the City Ground for Reid.
Paul Williams briefly utilised Reid as his assistant manager at Nottingham Forest in 2016. He offered the former Reds midfielder a role in the coaching staff before retiring at the club that year. The Dublin native made 290 appearances and scored 42 goals while at the City Ground.
Reid left Nottingham Forest in 2016 and later acted as Jim Crawford’s Republic of Ireland U18s assistant. He also became their U18s manager before returning to the Reds in 2020. While his playing career also featured spells with Tottenham Hotspur, Charlton Athletic and Blackpool.
Head of goalkeeping: Danny Alcock
Cooper also added to Nottingham Forest’s coaching staff upon taking over by naming Danny Alcock as a first-team goalkeeping coach and the club’s head of goalkeeping. The coach also splits his time between the Reds and England’s Under-20s after joining the FA’s fold in 2021.
Alcock started his coaching career with Stoke City in 2010 and remained with the Potters up to 2018. It marked a return to the club for Stoke’s academy product, who also enjoyed spells playing for Barnsley, Accrington Stanley Stafford Rangers, Tamworth and Nuneaton Borough.
First-team video analyst: Stephen Rands
Cooper also reunited with another former member of his coaching staff at Swansea by hiring Stephen Rands as a first-team analyst at Nottingham Forest. The analyst had worked for Pep Guardiola, Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini at Manchester City earlier on in his career.
Rands’ career as an analyst had started at Barnsley back in 2007 before enjoying a spell with Scunthorpe United. A stint at Derby County also followed his career at the Etihad Stadium up to joining Cooper at Swansea. He worked for Frank Lampard over Rands’ time at Pride Park.
Head of performance and medical: Arnaldo Abrantes
Nottingham Forest hired Arnaldo Abrantes as the club’s head of performance and medical in August 2020 under ex-manager, Sabri Lamouchi. Hughton and Cooper later elected to retain the services of Abrantes, who represented Portugal as a 200m sprinter at the 2008 Olympics.