Nottingham Forest have been a completely different side under Steve Cooper, picking up results and looking impressive while doing so.
Now, the new boss has also spoken to Nottinghamshire Live about his fondness for youth team talent and has claimed he 'always has an interest' in the goings-on at the academy - meaning that he could allow youth the chance to strut their stuff in the first-team at the club.
Cooper has worked wonders in getting the best out of his current starters and he is also well experienced in providing a platform for some of the younger talent too and ensuring that they develop to the best of their ability. That is a boost then for Forest, who do have a penchant for an academy player.
The club are no stranger to promoting players from their reserve setup and have even gone on to create some of the EFL's brightest talent - so fans will be pleased to hear that Steve Cooper plans to continue in this vein going forward, claiming to Nottinghamshire Live that he hopefully 'can provide some opportunities for the first-team.'
He said: "We have good dialogue with the academy staff. “I’ll always have an interest with the guys, largely because I am genuinely interested and I like academy football.
"They’ve just got to keep going, the academy, and I’m sure they will get some good work done. Hopefully we can provide some opportunities for the first-team."
Cooper then will not be afraid to give some of the younger players a chance to crack into the first-team picture and potentially produce the goods for the side in the Championship this year if he can. Some managers are perhaps afraid to risk it with the youth in case they aren't quite ready for action but the new Forest boss is seemingly an advocate for giving the younger players a chance.
The Verdict
It's good to hear a manager is prepared to look into his own youth team in search of the next big thing or the next brightest talent.
A lot of managers and teams nowadays overlook their own academy setup in favour of searching elsewhere in the transfer market. That can ultimately prove to be less effective and can cost more, when you could have a solution sitting in your reserve team.
Every youngster needs a chance to prove themselves and Cooper looks prepared to give it to some of the talent at Forest. The club can clearly produce some superb players, so it is no surprise the boss is willing to let them have a crack.
While they might not be thrown into the mix straight away at the City Ground, it is good to hear that should the opportunity arise, they will be thrown into the fold and considered for a first-team appearance.