Steve Cooper has won five, drawn four and lost one from his opening ten games as Nottingham Forest manager and was looking to make sense of it all when he spoke to NottinghamshireLive.

The Reds were pegged back to a 1-1 draw with Reading on Saturday, preventing a win that would have seen them climb into the top half of the division, something that would represent success so far for the Welshman.

Cooper was keen to point how well the squad have adapted to his new regime.

He said: "I feel like every day the attitude and commitment is right, and we’re making steps towards building the identity of not just how we want to play, but how we want to work, how we want to behave, and the culture we’re trying to create. But we’re not there yet. There’s a long way to go.

"I feel like we are making some progress with some things. But any sort of journey to success or getting to the next level comes with ups and downs - that’s results on the pitch, injuries and other setbacks along the way.

"We’ve got to make sure that with the bits that go well and the setbacks, we really commit to what we believe in and how we’re going to work. Hopefully, through the long run, we make progress."

The 2020/21 campaign was a blip, Forest appeared to be a club on the up in 2019/20 and should have finished in the play-off places if it was not for final day heartbreak. Cooper's long term vision should stand the club in good stead to not suffer such a dip in performances levels moving forward.

The Verdict

 

 

The Reds play host to Luton Town this evening, a direct rival in chasing down the play-off places. Cooper has finished in the top six in both of his previous seasons as a Championship manager and will believe he can achieve the same result at the City Ground this term.

It will be interesting to see if the Welshman is given some money to spend in the January transfer window in order to put his own stamp on the team he has inherited. Cooper has come across as an exceptional man manager since he stepped into the senior game and in that will be confident of getting the best out of the Reds' senior players.

Tying down top scorer Lewis Grabban to a new contract may go some way to achieving that come the turn of the year.