Steve Cooper on thin ice as the owner of Nottingham Forest storms out of a 5-0 defeat

Steve Cooper is clinging to his job after five goals from Fulham sealed Nottingham Forest’s fourth in a row in the Premier League.

Especially for Cooper, Evangelos Marinakis, no stranger to distributing managers, is in ax form after Tuesday’s sacking of Diego Martinez, the head coach of his other club, Olympiacos, despite them being third in Greek Super League. After the fourth goal, Marinakis crashed out of Craven Cottage. According to reports on social media, he threw his credential lanyard into a nearby bush.

Afterwards, Cooper and his embarrassed players addressed the fans. Cooper held up his hands to apologize for the debacle and listened, visibly moved, as the still adoring support chanted his name. Having taken Forest from the depths of the Championship to the safety of the Premier League in style on numerous occasions, the love still runs deep.

“I’m grateful for that,” said Cooper who was chasing him, “but he was embarrassed because I don’t deserve it. We should have another reception. I don’t want anyone else to be talked about but me. I take responsibility for this. It’s all on me. I fully understand all the questions about my future, but at least it’s something I really think about. That said, I believe I am the man to turn it around. I don’t think about my future or my reputation: what’s good for the club is good for me. That’s all I care about.”

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However, Cooper did not spare his players, which was almost a pity to a man.

“This was a painful night and we deserved the score. We got completely away from the necessary tactical and technical levels. If you don’t have enough desire to defend, if you don’t have the will, if you miss races, if you pull out of tackles and end up on the floor and it’s 50-50, you’re going to have a good night. tonight. I hope it was an outlier.”

Already under pressure, Cooper stepped up in his team selection. Having won just two away games in 2023, he made five changes from those who started in Saturday’s win against Everton. He reverted to a 4-1-4-1 formation and gave Divock Origi his first Premier League start since January 2021. None of it worked. Origi was rusty, although the personnel and formation changes lacked cohesion. As the goals came in, so too did they.

The outstanding Andrea Pereira was Fulham’s heartbeat and inspiration, but Forest wouldn’t ask him questions, let alone get answers. The flood was galvanized when Pereira’s free-kick hit the post just before the half-hour mark.

The warning was clear enough, but Forest neglected to read the runes. Disjointed and distracted, they were soon two down. First when Raul Jimenez robbed Ibrahim Sangare. The ball fell to Bassey, who cut the forwards unchallenged and found Tom Cairney. Unlike the Forest defence, Cairney spotted Willian on the left. The Brazilian went wide of Murillo’s cheeky effort on a diving header clearance. Harry Toffolo failed to notice the pressure of Alex Iwobi, who got in ahead of him to leave his second of the season at the back post.

Iwobi then ran down the right, cut in to find Pereira who beat Jimenez’s beautiful ball. The Mexican expertly netted his second of the season past Odysseus Vlachodimos.

Inevitably, Cooper made further changes at the break. Morgan Gibbs-White briefly offered the great support the Belgian was looking for for Origi, but Fulham’s response was the third goal. Pereira sent a precise long ball forward. For nothing, Ola Aina foolishly flew himself to the ground. Jimenez collected and went back with a grin.

Cooper had another couple of substitute chances but by this time Forest were struggling to get out of their own half. As the away section stood in stony silence with occasional chants for Cooper, the home support speculated about the Forest head coach’s job prospects.

With the game already lost, Forest rallied in a big way, Danilo brought steel to the cotton-wool midfield so far, and Chris Wood headed Aina’s cross just wide. Alas for them, Fulham came in fourth after Forest’s best moment when Harry Wilson met Pereira’s pass to cross at the back post. As she slept soundly, Aina failed to read the danger again. Iwobi swept in.

Forest’s misery was not yet complete. In defensive disarray, they conceded an unfortunate fifth when Ryan Yates and Orel Mangala combined to lose possession. Again brilliant and merciless, Pereria released the incisive Cairney, who made his first season over the bewildered Vlachodimos.