It’s been quite a return to the Premier League for Nottingham Forest, who certainly haven’t gone about their business quietly since earning promotion from the Championship back in May.
In fact, since winning the play-off final and reclaiming their spot in the top flight for the first time in 23 years, there has hardly been a dull day for Steve Cooper’s side.
It’s not all gone to plan either – in fact most of it hasn’t – with Forest now bottom of the league after suffering a 4-0 defeat at Leicester despite a summer where they signed 22 players with an outlay of £150million.
Steve Cooper was handed a shock new three-year deal as Nottingham Forest boss on Friday
Cooper is a favourite among fans after guiding them back into the Premier League for the first time in 23 years after winning the Championship play-off final back in May (pictured above)
Yet an incredible week that seemed to start with Cooper under pressure has ended with the fan favourite penning his name to a stunning three-year contract despite huge concerns over his future prior to his deal being announced on Friday.
FRIDAY
A week ago there was already concerns high up at Forest over Cooper’s tenure and intermediaries working on the club’s behalf were sounding out potential replacements for the Welshman.
Rafa Benitez was among the names thrown in but the Spaniard was holding out for a better placed club. Xabi Alonso was another big name discussed via intermediaries but he has since taken charge at German side Bayer Leverkusen.
Rafa Benitez (left) and Xabi Alonso were both considered to replace Cooper at the City Ground
Forest slumped to the bottom of the table on Monday after a 4-0 loss at rivals Leicester City
To complicate matters, owner Evangelos Marinakis wasn’t even convinced of sacking his manager. On the contrary, he was considering whether to offer Cooper, still popular with fans despite their poor start, a new contract amid rumoured interest from Southampton.
SATURDAY
With one win and a draw from the opening seven Premier League games, Marinakis met Cooper for dinner on Saturday evening in a Knightsbridge hotel and tried to get an understanding of what was going wrong given the huge investment placed into the club during the summer.
He underlined the importance of Monday’s game with Leicester in what was not just a fierce East Midlands derby but also against the only side below them in the table who had yet to win this term.
MONDAY
Marinakis,…