Darren Fletcher 'conflicted' over Steve Cooper's future as Nottingham Forest manager

Broadcaster and Nottingham Forest fan Darren Fletcher admits he is conflicted when it comes to Steve Cooper's future as manager.

Fletcher has been a defender of Cooper in months gone by, but says it is more challenging to maintain that position as a run of one win in 12 games and a lack of team identity puts the spotlight on Cooper.

However, the man who guided Forest back to the Premier League still retains huge backing in the fanbase and oversaw a much improved performance in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Wolves.

Speaking on Monday's Forest Focus podcast, Fletcher said good arguments can be made by those who want Cooper to stay and go in equal measure with the Reds currently 16th in the Premier League.

"This is the third time in a year that Steve's job has been hanging by a thread and no one seems to know what the result will be. I wasn't surprised by what he did on Saturday in terms of team selection (making seven changes), if that's your last chance to keep your job, you'll pick players you know," he said.

"After the Fulham game, Steve said you know what their team will be but you don't know mine. At Wolves, it's ok making seven changes and changing the system to nick a 1-1 but at what point does he decide what his best XI is and what his best formation is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivMROMU8uHc

"This will continue until he does that because at the moment it's four, five, six changes to a starting XI and it's not giving the manager or players time to get any consistency. We can look at the signing numbers but we've been there before.

"If Steve thinks the players that were here last season are better right now then he has to pick them. There's a lot of layers to this. They've played 16 matches and 18 have played at least five. The team has been in flux and it's difficult to build partnerships with so many changes.

"I'm really conflicted. If you look at the table, the results, the away form and teams improving around them you would say it's obvious to sack the manager. If you look at the potential replacements though, do any jump off the page? You have to look at the relationship he has with the fans because it's unique to the league. There was a reaction on Saturday, whether people who are anti-Cooper or not want to believe it, there was and he still seems invested in the job.

"There's a lot of reasons on both sides. I think the owners needs credit. He's made six changes in 16 months at Olympiacos, so he's parked his ways there. I know he threw his pass away at Fulham. I'd have thrown my pass away if I'd watched that shambles.

"He's in for hundreds of millions but he's not made a crazy knee jerk decision. I think it's a conflicting situation. You will get different views and I don't think any would be fundamentally wrong."