Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan says Steve Cooper will be at the mercy of owner Evangelos Marinakis if there is not a sharp improvement in results.
The Reds have won one game in 10 and put in their worst performance of the season against Everton on Saturday as the gap to the Premier League relegation zone narrowed to six points after the 1-0 defeat. Speaking on today's podcast, McGugan said Cooper deserves the chance to turn things around but a sharp improvement is needed this week against first Fulham and then at Wolves on Saturday.
"First and foremost we respect what a fantastic job he's done for this football club since he's come in," he said. "He's taken the club and the city, everyone connected to Forest and made it a better environment. The big negative for him is from the owner's point of view, if you look a the money we've spent compared to others, it comes down to the owner. Burnley haven't spent that much. Sheffield United, nothing. Luton, not much.
"Bournemouth have spent money, but maybe £60m to £70m. Wolves saw their manager leave because there was no money. Crystal Palace never really spend money. That's where the question starts to be asked and where he maybe in trouble because the owner will see how much he's spent. The owner will want to be mid-table or top half and then thinking about Europe. He'll expect to be in a better position.
"The next two games, if you get two good results this week it totally changes. Unless you're at the real top of the Premier League, this is where you are all season.
"One minute you feel like everything is fine but a month later it could feel like everything could go different. The players and manager know there's pressure and if we get good results versus Wolves and Fulham it's a different conversation.
"Saturday wasn't positive. The manager will know that. The big thing about football is you've always got a chance to change and that comes around very quickly. Wednesday goes well and the whole mood will change going into Wolves. We all agree Saturday wasn't acceptable but in a week's time the outlook could be different.
"It's a massive decision to get rid of any manager, but even more so with the relationship we've built with Steve Cooper. Also, we have to understand that some players might not have the same admiration for Steve Cooper. Some will feel it's a real negative if he goes, but some will have a new lease of life and feel that relationship is over.
"It's always a risk to change. You can go on a run after changing. At this point, we have to strip away that new manager conversation. Steve Cooper is still in charge and deserves to be. We need to be in the same camp this week and be as positive as we can.
We don't need to have a negative mindset at this time but if we need to have that conversation in a week, two weeks or a month then we can."
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