Steve Cooper worked wonders at Nottingham Forest as Nuno Espirito Santo looks ahead to a massive transfer window

Steve Cooper arrived at the City Ground in September 2021 with all signs pointing to League One rather than a rapid ride to the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest had no realistic right to go up in his first season in charge, in fact they could have gone the way of Derby County under Chris Hughton's stewardship. They probably should have been relegated last season after Cooper was given 30 signings (most needed) in total and tasked with making a team out of a rapidly assembled group, plenty of whom got injured at various points.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis is massively ambitious and willing to give managers huge amounts of players for huge amounts of money, to his credit in the latter case. That ambition was a blessing and a curse though perhaps in Cooper's eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56OVT0tB7TI&t=4243s

Forest have tried to climb three rungs on the Premier League ladder this summer with the aim of leapfrogging clubs such as Fulham, Brentford and Crystal Palace, who will have one eye on what Cooper wants to do next no doubt. Now it might be time to steady the ship under a new captain.

Cooper has made mistakes as any young coach will. Team selections have occasionally looked knee jerk and his in game management has left him open to reasonable questions along the lines of 'what the hell was that' from the owner.

A catastrophic collapse to draw with Luton was inspired by three strange subs from Cooper and that was the beginning of the end. The 5-0 defeat to Fulham effectively sealed the deal when Markinakis was found to have thrown away his pass in a bush near Craven Cottage. Cooper's position was probably untenable by that point, even if he got two more games where he turned to trusted if more limited lieutenants.

It is now one win in 13 and Forest might well end the season grateful for the weaknesses of the three promoted teams, although they will hope for a January resurgence if Marinakis opens the cheque book again, which looks likely given his track record and the desperate need for a striker capable of covering Taiwo Awoniyi.

That is the future and we should all look to it now, but you cannot help look to the past and promotion at Wembley after finally ending the play-offs curse in a penalty shootout against Sheffield United.

There was also an FA Cup quarter-final and a League Cup semi-final, but for some Cooper's greatest day was the 1-0 win against Arsenal to ensure survival. It ran Wembley close, but 23 years of Championship misery cannot be forgotten. The tears of joy at Wembley prove that.

Forest had lurched from manager to manager before finding lightning in a bottle with Cooper. He restored the bond between club and fans and reinvigorated the red portion of the city.

Fans were vibrant again and all in for the ride in part because he was. Cooper might be from Wales and a product of the FA, Liverpool's academy and Swansea City, but he got Forest and the scale and potential of a club which had been on a gradual slide since the days of Brian Clough bar the odd chink of light under Frank Clark, Dave Bassett and Paul Hart.

So roll on Nuno Espirito Santo. He's got a big job on his hands, but consecutive seventh placed finishes in the Premier League with a provincial club of a similar scale show he can be a safe pair of hands. In the short term, a win over the festive period would be a fine start, but the best gift he can get is a successful transfer window with far more outs than ins.

His success at Wolves was based on a small tight knit squad, a team with solid foundations through the middle and pace out wide to counter attack. He is the continuity candidate in many ways, even if supporters have not been overly receptive to his appointment. Fans could grow to love him as Wolves supporters clearly do, but deep down we know it might not feel like it did under Cooper again.