Nottingham Forest coach Steve Cooper is on the brink of becoming the second Premier League manager to be sacked this week, after his side slumped to a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham.
Cooper reportedly expects to be sacked, with Football Insider reporting he told friends he is “aware of the whispers” about his role.
Cooper has previously come close to losing his role, particularly in October 2022 when Forest were mired in last place in the league.
But he turned things around and secured safety from relegation with a 16th-place finish, with Cooper subsequently handed a new contract until June 2025.
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However, Forest have not been able to carry that late-season form into the new campaign despite significant financial investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Forest have now won just once in their last 11 matches and have three wins in 15 matches in total.
They are, for now at least, out of the relegation zone – their 13 points is six clear of Everton and Burnley, with Sheffield United mired to the bottom of the ladder on five.
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And Cooper still has the support of the fans, who cheered his name during and after the harrowing defeat to Fulham.
Cooper told BBC Match of the Day: “It means so much but I’m personally embarrassed, I’m grateful, of course, but I don’t deserve that [support].
“Regardless of who is playing, who the manager is, you can’t let these people down like that – you just can’t.
“We’ve shown over the last few years how important this club is to the city and the joy that it has given, so to not represent it in the way that it should be is hurtful. I take responsibility for that.
“I didn’t deserve that tonight from the supporters – we all let them down and we have to take responsibility.”
But so dismal was the performance of Forest in that match that even the backing of fans might not be enough to spare Cooper the axe, and Fulham fans themselves rang out the death-knell: ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’.
“It’s on the back of technical and tactical failings. On top of that, not enough desire or will. [Desire] is not something I questioned before,” Cooper said.
“Tonight we lacked everything to have any chance of success in the game – we fell short in so many ways.”
In his post-match press conference, Cooper responded to a question over whether he was the right man to lead the club forward by saying: “Yeah, of course I do.”
He added: “It [losing my job] is not something I’m thinking about, although quite rightly you asked the questions and that will be written about, but what’s right for the football club is right for me, whatever that is.”
Owner Evangelos Marinakis left the game 20 minutes before full-time, and a post on social media claimed that he subsequently tossed his accreditation into the garden of a nearby home.
Reports have subsequently emerged that Marinakis is set to sack Cooper and is lining up former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui as his replacement.
It would not be the first sacking that Marinakis has made this season, with the media mogul and shipping magnate also the owner of Greek heavyweights Olympiacos.
Marinakis this week sacked Spanish manager Diego Martínez despite the club sitting fourth in the Greek league.
Last-placed Sheffield United became the first Premier League club to sack their manager this season after dumping Paul Heckingbottom and bringing back Chris Wilder.