Steve Cooper battling to find stability at turbulent Nottingham Forest

After a turbulent spell at the City Ground, it looked as if things were calming down when Steve Cooper surprisingly signed a contract extension until 2025 and Forest then ended their five-game losing run with a draw against Aston Villa to lift them off the bottom of the Premier League.

Naturally, the rollercoaster took another dive last Tuesday when the head of recruitment, George Syrianos, and the head of scouting, Andy Scott, were sacked after a brief review into the club’s £150m spending spree on 23 players. The writing was on the wall for the duo the week before when club insiders were briefing against them and the chief executive, Dane Murphy, said their roles were in doubt. The loss of Syrianos, a key ally, does not bode well for Murphy’s prospects.

Cooper maintained throughout the summer that the level of recruitment was necessary to create a squad capable of staying in the Premier League. He was the man who decided trying to re-sign Djed Spence was not worthwhile, so the club gave him Neco Williams, and Cooper rejected the idea of bringing back James Garner and Philip Zinckernagel, despite the suggestion greater continuity would be helpful.

It was Murphy and Syrianos who brought Cooper to the club. Murphy and the recruitment team held a meeting with Cooper before the summer window that resulted in everyone being on the same page in terms of what was needed. Players aged 26 and under were brought in to carry on the practice of targeting individuals with the potential to improve and increase in value. The club looked to the Bundesliga for value, bringing in Taiwo Awoniyi, Moussa Niakhaté, Orel Mangala and Omar Richards, who arrived with a broken leg. Elsewhere others were looking to have their say in the club’s