Benitez to Forest not on the cards with Cooper to ‘remain’ in charge despite woeful start
Steve Cooper has reportedly been given a vote of confidence from the Nottingham Forest board with the Reds bottom of the Premier League.
Forest won their opening match of the season at home to West Ham United before earning a point a week later against Everton at Goodison Park.
Since then, Cooper’s side have lost all of their matches and the heavy defeat at Leicester City on Monday saw them hit rock bottom of the table for the first time since earning promotion in May.
The 4-0 loss at the King Power put the Welshman under a lot of pressure with many expecting him to be relieved of his duties before his side’s match against Aston Villa next Monday.
Cooper was handed a war chest in the summer transfer window, spending over £145million on 22 new players.
The vast amount of new faces coming through the door has probably not helped proceedings, with the former Swansea City boss having to integrate over 20 players into his promotion-winning squad.
Amidst rumours surrounding Cooper’s future, it has been reported by The Telegraph that Cooper will stay in his role at the City Ground.
After the board ‘seriously considered’ his future following the Leicester result, Cooper has been given a vote of confidence.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis held talks with other high-level board members on Wednesday afternoon and it was ‘unanimously decided’ that he would keep his job for the time being.
The majority of fans are on board with Cooper remaining at the club after he guided them to the top flight for the first time in over 20 years.
This report came on the same day that Forest appointed Filippo Giraldi as their new sporting director.
Giraldi heads for the City Ground after spending nine years at Watford, where he had served as technical director since 2014.
A statement on Forest’s official website said: “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Filippo Giraldi as sporting director.
“Giraldi joins the Reds following nine years with Watford, originally as chief scout before becoming technical director in 2014.
“His time at the Hornets saw them enjoy five consecutive years in the top flight from 2015, including achieving their highest points total in the Premier League during the 2018/19 season, as well as reaching the 2019 FA Cup Final.
“Giraldi previously enjoyed 11 years in Italy as director of football at AC Prato and as chief scout and head of Academy at Brescia, with a number of players from both academies going on to enjoy careers in Serie A, as well as appearing for the Italy national team.”
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