Stevie Cooper

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

I don't like discussing managers when we already have one and he might say he wants to stay but if he goes I don't think we will appoint a British manager or one from the lower leagues. I think it will be a foreigner but not a random one.

[Paplane]

Does seem strange that there’s been no progress with Cooper’s contract. Something isn’t quite adding up behind the scenes. Who would EM want to replace Cooper if he goes? Would Corberan come over from Oly?

Interesting thought. Would EM go for a tried and tester prem experienced manager (ie a Dyche) or an up and coming type from the lower leagues, or some random other foreign coach. Personally I don't believe any other manager other than Cooper keeps us up this season. If Cooper goes, we're down.

Even if (and I know it's probably not realistic) we appointed Pochettino?

I don't think he'd want to go to a club like Forest. He'll think he's earned his time at a top 6 club. 

Roberto Martinez (after the world cup in January) would be my decent target imo. He's out of contract after the tournament I think.

[pennhillred]

I think I'm just far too sentimental for this Premier League business.

I just want Cooper to be happy at Nottingham Forest and say he wants to stay.

If next week's matches are off as well, plus the international break, that means we might not play again until Oct. That gives Cooper more time than expected to get to grips with the squad. Plus we'll be closer to getting the injured lads back.

Still think a happy Cooper keeps us up.

[Floridared]

I think I'm just far too sentimental for this Premier League business.

I just want Cooper to be happy at Nottingham Forest and say he wants to stay.

If next week's matches are off as well, plus the international break, that means we might not play again until Oct. That gives Cooper more time than expected to get to grips with the squad. Plus we'll be closer to getting the injured lads back.

Still think a happy Cooper keeps us up.

It would also give a new manager more time….

[Marinakis Red]

Have we given Brighton permission to speak to Cooper now?

[RedRuss]

A long time fan and occasional poster but feel I need to add my comments on the ongoing will he/won't he, would he/should he debate. 

I did pm this earlier in the week and nothing since has changed my mind or view.

I have said since early in preseason he has not looked the same guy who won promotion. Yes the euphoria of that day at Wembley would, I am sure, have made even the most doom laden individual smile, jump around, and hardly able to contain themselves. Roll forwards only a meter of a few weeks, we report back for training, we beginning to sign players - although there was a gap between Awonyi and Niakhate arriving, yet still we see a comparatively downbeat Cooper, his comms with the media are some way short in terms of enthusiasm for the task ahead, they sound more like spoon fed (or force fed) soundbites. Then we get to preseason, which I am on record at the time with a number of people, as saying was shambolic and was in danger of seeing us unprepared for the first game of the season. I have been a fan of football for many a long year, played the game and have family members who have played professionally. The way we went through the preseason games was - let's just say odd. We never progressively established our preferred starting combinations as the squad developed, units were given very little time to build an on field connection - between themselves let alone other areas of the pitch!! Let me be clear, there was time.

Let's also be frank, it's no good fans suggesting the team need time to gel etc, the game is littered with many examples of teams recruiting heavily and hitting the ground running. I accept the opposite is also true BUT, we have been consistently told by the man himself, that we only recruit the right character, the guys who GET what we are and wht we want to achieve. On that basis you would more reasonably expect the team, or the vast majority of it, to gel very early - in preseason. You also assume Cooper MUST have had a very good idea who of last seasons team that remained would be a starter in the PL (we assume that would be Worrall, Yates, Johnson, McKenna and dependant on signings, Cook - these names are regulars on the team sheet even though we sign many alternatives). If that is the case we had pretty much half a team set so recruiting around them should not have been so difficult - more so when we sign Awonyi and Niakhate and, in principle, Henderson, early in the window. Yes of course we added significantly more as we well know BUT, on the basis any sensible manager in any other industry would be looking at a one for one type replacement as each new player arrived i.e. Mangala replacement for Yates etc you would say it shouldn't have seen the opening performance we provided away at Newcastle. We as fans could see they ended the season strongly under Howe and with decent recruitment coupled with the opening game at home, optimism high and a raucous crowd, we went there and produced a completely disjointed, low key performance. Sure the defence played manfully but as a team we were woefully undercooked!! An admission by Cooper himself to that effect was shocking given we had 6 preseason games, 4 within around 10-12 days and a chance to get good minutes into people like, as an example, Lingard, just didn't happen - we gave 30 mins here and there and never in a combination likely to start the first game of the season. In fact Lingard only started the final game against Villarreal yet had been with us for at least two games previous. 

Cooper's body language has been almost as shocking as his team selections over the last few weeks - getting progressively worse with each game. All of this flies completely in the face of everything we have seen and grown to appreciate about him over the season before.

In short and sorry for the rant, but I would NOT be unhappy to see him leave. I am incredibly grateful for what he achieved but we must safeguard our new status a s PL team. 

One final thought, you would think a number of players are unhappy at the way things are going but I want to focus on one for now. How can a player like Remo Freuler be tempted away from Atalanta, a top 4 team, Champions League football, their captain and known as the conductor for the way he orchestrates play - and that's not mentioning him being a proven international for Switzerland!!! yet here he cannot get into a side that contains Yates and or O Brien (who I do think he will be a more than capable option by the way, but against the pedigree of Freuler!?) is beyond me completely. How he is deemed an option against Man City when so much else was wrong in that game, a continuation of the 3 number 10's, Kouyate dropping into the back three in only his second game, Lodi coming straight in after what could only have been one training session and to face perhaps the best team in the world - at their ground is just....well baffling to put it mildly. Freuler would be well within his rights to be knocking an the hierarchy's door asking serious questions - I know I would if it were me. All of this and we persist with Worrall, Yates, McKenna and Johnson. Worrall is out of his depth, McKenna would be fine with the right defenders alongside him I feel, currently Yates for me is just not a 90 mins PL player, bring him off the bench for sure but not a starter, Johnson, despite scoring two goals, has barely made an impact and again needs benching before his confidence is completely shot. Why we didn't start with Boly in place of Cook on Saturday is staggering, he has had a preseason at Wolves and could/should have started ahead of Cook - a man Bournemouth thought wasn't good enough for the PL. 

Something is evidently amiss with Cooper and if it's him angling for a move then we should pre-empt and make a decision for him. Our owner has lofty ambitions for this club and, as we know, has some impressive persuasive powers. Whether he could tempt Pochettino is to be seen but we need someone of that ilk.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Thank you for posting that RedRuss I think it's a great post.

[Paplane]

Yep, great post RedRuss. Not sure I agree entirely with all it's contents but you provide food for thought.

Cooper looks like a man under pressure to me. The way he was saying he had to do better after Bournemouth was evidence that he's finding things tough.

[RedRuss]

Just to add to my lengthy post above. Thomas Frank has been touted as a possible replacement for Potter at Brighton but has very quickly come out to rule himself out of the running, making a positive statement on his reasons for staying - in the Independent. In the same time, Cooper has been linked in the same timescale yet nothing, all whilst his history he tells us he gets the fans, the club, the history, the ex players etc, etc. The longer there is no Frank type rebuttal, the more the opposite becomes reality - whether that is Brighton or elsewhere.

[Big red]

So are we saying Brighton approaching Cooper is a for gone conclusion, surely we would put up a fight to keep him unless he wants to go, hope Cooper stays and we start with a turn around straight away

[wassy04]

"Let's also be frank, it's no good fans suggesting the team need time to gel etc, the game is littered with many examples of teams recruiting heavily and hitting the ground running"

Can you name them? I can't remember a single good example of a team essentially buying a whole new team and immediately gelling after 6 games.

There are elements of your post I agree with and clearly some odd decisions have been made. However the idea that after 6 games it's at a stage where you can make those kind of judgements on a guy that has transformed the club is baffling to me. What a short memory.

Also, you criticised him for picking Lodi after one training session then criticise him for not picking Boly in the identical situation!

That said despite disagreeing with both the tone, content and overall message, I would say it was a well written argument nevertheless!

[RedRuss]

So are we saying Brighton approaching Cooper is a for gone conclusion, surely we would put up a fight to keep him unless he wants to go, hope Cooper stays and we start with a turn around straight away

No, not in any way - well I'm not certainly, but we have to look at the evidence as we see it currently. If everything was ok then the contract would be signed and a rebuttal to any possible link to Brighton (or elsewhere) would follow but as we stand right now, nether of those things have happened. We know Cooper is in the final year of his contract and signing a new one could potentially rule out possible suitors - those that do not want to pay compensation, or anything significant in that respect.