Claudio Fannieri

Just listened to the latest When your Smiling Podcast episode, I thought Pipes and John Bennett both summed up the result/performance really well, particularly the changes and impact of Coopers subs and tactical changes. in addition Mavididi in his interview seemed far from enamoured with the situation and his lack of game time / starts prior to Saturday. Also Cooper and his reaction to the VAR decision, requesting the club contact the FA for further clarification all seemed a bit desperate, maybe he was loading the gun for Maranikis to fire last year about refs and the subsequent hiring of Clattenberg.

Even Mavididi’s latest interview he was absolutely gushing about the influence Enzo has had on his career, however I am also sure that the squad will have had some frustrations as to the structure and style last season, but the difference appears to be in how Enzo managed the squad, his expectations and standards. To an outsider, whilst Enzo was very stubborn. his attention to detail will impress players, whereas Cooper doesn’t seem to have that aura, he gives me supply teacher vibes, more relaxed and not as intense or focused which is perhaps to big a change in culture. Vesty and Riccy P come across as consummate professionals and last season were arguably 2 of our best and most influential players, yet both seem to be finding themselves out in the cold. I can’t imagine that will go down well with other squad members. as I have said previously where is the leak coming from and interesting it is finding its way into the media, helps set the scene for an early parting of the ways. Similar stories have come out about Ranieri and Puel and their exits followed pretty quickly afterwards.

Great new/caretaker manager bounce incoming 😩

In a heart beat far from perfect has his flaws but like Pearson seems to have a plan and sets high standards and expectations.

Of course Coady has to take a proportion of the blame, but in the same way Cooper made a number of defensive substitutions that handed the initiative to the opposition, is that also true?

Currently 9-1 to get the old tin tack according to oddschecker. 5th favourite behind Dyche, Ten Hag, Brussel and Enzo. Next Saturday could see a seismic shift if we don’t get a decent result.

‘We didn’t invite pressure we accepted it’ we didn’t Steve we shat our knickers as a collective and you were chief ringleader and enabled Palace to apply said pressure without giving them much in the way to fear.

It didn’t quite work for Rodgers or Puel or Maresca who conceded goals in the final minutes, it was labelled as a weak mindset and mentality, it happens under Cooper and all of a sudden people want to give him a free pass and it’s all the players fault, utterly baffling.

Fair point in regards to my post, however how many times were Rodgers, Puel and Maresca villified for trying to shut up shop in last 10 minutes to only invite pressure and hand the initiative to the opposition, Cooper does it with 20 minutes to go and some want to defend it, beggars belief it really does.

😂😂😂 I did think the same thing myself 😂

Look at Wolves now, 1-0 up to Newcastle and still having a right good go. There is a balance in terms of defending a lead but also having some ambition to extend that lead and put the game to bed.

Just for a bit of additional perspective we have 2 points from 4 games as do Ipswich who have played Man City, Liverpool, Fulham and Brighton, they are only below us by two goals and conceded the same number as we have, let’s not over state our start as some sort of horrific run of fixtures. Make no mistake next week is absolutely massive anything less than 3 points an against a rock bottom Everton team will be a real lost opportunity. Truth is I think he will panic and play not to lose rather than to win.

Made no sense whatsoever not going for Corberan. We had compo from Enzo so we should have used a proportion of it too secure him. Very short sighted decision and could cost us millions to put right and/or we get relegated because of Cooper.

Spot on 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Sorry pal but how is being 2-0 up to draw 2-2 and literally giving up any attacking intent for the final 20 minutes or so not rolling over. just because he is a new manager to the club doesn’t and shouldn’t give him a free hit, Rodgers was absolutely hammered first game of the season against Brentford when at 2-0 up he took off KDH and surrendered control and we drew. Cooper did similar yesterday made negative subs and we were fortunate it didn’t cost us more than the 2 points we lost. A manager is paid large sums of money to take the credit or criticism for results and performances, which are the consequence of their decisions and actions. Too many times already and in every game so far he has either through negative team selections, tactics or substitutions and in game management handed the initiative to the opposition, which has ultimately cost points. Some may be happy to allow him a honeymoon period where he is almost given a free hit but I am not. Leaving out Ricardo is ridiculous in my opinion but could be a decision that is justifiable as he is new to the club and basing selection on what he is seeing, however piss poor negative tactics, team selections and substitutions are directly in his gift, this isn’t down to being new to a club, this is the impact of a manager who is out of his depth and his record in the premier league somewhat backs that up. I didn’t want him in the 1st place not because of his Forest connections, but because at this level I don’t think he is a very good manager, he is a younger Steve Bruce, limited and probably more suited to Championship/league one level. Had we appointed Bruce there would have been absolute uproar and yet his premier league record probably stands up more than our current incumbent. It was a shocking appointment and I have seen nothing to suggest he has it in his locker to suddenly turn his principles on its head, since becoming a premier league manager his style is to try and contain and despite a year or so out of the game nothing appears to have changed. He is delivering everything I initially feared with his appointment. I hoped he would prove me wrong, but pre-season which the last 3 games were a fecking shambles and his set up to date has just confirmed what I initially feared.

He clearly has decided he wants to play with the left back pushing on and the right back acting more defensive. It would be pretty easy to flip this and bring Ricardo in at right back and have the left back tucking in, he could then use JJ or VK in that role. It is utterly criminal that Ricardo is not being given game time. It is stubbornness beyond belief, if we had 6 points or me than fair enough but we don’t, we are on 2 and it isn’t working.

Sorry but Enzo did get this challenge and criticism pretty much from the off, lots of fans even when we winning were complaining it was boring and as soon as we dropped points were challenging if his style was sustainable etc etc In what way has Cooper turned round our soft underbelly……… We have drawn 2 and lost 2 we are conceding chances at an alarming rate and at what stage is being 2-0 up to draw 2-2 not a soft underbelly and poor tactical decisions/in game management. I completely understand why people want to give him more time but that doesn’t mean he should be blindly defended. So far he is making a number of mistakes and poor calls either in his selections or in game management and this should be discussed, challenged and dissected. This has nothing to do with Forest connections as with Enzo, Rodgers, Puel and every other manager, this is about how their tactics, selections and in game management affect games and results.

Make no mistake his negative selections and substitutions do nothing but blunt any attacking outlet and ambition, and does nothing but give the opposition the initiative and invites pressure. We are conceding possession, territorial advantage and a high number of chances which is leading to us conceding pretty much 2 goals a game, and with a manager who doesn’t have the desire to let the handbrake off, so how do we see where the wins are coming from, because we aren’t scoring 3 in many games under Cooper. If you are going to be ultra negative and cautious you have to be keeping clean sheets or at least down to one, you then have a chance. We are not, in all our games so far except Tranmere we have been fortunate not to concede more than we have. This is what is concerning me, he isn’t capable of setting us up to be tight and well drilled defensively however he is selecting a team or making changes that stifles our attacking intent but does little to stop us being dominated and conceding chances. Its a tactical mess in my opinion.

Couldn’t agree more, great post, last season Enzo was vilified for what was perceived to be quite a negative and boring style, was also criticised for in game management and subs particularly when we seemed to revert to we have what we hold, Rodgers was rightly criticised for doing similar, Puel was constantly challenged for making negative team selections, leaving out some of our better attacking talent and playing with the handbrake on even against average opponents. Here we are with Cooper after 10 games including pre season, where we are seeing a mix of all of the above, there are some massive red flags for me and given we have played a mix of opponents there is little to suggest this will change. Yesterday could have been a turning point, i honestly believe had he made more positive changes that maintained a semblance of an attacking threat we would have held on and probably killed the game off by scoring a 3rd and maybe even a 4th. He didn’t, he surrendered territory and gave Palace a free hit for 20 minutes to throw the kitchen sink at us, conceding was inevitable, we were lucky we got out of there with a point. why I am convinced he is the wrong appointment and so far out of his depth, is quite simple, his negative selections have led to us conceding and then chasing games which Spurs aside have been unable to rescue and then when we do go ahead like yesterday he then goes ultra negative and we can’t hold out. So on that basis what does he offer, quite simply I don’t think he has the tactical nous to win football matches at this level. His record of 19 ……that is 19 Premier League games without a win is evidence enough. It was a poor appointment and regardless whether some think it’s too early, the writing is on the wall, I really can’t see him being capable of pulling together a run of 4 or 5 wins on the bounce. We may win the odd game but all I can see is most weeks is frustrating defeats and draining draws like yesterday. Get him gone, before it’s too late, if we give him 10-15 games by then we could be cut adrift in the bottom 3 and make no mistake if we go down, the EFL will hit us big time, we have to stay up, so let’s shake hands part ways and look to bring in someone who can get a tune out of a squad that has a very good mix of attacking talent and options.

Great post, this is a more than capable squad of finishing anywhere from 11th downwards, depending on how it’s managed, my concern is with Cooper at the helm we will end up 19th with a mountain of regrets of what might/could have been.

Thank you so much pal 😊

He made negative changes, the only one which was like for like was Abdul for Stephy the other two removed virtually any attacking intent and basically said we will try and soak it up and cling on, and we shit the bed. It isn’t unhinged to question a manager who is continually making bizarre team selections, substitutions and tactical errors. 3 of arguably our most talented players left on the bench for the entirety of the game. It was an underwhelming appointment in my opinion and so far overall his performance also in my opinion has been underwhelming and his decision making utterly utterly baffling. Palace are a decent side but that is it, they are beatable and with more attacking intent and ambition we could have gone on and scored 3 or 4 by capitalising on the spaces they would have left chasing an equaliser. We literally gave them nothing to worry about and enable them to get at us with very little risk of being hit on the break.

Absolute horrific mentality, such poor negative substitutions and all he wanted to do was try and cling on. Am i shocked or surprised, no, he has cost us big time today with negative changes, whereas our lack of ambition in the first half of our earlier games cost us opportunities. He is incapable of setting up a team to play positive front foot football for a sustained period.

If Ayew is does come off will be interesting to see who comes on, would be good to see a positive change

I can see us losing 3-2 that is a very negative sub with Ndidi being replaced with Hamza if Palace get an equaliser we will struggle to get any momentum back.