ClaphamFox

We won three out of our last four games - and the loss only came when we’d already won the league and the players had been on the piss all week. An absurd statement rendered in capitals is still absurd statement.

I fear the subject of Cooper’s away record is one we’re going to keep returning to this season.

Our first question to any prospective signing should be: “Do you actually want to join us?”And if they say yes, we should immediately reject them for lacking ambition.

Great news! Thanks for confirming 👍

By far the biggest concern about Cooper’s record as manager is Forest’s away record in the PL under him, which was execrable (they had the 10th best home record in 2022/23, which is more than decent for a newly-promoted side). I was really hoping that today Cooper would show that in his time between jobs he studied how to set teams up away from home. Unfortunately there was zero evidence of that. Fulham played like the mid-table outfit they are - tidy, decent in possession but nothing special. Yet we were utterly passive and fearful for most of the game today. There was no sense of momentum from the second half against Spurs. We just looked so insipid and devoid of ideas. Our efforts after they went 2-1 up were particularly shameful - we scarcely laid a glove on them. I know it’s only one game, but on that evidence Cooper has still not got his head around how to get his teams to perform away, which is a little ominous.

You’re wrong.

In other words, exactly how Forest always looked away from home in the PL under Cooper. They won away today though, I see…

Has anybody told him he’s left Fulham?

Is that going to be his chant? I think it needs a bit of work…

This can’t be right. It’s been confirmed on the Ayew thread that he’s our last signing any other links are fake…

You seem to have Vestergaard playing in two positions. And Ndidi as a number 10, where he's never played. Bold decisions.

Not a chance we'll start without either Ndidi or Skipp.

He's not being signed to score goals - he's being signed for his pressing, work rate and experience, and his ability to push forwards and win fouls in dangerous positions. JonnyBoy's logic seemed to be that if we can't improve our goal scoring ability via quality forward players, we may as well not bother trying to improve in other areas either. And I'm not sure that makes much sense.

So just to clarify, if we get two good forward players you'll be happy with Ayew joining too. But if we don't get two good forward players, you'd prefer it if we didn't sign any forward players at all?

You don't think Buonanotte improves our starting 11? I also think Skipp will, although the jury's out on Okoli and I don't think BDR is an upgrade on Mavididi.

He was on good form, though the way he kept going up to people and saying "Ayew having a good time?" and laughing hysterically got a bit tedious after a while.

It was yesterday. Didn't you get invited? They issued a pass to every member of foxestalk and there were free sausage rolls and a bouncy castle and everything...

I think our options for the managerial vacancy were also limited because of the PSR situation. I wanted Corberan, but I wouldn't say he's any higher profile than Cooper. I also think you're being a little harsh on Cooper's record - he got Forest promoted at the first attempt then kept them up despite working in a chaotic environment and having a erratic transfer policy imposed on him by Forest's mad owner. I think his record overall is pretty decent.

I honestly think the irresponsible media coverage of our PSR situation has shafted us when it comes to transfers. The ridiculous headlines predicting multiple deductions amounting to 15+ points etc, based on zero actual evidence, have created a widespread perception (even among some of our own fans) that we're going to be hit very hard when in reality it will likely be around six points max. It's very likely that some deals that ordinarily would be achievable are not getting over the line because of this.

Of course I wouldn't. The point I'm making (though obviously not clearly enough) is that if we fail to sign those players it won't be because we've signed Ayew instead - it will be because of factors entirely unrelated to his transfer.

Ayew was first linked with us in July, so it's likely he's not a desperate last-minute choice but has always been a target. At the same time, we've also been consistently linked with a number of exciting young players with high potential resale value. It's therefore fair to assume that the plan has always been to bring in both battle-hardened PL veterans and exciting prospects from overseas, but that the latter type of deal has been harder to do so far. This might be because we're aiming a bit higher than Ipswich etc and are competing with clubs that have qualified for Europe, and it may also be because our looming points deduction is putting players off. Whatever the reason, the point is that we are still targeting those types of players in addition to Ayew - it's not an either/or situation. It's likely that we'll bring in some more exciting names, including a striker and an attacking midfielder, towards the end of the window when the market opens up.

From what I've heard - and this came from somebody close to Barnes - this is indeed true.

He was never likely to trouble their first 11 much. I feel a bit for him - he was pushed into a move for PSR reasons that will very likely result in him sitting on the bench at a basket case club where the fans will never take to him. He'd probably have preferred to be a first team regular at his hometown club where he is loved and appreciated.

I agree. I'm not sure we'll get two though - more likely one striker, one attacking midfielder and possibly a LB.

That's exactly what it is. But we've also been actively targeting young players with a high resale vale. Those deals have been harder to pull off, but it's not for a lack of trying.