murphy

I don't like this idea of playing with the handbrake on, at home, until the opposition scores and then chase the game. We are up against it enough already without effectively giving the opposition a goal start. What would happen if we didn't go behind I ask myself? Would Cooper throw the cavalry on in the second half in search of a winner or would he stick and try to protect a point? I think the latter. He is showing the opposition too much respect and handing over the initiative from the start.

We will always have that draw against Spurs. No one can take that away from us.

It shows that he really wants to be in The Premier League, which might be a problem for us come May.

Come on.... seriously? Even when its not directly acknowledged the undercurrent is detectable but I must admit I was surprised that I had to get to page three of this thread before someone called him "Forest Scvm" and someone else on the same page said "underwhelming and ex-Forest". He is routinely and hilariously called 'Agent Cooper', cus, y'know he's a Forest man and all that. I could scroll a few more pages, but life's too short. Let's not try to pretend this anti-Forest thing is not a part of his lukewarm reception.

I think your criticism is fair comment and I have concerns of my own. My post wasn't intended to defend Cooper as such, or to say he is great, I would have preferred the West Brom guy, but the point I was making was that it seems to me that a lot of people have turned against him unfairly, far too soon and without giving him a proper chance. It seems over the top sometimes. Minds have been made up while he is, most likely, still in the process in putting his team together. Sometimes on FT, an opinion snowballs into a bit of a feeding frenzy, a verdict is reached and passed down and people get swept along with it. I'm not saying don't be critical, let's just have an open mind and give the bloke a chance.

Reading through many of the threads it's seems that most of FT has made its mind up about Cooper and it's still only August. They probably made their minds up before he arrived and it seems to me that they are just feeding off each other and queuing up to stick the boot in at every opportunity. I get the sense that some are waiting for him to fail so that they can be proven right and I find the levels of vitriol both childish and depressing. I'm not sold on Cooper myself. I think he has made some strange decisions and I get the impression that our recruitment strategy is being driven by him in terms of targeting workhorses but I recognise that we are only two games in and he has been given an almighty task to keep us up. He is most likely still finding his feet and working on finding the right formula. I'm old enough to remember O'Neill's Leicester and that infamous Sheff Utd game during which the fans turned-on him loudly. The abuse was embarrassing. It was early in his reign and I remember that he said that believe it or not, we don't actually ask the players to launch hopeful balls forward. In other words, he had not yet been able to mould the team in his image. O'Neill soon turned it around, we were promoted and the rest is history, but he never forgot and that night permanently tainted his relationship with the fans. Its a new generation now but we never learn. I'm not saying Cooper is O'Neill and I'm not saying we shouldn't be critical but fair, however if you're prejudiced because of Forest connections, please grow up. No really. Grow TF up. I think we should all have try to have an open mind because for good or for ill he is here and one thing's for sure if we turn against him so early on, we are only making the job harder and making it more likely that we fail.

Exactly. And it's a good opportunity to build up some understanding with the new guy, Skipp. The actual result couldn't matter less. People need to relax and maybe think, before grabbing so eagerly at every chance to stick the boot in on the manager.

Get him mowing the grass.

Like Ipswich, Brighton are a likeable club imo. They're doing everything we used to be good at and have built a really good team. It's good to see a club that is traditionally second/third tier establishing themselves as a force in the PL.

If you asked me this question right now, I'd say one too many.

I think it's precisely because we have seen him kick a ball that many of us are so horrified that a big chunk of our budget has been spent on this 32 year old journeyman, in the last year of his contract. Palace must be laughing! We know exactly what Jordan Ayew does and doesn't bring.

I agree with that, but do you really think that signing workhorse is the best way to stave off relegation?

So, aside from an obligation on Fatawu and a teenage, reserve AM, we have signed a defender, a defensive midfielder and two defensive wingers. Are we aspiring to stay up or just damage limitation?

From Soule to Asprilla to Zaha to Jordan bloomin' Ayew. It is a little worrying how we seem to be prioritising the prosaic and the workhorses. I think this is coming from Cooper. Old gits like me will remember Peter Taylor. He prioritised 'strengthening' the squad before strengthening the team. This seems very reminiscent. Where are the game changers, where are the goals?

Romulus and Remus. Mowgli. Shaun Ellis.

I'm just pleased that they no longer have Harry Kane!

For me. the most impressive thing about Maresca's reign was the way that he quickly mended a broken team instilling belief and spirit. After the pre-season we've just had and that frst half, I worried that Steve Cooper had done the exact opposite. Do the players believe in him? That second half performance has given me hope.

Just on a side note, why is it, do we think, that so many players ran a mile from signing for us?

Thats Ok cus there are 37

Never heard of him

We didn't let Hzolek slip through our grasp, he ran away from our grasp kicking and screaming.

It's almost as if Foxes talk (and Spurs' fan base) is made up of many different individuals with potentially different opinions. Weird!

We are so unattractive to players, we are like that congealed kebab you find in the fridge, the morning after a skinful.

Tried that, I believe, but the player said he would prefer to stay at Anstey Nomads.

I think that the time to hit the panic button has actually passed. It is time to accept grim reality, sit back and mentally prepare for the inevitable. Maybe take up a hobby, write that novel or learn a new language this year and come back reinvigorated for the big promotion push next year.