Steve Cooper sack? Fabrizio Romano reveals ex-Spurs boss is ‘in contact’ with Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Nuno Espirito Santo hugs Jose Mourinho before a match.

Nottingham Forest are reportedly ‘in contact’ with former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo with Steve Cooper under pressure at the City Ground.

Cooper looked like he was on the brink of being sacked several times last season but the Forest hierarchy kept the faith, which was repaid as Forest avoided relegation from the Premier League.

The Welshman – who is currently the favourite in the Premier League sack race – is again under severe pressure with Forest sat 17th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.

Thankfully for Cooper and the Reds, the three clubs below them (Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton) have all been very poor this campaign and look a million miles from being Premier League quality.

Forest only have three wins in the top flight in 2023/24, with their last victory coming against Aston Villa on November 5.

Since then, they have lost five and drawn once, conceding a worrying 15 goals in the process.

Should Cooper be relieved of his duties, the Forest hierarchy have reportedly made former Tottenham head coach Nuno a potential target.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Premier League club are currently ‘in contact’ with the Portuguese, who recently left Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ittihad.

The transfer expert wrote on X: ‘Understand Nottingham Forest are in contact with Nuno Espirito Santo as potential new head coach. Talks are ongoing.

‘Former Al Ittihad, Spurs and Wolves manager is top candidate in case NFFC decide to fire Steve Cooper.’

Forest’s next Premier League encounter is a massive one at home to Bournemouth, eight days after their 2-0 defeat to Spurs at the City Ground.

You get the feeling that anything less than three points will see Evangelos Marinakis get rid of the man who steered his side back to the top flight.

Speaking ahead of the loss to Ange Postecoglou’s men, Cooper insisted that he is not feeling the pressure.

“I don’t need any reassurances (from the board),” he said.

“For me, it is to stay true to yourself. I only focus on my job, and that is the relationship with the people I work with every single day, the players and staff, and commit to what we believe is the way of working which we have done for a couple of years.

“I say it every time I get asked a question like this, I really don’t focus on anything other than what I am in control of. That is working as hard as I can every day, doing my best and hopefully helping to provide a service to the players to get ready for the next game. That is how it will always be with me.

“There’s always something to be spoken about. When you are on good runs it is easy to get carried away and when you are on bad runs it is easy to over-emphasise negative things.

“It is really important to focus on what you are in control of because everything else will take care of itself. There will always be more than one view on anything and I am OK with that.

“The only thing I’m focused on is my work and my relationship with the people I am with every day. I’m trying to do my very best for this football club that I absolutely love being at and am giving everything for.

“When you have had a couple of years like we’ve had and the journey we’ve been on, you don’t give it up lightly and you certainly stand up for it in any moment. That’s how I feel.

“Every day that passes I get even prouder and more privileged to be here. When we have had some poor results, that’s when I really want to be here. It’s easy to be a football manager when things are good, but when you want supporters to see who a manager really is is in the difficult moments. That’s what I intend to do.”