Brennan Johnson was sold by Nottingham Forest in the summer and now he’s been sharing what traits made Steve Cooper the brilliant manager that he was at the City Ground.
It was a beautiful relationship between Forest and Cooper. The head coach came to the club when the Reds were bottom of the Championship and in months had them vying for a Premier League place.
Cooper defied the odds and took Forest to the Promised Land via the play-offs during the 2021/22 campaign. The team almost won automatic promotion and the head coach’s stock rose.
If that wasn’t enough, Cooper went and kept Forest up in one of the most competitive Premier League’s in many years – and etched his name into club folklore.
This season things went a little bit south. Following another poor run of form, Cooper was sacked by Evangelos Marinakis and replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo.
Johnson moved to Tottenham on transfer deadline day in August. It’s clear he still has a lot of time for Cooper, however, and he’s been discussing what made him so good to work with.
- READ MORE: What Ange Postecoglou said about Johnson
What Brennan Johnson said about working with Steve Cooper
Johnson was instrumental when Forest claimed promotion to the Premier League. He scored 19 goals and claimed nine assists before netting eight times in the top flight.
He left for Tottenham with the club’s best wishes. The Reds were backed into a corner with financial fair play looming large and ultimately they had to cash in on their academy graduate.
Now, with five goals and seven assists to his name for Tottenham, he’s sat down to discuss what it was like playing under Cooper at Forest and Johnson has a lot of respect for his former head coach.
He told Stadium Astro: “I think firstly about Steve Cooper he was a really nice manager, he understands every player and he got on with everyone and he kind of lets you do your own thing. He trusts you and believes in you to back your own ability.”
Forest found alternatives to Johnson for a fraction of the price
It was never going to be easy to replace Johnson at Forest. He was tenacious, direct and ultimately his goals and assist were always going to need replacing in the team.
However, Forest would love to develop the Brighton model of selling players and then signing alternatives for a fraction of the price that also have resale value.
In Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi, Forest found two players with bags of potential. The pair have registered almost 20 goal contributions between them and could really star in the future.
It would be great if Forest could just get to the end of the current campaign with their Premier League status still intact.
If the club can do that the likes of Elanga and Hudson-Odoi could really kick on next season and continue helping Forest stabilise as a Premier League club.
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