Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper will become the second Premier League manager to be sacked this week, after his side lost 5-0 to Fulham.
Cooper is reportedly expected to be fired, with Football Insider reporting that he told friends he was “aware of the rumors” about his role.
Cooper almost squandered his role before, at the latest in October 2022, when Forest were stuck bottom of the league.
But he turned things around and secured safety from relegation with a 16th-place finish, with Cooper subsequently handed a new contract until June 2025.
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However, Forest have not been able to carry that late-season form into the new campaign despite significant financial investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Forest have now won just once in their last 11 matches and have three wins in 15 matches in total.
They are, at least for the time being, out of the relegation zone: their thirteen numbers are six ahead of Everton and Burnley, with Sheffield United stuck at the back of the table with five.
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And Cooper still enjoys the help of the fans, who applauded his call-up and after the heartbreaking defeat to Fulham.
Cooper said on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme: “It means a lot but I’m embarrassed, I’m grateful of course but I don’t deserve this [support].
“Regardless of who is playing, who the manager is, you can’t let these people down like that – you just can’t.
“We’ve shown over the last few years how important this club is to the city and the joy that it has given, so to not represent it in the way that it should be is hurtful. I take responsibility for that.
“He didn’t deserve this tonight from the enthusiasts – we let them all down and we have to take responsibility. “
But Forest’s performance in that game was so depressing that even the fans wouldn’t be enough to spare Cooper the axe, and Fulham’s own fans gave the death sentence: “Tomorrow morning you get fired. “
“It’s because of technical and tactical failures. Also, sufficient preference or willpower. [Desire] is something I’ve questioned before,” Cooper said.
“Tonight we lacked everything to succeed in the match. We failed in many ways. “
In his post-match press conference, Cooper responded to a question over whether he was the right man to lead the club forward by saying: “Yeah, of course I do.”
He added: “It’s not something I’m thinking about, you’ve rightly asked questions and it will be written down, but what’s smart for the football club is smart for me, whatever happens. “
Owner Evangelos Marinakis left the game 20 minutes before full-time and a social media post claimed he then threw his credentials onto the turf of a nearby home.
Reports have subsequently emerged that Marinakis is set to sack Cooper and is lining up former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui as his replacement.
It would be Marinakis’ first firing this season, as the media mogul and shipping tycoon also owns Greek heavyweight Olympiacos.
Marinakis this week sacked Spanish manager Diego Martínez despite the club sitting fourth in the Greek league.
Last-placed Sheffield United are the first Premier League club to sack their manager this season after getting rid of Paul Heckingbackside and bringing back Chris Wilder.