Nottingham Forest need to approach the summer transfer window in a ‘slightly different’ way should they stay in the Premier League this season, according to celebrity Forest fan Darren Fletcher.
The Reds face a fight against relegation to the Championship in the final nine games of the season. They are only outside the bottom three on goal difference, and a 2-1 defeat at relegation rivals Leeds United on Tuesday extended their winless run to eight games.
That poor run of form sparked speculation over the future of manager Steve Cooper amid reports that the Welshman could be relieved of his duties at the City Ground. But owner Evangelos Marinakis released a statement on Wednesday confirming that would not be the case.
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Speaking about the decision, Fletcher told the Garibaldi Red podcast that Marinakis would have asked around before making the final decision.
“I don’t think we should all be naïve enough to think that he has sat in the office and just made the decision that Steve Cooper is the manager,” he explained. “He will have gone around and spoken to agents and will have canvassed opinion and will have spoken to potential candidates as well – because you have to do that as a club owner and the situation you are in.
“Due diligence has to be occurring all the time. Every successful club always has the list where if the manager fails, or if the manager leaves or they need to make a change, these are the people they have been monitoring for a period of time. It’s the way businesses work. With his connections to Olympiacos, he will have a list as long as his arm and connections unlike most people that we know in football.
“A couple of things have occurred here. He won’t have found a manager available who he thinks can wave a magic wand and keep Forest in the Premier League. That’s one contributing factor.
“If he thought the sure thing was out there and ‘all I have got to do is make this change and Forest stay up’, he would make it. Any owner in that circumstance would because to stay in the Premier League is huge for him and his football club.”
The football commentator also pointed to the last summer transfer window, where Forest broke the record for the number of signings made in an off-season. The Reds have made a total of 30 signings over the two windows since earning promotion to the Premier League in May.
That left Cooper with the difficult role of having to gel a lot of new faces all at the same time. It’s an approach that may have to be altered slightly in the next transfer window, according to Fletcher.
“I don’t think the recruitment has been joined up enough,” he said. “You have got different people selecting different players, so essentially you have a bit of a patchwork quilt, as opposed to players who have all been recruited with the sole aim of playing that way for that individual. I think when you do it that way you have got a bit of a problem.
“Lessons need to be learned moving into the summer transfer window if they stay in the Premier League. If they are going to do something similar, they have got to do it in a slightly different way.
“Yes, the finance was there, enough money was spent to stay in the Premier League, but if it hasn’t been spent efficiently you can find the problems that Forest have got now.”
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