One year ago, Steve Cooper became the new Nottingham Forest manager.
The rest is history. The Reds were rock bottom of the Championship when the 42-year-old took over from Chris Hughton, but he masterminded one of the greatest turnarounds in the club's recent history.
They slowly climbed up the table and found themselves inside the play-off places heading into the final couple of games of the season. There was a small chance Forest could overtake Bournemouth and grab an automatic spot, but the Cherries kept their composure and secured their place in the Premier League.
But Forest would join them after winning the play-off final against Huddersfield at Wembley as the Reds secured their return to the top-flight for the first time in 23 years. Many pundits and football supporters were pleased to see Forest back, but Cooper got most of the praise for their achievements.
He managed to revitalise and rejuvenate the Reds' fortunes and was backed heavily over the summer as owner Evangelos Marikanis brought in 23 new players. They spent over £130m in the meantime, with Morgan Gibbs-White becoming their most expensive signing when he joined from Wolves.
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Jesse Lingard was arguably the Reds' most high-profile recruit, but he hasn't quite had the desired impact on the team as some would've hoped. The same has followed for the majority of their new arrivals, including Emmanuel Dennis who hasn't started a Premier League game for the club yet despite joining for £20m from Watford.
Although the signings of Dean Henderson and Lewis O'Brien have seemed to work out, the vast majority have failed to deliver so far. It is early days in the season but Cooper is already under pressure given the amount of money the Reds have spend and the expectation that comes with it.
It remains to be seen whether they were all 'Cooper signings', but given how he has liked to operate in the past with young, hungry players, Forest have seemed to go down a different route to what he is used to. They have signed seven players 29 years of age or higher - an unusual strategy for Cooper, which hints that Marinakis has spearheaded most of the additions alongside CEO Dane Murphy.
Following the Reds' 3-2 defeat against Fulham on Friday, some Forest fans are calling for Cooper to be sacked. The Reds currently sit 19th in the Premier League table, having won just one of their opening seven games. Only Leicester City have a worse record than Forest so far and the two teams ironically face each other immediately after the international break.
Despite the pressure faced on Cooper, a number of clubs across Europe and in England are closely monitoring his status with the manager still to sign a new deal, according to Ekrem Konur. Marinakis recently sacked Carlos Corberan from his post at Olympiacos, with the Spanish coach managing just five league games.
With Forest losing their last four Premier League games, Cooper could be soon next to follow Corberan out of Marinakis' exit doors, with the Greek businessman desperate for the Reds to establish themselves in the top-flight after a 23-year exile. It would be unfortunate for Cooper, who has done a terrific job so far at Forest, winning 29 of his 53 matches in charge of the Reds.
