Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard says he wouldn’t want to be in the situation Steve Cooper finds himself in at Nottingham Forest.
The two sides meet at the City Ground on Monday night, with Cooper handed a stay of execution after a run of five successive defeats. The Welshman’s job came under threat on the back of this week’s 4-0 thumping at Leicester City, but he is set to be in the dugout against Villa.
Cooper remains under pressure, though. And he needs to quickly find a way of getting a new-look squad to gel, following a summer shopping spree which saw 22 signings made - 23 if young goalkeeper Adnan Kanuric is included.
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The Reds head coach is yet to settle upon his best XI, while his team have lacked cohesion in recent weeks as players are still getting used to working together. Gerrard has expressed sympathy with the challenge facing his opposite number ahead of next week’s crucial clash Trentside.
“I wouldn’t want to be in that position. To make 23 new signings in one window is unique. I’ve never seen it or heard it before,” he said in his pre-match press conference.
“I know Villa had a window where they had a lot of loan players and you have to replace them. I understand that. And I’m sure Steve was in that position, because they had a lot of loan players.
“They recruited really well. A lot of good players.
“But from where I am, to think how you’d deal with that and manage that, it would be extremely tough and extremely challenging. I think he deserves the time for that to settle, for them to get used to the club and how Steve wants to play.
“That takes time. It takes time when you make two or three changes, let alone 23.”
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