Former Nottingham Forest midfielder David Prutton has lifted the lid on a text message exchange with Steve Cooper about the pressure he is under as Reds manager.
Cooper has twice reportedly been close to the sack this season before being publicly backed by owner Evangelos Marinakis. That scrutiny very much remains with Forest having six games to preserve their Premier League status.
Speaking on the Garibaldi Red podcast, Prutton detailed a text exchange with Cooper which revealed his attitude to the pressure on his job.
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"There was a lot of conjecture about him then it all went quiet, then it came back again," he said. "I texted him and this isn't betraying any personal trust with him.
"I said something like 'it sounds like you're getting absolute pelters at the moment, hope you're OK.' and he kind of said 'that's the nature of the job. There's worse things happening to people'.
"He wasn't saying it to be a politician, he was just putting it in context that there's worse things going on in the world and the attention is on me at the time and I'll do all he possibly can.
"You can look at his tactics and how he sets a team up, like Brennan Johnson not starting (at Liverpool), which almost got them a point, but Steve's defenders not picking up attackers isn't his fault. That's the defenders' fault.
"The players I know are honest enough to say they let him down in that instance. You do your job and mark the player you're nearest to. They have to do that until the end of the season."
While Cooper retains the support of the majority of fans, there are some who feel he should be replaced to give Forest a better chance of avoiding relegation. Prutton feels the club should stick with Cooper until the end of the season in the circumstances.
He said: "Given how late it is and given who is available, how eggy does it look when clubs sack a manager and have no plan B?
"For Forest to stay in the division for the first time in over two decades would be an unbelievable achievement. It's an Everest like challenge. If he gets them there, magnificent.
"If he doesn't, people will use the word failure. It goes to show how ruthlessly competitive it is. The season has ebbed and flowed. I don't see much merit in changing the manager before the end of the season.
"I genuinely think there's three worse teams in the division as well."
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