There was a moment during Nottingham Forest’s hammering at the King Power Stadium where Steve Cooper slumped forward.
James Maddison had just put Leicester City 3-0 up 10 minutes before half-time and it was already game over. The head coach dropped to his haunches, his hands slipped off his knees and his head bowed.
He seemed crestfallen. At that point, it would have come as little surprise if it also proved to be game over for Cooper as Reds boss.
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It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Not after everything Cooper has done. Not after Wembley. Not after a season for the ages in which following the team became a joy again and there was the kind of unity not seen at the club for a long time.
But five defeats on the spin and bottom of the table - generally, that only ends one way. Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of that 4-0 defeat, it looked very much as though another era was about to come to a close.
Instead, what followed was a quite extraordinary few days. Forest fans are accustomed to remarkable turns of events and rollercoaster rides (Cooper was integral to one of those last term, with the incredible promotion journey), but this was still something else. Condensed into a relatively short period of time, it is up there as one of the craziest of weeks at the City Ground.
The rumours and speculation, the jobs on the line, the prospect of sweeping changes at a club already trying to find stability after a summer overhaul. The worry of impending uncertainty and upheaval. In the space of a matter of days, Forest went from all of that, to the mood suddenly being transformed.
Cooper went from his job being under threat to signing a new contract. To say it caught many by surprise would be an understatement.
That one decision had a significant impact. It gave a much-needed lift, not just to supporters, but to players and to the man himself, too.
The Welshman is still under pressure to get results. But both in the build-up to and after Monday night’s 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa, there was a greater sense of optimism than had recently been evident.
“I don’t think it’s maybe so much about me, it’s maybe just about a manager, if there’s talk that there could be change,” Cooper said, when asked if getting his new deal sorted had helped the players, providing some clarity as they tried to turn around their form. “Of course, like at any football club, and for staff as well, it can give clarity. It helped me as well.
“If that was the case, great. It might not have pleased everybody. But at least we got a bit of clarity and it has allowed us to continue with our work.”
The performance against Villa was not perfect. But it was better, and it was something to build on. Contrasted with the feeling after the Leicester game, it was chalk and cheese.
Cooper had addressed his future after that one. Never one to focus on his own personal situation, he insisted it wasn’t something he was “thinking about” - just as he had whenever he was quizzed on his contract during the summer.
Behind the scenes, however, there was already talk over whether a change should be considered. Options were being weighed up, and come Monday night into Tuesday morning, names were beginning to leak out.
Rafael Benitez. Sean Dyche. Bruno Lage. Nuno Espirito Santo. In some cases there is said to have been at least an initial sounding out. Cooper was under severe pressure.
On top of that, there was the suggestion that others could also be on their way out of the exit door - chief executive Dane Murphy, head of data and analytic recruitment George Syrianos and head of scouting Andy Scott. Fans could be forgiven for thinking it sounded like chaos, even though the club insisted things were “calm”.
As the day progressed, and with no immediate decision having been taken, it increasingly began to look as though there wouldn’t be a change in the dugout against Villa. But beyond that, the manager’s position still seemed uncertain.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis is a fiercely ambitious man. Propping up the division - particularly after spending upwards of £140m in the transfer window - would not be what he had in mind.
Still, supporters had begun to make their feelings clear. They had already done so at the King Power, singing Cooper’s name even as his team were taking a beating on the pitch. And social media soon became a powerful tool.
The hashtags #InCooperWeTrust and #CooperIn began to dominate the Forest timeline on Twitter as it became apparent the man who had ended a long, painful exile from the Premier League was in danger of being given the boot. Profile pictures were changed to ones which demonstrated support. Some suggested there should be some kind of recognition in the 23rd minute against Villa, in acknowledgement of how long it had taken the club to get back to dining at the top table and the manager who had masterminded that success.
Pundits began to have their say, too. From Simon Jordan to Jamie Carragher, to a host of ex-Reds, almost every single one argued Cooper deserved more time.
On Wednesday, it was determined that was exactly what he’d get. A board meeting was held, the result of which is said to have been a unanimous decision to stick with the 42-year-old - with Marinakis, chairman Nicholas Randall KC and non-executive director Jonny Owen reported to be influential in discussions.
Even then, the impression given seemed to be one of this being more of a stay of execution. The clash with Villa had the makings of taking on even greater significance.
Just as the prospect of a departure was put to one side, Forest announced an arrival. Italian Filippo Giraldi took up post as sporting director. His remit is to evaluate the existing infrastructures at the club, to look at where and how improvements can be made, and to audit the sporting side of the business. It is sure to involve working closely with Cooper, too, although the head coach was coy about whether that was with a view to having one eye on the January window.
If it had been hoped news of the hierarchy meeting and Giraldi’s appointment might lead to a quietening down of the outside chatter, that wasn’t exactly the case. Stories persisted that the Reds were “still exploring” managerial possibilities, while it became evident that if Forest weren’t prepared to stick with him, Cooper would have no shortage of options.
He has long been admired at Southampton. Links with Wolverhampton Wanderers emerged, too. Cooper is a brilliant man-manager and a very good coach; others are well aware of that.
And perhaps that served as a reminder to Forest. The continued social media affection undoubtedly played its part. Still, few saw it coming when, on Friday, it was announced the Welshman had signed a new deal.
Talk about U-turn. From being in the firing line to putting pen to paper.
The news could not have been better received. Social media erupted with delight - and, understandably, a little bit of shock.
Initial discussions had taken place over fresh terms on the back of promotion being achieved. The framework of a new deal had broadly been put in place during the summer. But it had gone unsigned.
Cooper regularly faced questions on it, and reiterated his focus was entirely on matters on the pitch. That didn’t stop a feeling of anxiety among the fanbase, though.
Now, with one swish of the pen came at least some clarity where he was concerned. Maybe, too, a hope that the foundations and the ideas Cooper had put in place wouldn’t be sacrificed for the short-term desperation for results. It was a show of faith. A very welcome one - for the squad, as well.
Players are not immune to the background noise. They know when there is uncertainty in the air. Whether that has a direct impact on performances or not, it cannot help matters.
“It's a real stepping stone for him and the team because it shows the owners believe in him,” Morgan Gibbs-White, who was Cooper’s top target in the summer, said of his manager agreeing new terms. "It's a nice feeling because we all like him, we all trust him and we all believe in him and his way of playing. It's better for us to know that his job is safe and secure so we can kick on.
"He was massive in me coming here. I have worked with him a lot throughout my career so far and enjoy playing under him. I feel that he brings the best out of me and knows how I want to play."
Cooper has insisted that any talks which took place with the hierarchy last week were “normal” ones. He speaks to Marinakis after most games, and is regularly in contact with the board.
“We spoke after the game, as usual,” he said, in an upbeat press conference on Friday. “I have to say the conversations I have with the ownership and with Dane… they have always been a discussion, rather than one person talking.
“This is just normal. We were all really disappointed after Monday. Me first of all. But so were they. We talk about what went wrong in the game; what went right. I am always the first one to say ‘we should have done that better’.
“But don’t think that it has been along the lines of ‘let’s start the process now of negotiating a contract’ on Tuesday morning. It has been something that has happened over a long while.
“I have had conversations with the hierarchy in the last few days. But they were just normal conversations. Filippe has come in as well, so we have talked about that.”
Giraldi was at the City Ground to watch the draw against Villa. He was on the touchline chatting to Murphy well in advance of kick-off, surveying his new surroundings.
And he will have seen a determined display which showed there is something there to build on; for Cooper to build on. Just as they had seven days earlier, supporters had got their message across loud and clear.
‘Leader of the Garibaldi’ proclaimed a Forza Garibaldi banner, alongside an image of Cooper. Speaking about the reception he had received as he walked out of the tunnel and the support throughout the game, the Welshman seemed genuinely emotional afterwards.
No wonder. It had been quite the week.
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