Nottingham Forest must focus only on producing the same ‘non-negotiable’ qualities against Tottenham as they did against Wolves — and shut out any ‘outside’ talk of anything else, says Steve Cooper.
The Forest head coach says it is natural that his future is spoken about following a run of one win in 12 Premier League games.
But Cooper insists Forest can only focus on playing with the kind of spirit that they demonstrated at Molineux, where they ended a run of four defeats with a much improved performance and a 1-1 draw.
“There’s always something to be spoken about. When you are on good runs it is easy to get carried away and when you are on bad runs it is easy to over-emphasise negative things,” he said. “It is really important to focus on what you are in control of because everything else will take care of itself.
“There will always be more than one view on anything and I am okay with that. The only thing I’m focused on is my work and my relationship with the people I am with every day. I’m trying to do my very best for this football club that I absolutely love being at and am giving everything for.
“When you have had a couple of years like we’ve had and the journey we’ve been on, you don’t give it up lightly and you certainly stand up for it in any moment. That’s how I feel.
“Every day that passes I get even prouder and more privileged to be here. It’s easy to be a football manager when things are good, but when you want supporters to see who a manager really is, it is in the difficult moments.”
Cooper made seven changes at Wolves, as well as altering the formation to a 3-5-2 – and it got a positive response.
“It was really important than we did better with the non-negotiables; that we did better against Wolves,” said Cooper.
“It was good to see that we responded in the right sort of way, in terms of that work ethic and the principles that we hold ourselves to. I know how together we are. It is not about any one individual; about any single member of staff or player. I see it every single day. We are all playing or fighting or working for each other.
“Everyone is together. That has been right at the core of everything we have done well over the last few years and that will continue to be the case. Believe in your work, believe in each other… that is a good starting point for any game.”
Read the full article here