CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THE COOPERS
When the reboot of laddish Friday night TV staple Fantasy Football League rose like a Phoenix from the Flames on Sky last year, it was largely well received even if one sketch lampooning Nottingham Forest met with opprobrium in the back pages of your invariably po-faced Daily Mail. In a segment gently mocking the newly-promoted club’s influx of 29 summer signings, one of the presenters did an impersonation of Steve Cooper that involved little more than him talking in a slightly cartoonish Welsh accent and half-closing the lid of one eye. He was subsequently excoriated by the Comedy Police for the heinous crime of “significantly altering his appearance” to belittle the manager in a skit deemed “cruel, crass and incredibly ill-judged”. Football Daily can only speculate over how cruel and crass this very gentle take-down might actually have been if the Welsh comedian responsible for it was not a diehard Swansea City fan whose well-documented love for Cooper is more powerful than 10,000 suns.
A likable, apparently ego-free man of the people with no airs or graces, the recently fired Forest manager was held in similarly high regard by regulars at the City Ground, due in no small part to ending their 23-year exile from the Premier League, but also because he just happens to be a really nice and humble guy. With the exception of Marcelo Bielsa during his time at Leeds, few managers have been love-bombed as unconditionally as Cooper in recent years and his very obvious embarrassment at being serenaded by travelling Forest fans during and after a recent 5-0 reverse at Fulham spoke volumes about the club, its fans and their relationship with this unassuming Welshman who returned them to the promised land.
While it could be argued that the decision to get rid of him with Forest five points clear of the drop zone was cruel, crass and incredibly ill-judged, the lanyard-flinging, volatile Greek billionaire who fired him is understood to have been of a mind to replace Cooper for some time. It was for that reason his dismissal on Tuesday was greeted with wistful sadness but no huge amount of surprise. Already being touted as a potential replacement for Roy Hodgson when the Crystal Palace manager returns – or is herded back out – to pasture, Cooper is likely to be highly sought after and will not be out of work for long.
Already in place to take charge of Forest for their home defeat at the hands of Bournemouth on Saturday, it now behoves Nuno Espírito Santo to establish the club in the higher echelons of the Premier League table, where their ambitious owner Evangelos Marinakis feels they belong. Last spotted on these shores failing to endear himself to Spurs fans during a short and fruitless spell in charge, the Portuguese will need to sleep with half an eye open if his regime gets off to a similarly underwhelming start.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray from 8pm GMT for hot Milk Cup quarter-final MBM coverage of Liverpool 3-1 West Ham, while Sarah Rendell will be on deck at the same time for updates from Häcken 1-2 Chelsea in Women’s Big Cup.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I feel very ordinary which I love. I take the tram to [Manchester City] training, it feels like I’m playing local football. I definitely have Googled myself after the World Cup but that kind of stuff – I try to stay out of it … to know who I am and not get too bothered by other people … I just try to be genuine and if that makes someone want to go after a dream then that’ll make me happy” – Australia’s Mary Fowler tells Caitlin Cassidy how Greater Manchester’s public transport system is helping to keep her grounded after a monumental year for her – and women’s football.
THE TOP 100
Moan about it if you will, but you’ll still want to click on the latest instalment of our 100 best male footballers of the year countdown – now running down to that all-important No 41 spot.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
In a sport with more pundits than 19th century India, any of Rio Ferdinand’s opinions (yesterday’s Football Daily) should be followed by a clip of him trying to man-mark Lionel Messi in the 2011 Big Cup final. Just enjoy it man. I did” – Kev McCready.
Not just because I used to watch York City, and am fond of them, but could I suggest that losing to York is not Citeh’s nadir (yesterday’s Still Want More, full email edition)? I think playing in the no-way-ominous Club World Cup in Saudi is probably the nadir, and the way that things are going, there will only be more nadirs to come” – Jon Millard.
Mick Beeby (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) opens the floodgates by inviting further player behavioural suggestions to expand VAR’s correction of ‘clear and obvious errors’. Let them clamp down on the use of nicknames, first names and inappropriate abbreviations on players’ shirts – all started, if I recall, by Cruyff Junior using ‘Jordi’, in an understandable wish to differentiate himself from his old man. Sadly for him he let his football do the talking on that” – Alan Giles.
Mick forgot to mention walking on his lawn and the music being loud after 5pm” – Mike Dax.
Send any letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Kev McCready, who gets a copy of Matt Tiller’s excellent The Lion Who Never Roared, published by Pitch Publishing. Visit their book store here.
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