And Then There Were None (Steve Cooper Version)

On May 29, 2022, Nottingham Forrest was promoted back to the Premier League after a 23 year absence.

This was their starting line-up that day:

On December 30, 2023, this was their starting lineup when they beat Manchester United 2-1 in only their second Premier League victory against United in their history.

You know how many players started both games, a year and a half apart? One. Ryan Yates.

Where did captain Joe Worrall go? To the end of the bench.

Is Joe Worrall hurt? Nope. "Out of Favor."

Everyone else is GONE.

We wrote about this a little bit a month ago when Manager Steve Cooper was on the hot seat. I lamented how hard it was to coach a brand new team.

But then sketchy Owner Evegelos Marinakis fired Cooper too.

Nottingham is currently 5-10-5 in the Premier League. I fully expect them to plateau and finish off the season around 14th place.

Now here's my dilemma. I really hate billionaire owners who ruin sports teams, then try to blame:

1. The City - Leveraged the team for millions in improvement and expanded seating capacity before signing the lease.

2. The Previous Owner - "Like Having a Teenager Own a Football Club."

3. The Managing Director - Fired

4. The Manager - Fired.

5. The Players - Almost every single one fired.

I have a deep faith in new Nottingham keeper Matt Turner, but if they get relegated, who do you blame? If literally everyone is gone except Marinakis, and he's the one who showed everyone the door, it falls on Marinakis, right?

Billionaires rarely take responsibility for their failures. Which means, as a fan, do I root for the new regime or do I root against the owner? Since I live in Cleveland, Ohio, my Nottingham Fandom is not a birthright.

The more I research Marinakis, the more I don't like Nottingham. But a fan should root for teams whose style of play they admire, or local products, not on whether they like the owner or not. Use yourself as an example:

Do you like the owner of your favorite team?

Do you hate the owner of your least favorite team?

If Nottingham gets relegated, Marinakis will lament his money did not buy a winner, when the problem with the team was right in Marinkakis' Mirror.

If Nottingham makes it to the Top 4-

It's January and Nottingham already has too many losses for the Top 4?

There's always next year.

Maybe.