Nottingham Forest will be relegated by Christmas, Roy Keane fears
Roy Keane believes that Nottingham Forest could effectively be “relegated by Christmas” if they do not find some “team spirit and fight”.
Steve Cooper’s side have begun the Premier League season with just one win from their first nine games and sit 19th in the table after a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
It follows a summer of significant investment at the City Ground, with more than 20 new senior players added to Cooper’s squad after earning promotion from the Championship via the play-offs.
Keane spent a brief spell in Nottingham as an assistant to Martin O’Neill at the club in 2019, and feels that, while reinforcements were needed, his former club’s busy summer may have made Cooper’s life more difficult as he navigates his first campaign in the English top flight.
“There were always going to be a lot of players coming into the club,” Keane said on Sky Sports. “I don’t think anyone would have imagined there would have been 23 - that is crazy really.
“Of course they had a lot of players on loan last year and they were going to have to invest and when you invest and bring in that many players you need a decent start.
“I think what you want from a promoted team is survival if you can, stay in the Premier League. And you want a bit of team spirit and fight.
“It is very hard to create that when you bring 22 players into a club so yeah I have got great sympathy for him [Cooper].
“But if we are led to believe he is a brilliant coach, then we need to see more of that, certainly in terms of tightening up at the back. If they keep conceding the goals they are, then they will be relegated by Christmas.”
Cooper received a surprise extension to his contract on Friday after speculation that his future was being considered by the club.
The former England youth team manager joined Nottingham Forest in September last year, guiding them back into the Premier League at the end of his first season in charge for the first time since the 1998/99 season.
His side have struggled both defensively and in attack this season, however, with only Leicester conceding more than Forest’s 22 goals so far and Wolves the sole team in the division with a worse goalscoring record.
Manager-less Wolves host Cooper’s side, one place below them in the league, in a crucial fixture on Saturday afternoon.
