Journalist Lee Davey has admitted live on Sky Sports that Rafael Benitez’s links with Lee Charnley could be significant amid the Spaniard’s links with potentially replacing Steve Cooper at Nottingham Forest.
Forest are on a rotten run of form under Cooper after splashing out over £140m on new signings over the summer, with the Reds having lost their last five league games – a run which has them sitting bottom of the Premier League.
The latest defeat was a damning one against Midlands rivals Leicester City by a 4-0 scoreline, which has seen talk intensify around Cooper’s future, with his position said to be far from secure. Meanwhile, Champions League winner Benitez is a name that’s being heavily linked.
Davey has highlighted that Benitez has worked with Charnley, who is working in a consultancy role at the City Ground, during their time together at Newcastle, which may make the links more understandable – urging those concerned to ‘watch this space’.
Should Cooper be sacked?
Yes!
No!
He said: “Rafa Benitez is reportedly waiting in the wings. We know he has connections with Lee Charnley, who’s a senior figure at Nottingham Forest, so I think it’s a watch this space [situation] on that one, but there could be some movement in the coming days.”
TIF Thoughts on Rafa Benitez to Nottingham Forest…
Given that Forest are bottom of the Premier League, it would be some move from Benitez to take the job if it does indeed become vacant considering he’s managed clubs such as Real Madrid and Liverpool in the past.
However, given how poor his time at Everton turned out, this could potentially be his best and last chance to prove he’s still a good enough manager to cut it in the Premier League – which he would certainly do by keeping Forest up.
It will be a shame for Cooper to lose his job if that does end up happening, especially considering he was reportedly in talks over a new contract at the City Ground not too long ago following their promotion to the Premier League.