Soccer Football - Premier League - Fulham v Nottingham Forest - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - December 6, 2023 Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper looks dejected after the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
LONDON (Reuters) - Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper said he accepted that there would be speculation about him getting sacked after his side's 5-0 defeat at Fulham on Wednesday, but he said he still felt he was the man for the job.
"They're the normal questions to ask (about his future), but I probably think about that the least. What I think about is what's important for the football club," he told reporters after the match.
The loss at Craven Cottage was Forest's fourth in a row, and they have now won just once in their last 11 Premier League games, a run that has seen them sink to 16th in the table.
Cooper said his side had been lacking technically and tactically, and he blasted their lack of desire.
"You showed a lot more desire in that question to be fair," he quipped after one lengthy question from a reporter.
"I hope tonight is an outlier in terms of the scoreline."
Nevertheless, Cooper said he remained fully focused on turning the club's fortunes around.
"The run that we're on, I don't worry about my reputation - I worry about what it means for the football club, because I'm that attached to it," he said.
"But it's on me, I take responsibility for it. Please don't be writing about anything else but me. I have to take ownership for that."
He also hinted that he was braced for whatever decision may be made higher up the chain of command back at the City Ground.
"What's right for the football club is right for me, whatever that is," he said.
He said that while he hadn't spoken to Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis since the game on Wednesday night, "dialogue with ownership" was frequent at Forest.
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson; Editing by Toby Davis)
