Steve Cooper, the manager of Nottingham Forest, acknowledged that he was still in charge of a “team in transition” since his squad’s most recent additions were still settling in.
The 21-year-old Brazilian center-back Murillo, who joined the Reds during the summer transfer window, showed flashes of his great potential during Saturday’s goalless Premier League stalemate with Crystal Palace.
Cooper, who guided Forest to promotion at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, made it plain that team togetherness was his ultimate goal, but he still views the endeavor of team building as inspirational.
It is a challenge, but an exciting one, he added, since in the end you do want a stable squad that has been playing together for some time, where the natural connections emerge and you don’t even talk about it; it tends to happen organically because of the experience of playing with each other.
So, we want to achieve that, but it’s a transition. Undoubtedly, this is a squad in transition, but we are aware of our future goals and preferred playing environments.
“But while we’re doing that, you can’t take anything for granted. You have to pick up enough points along the road to be about where you want to be in the league.
“Another thing we must keep in mind is that this is only our second season playing in the Premier League.
“I get questions about second season syndrome one week and about expectations the next, but neither of them are on our minds.
Living in the present, adhering to a plan for where we want to go, and accepting that there will be ups and downs are all that are necessary.
Few coaches would be more keen to go ahead in time than Palace manager Roy Hodgson, whose team is attempting to make an 11th straight season in the top flight.
With Hodgson’s team stuck in an injury problem made worse by the forced substitutions of Jairo Riedewald and Jeffrey Schlupp against Forest, Saturday’s point meant his Eagles would sit ninth during an international break that could not have come at a more convenient moment.
With , Michael Olise, Cheick Doucoure, Jefferson Lerma, Matheus Franca, Joel Ward, Dean Henderson, Naouirou Ahamada and Nathan Ferguson all out of action, Hodgson was questioned about the success of Palace’s own summer transfer window that ended in just four new faces arriving.
There’s being wise after the fact, he remarked. When are you going to give x, y, and z a game? would likely be one of your questions if there hadn’t been any injuries and we were playing with what we consider to be our best squad. I don’t hold anyone accountable for it.
“But of course (chairman) Steve (Parish) and (sporting director) Dougie Freedman are talking about these things all the time, and I’m pretty certain if they think there are lessons to learn, they will learn them, but my job is to work with the players that are there in front of me,” the speaker continued.
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