In the blink of an eye, 2023 is about to wave goodbye, the new 2024 is just around the corner, and for European football, after the first half of the season, there will finally be a short winter break to adjust, in order to be in better shape to meet the more intense and difficult challenges of the second half of the season
Looking at the five major leagues, there is one that is the most special, they do not have a winter break, but the more the year-end and New Year schedules are more intensive, that is the Premier League. As currently recognized as the world's No. 1 league, the Premier League has many stars and giants, and the topic and influence can be seen, but the number of 20 league teams and the League Cup and FA Cup two domestic cups make the Premier League team play more games per season than the other four major league teams, and the dense schedule and huge competitive pressure also make the "living environment" of coaches and players here more and more cruel
So far this season, Aston Villa have surprised the outside world with Arsenal and Liverpool in the first tier of the title race, as expected at the start of the season. However, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have not fared as well as they could have done, with defending champions Manchester City currently sitting fourth in the league, Manchester United outside the European zone and Chelsea even worse in 10th place in the table. This kind of performance has made Pep Guardiola, Ten Hag and Pochettino not have a good time, and the latter two have been among the favorites for the next two years. However, before that, other Premier League managers were in danger of being sacked
In the early morning of December 20, Beijing time, the official news from the English Premier League team Nottingham Forest said that the club will fire head coach Steve Cooper, and the decision will be implemented immediately, Cooper will no longer be the head coach of Nottingham Forest, and has become the second Premier League coach to be sacked this season. So far this season, Nottingham Forest has achieved 3 wins, 5 draws and 9 losses after 17 rounds of league play, with 14 points, temporarily in 17th place in the standings, 5 points ahead of the relegation zone, especially in the last six rounds of the league, Nottingham Forest has only 1 point for 1 draw and 5 losses, which has indirectly become the fuse that led to Cooper's dismissal
The 44-year-old Welsh head coach Steve Cooper started his coaching career with Liverpool's youth team and went on to become head coach of Liverpool's Under-18s, England Under-16s and England Under-17s. Cooper became Swansea City manager in the summer of 2019 and took charge of the first senior team for the first time in his career, before leaving two years later. In September 2021, Cooper took office as the head coach of Nottingham Forest, and led the team to the 21 22 season of the Championship, that is, in that season, under Cooper's management, Nottingham Forest played well, ranked fourth in the league at the end of the season, and eliminated Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town in the promotion play-offs, returning to the Premier League after several years
After leading the team to be promoted to the Premier League, Cooper also received full respect and trust from fans and clubs, and in the 22 23 season, Nottingham Forest, as a promoted horse, was successfully relegated and successfully stayed in the Premier League. This season, although Nottingham Forest fell into the relegation predicament early, but the three promoted polo teams Luton, Sheffield United and Burnley are really unsatisfactory, and they can almost lock the relegation places, so the relegation pressure of Nottingham Forest is not very large, and the decision to dismiss the meritorious coach Cooper has been questioned by the outside world, and many Nottingham Forest fans have also highly praised Cooper and wish him all the best in the future.