When Nottingham Forest walk onto the pitch to take on West Ham United on Sunday, it is almost inevitable the cameras will focus on Jesse Lingard. The former Manchester United midfielder briefly dominated sports airwaves and headlines when he joined the Reds, in part for perceptions around his social media presence and in part because he had the temerity to pick Forest over the Hammers. More has been said about Lingard the character than Lingard the player, but Reds boss Steve Cooper has been happy with what he has seen from the 29-year-old in all areas.
Steve Cooper said “I learned quickly at Swansea to make your own mind up on players. You try to learn from their personality, character and work rate. You try to learn as much as you can about the player. The gut feeling I have about a player is the most important one. I judge a player as I find them. That’s how I like to be judged. There’s so many people who have views on managers and players.I go off my interactions with players and staff. I had positive interactions with Jesse. He’s very likeable. He’s very interested in football and tactics. He’s always one of the last ones out there in training. I understand they’ll be questions about Jesse, especially this week but we treat everyone as they come and so far, so good with him. I’m only concerned about how we (see) Jesse every day at Nottingham Forest training, in game preparation and how he plays in games. For me the opponent is not relevant in how I look at him. I want him to be at his best, at his happiest and then you can get the best out of him. We don’t have any noise around Jesse. I’m certainly not going to create any more! I just go on what I live and breathe with the staff. We’ve had a really good week. We were disappointed after Newcastle but it whetted the atmosphere for the Premier League. It’s been as good a week as we’ve had since we’ve been back in terms of the atmosphere.”
Cooper met with Lingard before he signed his one-year deal at the City Ground and says that was integral in sealing the move for a player who scored for England in the 2018 World Cup and is set to be a crucial player for Forest this season. “That meeting you have with a player, it can be a number of meetings when you sign a player, it’s important because the relationship between coach and player needs to be as strong as it can be because of the testing times you may go through.
Steve Cooper said “The initial meetings are important and they have to be mutual. I’ve got to say things I want to deliver and the players have to trust me and vice versa. I’m very happy with how Jesse has settled in. He’s only been in a few weeks but we’re really enjoying having him around and trying to push him to be at his best. At his best he’ll be a really good player for us. He feels a part of the dressing room. You’ll probably get a better reflection of the new boys feel from themselves and the other players, but I’m looking at him and am very happy.”
