Phil SumblerSteve Cooper will have left South Wales yesterday evening a happy man after watching his side defeat the Swans 4-1 at the Swansea.com stadium and revealed after the game that his side fully expected to win the game which of course they did.
Cooper may have been the beneficiary of some of the Swans own generosity through missed chances and defensive howlers but that does not take anything away from the fact that by far the better team on the day won the game and deserved the points.
Cooper’s side delivered his tactical masterclass to the letter as four second half goals sandwiched either side of Joel Piroe’s 12th goal of the season and it took Cooper’s record in charge of Forest to just the one defeat in fourteen games.
It was a wonderful return to Swansea following his departure at the end of the summer and whilst some of his celebrations may have been slightly muted there was no denying the satisfaction that he took with the win against his former employers.
“To be fair, in the first half I know Swansea had more of the ball and made more passes, but we were okay with that today, we knew it was coming,” Cooper told the official Nottingham Forest website.
“Tactically, we were perfect, absolutely perfect all over the pitch. We knew what it would take to win today, we expected to win the game, and the guys have just delivered an unbelievable away performance and we were more than worthy of the result.
“A lot of work has gone on this week and we’ve asked the lads to do a couple of things which are a bit different. The second goal is not just the goal of the game, but it’s the move of the game.
“It’s something that we talked about and it’s an area we felt we could exploit, so when it comes off as perfectly as it did, the lads are buzzing.”
