Next Nottingham Forest Manager Odds: Who Could Replace Steve Cooper?

Steve Cooper could be on his way out of Nottingham Forest and betting sites are now offering odds on who might succeed him.

Ever since he led Forest to promotion in 2022, Cooper has always been under pressure. 

That is not because of the job he has done or because of a breakdown of relationship with the club’s fans, but rather due to the notorious impatience of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.

Forest supporters continued to chant Cooper’s name in a 5-0 thrashing by Fulham and they subsequently bounced back with a draw on the road at Wolves, but a home loss to Spurs means that stay of execution may not last for much longer. 

Forest are now just one place above the bottom three having picked up just four points from the last 24 on offer.

Who will be next through the door at the City Ground? Let’s check out the latest betting odds.

Nuno Espirito Santo Jumps To Favourite 

With Steve Cooper now seemingly on the brink of the sack at Nottingham Forest, football betting sites have slashed their odds on Nuno Espirito Santo to take over the club into 2/7. 

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham boss was let go by Saudi club Al-Ittihad in early November and it looks like a return to the Premier League with a third club is on the cards. 

Nuno made his name by taking Wolves out of the Championship with ease after six seasons out of the top flight - although big spending on mainly Portuguese talent who were under the guidance of super-agent Jorge Mendes certainly helped that endeavour. 

Wolves achieved back-to-back seventh-placed finishes before Nuno left the club in May 2021, and he took over Spurs a month later in what proved to be a poor move. 

Tottenham sacked him just over four months later after a run of five losses in seven games and he hasn’t managed in England since. 

If media reports are to be believed though, Marinakis looks set to turn to Espirito Santo to take charge at the City Ground once the axe falls on Cooper’s reign at the East Midlands club.

Glasner Second On The List With Lopetegui And Gerrard Behind

Recently, Oliver Glasner had emerged as the favourite for the Nottingham Forest hot seat. However, the Austrian has since moved out to 6/1 to take over from Cooper, whenever that may be.

The 49-year-old departed Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of the 2022/23 season having led them to the DFB Pokal final and a seventh-placed finish in the Bundesliga.

Glasner did win a trophy during his tenure, leading his side to a Europa League triumph back in 2022 for the first time in the club's history.

Julen Lopetegui (16/1) has been linked with the Nottingham Forest position for a few weeks now. He did a fine job at Molineux last season and previously impressed in La Liga with Sevilla and in Portugal with Porto.

But, Lopetegui left Wolverhampton Wanderers on the eve of the new season due to a disagreement with that club’s hierarchy and has been without a job ever since.

He is joined on that price of 16/1 by former Aston Villa and Rangers boss Steven Gerrard, but it seems fanciful that Forest will turn to the Liverpool legend at present given their links to Nuno. 

Vieira And Svensson Both In The Running

Patrick Vieira is another name who is thought to be among those under consideration at the City Ground. 

The Frenchman initially did a good job at Crystal Palace, although things went sour in his second season at Selhurst Park.

Vieira, who is priced at 20/1 with Parimatch, is currently with Strasbourg in Ligue 1, but his price moved way out from the 3/1 it was just last week.

Bo Svensson (also 20/1) would be a riskier appointment, albeit an exciting one given the job the Dane did rescuing Mainz from their relegation worries in the 2020-21 season. 

The 44-year-old stabilised Jurgen Klopp's former club in the time since, but it may still be a little early for him to land a job like this.

Hasenhuttl A More Likely Choice Than McKenna

For the most part, Ralph Hasenhuttl was a success at Southampton. He did not have much money to spend but continually kept the Saints in the Premier League, until he was sacked with the side struggling last term.

Hasenhuttl previously stated that Southampton would be his last job. 

True to his word, he has yet to join another club and Forest may therefore need to persuade him to take over in the East Midlands.

He is available at odds of 25/1 with BetVictor.

Kieran McKenna has done an unbelievable job with Ipswich, firstly getting the Tractor Boys promoted last season and he now has them well clear in the race for promotion in the Championship. 

However, his odds of 33/1 probably reflect the fact he won't be leaving Ipswich to enter into the Premier League relegation fight at this time. 

Benitez, Lampard And Corberan Among The Outsiders

There's an array of managers listed at 33/1 with betting apps, three of which are Rafa Benitez, Frank Lampard and Carlos Corberan.

The latter is a dark horse, but he is not exactly pulling up trees with his current club Celta Vigo, who have won just once this season. 

The former Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton head coach still has a home in the northwest of England, a country he clearly enjoys working in.

However, given Benitez's current role in Spain, he may not deem the Forest job sufficiently attractive to move on.

Lampard, for his part, is unlikely to show up at the City Ground given connections to Derby County and Forest will probably look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Carlos Corberan continues to work wonders with a West Brom side shallow on talent, so he seems the best value of the three outsiders.