Nottingham Forest are now ‘beginning to think’ about potential alternatives for manager Steve Cooper, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Battling relegation

Evangelos Marinakis fully backed his boss in the summer, spending over £140m on 22 new signings, but he’s had an underwhelming start to life back in the Premier League.

The Reds suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Fulham last week, and after securing just one win and a draw, find themselves second from bottom heading into the international break.

The Latest: Jones’ shock reveal

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones revealed that Cooper’s job is now in danger, with the club considering other suitable candidates for the role behind the scenes.

“Steve Cooper might be under threat sooner than most people would expect. I’ve heard murmurs about the club beginning to think about what they could do next, how big they could go if they did look for a new boss.

“I think it would be very harsh but I also think this situation is one we need to look out for after the international break.”

The Verdict: Keep the faith

Cooper will be out of contract at the City Ground next year so Marinakis will have to soon make a decision over his future, and we feel he deserves to stay despite the poor start to the new campaign.

The Welshman has won 29, drawn 12 and lost 12 of his 53 games in charge at Forest (23-year absence.

The manager needs time to integrate all of his new signings into his original squad to really start seeing a difference on the pitch, so he should be given the chance to prove himself and see if he can turn things around before it’s too late.