When a new manager takes charge of a struggling club, a standard move is to make a rabble-rousing speech to inspire a group of faltering players.
On his first day at Nottingham Forest, Steve Cooper opted for a different approach.
Cooper arrived at Forest in September with the club bottom of the Championship after their dreadful start to the campaign led to the sacking of Chris Hughton. Yet after saying a few words to his players and staff, Cooper simply listened.
We can be fairly sure that in those initial conversations no one was predicting that come May, Forest would be preparing to face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium with automatic promotion to the Premier League up for grabs.
Steve Cooper will take his Forest team to Bournemouth for a mouthwatering clash on Tuesday
However, having heard what they had to say, the Welshman was even more convinced of his original plan: he was going to set Forest up to play attacking football.
It was a bold move but Cooper understood that with Forest in such trouble, courage was the way forward. Training was altered so Cooper could make the most of his players’ attacking potential, rather than stifling the opposition.
The move has worked a treat: if Forest win at Bournemouth on Tuesday night, they set up a thrilling final day on which promotion could be decided on goal difference or even goals scored.
Should they triumph, Forest will return to the Premier League for the first time this century.
Sam Surridge scored a second-half hat-trick to fire Nottingham Forest to victory over Swansea
‘Our ambition is to play a certain style of football,’ Cooper said. ‘It is not easy because I am asking for us to play a brave, positional game which is about trying to be creative and exciting.
‘Those are things that are hard things to do in the game. Sometimes we get it right, other times we don't. That's football.’
Cooper has also given greater responsibility to his players, with Lewis Grabban and Jack Colback among the senior stars part of a dressing room leadership group. The manager encourages players to bring any issues to him when they arise, rather than allowing them to fester within the squad – and it is not only the senior stars who have benefited from Cooper’s arrival.
Bournemouth have stumbled during April but were bang in form at Blackburn Rovers
Forward Brennan Johnson was the subject of a substantial offer from Brentford in January but was so
