Cook Joins Reds From Cherries

Nottingham Forest are not taking this January transfer window lightly. On 1st January, reports of Djed Spence staying at the City Ground for the rest of the season were announced. On 2nd January, Forest acquired Keinan Davis on loan from Aston Villa, and on 4th January, Steve Cook has arrived. Happy new year.

The 30-year-old has joined the reds to add to a plethora of talented centre halves in the Nottingham Forest squad. The experienced Cook joins Joe Worrall, Scott McKenna, Tobias Figueiredo and Loïc Mbe Soh as Forest’s current central defenders.

Forest have reportedly edged out QPR in the race to sign the former Bournemouth defender after both teams had recently made propositions for Cook’s signature. There is no fee involved and the centre-back signs on a two-and-a-half-year deal at the club.

Steve Cook joins Forest after becoming a Bournemouth cult hero throughout the Cherries’ best ever period as a club. During his 10 years at Bournemouth, Cook achieved two promotions and was a consistent starter at the club during their five-year stay in the Premier League.

Cook made 389 appearances during his time at Bournemouth and this article will acknowledge statistics during periods of his Premier League time and most recent time in the Championship.

It was arguably Bournemouth’s second season in the Premier League that Steve Cook appeared a solid top-flight defender as his team finished in the top half. The centre-back started all 38 games of the season, completing 90 minutes every game. Cook finished the season with 10 clean sheets to his name and averaged 2 interceptions, 1.2 tackles and 9.3 clearances per game. The centre half also completed 2.1 ground duels and 3.8 aerial duels per game.

With an average 63.8 touches per 90 minutes, Cook completed 37 passes per game, with a 91% pass accuracy in his own half. Going forward, the defender also managed to successfully complete 79% of his dribbles and even managed to score 2 goals during the 2016/17 Premier League season.

Bournemouth were relegated to the Championship during the 2019/20 Premier League season but were captained to the Championship play-off semi-finals in the 2020/21 season by Steve Cook.

Cook had a relatively solid season under Jason Tindall and then Jonathan Woodgate, starting 42 games and keeping 13 clean sheets. The defender completed 1.4 interceptions, 0.6 tackles, 4.1 clearances, 4.1 aerial duels and 1.3 ground duels per game.

However, Scott Parker’s arrival at Bournemouth this season meant that Steve Cook’s game time at the Cherries would be cut drastically. With the signing of Gary Cahill and emergence of Lloyd Kelly, Cook has only made three appearances in the Championship so far.

Nevertheless, those appearances against Coventry, Fulham, and Blackburn respectively, were impressive performances by Cook. The 30-year-old kept up an 87% pass accuracy rate and completed 1.7 interceptions, 6 clearances and 3.3 duels per game – highlighting his levels of consistency.

Though Cook hadn’t been given the opportunities he had been used to at Bournemouth under Scott Parker, it has been reported that their relationship has remained respectful, and Cook has always continued to be professional.

This hints at one of the key attributes Steve Cook can bring to Nottingham Forest – leadership. With experience from League One up to the Premier League, Cook has a great level of experience and has always vocally guided the younger Bournemouth players throughout his career.

In terms of playing style, Cook was always a ball-playing, left-sided centre half who would look to build through with midfield. However, as seen throughout the stats previously mentioned, and as seen recently against Fulham, Steve Cook is an out-and-out defender.

Whenever Cook has played in a back three, he has been at the centre under Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall. With Steve Cooper often opting to play three at the back as Djed Spence and Max Lowe operate the wing-back positions, Forest will look strong at the back with Scott McKenna covering his favoured left side of defence and Worrall his favourite right side, whilst Steve Cook commands the centre.

Forest may be looking to stick to a philosophy of adding young players to the squad, but with the experience, leadership and outright defensive quality Steve Cook possesses, this move might just be worth breaking the mould.

#NFFC fans, how do you feel about the signing of Steve Cook?

— Callum Castel-Nuovo (@callumcasteln) January 3, 2022

Fans are noticeably happy with the Reds’ latest acquisition following a recent twitter poll that suggested near three quarters believe Cook to be an excellent signing for Forest.