Djed Spence makes Nottingham Forest admission and addresses Steve Cooper sacking

Latest Nottingham Forest news as ex-Reds loanee Djed Spence reflects on City Ground spell and Spurs transfer

Djed Spence, who recently received a promotion, calls his time at Nottingham Forest “one of the best moments” of his career.

Nearly two years ago, the right-back helped the Reds secure their return to the Premier League. He was a standout player in the Garibaldi, making 46 appearances and scoring three goals while on loan from Middlesbrough.

Many supporters of Forest would have like to see him sign permanently that summer, but he ended up making a big-money transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. Spence hasn’t quite had the same success since then, though.

He is yet to properly break through at Spurs and is currently on his third loan spell since his move to the capital, having joined Genoa in January. But the 23-year-old still has great memories of his time at the City Ground.

“It was me at my best, it was me enjoying football and loving the game,” he told The Athletic. “It was one of the best moments of my career, it was a really good time.”

It helped that in Steve Cooper, who was head coach at the time, Spence had a manager who was able to get the best out of him. The defender was not surprised to see Cooper axed in December, though, amid a poor run of form for Forest.

Not at all. Spence responded, “These things happen in football,” when asked if he was surprised by Cooper’s dismissal. Everyone can get fired; that’s just how football works. He performed admirably for the team and helped us qualify for the Premier League.

“Steve Cooper is a good man; he understands people,” he continued. He is an excellent coach, and it was crucial that he understand me both as a player and as a person.

“He worked for England youth, he had that experience of younger players and people coming from different backgrounds and knowing how to deal with certain players – that played a big part in it. He just let me be me.

“With Cooper, he’ll make you feel confident, he’ll ask you questions, he’ll speak to you like a normal human; that plays a big part in football. We don’t just go to work and press a button and we just function and play. We’re human, we like interaction, we like to speak.”

Spence was in-demand when his loan spell with Forest finished. Tottenham won the race for his signature, and the former England Under-21 international hopes he will one day get the chance to really show what he can do there.

“I didn’t have a great time,” he said of his time at Spurs so far. “I went there and I didn’t play, so obviously it was hard for me. When you sign somewhere as a player for a big club, you want to be filled with confidence and welcomed with open arms, as I was, but it just didn’t feel right when I went there. Things didn’t go well as I planned.

“When you don’t get a chance, there’s not much you can do as a player. You get lost, you’re not playing, it’s hard to get a rhythm again. It’s never easy going to a new environment when things don’t go well but it’s part of the game. It’s a learning experience.”