"Steve Cooper is the obvious one" - Exclusive: Jack Colback draws QPR, Nottingham Forest comparisons | OneFootball

Jack Colback may be feeling a sense of de ja vu at the dramatic turnaround under Marti Cifuentes at QPR, having been at Nottingham Forest when Steve Cooper took charge in September 2021.

Forest were in the bottom three when Cooper, who was sacked today and is reportedly set to be replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo, was appointed. The Welsh coach would lead the Reds on a famous charge up the Championship, which resulted in a play-off final victory and promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 1999.

The same is not expected of Cifuentes or the Hoops this term but, speaking exclusively to Football League World, courtesy of Copybet, Colback admitted there are parallels to be drawn.

The Spaniard was appointed as Gareth Ainsworth's replacement at the end of October with the R's 22nd in the Championship with just eight points from their first 14 games.

The R's have picked up 12 points in eight games since - including 10 in their last five - to move to within two points of safety and instill fresh hope that they can avoid relegation in 2023/24.

There's still a long way to go but the marked improvement in performances and results in recent weeks has been impossible to ignore.

QPR and Nottingham Forest comparisons

"We were struggling before he came in, that was clear to see," Colback told FLW. "Since he's come in, everyone has had a lift. Everyone gets a fresh start, almost a clean slate.

“He's come in and changed quite a few things and it's about buying into what he wants and at the moment we've had some positive results.

"He’s changed quite a lot. He's got a different way of how he wants to play than Gareth did. A lot of little things, a lot of small details. We have a lot of meetings so he can get his ideas across and get his point of view across.

“For a manager coming in at this stage of the season, it's probably difficult because you haven't got the luxury of six weeks or whatever it is in pre-season so he’s had to get his ideas across quickly and the players have all bought into that. We’re finally getting some reward for decent performances.”

Asked whether he'd experienced a turnaround like it during his playing career, Colback was quick to name-check Cooper.

He said: "Steve Cooper is the obvious one.

“We were bottom of the league with one point when he came in. A bit earlier in the season than this is now but he came in and refreshed everything. It was a similar process really.

“He was a similar manager in terms of how much detail he put into all aspects of the game, not just about attacking or defending there are so many variables to that.

“It was a very similar process in the sense that he had a lot of information to give but almost had to drip-feed it. Once as a group of players we got used to one thing, then he would move on to the next and I think the biggest thing was that he was just picking up wins - that brings confidence and takes the pressure off.

“If you look at the league table now it's a lot better. We understand we’re still in the bottom three and we've still not achieved anything by any stretch of the imagination, but the table now is a lot better to look at than what it was. We’ve given ourselves a chance to bridge that gap, which is initially to get out of the bottom three.

“That's what we did at Forest. We looked at it and thought a good first step was to get out of the bottom three and then we go from there.

“I’m sure the manager has got far higher aspirations than beating a relegation battle. So can we shape up game by game, get ourselves out of the relegation battle and then look to see how far we can get?

“I think the impact he’s had has been clear for all to see but again, we've done nothing yet. We've got to keep pushing, keep working hard, and keep picking up results.”

Jack Colback helped QPR sign Steve Cook

Colback has been joined by former Forest teammate Steve Cook at QPR. The central defender joined eight days after him and Colback believes they both came to be part of "a project at a club that wants to be higher up".

He added: "Similar to what I experienced at Forest where I went to a club that was ambling away in the Championship and then we managed to get promoted. That journey we went on was amazing for me.

“That's what really intrigued me. I had offers from other clubs who are maybe expected to do a bit better in the league, but that didn't really excite me as much as this one did.”

"I spoke to Steve a few times and was trying to sell the club as well as I could because I knew what he would bring," Colback continued.

“What he offers, we were lacking a bit - experience and leadership. It’s a young group and has a lot of quality but you need experience and know-how as well in this league.

“I was really keen to get Steve in. He had his own situation, he decided to come out and play games, and fair play to him because he could have sat where he was and picked up his money but he decided to come here.

“I think he had similar feelings to me in terms of wanting to achieve something rather than just finishing his career. It's about just trying to prolong your career not just see it come to an end. Try to achieve something, which we can do here so it was good to see him come in.”