Nottingham Forest legend Garry Birtles wants the club to remain calm regarding manager Steve Cooper.

Rumors are swirling regarding the future of the Forest head coach, who is a Crystal Palace target.

With only one win from their last nine games, Forest are tumbling down the Premier League table.

Speaking on the Garibaldi Red podcast, Birtles stated: "If they get rid of him I can't see any plus points from that. I've watched them train and how he sets up in training. It's fantastic to watch.

"It's quick and incisive. Everything is great to watch and spot on. A manager can do that in training but it's about players when they go out. Brian Clough used to say 'once you cross the white line, it's down to you. I've picked you but it's down to you'.

"That's how players have to view it. They never accept they do anything wrong. As a manager you can't do anything about players doing stupid things.

"Swapping manager now would be absolute madness for me. Whoever comes in will have his own methods and his own way of seeing things. He'll view players differently and bring his own training methods.

"It could disrupt everything when we already have the Africa Cup of Nations coming. Steve is still doing a very good job for me. We're losing games by the odd goal. We aren't getting battered by teams.

"It's those avoidable goals. That's not down to a manager. It's players switching off and not doing the basics right. If you do that you'll concede goals. That's nothing to do with the manager when players make those silly mistakes."