Mark Cooper has made 100 signings in just over four years in charge at Forest Green Rovers. They have been of varying success. Here’s five of Cooper’s best and worst signings since 2016.
Christian Doidge
Doidge was one of the first signings Cooper made at Forest Green, arriving from Dagenham & Redbridge in the summer of 2016. Doidge arrived as fourth choice striker, behind Matt Tubbs, Kieffer Moore and Rhys Murphy in the pecking order.
Doidge started slowly, but ended up scoring 25 goals in 41 games in his first season as he fired Rovers to promotion to League Two, including a memorable strike against Tranmere in the play-off final victory.
In League Two, the Welshman’s goalscoring exploits continued, bagging 34 goals in 67 games before eventually earning a move to Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership in 2019.
Joseph Mills
Mills arrived at the New Lawn looking to improve a Rovers defence that conceded 77 goals in the previous season – the 17/18 campaign. Not only did he improve Forest Green’s defence, but he also offered so much going forward, finishing his first year with four goals and seven assists from left-back.
He only missed two games of that season in which Rovers made the League Two play-offs, and the following season he improved even more. Mills took the captains armband for the majority of the year and registered seven goals and six assists in just 24 games – as he missed a large chunk of the season due to injury.
At the end of the season, Mills moved on and joined League One Northampton, although he is arguably the best left-back in FGR’s 131-year history.
Ethan Pinnock
Not many Forest Green fans had heard of Ethan Pinnock when he joined Rovers in 2016. The 23-year-old defender arrived with rave reviews from Dulwich Hamlet supporters, and was a regular for FGR during their promotion from the National League in 16/17.
Pinnock was Rolls-Royce of a centre-back, very comfortable with the ball at his feet and incredibly dominant in the air. He also showed his versatility by playing as a midfielder on occasion, and as a left-back during the play-offs.
After winning promotion to the Football League, Pinnock signed for Barnsley that summer and captained the Tykes to promotion to the Championship in his second year at the club. Now, he is a regular at Brentford where he has just been rewarded with a new five-year contract for his performances.
Isaiah Osbourne
When Osbourne arrived at Forest Green in September 2017, the team were really struggling. Rovers were sitting 23rd in League Two with just five points from their first nine games.
The former Aston Villa and Blackpool midfielder almost immediately turned things around, helping Rovers accumulate ten points from their nine games – a vast improvement.
Osbourne bossed the midfield in many games and ended up becoming a bit of a cult hero amongst FGR fans. He played a big part in helping Rovers avoid relegation in League Two, before joining League One side Walsall that summer.
Farrend Rawson
Rawson joined FGR from Derby in January 2017, as Cooper looked to sort his sides defensive issues to help his side climb up the table.
Rawson was only 21 at the time, but he had EFL experience during loan spells with Accrington Stanley, Coventry and Rotherham.
The centre-back was an ever-present in all two and a half years of his time at the club. He showed maturity beyond his years, often leading by example in the middle of a back three.
He clocked up 97 games for Rovers, but was released in the summer and he joined fellow League Two side Mansfield Town.
Shamir Mullings
Mullings joined Forest Green in November 2016, when Rovers sat top of the National League by a comfortable margin. He arrived from Chelmsford for a rumoured £30,000, having scored 14 goals in just three months for the National League South side.
The striker played 23 games during his time at FGR, but only scored once which was a consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat to Exeter City in League Two.
Mullings was a popular figure amongst Rovers fans, but unfortunately, he really struggled to make an impact during his time in Gloucestershire.
Conrad Logan
Goalkeeper Logan arrived on loan at Rovers from Mansfield in January 2019. It looked as though he would provide cover to Lewis Thomas and Adam Smith, who had both performed well for FGR in the first-half of the season.
However, Logan came straight into the side, playing against Macclesfield just one day after he signed for the club. He played five games in his short spell at the club, none of which resulted in wins and he conceded 13 goals in this time.
Lewis Thomas came back into the side and conceded just two goals in Rovers’ remaining three games of the season. The ex-Hibernian and Leicester City ‘keeper is now without a club.
Toni Gomes
It was deadline day in the summer of 2017. Rovers had started the League Two season very poorly. Therefore, there was a real excitement amongst the FGR fanbase when Portuguese winger Toni Gomes was signed from Liverpool.
Only 18 at the time, Gomes signed with a big reputation having previously featured for Portugal Under 17s. However, Gomes did not live up to expectations. The Liverpool loanee didn’t complete 90 minutes once during his time in Gloucestershire, and he didn’t score in thirteen appearances.
His loan was terminated in January and he is now playing for Egyptian side Gaish.
Shawn McCoulsky
McCoulsky is the only player currently contracted to Forest Green to feature on this list. Arriving from Bristol City in January 2019, many were expecting McCoulsky to hit the ground running and to be Forest Green’s talisman, especially as he’d scored 11 goals in 35 games in a loan spell at Newport just the season before.
However, McCoulsky struggled, not helped by the fact that Doidge unexpectedly returned to Rovers as his move to Bolton fell through.
Now with 21 FGR appearances under his belt, the ex-Bristol City striker is still yet to score for Rovers. He was loaned out to Bromley and FC Halifax Town for parts of the 19/20 season, and is unlikely to feature for FGR in the near future.
Robert Sanchez
Arriving on loan from Brighton in 2018, Sanchez looked like everything Cooper wanted from a goalkeeper; comfortable with the ball at his feet and very dominant when coming out to claim high balls. Goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain described Sanchez as the best ‘Under 23 goalkeeper around’ when the Spaniard signed for the club.
However, Sanchez made a number of costly errors during his time at Rovers, including a comical one away at Exeter when he let a clearance from Aaron Martin go underneath his boot and into the goal in stoppage-time.
Sanchez made his last FGR appearance in a 2-1 win at Yeovil in December, before being sent back to Brighton in January 2019. In a season in which Rovers missed out on automatic promotion by five points, it’s no exaggeration to say that they probably would have been promoted with a more consistent goalkeeper between the sticks.
