Leicester City sacked Steve Cooper as manager on Sunday after just five months in charge. Leicester, promoted last season, are 16th in the Premier League, outside the relegation zone, but the hierarchy have been left unconvinced by performances, with player friction also a factor behind the scenes.
Leicester, whose players return to training on Tuesday following a home defeat to former manager Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea on Saturday, intend to make a quick appointment, ideally by the weekend, mindful of a trio of key games against Brentford, West Ham and Brighton across the next fortnight. Cooper leaves them two points above the drop zone after two wins from 12 matches.
It is an unusual move for Leicester under the Srivaddhanaprabha family, who generally prefer to give managers time. They persisted with Brendan Rodgers throughout 2022-23, when they went on to be relegated under Dean Smith, who took charge with eight games to spare. This time around, Leicester felt compelled to act urgently to avoid a potential repeat. Some of their players were sceptical of Cooper’s pragmatic style, having won the Championship last season under Maresca.
Prior to appointing Cooper on a three-year contract, Leicester held advanced talks with the former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter, who was also on their radar when they sacked Rodgers. Carlos Corberán, the West Brom head coach, was also viewed as an attractive option before moving for Cooper. Ruud van Nistelrooy could be a candidate after expressing interest in pushing for a No 1 job after leaving Manchester United.
Leicester hope to have Cooper’s successor in place before Saturday’s trip to Brentford. Cooper and his assistant, Alan Tate, signed a three-year contract in the summer. Tate, and first-team coach and analyst Steve Rands have also departed. Andrew Hughes, who joined Cooper’s staff as a set-piece coach from Norwich in the summer, will be part of Leicester’s interim coaching staff.
The former Swansea and Nottingham Forest manager never won over the club’s supporters, perhaps as a result of that affiliation with rivals Forest, from whom he departed last December, and a different playing style to Maresca’s adventurous philosophy. Losing to his predecessor on Saturday, when Leicester were well beaten, their late goal only coming in added time, proved the last straw.
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On Friday, he had admitted the difficulty of the assignment he took on last summer. “I knew how hard this challenge was going to be on and off the pitch this year,” he said. “It has proven to be exactly that. We’re fully aware of the environment we’re in. The league position is OK and if it stayed like this, a lot of people would be satisfied, but I want more.”
His departure proves the ownership equally wanted far more but that Cooper will not be the manager given the chance to achieve it.
