Leicester City part ways with Steve Cooper
Leicester City part ways with Steve Cooper. Leicester City have parted company with first team manager, Steve Cooper after just 12 games of the new Premier League season.
The Foxes only appointed Cooper in June, following the departure of Enzo Maresca to take up the role as head coach at Chelsea, but the former Nottingham Forest boss has struggled to settle down and win over the club’s supporters.
Results on the field have not been great either, with successive wins over Bournemouth and Southampton stained by a run of three defeats in Leicester’s last four Premier League outings.
The Foxes also suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
In a statement confirming their decision to part ways with Cooper, assistant manager Alan Tate and first team coach Steve Rands, Leicester said:
“Men’s First Team training will be overseen by First Team Coach Ben Dawson, supported by coaches Danny Alcock and Andy Hughes, as the Club begins the process of appointing a new manager, which we hope to conclude as soon as possible.”
Cooper had been tasked with building on Leicester’s promotion from the Championship which came at the first time of asking following their surprise relegation.
The 2021 FA Cup winners had seen Cooper take Nottingham Forest into the Premier League for the first time in 23 years, before staving off relegation despite relentless speculation over his future at the City Ground.
He was eventually replaced last December by Forest, with Nuno Espirito Santo named his successor, and had previously forged his reputation as Swansea City manager and as England’s Under-17 head coach, the latter job seeing Cooper lead the Three Lions to the Under-17 World Cup glory in 2017.
Leicester have now cycled through four managers in the last 19 months, stemming from Brendan Rodgers’ dismissal in April 2023. Dean Smith took the reins until the end of that season, but was unable to keep the Foxes in the Premier League. Maresca took over in the summer of 2023.
The Italian’s fine debut season in charge drew immediate interest from Chelsea, who activated the release clause in his contract in order to appoint him as Mauricio Pochettino’s successor on a five-year deal with an option to extend for a further year.
