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Steve Cooper truth was painfully clear from the start as Leicester City take brutal action
Steve Cooper seemed to be a changed man at Leicester City. The easy-going demeanour of the man who guided Nottingham Forest to promotion and then Premier League survival seemed nothing like the more intense character handed the reins at the King Power Stadium.
Maybe the Welshman thought he had enough credit in the bank at the City Ground after overseeing a miraculous promotion campaign to take managing a top-flight side in his stride, even with the demanding Evangelos Maranakis as his ultimate boss.
If so, that was a currency he was never to enjoy at Leicester. Instead, he was the man coming in to replace a hugely successful manager, one who had also won promotion before moving on to a bigger job at Chelsea.
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Cooper also had the backing of the fanbase at the City Ground, something he would never enjoy at the King Power Stadium as the appointment of a former Forest man was always looked on with suspicion.
In fact, it always seemed baffling why Cooper took the job in the first place having apparently turned down other approaches after his sacking by Forest in December 2023. Enzo Maresca would have been a hard act to follow in any circumstances. But taking the job with Leicester facing a potential points deduction for player spending breaches while the club were understandably restricted in what they could spend in the summer transfer market made it an almost kamikaze mission. Sadly, for Cooper, so it has proved.
As a manager, he set out to make the most of the resources at his disposal to keep the Foxes up, and that meant making them as hard to beat as as possible. And indeed, City showed enough determination and character to claim a couple of wins, fight back to claim some unlikely points and even go down fighting to the bitter end at the likes of Arsenal. Whether that approach would have been good enough come the final analysis, we will now never know.
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The points ruling ultimately went City’s way, and so too did some unlikely refereeing and VAR decisions, but none of it could prevent Cooper from becoming an embattled and somewhat embittered manager as the task in front of him became ever harder. Referees often came in for post-match moaning when the facts would suggest City had as many iffy decisions go their way as went against them.
In the end, Cooper could not do right for doing wrong with certain City fans as every decision was scrutinised and ultimately criticised, so perhaps a parting of the ways is best for all concerned. But there is no doubt that he had been determined to make it work and determined to prove himself as City boss, whatever the hurdles.
What seems clear from his past record - with Forest, with Swansea and indeed with England - is that Cooper is a talented coach. Let’s hope he now finds a club more in tune with his ambitions.
