Cooper ‘shocked by Leicester sack’, rift with senior ace part of ‘major issue’
Steve Cooper was left astonished by his sacking by Leicester City and his players also expected him to get more time, according to a report from The Athletic.
The Welshman was given his marching orders on Sunday (24 November) evening a day after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea the previous day, which leaves them 16th in the Premier League table, one point clear of the relegation zone.
Despite that, his exit after just 15 games across all competitions came as a shock to the former Nottingham Forest boss, a sentiment that was apparently shared by the majority of the club’s playing squad as well.
While they may have been surprised by the timing of his sacking, the Cooper’s struggles to win over the squad after replacing Enzo Maresca in the summer was reportedly a “major problem” and contributed to his downfall.
There was apparently a particular struggle to build a relationship with centre-back Jannick Vestergaard.
The Dane featured in 42 league games as Leicester won the Championship title last season, but has featured in just four of their 12 league games during the current campaign.
Steve Cooper failed to build relationship with Yannick Vestergaard at Leicester
Football Insider Opinion
Given the way things have gone so far this season it could be argued that Cooper can feel somewhat unfortunate with his sacking by the Foxes.
As things stand, they are the only one of the three sides promoted to the Premier League last season who are not in the relegation zone.
Despite that, Leicester are the only one of these three teams to have sacked their manager since the start of the campaign.
They have also shown some encouraging signs on the pitch, and have had a tough start in terms of the teams they have played.
How the move is viwed will also be influenced by just how successful their replacement for him proves to be at The King Power Stadium.
But while that may mean he is somewhat unlucky, it should perhaps not have been a huge surprise to Cooper that he has been dismissed.
Rightly or wrongly, reports had already suggested he could be on the way out, and so he will have likely have had some idea that it was coming.
And his reception from others at the club, which was seemingly not all that positive, only increased the chances of an imminent parting of the ways.
In other news, Simon Jordan has sent a warning to potential Leicester City managerial candidates.
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