Premier League: Leicester City appoints Steve Cooper as their new manager
The Foxes have found their man in Steve Cooper after losing Enzo Maresca to Chelsea
Leicester City has appointed former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper as their new manager. The Welsh manager will be taking charge of the Foxes from the 2024-2025 season. Leicester was recently promoted to the Premier League after winning the EFL Championship 2023-2024 title under Italian coach Enzo Maresca.
However, Maresca has been poached by Chelsea as the successor to Mauricio Pochettino. Since then the Midlands-based side was on the lookout for a new manager. Their search has finally come to a halt as the board has decided to go along with Steve Cooper for their next managerial appointment. Now Steve Cooper has Premier League experience under his belt as he has managed the Foxes’ fierce rivals Nottingham Forest in the top flight of English football.
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Steve Cooper got Forest promoted to the Premier League for the season 2022-2023. He then managed to keep the team in the top tier for that campaign. However, barring a poor run of results in the 2023-2024 season, Cooper was sacked by the club’s hierarchy during the latter stages of the year. He was then replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo.
His record as a manager in the Premier League doesn’t quite reflect his capabilities. In his 54 games in the top flight of English football, the Welshman has managed a total of just 11 wins and has 16 draws and 27 losses to his name. However, Steve does like to play an attacking brand of football, something which Leicester are accustomed to under their former boss Enzo Maresca.
Cooper’s preferred formation of 4-3-3 also matches the game plan Maresca employed at the Foxes in the last EFL Championship season. All in all, with Premier League experience on his side, Cooper could prove to be a very decent appointment for the Foxes.
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Other candidates that were in the running for the Leicester City managerial job
As per reports two of the most prominent potential candidates that were in the running for Leicester City’s managerial role were former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter and former PSV Eindhoven’s Dutch football manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy. With Graham Potter having the Premier League pedigree under his belt the Englishman was tipped to be one of the front runners for landing the Foxes’ managerial reign.
On the other hand, since the day Leicester City parted ways with Enzo Maresca, Ruud van Nistelrooy was reported to be the first name that the club tumbled upon to replace the Italian. However, as it turned out Steve Cooper trumped both Potter and Nistelrooy to be Leicester City’s next man in charge.
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