Being a Premier League manager comes under the most intense scrutiny. It becomes a microscopic look by fans, pundits and purists into tactics, motivation and performance and the longevity of a Premier League manager becomes shorter and shorter each and every season.
The news that Steve Cooper was sacked by Leicester at the weekend shouldn’t come across as a surprise but should serve notice that this is a ruthless industry. Twenty managers start the season at this level and sometimes half of them don’t get to finish the job they were brought in to achieve.
Losing to a resurgent Chelsea 2-1, just one game after the final international break until March is not the kind of result in which to hang your manager out to dry. Two wins in October against Bournemouth and Southampton had the Foxes sitting comfortably in midtable but they have had a tough run since then, being defeated by the Blues, Man United and old foes, Nottingham Forest.
With Enzo Maresca leaving the safe haven of the King Power in the summer to manage the rudderless ship of Chelsea, many thought the Italian would be the one staring nervously at the clock. Instead, Cooper has been given the bullet just three months into a job where staying up was the only aim.
As a neutral, I am not sure you can judge Cooper’s reign after just 12 league games. Leicester are currently sat in 16th – a position their fans would have bitten your arm off for at the start of the campaign. Along with that, they have had a tricky start as trips to Arsenal and Spurs would testify..
Rumours of players not buying into Cooper’s methods are unsubstantiated but in this day and age, player power is becoming all too commonplace.
Cooper is a good man, did a fantastic job in getting Leicester’s rivals back into the Premier League and going toe-to-toe with the big boys. However, did that affinity with Leicester’s fiercest rivals go against the Welshman?
Either way, Cooper will be back in the dugout and, possibly the Premier League, soon enough. The question is, will Leicester keep their status or will the sacking of Cooper haunt them?
