Steve Cooper - New Manager

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, when_you're_smiling said:

I completely understand why people think he’s being too negative, especially as yesterday it did cost us.

 

But looking long term, I think people have misplaced confidence in how good the defence actually are. The fact we looked so short up front at the start of the season masked the worry over the lack of quality at the back, particularly given it’s a lot of the same personnel that got us relegated last time in the Prem. That season we scored as many as Villa who finished fifth but conceded the joint third most.

 

It’s now one clean sheet in our last 29 Prem games. That one, a 0-0, was the penultimate game of 22/23 against Newcastle where Rodgers benched Maddison and Barnes and went five at the back.

 

The previous clean sheet to that was in November 2022 when Danny Ward won man of the match (yes, really) at West Ham with an injury hit side with a back four of Thomas, Faes, Amartey and Castagne. 

 

We have a better keeper now and Cooper’s certainly not helping with the Ricardo situation, but I haven’t seen any evidence that makes me think this defence is good enough for the Prem. It’s early days for Okali and he looks decent, but good enough to make a transformative difference to the defence? Probably not. 

 

So while Cooper certainly has been too negative, it’s probably partly because he doesn’t think the quality is there too, something Rodgers maybe realised, but not until way too late, the season before. 

 

Yes, we had the best defensive record last season, but that was largely down to dominating the ball something you’re not going to do in the Prem (or many fans want to do anyway). The gap in quality between the Champ and Prem is so big.

 

But that’s the crux of the matter why is Cooper going defence first if we can’t rely on them to see teams out?

 

Use the strongest part of the squad rather than the weakest 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, moore_94 said:

His comments about counter attacking have annoyed me, load of shite:

 

"We were trying to get counter-attacks with Abdul (Fatawu) on the pitch."

 

"But when they’re putting six or seven around your box, you have to try to manage both sides of the game. We had players who could counter-attack and we had players who could defend the numbers as well"

How does the ball get to those players Steve if you put on a midfield not known for his ability to pass through the lines ? 

[st albans fox]

24 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

How does the ball get to those players Steve if you put on a midfield not known for his ability to pass through the lines ? 

Bouba would have actually been a better option to play that role 

hamza made no sense unless you were pulling him into a line of three defensive midfielders (which he didnt) 

[justfoxes]

21 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

How does the ball get to those players Steve if you put on a midfield not known for his ability to pass through the lines ? 

And why keep players on the field when 1 they looked Knackered 2 they’re faltering 3 putting a far too defensive formation out inviting the opposition to attack us 4 keep quality young players on the bench that can make a difference and 4 keep trying to make up reasons why you’re always right but really make us look rather poor ?

 

The one thing in his favour from Yesterday was at least he wasn’t at fault for the offside decision to be overturned by an incompetent W⚓️ of a Pr@ in the VAR broom cupboard who hasn’t a fuching clue how to tell that a player is fuching offside ??!! 

[justfoxes]

3 hours ago, Fox85 said:

This squad is capable to finish between 10th and 13th.

 

However under Steve Cooper they will be in a relegation dog fight throughout.

 

Steve Cooper should not by any means be managing a club anywhere near the top flight. This squad is capable of really dominating games and picking up a lot of points. If he didn't decided to defend the game for 40 minutes.

 

Poor substitutions was a common theme even when he was at forest, he is negative in every game so his approach is the same, he is easy to work out and does not understand how to get the best out of players.

He is known for not playing his best players and even in the correct positions.

 

If Steve Cooper was sacked today the only way leicester would be looking is a upward trajectory.

 

I find it disgusting that the club even hired him and not Carlos Corberan but would spunk almost 8 on Ayew.

 

If Carlos Corberan was the Leicester manager we would probably be on 5 or 6 points now and not 2.

 

The club is a joke and those sticking up for the under 17s Defensive coach as part of the problem as well.

 

We will lose to Everton next game and it will be convincing as well, the season was over as soon as the idiots at the club appointed him.

Well if we lose to Everton then we should cut our losses and go after Corberan, was never a fan of the Blooper appointment thought it was just a knee jerk no one else will come appointment but now PSR has been sorted maybe we can look a bit more elsewhere !

[pazzerfox]

3 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

I’m astonished at how low the bar is for people defending Cooper. 
 

“we lost by one goal” as if that’s an achievement. 
 

I watched every game. He needs to release the handbrake and stop managing like he’s a League One manager playing Man City in the cup! 

Do you realize where we are as a club right now?

The issue seems to be that some fans have an unrealistic sense of entitlement, thinking we have a divine right to show up at Crystal Palace and easily beat them. We simply don’t have the squad for that! Let’s not forget, the last time we were in the Premier League, Crystal Palace beat us at their place, and they had the most shots in one half that they's had all seaon, in the first half! We also got thrashed 5-3 by Fulham that season. Expectations need to be more grounded.

[pazzerfox]

3 hours ago, guest123 said:

I've been to every game this season thanks, we've been lucky so far as it could have been worse. spurs could and should have been out of sight and 3-0 up at half time. fulham we weren't even close and they didn't get out of 2nd gear

We are treading a fine line.  At this level, if we open up too much, we will get picked off and get pumped 3 or 4.  The tactic is to be solid, strong and to try and stay in games.  A lot of teams have more quality than us.

[Lambert09]

if we lose to everton, i’m curious whether we could pull the plug on cooper? it’s a tad harsh but at the same time, it seems clear that we’ve just got this all wrong. 

 

It only appears to be a 4 donkey race at the bottom and losing to everton is simply not plausible if we want to stay up. 

 

just go and beg corberan, he’d take it. 

[winteriscoming]

7 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

Do you realize where we are as a club right now?

The issue seems to be that some fans have an unrealistic sense of entitlement, thinking we have a divine right to show up at Crystal Palace and easily beat them. We simply don’t have the squad for that! Let’s not forget, the last time we were in the Premier League, Crystal Palace beat us at their place, and they had the most shots in one half that they's had all seaon, in the first half! We also got thrashed 5-3 by Fulham that season. Expectations need to be more grounded.

I get what you’re trying to say but we’ve got to be looking at picking points up against side’s like Fulham and Palace. I really believe we’ll struggle to get more than 5 wins if Cooper stays until the end of the season. 

[murphy]

12 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

Do you realize where we are as a club right now?

The issue seems to be that some fans have an unrealistic sense of entitlement, thinking we have a divine right to show up at Crystal Palace and easily beat them. We simply don’t have the squad for that! Let’s not forget, the last time we were in the Premier League, Crystal Palace beat us at their place, and they had the most shots in one half that they's had all seaon, in the first half! We also got thrashed 5-3 by Fulham that season. Expectations need to be more grounded.

You're right, we have no right to turn up at Palace and expect to win, but I don't think that is the problem being discussed here.   The problem is that having got ourselves ahead we invited Palace on to us and conceded possession, territory and threat with no outlet leading to the inevitable late equaliser.

[when_you're_smiling]

37 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

But that’s the crux of the matter why is Cooper going defence first if we can’t rely on them to see teams out?

 

Use the strongest part of the squad rather than the weakest 

You can only rely on the whole Kevin Keegan tactic of ‘we’ll score more than you’ in certain situations and largely when you’ve better attacking players than your opposition. 

 

At the minute I feel much less enthused about watching Cooper’s side so far than even when getting frustrated at times under Maresca. But I do wonder what exactly he thinks about his defensive options which leads to him being more cautious. We’ll see what the set up is like when he plays the likes of Fulham and Palace at home.

[Clarkey123]

1 hour ago, Izzet is God said:

I was speaking solely about yesterday.

 

So you expected us to not concede at all in our first 3 games then? Great optimism that is for a newly promoted side with Faes at the back….

I don’t expect us to concede that many with such a defensive line up; or then again maybe I do, when we invite teams to attack us because we offer so little going forward. 
 

And Faes is far from the problem, especially when he’s chipped in with a goal in this system. 

[CosbehFox]

28 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

We are treading a fine line.  At this level, if we open up too much, we will get picked off and get pumped 3 or 4.  The tactic is to be solid, strong and to try and stay in games.  A lot of teams have more quality than us.

 Villa and Spurs had the chances to do that 

[reynard]

1 hour ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

The acid test for a manager and his value to the club is would we be in any worse position without him showing up. And the simple answer is no. Maybe better but certainly not worse off. He isn’t adding anything extraordinary at this moment. 
 

We need to him to get 10 draws and 8/9 wins. That win collection starts next weekend and quite simply by the time we’ve finishing playing Ipswich in a few weeks, that count has to be at 3/4. The in game management and squad selection is very worrying. 

Sums things up perfectly.

The first 9/10 games are absolutely crucial given the opposition we have to play in them. I'd say any fewer than 12 points from those games and we are as good as down. Certainly in a bad situation.

I suppose a draw away isn't bad but he's the most negative manager I've seen since Gary Megson.  Just can't see where those necessary wins are going to come from.

Only a win against Everton will do now. Anything less and I'd say thanks and move on before it is too late.

[Dahnsouff]

4 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

 Villa and Spurs had the chances to do that 

But they did not take them, we had chances yesterday to score 2 more, but we fluffed it. Not sure potential can be counted as all teams have them to varying degrees.

[Fox85]

Carlos Corberans West brom playing stunning football and are top of the sky bet championship.

[CosbehFox]

Just now, Dahnsouff said:

But they did not take them, we had chances yesterday to score 2 more, but we fluffed it. Not sure potential can be counted as all teams have them to varying degrees.

All four games we’ve lost on xG - including if you take Palace’s penalty away. A good indicator that the same thing can’t keep happening.
 

The evidence is there that anything that has been achieved to date is rather more down to individuals than tactics 

[CosbehFox]

23 minutes ago, Fox85 said:

Carlos Corberans West brom playing stunning football and are top of the sky bet championship.

Financial restrictions as well over the summer until the end of the window. 1 new signing in their starting line up today 

Edited Sunday at 14:29 by CosbehFox

[Dahnsouff]

3 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

All four games we’ve lost on xG - including if you take Palace’s penalty away. A good indicator that the same thing can’t keep happening.
 

The evidence is there that anything that has been achieved to date is rather more down to individuals than tactics 

Yes it is, we do not look ready to win the games we have played thus far. However, the next 5 will be the real barometer of Cooper as a manager for us this season, as losing to those teams likely to be around us come the end of the season could be disastrous.

I would take a slight issue with the individual brilliance argument as I tend to think we are quite collectively assured in defence, despite some of the results. Our pressing has largely been a positive of this season so far.

[Lambert09]

53 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

if we lose to everton, i’m curious whether we could pull the plug on cooper? it’s a tad harsh but at the same time, it seems clear that we’ve just got this all wrong. 

 

It only appears to be a 4 donkey race at the bottom and losing to everton is simply not plausible if we want to stay up. 

 

just go and beg corberan, he’d take it. 

west brim now headin go to top as we speak 

 

Things would have been so different if we’d pushed for him 

[Muzzy_no7]

20 minutes ago, Fox85 said:

Carlos Corberans West brom playing stunning football and are top of the sky bet championship.

He was the right appointment. 
 

Genuinely astonishing that the club opted for Pooper over him 

[Claudio Fannieri]

10 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

He was the right appointment. 
 

Genuinely astonishing that the club opted for Pooper over him 

Made no sense whatsoever not going for Corberan. We had compo from Enzo so we should have used a proportion of it too secure him. Very short sighted decision and could cost us millions to put right and/or we get relegated because of Cooper. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

Just for a bit of additional perspective we have 2 points from 4 games as do Ipswich who have played Man City, Liverpool, Fulham and Brighton, they are only below us by two goals and conceded the same number as we have, let’s not over state our start as some sort of horrific run of fixtures.

 

Make no mistake next week is absolutely massive anything less than 3 points an against a rock bottom Everton team will be a real lost opportunity. Truth is I think he will panic and play not to lose rather than to win.  

[FoxTimmy2]

Squad selection been shit

[Fox85]

1 minute ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Just for a bit of additional perspective we have 2 points from 4 games as do Ipswich who have played Man City, Liverpool, Fulham and Brighton, they are only below us by two goals and conceded the same number as we have, let’s not over state our start as some sort of horrific run of fixtures.

 

Make no mistake next week is absolutely massive anything less than 3 points an against a rock bottom Everton team will be a real lost opportunity. Truth is I think he will panic and play not to lose rather than to win.  

So no different then?

 

The stadium needs to come together on Saturday for the sake of Vichais Legacy and get Cooper out of the club 😤 

 

He would be turning over in his grave.