Following their 2-1 loss to Chelsea last weekend at the King Power Stadium, Leicester City boss Steve Cooper got the sack after just 15 games in charge.
The loss, inflicted by Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca who won the Championship with Leicester last season, was Cooper’s sixth league defeat of the season, triggering him to become the second manager in English top-flight football to get sacked so far this campaign, following Erik Ten Hag’s dismissal from Manchester United.
Sitting just a point above the relegation zone, with just two wins from twelve games, the 2023/24 Championship winners have had far from the ideal start returning to the Premier League.
Their first win came against Bournemouth in their seventh match of the season with a 1-0 victory, which was followed by a 3-2 victory the following week away to Southampton, but the side have failed to win a game since Ayew's 98th-minute winner at St. Mary’s.
Despite a number of losses, their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United is the only league game so far this season in which they have not scored, perhaps showing slightly more positive areas for the new boss to consider.
The club seems set to appoint Ruud Van Nistlerooy into the role, shortly after his departure from fellow Premier League side Manchester United.
On an interim basis at Manchester United, before Ruben Amorim took charge, the Dutchman took the lead role in four games, remaining unbeaten with three wins and one draw.
Two of these games were against the Foxes, with the Manchester side triumphing 5-2 in the Carabao Cup and 3-0 in the Premier League.
Van Nistlerooy’s only full-time senior managerial role was during the 2022/23 season where he won the Dutch Cup with PSV, before joining the Manchester United coaching staff in July.
Deciding to sack Cooper after just 157 days in charge was in line with the club’s best hopes to stay in the Premier League this season, with coach Ben Dawson overseeing training, and most likely the Foxes’ league clash with Brentford this weekend.
The search for a haul of points before the year is out, however, will be a challenge for the side as they face in-form Liverpool, fifth-placed Brighton, and a Manchester City side that are looking to regain form in December.
In their bid to stay in the top flight of English football, they will need to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone, which currently consists of Ipswich, Southampton, and Crystal Palace, a big task in hand for the new boss to rescue such a poor start to the season.
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