Steve Cooper has his work cut out winning over the Leicester City faithful and a dismal display against League Two Walsall did nothing to help the manager despite progressing thanks to a penalty shootout.
Given Steve Cooper‘s association with Leicester City‘s rivals Nottingham Forest he was not the most popular appointment when it was confirmed that he would replace Enzo Maresca this summer.
To add to the Forest links, Cooper was widely viewed as an uninspired choice and his negative tactics so far this season have done little to change that perception.
A 1-1 draw against bottom of the league Everton at the King Power on Saturday was a massive source of frustration for Leicester fans, particularly when you consider the Foxes were largely second best as a first Premier League win continued to allude them.
To follow this up with a 0-0 draw against fourth tier opposition after sending out an experienced side looks to have tipped some fans over the edge despite the fact we are only seven games into the campaign.
Leicester City fan confronts Steve Cooper in Walsall draw
Cooper did rest a number of his usual starters against Walsall, with the likes of Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Winks and Wout Faes all not featuring.
However, Leicester should still have had more than enough to muster more than the meagre two shots on target they managed with the likes of Ricardo Pereira, Facundo Buonanotte, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Odsonne Edouard on the pitch.
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Foxes supporters are understandably concerned, but one fan at the Poundland Bescot Stadium overstepped the mark as they made their feelings clear to Cooper.
BBC Sport Leicester presenter Jack Rafferty described the incident in the second half on X, as he posted: “Ridiculous scenes here as a Leicester fan runs onto the pitch and over to shout towards Steve Cooper and the City bench.
“He’s eventually brought down by a Walsall player and dragged off by stewards. Hamza Choudhury also had a word in the process.”
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Whilst there is no condoning the actions of this Leicester fan, it does highlight the growing discontent from supporters with what they are seeing from their side under Cooper.
The Welsh manager is winless in the Premier League having seen his negative substitutions after being 2-0 up against Crystal Palace allow the Eagles to come back to draw 2-2 before the draw with Everton at the weekend.
They may have scraped through to the Carabao Cup round of 16 via a 3-0 penalty shootout win but there is no pride to be taken from a dismal performance in 90 minutes against Walsall.
It does not get any easier for Leicester as they face a trip to Arsenal on Saturday and, whilst few would expect the Foxes to win, a heavy defeat could see Cooper’s relationship with the fanbase fractured beyond repair.