Life under Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester City has been turbulent to say the least – and largely for the wrong reasons.
Appointed as Leicester manager in November 2024, Van Nistelrooy was tasked with improving the dressing room atmosphere after the players failed to warm to Steve Cooper, and get results.
Neither of those have happened and in fact, Cooper picked up more points than Van Nistelrooy in six less Premier League games.
It’s proved to be a terrible decision and a former Foxes player reckons that the club may now regret the bold move.
Frank Sinclair thinks Steve Cooper should’ve been given more time
Frank Sinclair made almost 200 appearances across a four-year spell in the East Midlands and is regularly seen working on the club’s in-house media channels.
Having seen what Cooper and Van Nistelrooy have both been like on the training ground, he feels that not much has improved and that the club may have been too rash when sacking the Welshman.
Speaking to Leicestershire Live, he said: “In hindsight, you would look at it and say that Cooper could have had a little bit more time to turn it around with the experience he has had as a manager.
“If you back at it now I think it was the wrong decision to make. But these decisions are the things that the club has to do without knowing what is going to be the future going forward.
Steve Cooper may get the last laugh on Leicester
Since his dismissal, Cooper has worked with UEFA as he awaits his next steps in management.
Perhaps accused of jumping into a job that was never going to work all along given his ties to Nottingham Forest, the 48-year-old appears to be taking his time.
Reports have linked Cooper with Southampton in recent days after they sacked Ivan Juric.
It’s likely that both sides will be in the Championship next season and if he step into the St Mary’s dugout, his goal will be to beat Leicester to promotion and make a return to the top-flight at the Foxes’ expense.