Leicester City fans blamed for relegation form as Steve Cooper sacking claim made by journalist

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Martin Samuel of the Sunday Times that Leicester City has appeared to blame supporters for the downturn in form after making an observation about Steve Cooper.

Leicester achieved unwanted history by becoming the second Premier League team to lose five league games at home in a row without scoring.

Woyo Coulibaly was a bright spark for the Foxes in what was largely a good performance all-round from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side.

It wasn’t enough though and the Blues are firmly in the bottom three with only 13 games left to play.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
17	WolvesWolves	24	5	4	15	34	52	-18	19
18	IpswichIpswich	25	3	8	14	23	50	-27	17
19	LeicesterLeicester	25	4	5	16	25	55	-30	17
20	SouthamptonSouthampton	25	2	3	20	19	57	-38	9

To add to the woes on the pitch, Leicester fans protested against Jon Rudkin with a pre-match demonstration.

There were further protests inside the ground when a banner reading: ‘Internal review, you don’t have a clue’ was unveiled in the 14th minute of the game.

But, this negativity around the club is of the fans’ own doing, according to Samuel.

• READ MORE: Leicester City will get relegated if Van Nistelrooy doesn’t fix issue inherited from Steve Cooper, it’s obvious

Leicester City were wrong to sack Steve Cooper

Plenty of noise has been made ever since Leicester sacked Cooper in November.

At the time, Leicester were 16th in the table and now, three months later, are 19th under Van Nistelrooy.

Cooper also had a better points-per-game record in comparison to his replacement and Samuel believes that the Welshman was hounded out by supporters for his connections to Nottingham Forest and he should’ve been given more time.

In his Sunday Times column, he said: “Leicester had a footballing reset. His name was Steve Cooper and many of the same folk now up in arms about the direction the club has taken wanted him out, left cold because he once managed Nottingham Forest.

“Cooper was dismissed on November 24 with Leicester in 16th, after 12 games. Not great, but then what was expected? Leicester have played under the threat of a Profitability and Sustainability Rules sanction for some time now.

“So, yes, a reset by all means. But it’s not just those in the posh seats that have misjudged events this season. Cooper merited more time.”

• READ MORE: Steve Cooper’s stance on return to management revealed after Leicester City sacking

Opta gives Leicester City almost no hope of Premier League survival

A miracle is needed to keep Leicester up anyway and according to Opta’s latest relegation predictor, there is next to no hope of staying in the top flight.

The latest stats, as compiled on 4 February 20245, suggest that Leicester have an 88.9 per cent chance of being relegated.

With a horrible run of fixtures to come between the end of February and mid-April, it really does feel like last chance saloon for Leicester.

Six wins could roughly do it for the Foxes but right now, it feels like they’re fighting a losing battle.