Exclusive: Leicester Legend Heskey Believes Fans “Never Took” To Cooper

Leicester City legend Emile Heskey is convinced the club’s loyal supporters “never took” to former boss Steve Cooper.

Cooper was sacked after just 12 games after a dismal start to the Premier League season in which the Foxes won just TWO matches, and former Manchester United interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy was quickly appointed as his replacement earlier this month with the club struggling at the wrong end of the table.

“I don’t really think the fans took to him from day one,” former England international Heskey told SportsBoom.com. 

“I don’t think it helped that your closest rivals [Nottingham Forest] manager is coming to you."

“But whoever is in charge, it’s a big job. We know what the Premier League is and we know what it takes at times."

“Generally you don’t get that many games these days, especially when it comes to getting results."

“That’s something that is happening a lot, if you look at the bottom half of the table it’s all about staying up."

“Unfortunately you don’t get that many games, so it didn’t surprise me when he [Cooper] got sacked.”

TROUBLED STAY

Cooper joined the Foxes on a three-year deal from arch-rivals Nottingham Forest in June 2024.

But the 44-year-old’s stay at the King Power Stadium proved to be a troubled one as results proved hard to come by.

New boss Van Nistelrooy has already had an immediate effect in confidence, a fine 3-1 win over West Ham has seemingly brought back much-needed “belief” to the beleaguered club.

“The question now is do we need someone to keep us up, or do you want someone to build for the future,” added Heskey, who played six seasons for Leicester, five of which were in the Premier League."

The popular striker famously won promotion to the top-flight with the Foxes in the 1995-96 season and scored 33 goals in the club’s Premier League spell before a high-profile move to Liverpool.

“I would have liked either Graham Potter or David Moyes, they could have come in and helped us consolidate and just stay up."

“At the end of the day staying up is the main thing because we’re not going to win the league."

“You’ve got to look at staying in the league, that has to be the main priority.”

Leicester dominated the Championship last season as the claimed a famous promotion back to the top flight as league champions.

It was an immediate return to the Premier League after a disappointing relegation the previous season.

NEW PLAYERS NEEDED

However, Welshman Cooper couldn’t follow in in the footsteps of former boss Enzo Maresca and was given his marching orders at such an early stage in the new campaign.

“The talent is there, but is it the talent that’s going to keep them in the league,” offered Heskey.

“They ran over the Championship last season, but the Premier League is a totally different kettle of fish."

“It’s a really tough league and they probably still do need to get some players in to be honest."

“If they can a few more players in January I think that will be a big help.”