Latest Leicester City news from LeicestershireLive brings you what the Foxes boss has said following his arrival as the club’s manager
Steve Cooper has already made contact with some of his Leicester City squad following his arrival as manager and cannot wait to get his “hands dirty”.
Leicester moved to appoint the Welshman on a three-year contract this week as they turned to the former Swansea boss to negotiate their return to the Premier League.
The Foxes will face a serious challenge back in the top flight but Cooper is relishing the task ahead of him and has given his first interview since arriving. And the former Nottingham Forest boss, who was sacked by the Reds last December, is intent on delivering an exciting team and says everybody is raring to go.
“I have that experience of coming back into the Premier League and obviously this is a Premier League Football Club in every way, shape and form,” he told the club’s website.
“It lost its status for one season, managed to get back straight away, which is a really impressive achievement, but now it’s about re-establishing ourselves back to the level. And what’s good is that there are so many people here who have seen both levels and there is a big difference.
“We’ve got to work really hard now in getting back to Premier League level and hitting the ground running when the season starts. The lads will be well rested and that’s great after a tough Championship year, but we’ve really got to get the most out of them in pre-season in how we want to play and how we want to build on last season, while knowing that it is a completely different challenge in the Premier League.
“We need to get ready for it in our way and that’s my objective as the coach and the coaching team and the players. When we get it right and we will and you see the best of us, I’m sure that the fans will be able to identify that this is an exciting Leicester City team and that is something that is really important to me.
“My passion has always been coaching and trying to put all the right exercises and game plans and programme for the players to help them thrive. In a football programme, the most important thing is the players, they always come first.
“As coaches, you need to try and guide and support them and put them in the right headspace to deliver and go and be themselves and give the best of themselves. If you do that in a real team way, and within a way that is associated with this Football Club in Leicester City, then that’s a powerful thing. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and that’s something I’m really looking forward to.
“I’ve spent so much time studying the team and the squad and the infrastructure and the history. All of that is getting to know and reading, but what you really want to do is get your hands dirty in doing the best job possible for the Football Club and that starts with when the players come back.
“I’ve made some initial phone calls to some of the players and I’ll get round them, but it’s important that they have a rest as well. We’re coming to the back end of June and I know the season finished quite early because of the automatic promotion, which is great.
“The Premier League is starting a little bit later than normal, but we’ll have a strong pre-season programme in place. What is great about the players and the staff that I’ve spoken to so far is that they’re just really hungry to get going again next year.
“Whatever level you are at, hard work and good intentions and a winning mentality are really important and I’m really getting that sense from everyone that I am speaking to, so that’s a really exciting sign.
“We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of character, a lot of good attributes in the squad already. With the right additions that the Club are working together in trying to bring in, we’ll give ourselves the best chance of reaching the objectives that we’ll set for next season.”
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