Cooper needs time with tensions rising

Tensions were laid bare for Leicester on Tuesday.

Their 3-0 penalty shootout win over Walsall, following a 0-0 draw, sent the Foxes through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Yet, struggling to break the League Two side down, a section of supporters directed negative chants towards boss Steve Cooper urging him to “sort it out” with a fan also running onto the pitch, gesturing at the dugout before being escorted off.

From his first day, when he wrote an open letter to supporters, Cooper has strived for unity, while he has invited legends like Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart into the training ground to soak up their knowledge of the club.

He has looked to get under the skin of the Foxes but, after Tuesday, it appears he has yet to break the surface with some of the fanbase.

That is not something Cooper has ignored – he spoke following the shootout about needing to build credit with supporters and owning any chants at him.

Putting Saturday’s visit to Arsenal aside, the next two home games against Bournemouth and Cooper’s former side Nottingham Forest, either side of a trip to Southampton, are likely to go a long way to determining the opinion of the paying fans.

Regardless of this being a different era for Leicester – following their title winning and Champions League exploits – there is always an expectation to get results, even if Cooper has only had five league games with a new squad.

Few newly promoted sides fly up the league, especially ones who lost their manager and star man when both Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall left left for Chelsea.

Managers always need time, though it is the one commodity rarely afforded to them.

And Cooper is no different.