‘Give The Supporters Something To Believe In’

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‘Give The Supporters Something To Believe In’ – Cooper’s Message

Manager Steve Cooper believes there is a hunger developing in the group across pre-season that will serve Leicester City well over the course of the campaign to follow.

2024-08-08T18:00+00:00

‘Give The Supporters Something To Believe In’ – Cooper’s Message

Manager Steve Cooper believes there is a hunger developing in the group across pre-season that will serve Leicester City well over the course of the campaign to follow.

2024-08-08T18:00+00:00

‘Give The Supporters Something To Believe In’ – Cooper’s Message

Manager Steve Cooper believes there is a hunger developing in the group across pre-season that will serve Leicester City well over the course of the campaign to follow.

2024-08-08T18:00+00:00

‘Give The Supporters Something To Believe In’ – Cooper’s Message

Manager Steve Cooper believes there is a hunger developing in the group across pre-season that will serve Leicester City well over the course of the campaign to follow.

2024-08-08T18:00+00:00

‘Give The Supporters Something To Believe In’ – Cooper’s Message

Manager Steve Cooper believes there is a hunger developing in the group across pre-season that will serve Leicester City well over the course of the campaign to follow.

2024-08-08T18:00+00:00

The Foxes have navigated a schedule designed to build-up fitness while also taking on the new ideas from Cooper and his coaching team, spending time in France and Germany, either side of hard work back at the Club’s training base in Seagrave, prior to this weekend’s final fixture away to RC Lens on Saturday.

Returning to the top-flight this term, naturally the main focus has been on ensuring that City are best prepared for the challenges that will come their way, with Cooper acknowledging the need to give Foxes fans a team worthy of getting behind, during good times and bad.

“I could speak on behalf of everybody, particularly the players, that I see a real focus and determination to show that we’re a Premier League club,” he commented. “We obviously are in terms of status, infrastructure and recent history, but we had to take the spell out of the league and now we’re back in.

“The players all have their own personal stories of what they want to get out of the season and what they’ve missed from being in the Premier League and I think that’s good because it creates a real hunger in the group. If we can join that all together, and make it one, then it will help in our quest.

“First and foremost, that starts with showing the supporters. Any successful team is always on the back of unconditional support. But it’s our responsibility to give the supporters something to believe in, something to connect to, something to be excited about and something to be proud of.

“I want them to be coming to watch the team and leaving thinking: ‘I’m looking forward to seeing that again’. Hopefully on the back of some good results. That’s on me, that’s on us as staff and players to do our bit and it’s a mutual thing. We can’t expect brilliant support if we don’t do really good things on the pitch. It’s definitely a two-way thing.

“That’s why we’re really honed in on our work and everyone is giving everything they can every day. It’s really important to see how hard the players work and how committed they are to everything. Anything you throw at them, there’s no complaints. Nobody is looking to cut corners, everybody is really engaged in the best they can be every day.

The Foxes Manager pictured on the sidelines during the pre-season friendly against Palermo.

“We’re still in pre-season mode and focused every day, but we know that motivation is that come the start of the Premier League, we want to become a team that is competing really well in the league and showing who we are. If we do that, we know the supporters will be with us altogether and it becomes a powerful thing.”

Creating a good atmosphere and camaraderie within the squad has been a key aspect of the pre-season camps, ensuring the momentum from promotion is maintained ahead of the step up into the top-flight, with new additions complimenting the existing group of players.

The 44-year-old explained: “There’s a really good spirit among the lads, which is a carry on from last season. It’s really important that we, not just keep that going, but try to improve it and enhance it, especially with the new faces in the group.

“There’s loads of returns from coming away and you really want to maximise the 24 hours really that you’ve got with the players. One of things that can really be gained is the building and enhancement of relationships whether it’s from the players or staff members and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“They’re a really engaged group of players. They’re very coachable, very interested and work very hard. They are very much together and there really is a good vibe around how these guys work together.

“There’s many facets to pre-season that you want to make the most of and games are one of them, but training as well. There’s a six-week pre-season and we’ve put it into two blocks.

Steve Cooper delivers instructions to his players in training.

“We’ve had four weeks of a heavy schedule and a preparation phase with lots of double sessions and meetings, extra-curricular stuff and setting who we want to be this year and how we go about it, inclusive of the two trips to France and Germany. It’s very different trips, but the guys just get on with whatever comes their way.

“We’ve had four weeks of really high demands of every aspect of performance and the last two weeks of pre-season are about putting it all together and getting ready for the start of the Premier League and the challenges that we’ll face.

“We get back to Leicester and have the game in Lens and then the following week is the start of the Premier League. We want to finish properly.”

Taking the reins of a newly promoted side is a somewhat unique position for Cooper and he is keen not to rip up the script and start afresh, but instead add his own twist to what has proved a winning formula.

The former England youth head coach added: “You can see it’s a very together football club with a lot of goodwill and I’m very grateful for the people who have reached out. I really want to do my best for the Football Club and show my worth and prove that we can continue to have success. We’re really determined to do that.

“It’s about me joining what is already here, not a new manager coming in and everything changing. I think that can be a little disrespectful. It’s about me and the staff that have come in with me respecting what the Club stands for and all the good things that go on and just try and add a bit more value to that.

“But certainly we’re not changing direction, just carrying on the positive journey. Of course, we want to adapt a few things and that comes naturally from the Championship to the Premier League and new players coming in.

“Of course, there are adaptations and small changes, but we want to continue on the positive journey if you like from last year and getting back into the fold in the Premier League.”

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