Steve Cooper, that useless mug, has somehow managed to blag himself a new gig in the beautiful game after being given the boot by Leicester.
Cooper's new role with UEFA
The 45-year-old bellend was rightly shown the door just four months into his disastrous stint at the King Power Stadium last November. The Foxes were absolute dogshite under him, winning just two of his first twelve matches of the Premier League season.
But in a shocking turn of events, the former Nottingham Forest and Swansea boss is now back in the game, taking the piss with a role at UEFA. Unbelievable!
Technical observer responsibilities
Henry Winter revealed that Cooper covered his first official game as a technical observer for the organisation on Wednesday night, watching Feyenoord's clash with Inter Milan in the Champions League.
The muppet's new responsibilities include analysing matches from a coaching perspective and selecting the Player of the Match for every game. Those in the job also produce a bollocks report after each game, supposedly providing strategic and tactical feedback that can be used by coaches.
Martinez's goal seals Player of the Match award
Cooper's first shift saw Lautaro Martinez become Inter's all-time top scorer in the European Cup/Champions League, netting his 18th goal for the Italian giants in a 2-0 win. Marcus Thuram had put the Serie A champions in front just before half time, before Martinez doubled their lead on 50 minutes.
And in a shocking move that surprised absolutely no one, Cooper went with the obvious choice for the Player of the Match award, selecting Martinez, whose goal saw him overtake Sandro Mazzola in Inter's all-time charts for Europe's top competition. Groundbreaking stuff, mate.
Other familiar names in UEFA roles
Cooper is just one of a host of familiar names acting as technical observers for this season's Champions League campaign. These include former Premier League managers Rafael Benitez and Avram Grant, as well as ex-England boss Gareth Southgate, who took on the role in August after resigning from Three Lions duty.
Everton's David Moyes and Besiktas head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have also carried out the job in the 2024/25 campaign prior to their respective returns to management in the new year. Last summer, Solskjaer shed some light on what work as a technical observer typically involves, stating that it's a great way of watching the top teams closely and keeping up with trends.
Cooper's managerial history
Prior to taking on his current work, Cooper had been linked with a return to management with Middlesbrough last month as Michael Carrick faced mounting pressure. The Welsh coach's stint in charge of Leicester was brought to an early end after his run of results left them 16th in the league table. He previously managed Swansea and Nottingham Forest, winning promotion to the Premier League with the latter in 2022.
