Super Eagles’ midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi will have to endure with another manager in the ongoing season following the sacking of Manager, Steve Cooper by Leicester City on Sunday.

The former champions have endured a winless run left them hovering two points above the relegation zone.

A 2-1 home loss to Chelsea, who are managed by their former coach Enzo Maresca, left Leicester 16th in the standings with 10 points after 12 games.

“Leicester City has parted company with Steve Cooper, who leaves his position as first team manager with immediate effect,” the club said in a statement.

“Assistant manager Alan Tate and first team coach and analyst Steve Rands have also left the club. Steve, Alan and Steve depart with our thanks for their contribution during their time with the club and with our best wishes for the future.”

Leicester said first team coach Ben Dawson, and coaches Danny Alcock and Andy Hughes will oversee training until they find a new manager.

Cooper, sacked by Nottingham Forest last season, was appointed by Leicester in June to replace Maresca who had taken the club straight back to the Premier League as they won the Championship.

Leicester began the season with a 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur, but failed to record a win in their opening six league games.

Successive victories over Bournemouth and Southampton last month had eased the pressure somewhat before three defeats in their last four games led to Cooper’s downfall.

A stoppage time penalty from Jordan Ayew in Saturday’s game at home to Chelsea gave them hope of snatching a draw, but another loss proved too much for the club.

Leicester’s next game is away to Brentford on Saturday.

Cooper, 44, is the second Premier League manager to be sacked this season after Manchester United parted ways with Erik ten Hag last month.

Manchester City’s misery continued with a shock 4-0 Premier League rout by Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, marking the first time in Pep Guardiola’s dazzling managerial career that he has lost five games in a row across all competitions.

James Maddison scored twice in the span of seven first-half minutes, while Pedro Porro netted shortly after the break and Brennan Johnson added a fourth goal deep in added time to end City’s club record run of 52 consecutive home matches unbeaten in all competitions.

City remain second in the table on 23 points but are five points adrift of leaders Liverpool, with the Reds having a game in “In eight years we have never lived this kind of situation. Now we have to live it and break it, winning the next games, especially the next one. Now we see things in one way, maybe in a few weeks we see it differently.”

It was City’s most lopsided loss in their history at Etihad, and their three consecutive league losses are also a first during Guardiola’s eight-plus seasons as boss.

“These are rare days, to come to the champions and especially City considering how they have dominated over the last few years in Europe as well,” Maddison, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Saturday, told Sky Sports.

hand, while Spurs climbed to sixth on 19 points after 12 games.

“In this moment we are fragile defensively,” said Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday. “We started really well as normal but we could not score and then after that we conceded. After that we conceded some more which is difficult for our emotions right now.

“To come home with four-nil is special, these are the days you remember and I think it’s important we enjoy it.”

Guardiola’s four-time defending champions had 23 shots to Tottenham’s nine and will rue the missed chances, including three in the first half from striker Erling Haaland alone.

But they were all over the place defensively and paid the price in the 13th minute when Maddison sprinted in to side-foot home a beautiful long cross from Dejan Kulusevksi. Maddison doubled the lead seven minutes later when he chipped the ball over grounded goalkeeper Ederson.

Porro put the match out of reach in the 52nd minute when Dominic Solanke cut back the ball for the Spaniard who unleashed a first-time effort past Ederson, and then substitute Johnson added one more in the 93rd minute.

Timo Werner sprinted down the left past Kyle Walker before sending a low cross across the face of the goal that Johnson slid to knock in, watched by City’s shell-shocked fans.

It was the joint-biggest defeat for Guardiola, who had lost 4-0 three previous times, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and with City, in a 4-0 defeat to Everton in 2017.

City last lost a competitive home game by four-plus goals when Arsenal beat them 5-1 in 2003 at Maine Road.

-Reuters

New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes that he is the right man to revive the ailing English giants’ fortunes, as he prepares for his Premier League debut at Ipswich Town on Nov 24.

The 39-year-old was hired from Sporting Lisbon to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked after a dismal start to the season left United languishing in 13th place in the table.

Amorim is regarded as one of the brightest young coaches in Europe after leading Sporting to a pair of Portuguese titles during his four years in Lisbon. He left the team this season with a perfect 11 wins.

United, meanwhile, have won just four of their 11 league games this term, extending a malaise that has set in since they last won the Premier League in Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge in 2013.

Asked if he believes he can eventually restore the Red Devils to the summit of English football, Amorim said on Nov 22: “I’m a little bit of a dreamer, I believe in myself. I believe in the club, we have the same mindset.

“I truly believe in the players, I do. I want to try new things. You guys don’t think it’s possible, I do.”

After arriving in Manchester during the international break, he will finally get his first taste of the Premier League when United travel to struggling Ipswich.

He is trying to succeed where David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and ten Hag all failed by bringing the title back to Old Trafford.

The Portuguese is adamant reviving United is not an impossible job, despite a difficult combination of high expectations and underperforming squad.

“Call me naive, but I truly believe that I’m the right guy in the right moment,” he added.

Amorim was speaking to the media for the first time since taking charge on Nov 11.

The packed press conference room at United’s Carrington training ground underlined what he has already started to realise about the size and global reach of the 20-time English champions.

“It’s bigger than I imagined. There’s a lot of departments, it’s so much different than Sporting, and Sporting is a big club in Portugal,” he said. “This you feel is a global club, so you have so much to do.”

His rise has been compared to the early success enjoyed by compatriot Mourinho at Porto.

Mourinho took English football by storm when appointed Chelsea boss in 2004, shortly after guiding Porto to Champions League glory.

“He sent me a message saying it’s a big club with lovely people, and he’s correct, it still is,” Amorim said of Mourinho.

“With all the Portuguese coaches, we’ve shown that we can be the best in the world. I’m different from Mourinho. He was a European champion, I am not.

“Football is different nowadays, I think I am the right person for this moment. I am a young guy and I try to use this to help my players.”

Amorim’s confidence extends to his tactics and he is ready to stick with his preferred 3-4-3 system despite players who might not be suited to the formation.

“I prefer to risk a little bit,” he said. “We will adapt some players because we don’t have the right profile.

“This team was built for a different system. It’s not evolution or revolution, it’s a change in the way we play football.”

Despite having had just two training sessions with his new team because of the international break, Amorim promises fans will see a difference, but not a major overhaul, when they take the Portman Road pitch.

“Simple things I think,” Amorim also said during his lengthy press conference. “We lose the ball too often. We have to be better at running back and we have to be very good in the details.

“We have to improve in a lot of areas. We have to change the physical aspect of the team. I don’t know how long it will take. We have to improve a lot to try to win the title.”

-AFP/ Reuters