During a recent live stream on his YouTube channel, The Athletic’s Derby County reporter Ryan Conway discussed all of the latest Derby County news and one of the topics that he talked about was the possibility of Swansea City manager Steve Cooper succeeding Phillip Cocu as Rams boss.
The Rams are currently being led by a four-man coaching team on an interim basis following Cocu’s departure from the East Midlands club and reports have claimed that the next permanent Derby boss is not expected to be appointed until Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan‘s impending takeover is completed.
Cooper, who guided Swansea to a sixth-place finish in the second tier last season and whose Swansea side currently sit in fourth place on the Championship table, is one of the names that has been discussed as a potential replacement for Cocu and here is what Conway had to say about the possibility of the 40-year-old Welshman taking the reins at Pride Park:
“From everything that I’m hearing, Cooper, in terms of what he is as a coach, is brilliant, but there are issues if he is the guy to get you to the Premier League – and that is what Derby are planning to happen.
“Again, new owners – they’re not buying the club to consolidate in 10th, they’re buying the club to essentially try and go up.”
Do you think Steve Cooper could be the next permanent Derby manager?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Conway had to say about Cooper…
Given that he managed to lead Swansea, who finished in 10th place in the Championship in the 2018/19 season under current Premier League manager Graham Potter, to the play-offs in his first season at the club – the 2019/20 campaign – we feel it would be harsh to write Cooper off as a manager that could guide Derby to promotion if given the right backing.
However, would bottom-of-the-table Derby even be able to prise Cooper from Swansea given that he is managing a club that currently sits in a play-off place and looks far more likely to challenge for promotion than the Rams do at present?
Even if the takeover goes through it doesn’t seem like it would make much sense for Cooper to view moving from Swansea to Derby as a good decision at present and as a result, we feel it may be unlikely that he will succeed Cocu.