Steve Cooper is poised to make his return to the Premier League after being named as the new Leicester City manager.
Cooper was fired midway through the 2023/24 season for failing to save Nottingham Forest from a Premier League relegation battle.
He has been linked to a few roles since that, but seems to have taken his time in waiting before the campaign ended.
The 44-year-old manager seems to be particularly delighted by this appointment, going by the new-found glow on his face.
Towards the end of his tenure at Nottingham Forest, the Englishman almost had this perpetually grumpy look.
He was clearly unhappy with how things deteriorated before he was sacked from the job and his expressions almost made it seem like someone put a ‘sad Snapchat filter’ on his face.
But over the course of the last six months, a lot seems to have changed for Cooper.
He appears to have benefitted from some time away from football and worked on making himself look healthier and happier.
In an interview he gave to Leicester City FC’s media, Cooper looks reinvigorated than how he looked towards the end of his Nottingham Forest spell.
There’s speculation that he got a botox treatment done on his face, that would explain the radical change in his facial features.
To us, Cooper just comes off as less droopy because of the lack of stress in the last six months and probably living a healthier lifestyle away from a stressful job like the Nottingham Forest one.
Some fans are hilariously accusing Leicester’s PR team or ‘face-tuning’ the manager in the announcement photos.
There are some claims that leaving the exhausting Nottingham Forest job helped add years to his life and ‘unage’ him, making him look much younger than he did last year.
It’s not like Cooper has magically gotten all the wrinkles removed from his face. The wrinkles are quite noticeable in his first interview with the club, making it clear he hasn’t gotten any treatment to remove them.
The 44-year-old seems to be charged up and emotionally ready for another attempt at succeeding in the Premier League. Cooper has some big shoes to fill after Maresca’s heroics with Leicester last season.
But as long as the Englishman can keep the Foxes away from the relegation zone, he should stay clear of ever stepping into that ‘droopy phase’ of his life again.
