Steve Cooper has landed his first role in football since being sacked by Leicester.
The 45-year-old was relieved of his duties just four months into his stint at the King Power Stadium in November, after the Foxes won just two of his first twelves matches of the Premier League season.
But the former Nottingham Forest and Swansea boss is now back in the game in a different capacity, having taken up a role with UEFA.
Henry Winter has revealed Cooper covered his first official game as a technical observer for the organisation on Wednesday night, watching over Feyenoord‘s clash with Inter Milan in the Champions League.
As a technical observer, his 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 report after each game, providing strategic and tactical feedback which can be used by coaches.
Cooper’s first shift saw Lautaro Martinez become Inter’s all-time top scorer in the European Cup/ Champions League, as he netted his 18th goal for the Italian giants in the competition in a 2-0 win.
Marcus Thuram put the Serie A champions in front just before half time, before Martinez doubled their lead on 50 minutes.
And Cooper went with the obvious choice for the Player of the Match award.
The Welshman selected Martinez, whose goal saw him overtake Sandro Mazzola in Inter‘s all-time charts for Europe’s top competition.
Cooper is one of a host of familiar names to acting as a technical observer 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.
Speaking to UEFA, he said: “My role entails travelling to matches and analysing the technical quality and tactical approach closely, as well as picking a Player of the Match.
“It’s a really great way of watching the top teams closely and keeping up with trends.
“I also get to meet new and old football acquaintances in a more relaxed setting.”
Meanwhile Moyes, who has watched over Euro 2024 and Nations League fixtures in the role, previously hailed the insight the technical observers’ work has given to the football industry.
The Scot told UEFA last June: “The most rewarding thing is to discuss so many things with a group of football people who have different opinions and ways of seeing things.
“It’s really good to be part of that and I’ve brought information and ideas back from both the EURO and the Nations League.
“The ideas you get from watching the amazing coaching at the top level can be exploited all the way down to junior teams.”
Prior to taking on his current work, Cooper had been linked 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 from to the Premier League with the latter in 2022.
