In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast on behalf of the London Football Awards, Tony Cottee has branded Claude Puel uninspiring and praised Brendan Rodgers for the impact he has had so far at Leicester City.

The Frenchman was in charge at the King Power Stadium from October 2017 to February 2019, finishing ninth in his first season and leaving the club 12th when he departed, as reported by BBC Sport at the time.

There was a feeling that he was unable to get the best out of the players he had at his disposal, with Jamie Vardy perhaps being an example of this as the England international went through various goal droughts under Puel, with some of them lasting four games at a time, as per Transfermarkt.

Puel's time as manager of the Foxes had led Cottee to question him: "I don't know Claude Puel, but he looked to me quite an uninspiring manager. So, whether that played a part in it where he just wasn't saying the right things for Jamie or playing the team in the correct way."

There are no such questions surrounding Rodgers though, as he currently has Leicester third in the league, while Vardy is the Premier League's top scorer following his hat-trick in the record-breaking 9-0 win against Southampton.

Cottee has been full of praise for the current Leicester boss: "I'm a big fan of Brendan Rodgers and he's a nice man. First and foremost he's a really good coach, he's getting the best out of these Leicester players, they're working hard for each other, they're playing some great football and when you're playing full of confidence, you then create the chances and when you're getting lots of chances that's all you can ask for really."

The former Leicester striker feels that both Vardy and Leicester are seeing the benefits of having him in charge: "Jamie's been banging the goals in again this season and as I've said, Leicester have got a real good chance of getting in the top six this year."

It is difficult to argue with Cottee's standpoint on how Leicester will do under Rodgers, especially when their start to the season is considered. After smashing Southampton 9-0 on Friday night, they're now up to third in the Premier League.

Tony Cottee was speaking as a judge on The London Football Awards, due to take place on 5th March 2020 at Camden’s Roundhouse. Tickets are available from https://

londonfootballawards.org.