Early career Cooper has coached the Anguilla and Montserrat national teams.
Buriram United Cooper was picked by
Buriram United to replace
Attaphol Buspakom after the
2013 AFC Champions League against
FC Seoul along with his assistant Darren Read. On his arrival at Buriram United, Cooper found the club in third place of the
Thai Premier League, five points adrift of the league leaders. Under Cooper's managerial reign, Buriram were unbeaten in the Thai Premier League,
AFC Champions League,
Thai FA Cup and
Thai League Cup. Buriram United won 23 out of 29 matches, drawing five and losing only once under Cooper. The club won all their away games at the top four Thai clubs during the season. Named "
Manager of the Month" in June 2013, Cooper led Buriram United to the top 10 club rankings in Asia, creating history for the Thai club in the process. Under Cooper's tutelage, Buriram on an average scored 3.1 goals per game whilst conceding 0.75 goals per game. Cooper also had a major influence on developing Thai players in his squad, as nine Thai players were called up to the national team.
Muangthong United On 2 January 2014,
Muanthong United officially appointed Cooper as the head coach.
Mitra Kukar On 11 December 2014,
Mitra Kukar officially appointed Cooper as the head coach.
Ubon UMT United In April 2015,
Ubon UMT United officially appointed Cooper as the head coach.
Philippines In June 2018, Cooper was appointed as senior team adviser of the
Philippines (Interim). Cooper was later tasked to oversee the national team's training camp in Bahrain in September 2018 in lieu of the newly appointed head coach
Terry Butcher, who resigned from his post in August 2018. Cooper's interim tenure ended in late August 2018 when he was officially named as the regular head coach of the Philippine national team. On 27 October 2018,
Sven-Göran Eriksson took over as manager of the Philippines and Cooper assisted Eriksson in the Philippines' stint at the
2018 AFF Championship and
2019 Asian Cup. Cooper returned as manager in January 2019 after the conclusion of the Philippines' campaign in the continental tournament and Eriksson's short-term contract. Under Cooper, the
Philippines gained its highest ever
World Cup point total. In May 2022, it was announced that Cooper stepped down as head coach of the Philippines men's national team.
ADT Cooper coached the
Azkals Development Team, a football club meant for national team youth prospects. He mentored the team during the
2020 Philippines Football League season. He was succeeded by Giovanni Villagracia in the following season.
Jamshedpur On 14 July 2023, Cooper was appointed as the head coach of
Indian Super League club
Jamshedpur.
Visakha On 17 November 2025, Cooper was officially appointed as the head coach of
Cambodian Premier League club
Visakha FC. In less than 6 months, he led the club into the final of
Hun Sen Cup. ==Managerial statistics==