Ruud van Nistelrooy faces easy Leicester decision as Man Utd icon’s worst fears come true
Ruud van Nistelrooy knew the task ahead of him when he agreed to join Leicester - keep them up. It was simple. Sadly, he’s failed.
The Foxes’ return to the Championship was confirmed after their slender defeat to Liverpool - ironically one of their more positive performances of 2025. The demotion, a second in three years, is the culmination of what has been a dismal season littered with woeful decisions both in the dugout and in the boardroom.
It leaves Leicester’s future looking bleak, while the outlook for Van Nistelrooy is also a major concern. But the Dutchman has an easy decision ahead: he needs to leave the club both for his and Leicester’s sake.
There’s no getting around it, Van Nistelrooy’s stint at the King Power Stadium has been an unmitigated disaster. Aside from a (very) brief honeymoon period where he picked up four points from his opening two games, he has accumulated just a further four points since then - a period that includes runs of seven and eight defeats in succession.
During his spell, Leicester have looked devoid of confidence, application, ideas and strategy. He has also alienated some of the club’s key players from last season, with Harry Winks and Jannik Vestergaard the latest to be cast aside.
Any manager would be under huge pressure and a number of fans already have little confidence that the Manchester United icon is the man to lead the club into the Championship. You'd imagine some behind the scenes would also feel the same way.
Van Nistelrooy himself has regularly pointed to the need for clarity over his position. Speaking after the weekend’s defeat to Liverpool, the Dutchman said: “In a situation like this, you have to sit very carefully with the club to discuss matters.” Asked if talks are planned, he replied: “No, not yet. I hope soon of course. It’s important. I can only wait on that.”
The sooner those talks come, the better. Leicester and their floundering boss need to get to work recovering what’s left of their tattered reputations right now.
When it comes to Van Nistelrooy, he needs to get away from Leicester for the betterment of his own career and future prospects. The former forward is a legendary name within the game and enjoyed near constant success on the pitch. A relegation on his CV will hurt.
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Before being appointed by Leicester, Van Nistelrooy had been touted for big things in management. The now 48-year-old had been afforded coaching opportunities within PSV’s youth ranks - as well as with the Netherlands. In his first senior role, he won the Dutch Cup with PSV only to leave the club citing a lack of support.
Given the ongoing financial issues at Leicester - and a recruitment strategy that has been rightly criticised by fans (more on that later) - the East Midlands side just seem to be the wrong fit for the Man United icon. It was always going to be a big job, and in the end it proved to be too big.
With all of that said, despite the woeful displays Leicester have turned in under Van Nistelrooy, he simply can’t shoulder all of the blame. Firstly, the players need to have a serious examination of their own performances.
Leicester aren’t just any newly-promoted club. They’re a side packed with battle-hardened pros with hundreds of Premier League appearances under their belts. And they’ve simply not been good enough.
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There have been far too many games where Leicester have rolled over before half-time, leaving them effectively digesting a loss in the dressing room at half-time. The lack of goals - none at home since early December - has been just another embarrassing statistic across what has been a wretched season.
As Conor Coady put it: “It’s not been anywhere near good enough.” That's an understatement.
King Power directors also have to be at the forefront of the enquiry following what has been a disaster of a campaign Their move to appoint Steve Cooper as Enzo Maresca’s successor was wrong from the off, while Van Nistelrooy's arrival as his replacement has been far from inspiring.
The club’s recruitment drive has also baffld. Odsonne Edouard, Caleb Okoli, Jordan Ayew, Oliver Skipp, Woyo Coulibaly, Bobby De Cordova Reid, Michael Golding, Facundo Buonanotte and Bilal El Khannouss were signed for a combined fee of around £65m this season. You could argue that only the latter has been a success.
Even players signed before this season sit on bloated contracts that make them notoriously difficult to get off the wage bill. And that will only make Leicester’s ongoing battle when it comes to PSR all the more difficult.
There’s also a lack of accountability right at the top of the club. Following their shock relegation in 2023, the club’s owners promised an ‘internal review’ to analyse the failings of that demotion and ensure they would not happen again. Nothing has come of it. If anything, things have gotten worse since.
When it comes to recruitment and appointing managers, there’s a sense that there is a lack of any real long-term planning. There’s also very little dialogue with supporters, those loyal fans left to be the ones considering the consequences of another season in the second tier.
Protests have been staged in a number of games this season, while a plan reading 'King Power Clueless, Sack The Board' was flown over the stadium ahead of the Liverpool game. From a once model club to one at civil war with itself, it's a sad sight to see.
Of course, nobody at the top of the club is satisfied with Leicester's demise. It would be hugely unfair to suggest that anyone at the top of the club, whether that be owner and chairman Khun Top, CEO Susan Whelan or director of football John Rudkin, have gone out to purposely make what have been dire decisions. You’d like to think they want the best for their club.
But it’s clear it’s now time for change. And Van Nistelrooy might be the first victim of that - for both his and Leicester’s good.
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