Inside shambles at Leicester City – where a defender brought his dog to training

[urban.spaceman]

Ruud van Nistelrooy sprung new formation on team shortly before 4-0 loss at Brentford and new coach Barry-Murphy had training-ground bust-up

Sam Wallace01 March 2025 8:39am GMT

 

Ruud van Nistelrooy has endured a chastening start to his Leicester City tenure Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 11th Premier League defeat as Leicester Citymanager on Thursday night was a humiliating capitulation at the hands of West Ham United, and as relegation looms so the sense of drift has become acute. A Premier League great as a striker, Van Nistelrooy’s first long-term managerial appointment in the English game has seen players dropped and reinstated, staff changed, but performances and results in inexorable decline.

It has been the dismal performance of certain players, once again in the first half on Thursday, that has prompted pundits to wonder aloud whether the team are simply resigned to their fate. “Zero quality, zero belief in what they were doing,” said the former Leicester player Neil Lennon, for TNT Sports, “the game seemed to pass them by”. His fellow pundit Joe Cole highlighted a lacklustre recovery run by the midfielder Harry Winks, who had only come on as a substitute at West Ham.

Winks is one of three senior players, along with Conor Coady and Jannik Vestergaard, who commute from their homes in other parts of the country to the training ground in north Leicestershire, and the King Power Stadium. Having identified a less-than-ideal spirit among the group, with Vestergaard in particular leaving the training ground soon after the end of sessions, Van Nistelrooy said to those players that they had to spend more time in proximity to the club’s Seagrave base.

Vestergaard, who clashed with both Brendan Rodgers and Van Nistelrooy’s predecessor Steve Cooper, was rewarded with a new contract in the summer. The Danish defender commutes from London. It was agreed that he could stay occasionally at the five-star standard accommodation on the first floor of the training ground, which players, staff and the guests of the owners, the Srivaddhanaprabha family, have used in the past.

 

Jannik Vestergaard bought his dog to Leicester training Credit: Getty Images/Plumb Images

Subsequently, some members of staff were surprised to learn that Vestergaard had brought his dog with him to stay at the training ground. He was spotted walking the dog around the training ground pitches in the morning as team-mates arrived. Vestergaard also asked one of the club’s player liaison officers to take care of the dog while he was training. In football, player liaison officers, in general, are those most often subject to unusual requests. Nevertheless, the appearance of Vestergaard’s dog at a high-performance training centre – Seagrave is among the most advanced in the country – caused surprise among some and was regarded as indicative of a culture where certain players feel they can do what they want.

 

Vestergaard and his dog

Telegraph Sport has been told that Vestergaard was given permission to bring his dog by the club on this one occasion because his family in London were away and there was no one to care for it. It is understood that it was considered a “one-off” and solely as a means to help him prepare. In a separate incident, having been substituted against West Ham, Vestergaard appeared to ignore Van Nistelrooy’s offer of a touchline handshake.

Formation changed on day of game

Ahead of their previous game, a 4-0 defeat by Brentford last Friday, Van Nistelrooy eventually decided on a 4-3-3 formation for which the players had not prepared during the week and that was announced on the day of the game. The team collapsed in the first half, prompting Van Nistelrooy to lament that the gap between his side and their visitors that day had been too great. Behind the scenes there had been disquiet.

Telegraph Sport has been told that, although there was a change to the formation communicated late on, it was nothing more than what was described as a “tweak” and the kind that would often be made in-game by a manager. The nature of the personnel did not change and it was more about the roles being asked of certain midfielders.

On Monday, Leicester announced the departure of two staff members whom Van Nistelrooy had inherited, the first team coach Ben Dawson and Danny Alcock. The pair were called into meetings that morning with Van Nistelrooy and told that their services were no longer required. As Telegraph Sport has reported, Dawson was doing most of the on-field coaching. Before Christmas, Van Nistelrooy had appointed Brian Barry-Murphy to his staff. The 46-year-old had a long playing career as a midfielder, and latterly was Rochdale manager and also coach of the development team at Manchester City. The pair had not worked together previously.

 

Brian Barry-Murphy had an argument with the first-team squad after a training session Credit: Getty Images/Plumb Images

In the lead-up to the Brentford game it is understood that Barry-Murphy clashed with the first-team players over a session he had personally overseen. The row between the players and the coach continued inside the building at Seagrave. It is understood that Barry-Murphy accused the players of not following his instructions. The players responded by saying that the guidance had been unclear. The next day Barry-Murphy apologised to the players and the squad continued preparation.

Telegraph Sport has been told that it was a standard dispute on a Premier League training pitch and nothing more than, sources said, “a couple of cross words”. Players and staff were said to have moved on from it the following day.

Major decision looms on Vardy future

The nature of the most recent defeats has been particularly damaging for Van Nistelrooy, who now faces a daunting run of fixtures starting with a visit to Chelsea and former Leicester manager Enzo Maresca a week on Sunday. After that it is his former club Manchester United at home, then Manchester City (away), Newcastle United (home), Brighton (away) and leaders Liverpool at the King Power on April 20. Those 11 league defeats have come in their last 12 games under Van Nistelrooy. Equally troubling for their manager is that they have gone six straight home games without scoring a goal, breaking the Premier League record.

There were more chants in the home defeat by Brentford calling for the end of Jon Rudkin’s 11 years as the day-to-day power at the club. He rose to become the director of football, first as the right-hand man of the late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who powered Leicester’s 2014 promotion and Premier League title triumph two years later, and subsequently Vichai’s son Aiyawatt, known as Top. Rudkin and Top make all the decisions – including the appointment of Van Nistelrooy.

While Van Nistelrooy has been able to make changes to his staff, the same has not been the case with his squad. About £70 million was spent on fees late in the summer window, once it was clear Leicester had escaped a points deduction under Premier League profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). The only signing in January was French full-back Woyo Coulibaly for £3 million from Parma. Loan signing Odsonne Édouard has not featured since November 10 despite the cost of his £2.5 million fee and wages.

 

Odsonne Édouard has not played for Leicester since November Credit: Getty Images/Plumb Images

The set-piece coach Andy Hughes, the third senior member of the staff Van Nistelrooy inherited, has had his role with the first team dramatically reduced in recent weeks. The staff around Van Nistelrooy now includes Jelle ten Rouwelaar, the goalkeeper coach. Like Van Nistelrooy, Ten Rouwelaar was appointed by United under then manager Erik ten Hag, and also later jettisoned by Ruben Amorim. Ten Rouwelaar is the most senior of the coaches. Van Nistelrooy has also promoted the former Leicester player Andy King, previously in the academy, to the first-team staff.

The club also have a major decision to make over the career of Jamie Vardy, their greatest ever player, who is once again out of contract in the summer. The striker, who powered them to their 2016 Premier League title and has 198 goals for the club, was out of contract last summer and subsequently renewed. A huge figure at Leicester, Vardy was asked on the balcony at the Championship title celebrations in the summer whether he would play on. He responded, “That’s on Jon Rudkin.”

That decision looms again for Leicester’s director of football, as well as a second relegation in three years – if results continue in the same way. Whether Van Nistelrooy would survive that outcome to this season will depend on Rudkin and Top, and also the finances of the club, and their PSR compliancy.

[FrankieADZ]

you star, thanks for posting

 

oh and yeah clubs a mess, shambles etc

 

makes the state of this country look good

[FLAN]

Where certain players can do what they want 

 

I think we all know this place and the culture is a big part of the issues 

[Corky]

Should have picked the dog instead.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Welcome to today's LCFC PR disaster, have a good day Anthony!

[Ian Nacho]

When one of the coaches has to apologise to the players (who have lost 11 out of 12) for having a go at them for not listening to instructions says it all. 

[FrankieADZ]

all in all tho, just shows how far standards have fallen within the club and the players dont have any sort of respect or discipline for/within the club

just seems like some are here for the quick money and gone,

 

personally get rid of a good number of players in the summer, for the betterment of the club, as seeing all this just shows how incredibly rotten to the core the club has become 

[ashbyj]

What breed? Hope it’s not a highly energetic one.

[lcfc_forever]

And yet RVN still picked Vestergaard vs West Ham, what signal does that send the players? The whole thing is a joke. 

[Ian Nacho]

We had a similar situation at my work were someone brought their dog in and they got a rollicking for it without having the excuse of being on six figures a week.

 

If everyone did that the training ground would be like crufts. 

[Noahfence]

Seagrave holiday park strikes again 

[glenny_fox]

From all the snippets of info we have heard about Vestergaard, he sounds like a grade A twat

[nettle]

Released by Top and Rudkin it's not the management and the board but it's the players fault that we are crap😆. I'm not being funny but wherever you work you're only as good as those in charge.

[UniFox21]

Another big journalist highlighting the shit show behind the scenes? Can't wait for the club to try and deflect that 

 

[RYM]

Club will say it’s part of the “Canine engagement framework”

 

[smudgerfox]

Awarding Vestergaard a new contract was the singularly most stupid decision the club has made in a tsunami of stupid decisions in recent years..

 

i thought Brendan was idiotic to bring home here in the first place and after he flopped in the Prem - to keep him on was disastrous..

[teblin]

The dog thing, for me is a non story. He had permission, a complete non story.

 

The other stuff on the other hand, we need to get rid of all the staff bar king, and start again.

[lcfc_forever]

Also means it’s unlikely BBM takes over if Ruud leaves given the issues outlined. What a shambles. 
 

We need to change it now, can’t imagine the difference between letting Ruud go now instead of the summer is significant, unless they’re waiting for the next PSR reporting year. 

[StriderHiryu]

24 minutes ago, Corky said:

Should have picked the dog instead.

Would actually have tracked back. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

Wonder who the source is who has leaked this info, heavily critical of standards, players but then also a bit of negativity towards RVN and Barry-Murphy, strange article to be honest, whilst it highlights the utter shit show the club is, it’s difficult to gauge who’s perspective it is coming from. 

[pazzerfox]

11 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

Another big journalist highlighting the shit show behind the scenes? Can't wait for the club to try and deflect that 

 

They won't even acknowledge it. 

[los dedos]

1 minute ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Wonder who the source is who has leaked this info, heavily critical of standards, players but then also a bit of negativity towards RVN and Barry-Murphy, strange article to be honest, whilst it highlights the utter shit show the club is, it’s difficult to gauge who’s perspective it is coming from. 

Have LCFC  sacked anyone lately ? 👀

[Zear0]

Alexa, define amateurs. 

[nnfox]

The reality is that the culture at the club sucks ass and is as far away from an elite sports club as you can get.  

 

I coach an U16 team who are pretty average.  On our day we can compete with anyone in our league but to get results, all of the players have to turn up and put a shift in.  If 2 players can't be bothered, we'll lose, because 9 average players aren't good enough - we need all 11.

 

Same with Leicester, we just can't afford passengers.  Whilst my U16s are kids with other interests and a mixed bag of backgrounds, you can forgive them but at an elite level sports club, paying "professionals" millions of pounds, the minimum expectation is that they all give 100% effort, 100% of the time.  When we get to match day and only 5 or 6 actually put in the required effort, we're not going to win anything.  

 

Sad to say, but a big part of the playing squad needs to move on immediately to get rid of this lazy (there - I said it) culture.  That means we might experience some pain in the medium term if we can't get the replacements in but the poison needs cutting out.

[CosbehFox]

Millionaire can’t pay for a dog sitter. Laughable. 
 

If the line about some players thinking others can do what they want is true, then the club is fcuked for years. Aiyawatt has born this culture by making players his mates and over rewarding  them