Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/what-two-punchy-leicester-city-10120601

 

What two punchy Leicester City statements should trigger as club hide behind convenient excuse
Talking points from Leicester City's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool as their relegation to the Championship was confirmed, looking at where it's gone wrong and what happens next

ByJordan Blackwell
08:00, 21 APR 2025

And so begins a second relegation inquest before it’s known if the first was ever concluded.

Given it’s the second time in three years that Leicester City are heading down to the Championship, it would suggest that the supposed internal review never happened. If it did, lessons haven’t been learned.

New solutions are required but to produce them it must first be determined where this season went quite so wrong.

 

In Ruud van Nistelrooy’s press conference after the official confirmation of City’s demise on Sunday, it was the first true chance to ask the manager to reflect on the problems that had led the club back to the second tier.

“Over 33 games, the gap between the three promoted sides has been too big compared to the other 17 teams,” van Nistelrooy said. “It’s clear that the difference in quality is there.

“Two teams have been relegated already and the other one is 15 points behind with five games to go.

“The gap is big between the promoted sides and the rest. That’s the first conclusion and the most important one.”

When pushed on whether there were any issues specific to City besides the struggles of all three promoted clubs, van Nistelrooy didn’t budge. He said: “It’s the same answer I just gave you.”

Maybe he was not ready, an hour after the full-time whistle, to be introspective on where he’d perhaps misjudged matters through the past five months.

Perhaps he needs more time to formulate a considered answer on the club’s faults, and where the hierarchy and/or players made mistakes.

But that initial answer must not be “the most important conclusion”. It’s a convenient excuse to hide behind because Ipswich and Southampton have had miserable seasons too.

Prior to last term, there had been no trend to suggest the gap in quality between the divisions was getting wider. If it is now a trend, it’s at the very start of it.

If Leeds, Burnley and Sheffield United get promoted and then go straight back down, the evidence would be beginning to show and maybe it would be an issue the Premier League need to assess.

But for now, it cannot be something City pin the blame on. For a start, they are only in this position as one of the promoted clubs because they messed it up so badly to get relegated in the first place, managing to do so after nine straight seasons in the top flight.

They need to get their own house in order before they start attributing blame to uncontrollable factors. If the growing gap between England's top two divisions is an obstacle they need to overcome, they have not come close to hurdling it.

They need to buck up their ideas. They need to be smarter. And so everything must be under review. Recruitment, managerial appointments, boardroom organisation, communication lines – it all needs looking at to determine where the issues lie and how they can improve.

When a season has been this poor, they need to look inward before throwing the blame around.

 

Liverpool loss way down on list of significant games
But, ironically, they were relegated after a defeat in which the difference in quality between the top and bottom of the Premier League was a deciding factor.

It’s a rarity given how some of the more recent losses have panned out, but this felt like a reasonable display, one where they defended pretty well against an excellent side and showed they had ideas about how to threaten them.

Maybe that is generous. Maybe the expectations are so low now that flashes of diligence and heart and intent make for a good showing.

Because Liverpool were dominant. They had 28 shots and could have won by three. City perhaps didn’t capitulate like they have in recent months because the early goal they usually concede was this time kept out by the two posts.

But maybe they were also due a slice of luck. They made a decent fist of the game thereafter and were perhaps unlucky not to break their home duck, Conor Coady’s header ruled out seemingly because Patson Daka looked at Alisson. Never mind physical contact, it seems eye contact is punishable too nowadays.

Although this was the match in which City’s relegation was finalised, it is way down the list of the fixtures that led to it.

 

Manager decision first up with no time to waste
The most optimistic view of City’s early relegation is that it gives them a bonus month and bonus five games in which to prepare for the Championship. As van Nistelrooy said, there’s no time to waste.

First, the manager. Do the hierarchy want van Nistelrooy in charge next season? If not, they need to part ways with him now. There’s little point in him sticking around otherwise.

If they do see him in charge next term, then he needs to be informed. Take away the uncertainty from his future and let him start to assess and shape the squad.

If van Nistelrooy’s future is dependent on how these next five games go, then that message likely needs conveying too. How he and the squad respond may give City their answer.

Then they need to think about the players. Who’s staying and who’s going? As much as it’s fun to watch Facundo Buonanotte at times, he probably shouldn’t play again as he’s one of the very few who definitely won’t be around next term.

If City are serious about sorting their problems, they need to act immediately.

 

The change that two punchy statements should trigger
There’s a level of apathy around City’s relegation, hence the empty seats at the King Power Stadium over the past couple of matches.

But there is still anger there too. Two banners expressed that discontent. The first, flown overhead, read: “King Power clueless. Sack the board.”

The second, held aloft in the Kop at full-time, read: “3 years, £200m lost, 2 relegations.”

Both are punchy and unforgiving. But will they force change? Based on previous evidence, most likely not.

Previous shows of discontent have not led to any changes within the hierarchy, nor really in how it operates.

Frustratingly, communication between chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and the fans is limited to club statements and programme notes. Director of football Jon Rudkin never comments.

If they’re not willing to answer questions to let themselves be held accountable by supporters or the media, it only leads to doubts over whether they’re holding each other to account behind the scenes too.

That must change. There at least needs to be transparency and engagement with supporters.

But if protests are not forcing change, what will? Maybe it will be the apathy. If fans simply stop turning up, then they’ll know there are serious problems.

 

City step into unknown – but more difficult season probable
There is plenty that City can control as they head into the Championship, but there are unknowns too.

Can the EFL punish them over profit and sustainability rules and, if so, what might that punishment look like?

How many players will fetch interest in the summer and be willing to depart? How much revenue can be generated from player sales? There’s not quite so many obvious money-spinners this time.

It’s something to cling to that the last time City were in this position, they got enough right to get promoted and give fans plenty of memorable afternoons and evenings.

But having failed to get enough right to even put up a fight in the Premier League, they're heading back down and it feels like it’s going to be a lot tougher in the Championship this time around.

 

  • Like 2
Posted

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/manager-talks-wage-cuts-player-10120485

 

Manager talks, wage cuts and player sales claimed amid fallout from Leicester City relegation
Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League for the second time in three seasons when they lost 1-0 to Liverpool

ByKeith WalesCVS Editor - Midland Sport
19:21, 20 APR 2025Updated20:03, 20 APR 2025

Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is said to face ‘crunch talks’ over his future next week after relegation was confirmed this afternoon.

A 1-0 defeat by champions-elect Liverpool at the King Power Stadium was enough to condemn City to a second relegation in three seasons - just nine years after they stunned football by winning the Premier League title.

All that seemed a million miles away this afternoon when City fought gamely but did not have enough to claim the victory they needed to avoid the drop for at least one more week.

 

But in a hard-hitting review of Leicester’s abject season, John Percy of The Telegraph claims Van Nistelrooy is set for talks over his future, Leicester’s players face pay cuts of at least 35 per cent, Jannik Vestergaard has been excluded in another commuting row, while goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and youngster Bilal El Khannouss could be sold as the club battles to comply with playing spending rules.

Percy writes: “Last season’s Championship winners, Leicester were always likely to face a tough season but this latest relegation feels self-inflicted.

“Once again, chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and Jon Rudkin, the director of football, are under intense scrutiny.

“Though King Power’s investment cannot be in question, the past few years have been littered with mistakes.”

 

According to the Telegraph report, a perceived lack of transparency by the owners has angered fans, but Rudkin is the focus of their discontent.

It adds: “The focus also has to be on the players. They are facing wage reductions of a minimum 35 per cent after relegation. Salaries are further reduced if the club spend more seasons outside the Premier League.”

Percy claims that offers will be considered for most of the squad in the summer as the club seek to comply with top-flight spending rules that have long been a thorn in their side.

Main targets for rival clubs are likely to be Hermansen, the club’s Danish goalkeeper, El Khannouss, a £19m arrival from Genk last summer, and academy product Kasey McAteer.

He adds: “Many others, however, are on high salaries even in the Championship and their ages will make them difficult to shift.”

As for the manager, there is said to be some sympathy for van Nistelrooy in the boardroom, particularly over players said to have performed poorly, but the likes of sacked Southampton boss Russell Martin, Sheffield Wednesday chief Danny Röhl and former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, in charge at Serie A club Como, are also admired.

Although there is no break clause in his current deal, which has another two years to run, Percy reports that the Dutchman’s future is uncertain ahead of next week’s talks.

  • Like 1
Posted

https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/article304648451.html

A Butterfly Flapped its Wings, and Leicester were Relegated By Crispin Leyser Athlon Sports Updated April 20, 2025 8:53 PM Leicester were relegated today, their loss to Liverpool hardly a surprise coming off the back of a truly dismal run of results. Lest we forget Leicester were in 16th place and above the relegation zone, when Steve Cooper was harshly sacked. Enter Ruud Van Nistelrooy who amongst other things oversaw a run of eight consecutive home losses without scoring. But it's a cruel twist of quantum mechanical fate that got us here. Remember Erik ten Hag? The Manchester United manager who was definitely getting fired in the summer yet somehow hung on to guide the team to further mediocrity in the early part of the season? Finally the board acted, ten Hag was shown the door, only this time he actually exited through it. Enter, as temporary savior, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. There are shades of what happened when José Mourinho was sacked and another former United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjær took over. Both times, the Man Utd players were seemingly liberated from whatever tactical and/or emotional shackles had been placed on them by the former boss. And just like that, Utd start winning again. After Mourinho, the board stuck with Solskjær but the uptick in form turned out to be temporary and Utd began a slow and painful decline. Solskjær looked like a lost boy on the touchline and his exit was confirmed in November 2021. After a brief Ralf Rangnick stint in the hot seat (surely the answer to a difficult trivia question one day), enter ten Hag. Exit ten Hag on October 28th 2024. Enter Ruud. Not wanting to repeat the Solskjær mistake, Nistelrooy's reign at Man Utd was always going to be temporary, especially with Ruben Amorim available. Nistelrooy oversaw just 4 games, of which they won 3 and drew 1. Can you see the butterfly flapping its wings? Can you line up the dates? Leicester needed a new manager just as Van Nistelrooy was seemingly performing miracles in Manchester. "We'll have a bit of that", said the very short-sighted Leicester Board. And so it was that Ruud Van Nistelrooy, a man with almost no EPL managerial experience, became manager of Leicester. In 20 games in charge, Leicester have won 4, drawn 1 and lost 15. An extraordinary number of things had to line up perfectly for Van Nistelrooy and Leicester to be in this position. Maybe butterflies just don't like Leicester. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Read more at: https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/article304648451.html#storylink=cpy

  • Haha 1
Posted

https://eplindex.com/129825/leicester-city-relegated-time-for-a-major-rebuild.html

 

Leicester City Relegated: Time for a Major Rebuild

Apr 21, 2025
By
Curtis Edwards

Leicester City Face Major Rebuild After Relegation Confirmed

 

Protests, Poor Form and Premier League Exit
As a banner was flown over the King Power Stadium declaring “King Power Clueless Sack The Board”, it became clear that frustration among Leicester City fans had reached breaking point. By the end of the evening, their fears were realised. A 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, capped by a second-half strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold, condemned the Foxes to a swift and painful return to the Championship.

This marks their second relegation in three seasons—a staggering decline for a club that were Premier League champions less than a decade ago. What was meant to be a campaign of consolidation after last year’s Championship title has unravelled in dramatic fashion. Just four wins all season, two managerial changes, and a home goal drought that stretched to a record-breaking 810 minutes paint the bleak picture of a club in freefall.

The atmosphere around the stadium told its own story. There was no defiance, no late rallying cry—just resignation. A few supporters offered half-hearted applause at full-time, but most had already filtered out, disillusioned by what they had witnessed.

 

Coaching Turmoil and Squad Disconnect
The sacking of Steve Cooper in October did little to stabilise the club. At the time, Leicester were 16th, but deeper issues were already visible—most notably the difficulties adjusting from Enzo Maresca’s controlled style to something more pragmatic. Despite Maresca’s popularity in the dressing room, Cooper failed to establish similar bonds, even if veterans like Jamie Vardy were reportedly supportive.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s arrival was initially greeted with optimism. His forthright communication and fresh training methods, supported by assistant Brian Barry-Murphy, were seen as a step in the right direction. But the initial bounce—a win against West Ham and a draw at Brighton—quickly faded. Since then, the Foxes have picked up just four points, equalling a club record of eight consecutive defeats.

Under Van Nistelrooy, Leicester have scored only six league goals since early December. Cooper’s team, though far from flawless, were at least competitive. The Dutchman, despite his credentials as a striker for elite clubs, has presided over a dramatic downturn in attacking output.

Midfielder Harry Winks has reportedly clashed with Van Nistelrooy after refusing to stay overnight at the training ground—a standoff that saw him dropped from the squad. Some players have also voiced concerns over the intensity and structure of training sessions, suggesting the mood at Seagrave has become increasingly strained.

 

Leadership Under Pressure
Behind the scenes, the pressure is mounting on director of football Jon Rudkin and the club’s board. Fans consider Rudkin emblematic of Leicester’s decline and his long tenure has done little to shield him from scrutiny. While CEO Susan Whelan has made efforts to engage with supporters, broader communication from the hierarchy has remained scarce.

Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha now faces key decisions. Does he persist with the current football leadership, or is a reset needed at executive level too? Van Nistelrooy’s future remains uncertain. With 17 defeats in 22 matches, it’s difficult to envisage a long-term project under his guidance. He acknowledged as much on Sunday, stating: “I’m waiting on the clarity of the club and how they want to continue. It is the goal to lead the club. I have to wait on how the club sees things and take it from there.”

Financially, sacking a second manager in one season is no simple matter. But inaction could prove more costly if a strong rebuild is delayed.

 

Players Set to Depart and PSR Challenges
Squad overhaul is inevitable. Only three players—Danny Ward, Daniel Iversen and Jamie Vardy—are out of contract this summer, meaning sales will be necessary to balance the books. Vardy’s future is perhaps the most significant call Leicester will have to make, given his symbolic status and hefty wages.

The likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira, and Wout Faes are likely to attract attention, although their recent form may limit their market value. Mads Hermansen and Bilal El Khannouss could command fees, but even they are not guaranteed to stay.

Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) remain a looming concern. Leicester avoided a points deduction last year by virtue of being in the EFL when the alleged breach occurred, but the matter is unresolved and discussions with both the Premier League and EFL are ongoing.

For a club that once broke boundaries, winning the Premier League in 2016, this latest fall is particularly jarring. The rebuild will require clear leadership, smart recruitment and strong dressing room figures. Whether that comes under Van Nistelrooy or a new manager, Leicester cannot afford to get it wrong again.

Their last relegation sparked an immediate promotion. This time, the landscape looks far more uncertain.

Posted

This season has been catastrophic for Leicester, major changes are needed after catalogue of poor decision-making
Jason Bourne
Published: 21:52, 20 Apr 2025Updated: 21:54, 20 Apr 2025

 

https://talksport.com/football/3135492/leicester-changes-relegation-premier-league/

 

This season has been catastrophic for Leicester, major changes are needed after catalogue of poor decision-making
Jason Bourne
Published: 21:52, 20 Apr 2025Updated: 21:54, 20 Apr 2025


Leicester City have been relegated with not so much a whimper, but a feeble, miserable sigh.

A football club, once envied for how it was run, is heading to the Championship for the second time in three seasons after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Liverpool.


The 2016 Premier League champions and 2021 FA Cup winners are at crossroads. Those heady days challenging for European football and silverware are a distant memory.

The catalogue of poor decision-making goes back several seasons, but the period since their triumphant day at Wembley is where the success truly unravels.

An eighth-place Premier League finish in the 2021/22 season and a UEFA Conference League semi-final appearance masked the early signs of demise under Brendan Rodgers.

The following season ended disastrously. A club with a wage bill supposedly worthy of a top-half side would end up in the EFL.


Granted, Rodgers was unable to refresh his squad as he wanted in the summer of 2022 due to PSR concerns, but a squad containing the likes of James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans should’ve been too good to go down.

 

The loyalty to Rodgers meant he was sacked six months later than he should have. The poor results weren’t solely down to him, but he shoulders a fair share of responsibility.

 

To Leicester's credit, high-value assets were sold, costs brought down and promotion was achieved under Enzo Maresca at the first time of asking with a set of players and a manager that looked like it might give it a fight in the Premier League.

A mistake had been corrected, and it felt like new foundations had been set for the future. This season, however, has been catastrophic.


It began with the loss of Maresca and fan-favourite Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea last summer, followed by the pursuance of Graham Potter to no success.

Steve Cooper, a manager sacked by local-rivals Nottingham Forest, was appointed to a mixed fan reaction. He was dismissed after just 12 Premier League games, leaving them 16th in the table.

But it's now a second relegation in three years for the Foxes faithful
But it's now a second relegation in three years for the Foxes faithfulCredit: Getty

 

Cooper and Leicester weren't a good fit. A largely poor set of summer signings, including £20million spent on Tottenham’s Oliver Skipp, and a chaotic set of results and performances may have kept the Foxes above the drop zone.

But a sizeable group of fans, and ultimately the owner Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddhanaprabha, just couldn’t warm to him. Sacking him corrected another mistake.

The next appointment had to be right, but let’s be blunt - Ruud van Nistelrooy has been disastrous.


Whilst van Nistelrooy and this set of players certainly aren’t immune from criticism, they’re a consequence of recent failures.

He’s told talkSPORT post-Liverpool that he's waiting for clarification from the club over his future. I don’t think he’s earned the right to continue as manager. His record is that poor.

The fans aren’t happy. They’ve protested, flown banners pre-match, called for change, in the main targeting director of football Jon Rudkin, and a sizeable number have stayed away from the King Power, most notably in the 3-0 defeat to Newcastle earlier this month. Even against Liverpool, there were pockets of empty seats.


'Top's' loyalty to Rudkin is commendable to a point. A man that’s very close to the Srivaddhanaprabha family has overseen successes in his decade in the role but he must take his share of the blame for recent failures.

It’s not about owners having the deepest pockets anymore. Whilst it’s clearly helpful, it’s now about having a strategy that works for clubs like Leicester.

Brighton are rightly held up as the example of being a well-run club. Their recruitment strategy and managerial appointments are admirable. Leicester aren’t in the same league, literally and figuratively.

I ask 'Top' whether he’s prepared to make drastic changes to how the club’s being run. If not, is it time to sell up? It’s not a question that I ask lightly due to his long-standing emotional ties to the club, but it’s one that becomes increasingly relevant as the failures pile up.

No one is questioning his backing. It received 'exceptionally strong support' from King Power throughout their previous visit to the EFL as high value players were sold and costs brought down. And he also wiped £124m worth of debt from the club in January. Not for the first time either.

Still, it’s hard to see past two relegations in three years, especially the meek and mild manner of this season. A new outlook is needed at the King Power Stadium. And that means changes at the highest level.


It’s not unfair to ask whether Leicester should begin next season with a new chief executive, a new director of football, a new manager and a whole set of new players.

Fans need hope. They need a reason to get excited. This isn’t about so-called 'entitlement' following the successes in the past ten years, but a wish to see a plan for going-forward. The club claims it’s ambitious, but it won’t be easy to go straight back up again.


Two years ago, I wrote: "As much as [the board] all patted themselves on the back during the good times, they must take responsibility during the bad. Lessons must be learned."

I fear they haven’t yet again.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Posted

It’s easy, it starts at board level.

 

They have promised funding to every manager since that ominous season with Rodgers, here RVN was promised funding in January only to be told when the window opened there’s nothing in the pot.

They need to come clean about the money issues 1st and foremost, everyone needs to understand what they/we are playing with and do anything & everything to get back on an even keel or face dropping like Reading.

Only then can we start to plan.

Posted

https://talksport.com/football/3135492/leicester-changes-relegation-premier-league/

Leicester's Ruud awakening

  • Van Nistelrooy has accrued just 8 points from a possible 60 since taking over as manager
  • 16 defeats in 20 Premier League matches
  • Leicester last scored a home goal in the Premier League on 8th December 2024
  • They have found the back of the net on just five occasions in the Premier League this calendar year
  • Leicester have conceded 43 goals under the Dutchman, scoring just 11
  • Jamie Vardy has scored just 3 Premier League since van Nistelrooy’s appointment, including 1 in his last 17 appearances
  • August loan signing Odsonne Edouard has played just 26 minutes of football under van Nistelrooy. He hasn’t been in a Premier League matchday squad since Boxing Day
  • The club’s only January signing, defender Woyo Coulibaly, has appeared in just 4 Premier League games, amassing 107 minutes of action
  • Leicester’s defeat to Liverpool on Sunday means they’re the first team in top-flight history go nine consecutive league games without scoring

 

Posted

Easy to summarise....poor decisions in ever aspect of the club has lead to this. Not just this season, yet the people who have made all these mistakes are still in a job laughing about it. 

Posted

If John Rudkin is at the route of this he has got to go. He may be a nice bloke and Tops mate but this is a business and tough decisions have to be made. Getting rid of Ruud is not the sole answer to this. We have been left in a position where we could only buy a player for 2 million (in January) and he surely cannot have been expected to save us.

Posted
6 minutes ago, markko said:

If John Rudkin is at the route of this he has got to go. He may be a nice bloke and Tops mate but this is a business and tough decisions have to be made. Getting rid of Ruud is not the sole answer to this. We have been left in a position where we could only buy a player for 2 million (in January) and he surely cannot have been expected to save us.

What a waste of " million that was to add to all the other wasted millions.

Posted
18 minutes ago, davieG said:

What a waste of " million that was to add to all the other wasted millions.

Not seen enough of him. In fact not see him at all. He is possibly with Edouard.

Posted
4 minutes ago, markko said:

Not seen enough of him. In fact not see him at all. He is possibly with Edouard.

Surely that's why it was waste even if he plays e3very game next season. If he wasn't good enough to play this season then save your money or spend it on someone that might have helped, although you could argue we were beyond help.

  • Like 1
Posted

Anyway onto the Cricket, at the moment we're top of the League!!!

This club and EVERYTHING that comes from it currently is TOXIC, All of us need some time away from it as fans.

We know the score at all levels, they patently don't or are just taking the fans for mugs.

Sad indeed.

Posted

I just want to see something different. If we now go full on academy mode I can back it. Rip out all the overpaid, average crap that we’ve got hanging around.

 

Stolarczyk, Nelson, Thomas, Alves, Monga, Evans

 

Throw them in amongst an experienced spine who want to be here. 

  • Like 2
Posted

Whoever writes long missives, like the one right above, you are thoroughly delusional. Go on a long walk, enjoy your day, do some home projects; stay away from this place for a week, see how you fare. That's what I'll be doing. Because it is all over.

Top doesn't give a flying **** about people like you and me. We are but serfs that make unneeded noises and smell bad. Nothing else.

This is your post-mortem.

Posted

I've never personally been against Top, I've just felt he's out of his depth. But it does feel like there is a certain arrogance about him of late and he's too comfortable knowing all the KPFC happy clappers are on side, no matter how much he fcuks up.

  • Like 3

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...