After months of speculation, Leicester City have finally confirmed the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy as first team manager.
The news comes a little over six weeks before the start of the Championship season, which The Foxes will compete in following the club’s relegation from the Premier League.
It follows a turbulent start to the summer for Leicester, who already lost first-team coach, Brian Barry-Murphy, to League One side Cardiff two weeks earlier.
Van Nistelrooy’s exit comes after mounting pressure on the club to act. A string of disastrous results last season – which saw Leicester rack up eight consecutive Premier League defeats without scoring – all but sealed the manager’s fate months ago in many fans’ eyes.
Much has been made of Leicester’s reluctance to part ways with Van Nistelrooy sooner, with plenty of speculation around the decision being delayed until the start of a new financial year this July.
That has largely been attributed to the club’s ongoing PSR struggles. Leicester now face fresh threat of a points deduction for the upcoming season, after the Premier League referred the club to an independent commission.
It follows a protracted battle with both the Premier League and EFL last year, where Leicester then successfully defended their case to avoid punishment. This time around, however, there is believed to be little room for such manoeuvres.
Following his Leicester exit, Van Nistelrooy said: “I would like to personally thank the Leicester City players, coaches, academy and all the staff I have worked with for their professionalism and dedication during my time at the club and to thank the fans for their support, and take this opportunity to wish the club well for the future.”
Who will be the next Leicester City manager?
Many managers have been linked to the Leicester job in recent weeks, the vast majority of which are currently out of employment.
That’s due to Leicester’s perceived reluctance to pay compensation for a manager, given their aforementioned PSR issues.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl is the exception to this, but is believed to be too pricey to prise away from the Yorkshire club.
However, Rohl is currently in talks over his Wednesday exit.
Rohl is in talks over his Sheffield Wednesday exitPAThe initial frontrunner was ex-Southampton boss Russell Martin, but he has since been snapped up by Rangers.
Sean Dyche has also been strongly linked. Dyche has a pre-existing relationship with Leicester’s Director of Football, Jon Rudkin, and reportedly still lives locally, making him a prime candidate from a logistical standpoint.
One barrier Dyche may face lies with Leiceter’s owner, Khun Top Srivaddhanaprabha, who is known to prefer a more possession-based style of play, having previously appointed Enzo Maresca when the Foxes were last in the Championship.
While not the perfect fit stylistically, Dyche would bring an air of discipline seldom seen since the days of Nigel Pearson, and possesses experience of working under tight monetary constraints, something that’s imperative Leicester adhere to over the coming years.
talkSPORT understands that Dyche has been spoken to by the Leicester hierarchy.
Beyond the above, Michael Carrick is the only other name who’s been credibly reported at this stage. His recent sacking from Middlesborough would present an opportunity to appoint a young manager relatively cheaply, who’s more in-line with Khun Top’s preferred playing style.
What went wrong for Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester?
Appointed as Leicester manager in November last year – replacing the outgoing Steve Cooper – Van Nistelrooy enjoyed an optimistic start to life in the east Midlands.
Four points from his opening two games, including a debut home win against West Ham, ostensibly set the Dutch coach up well for the second-half of the season.
That early optimism evaporated soon after. Seven consecutive defeats followed, the worst of which was a damning 3-0 loss to Wolves, who at the time were considered Leicester’s relegation rivals.
The January transfer window provided little respite, with a lack of incomings telling its own story amid the backdrop of financial uncertainty. Parma full-back Woyo Coulibaly was the only midseason signing, coming in for a reported £3m fee and going on to start just one game.
Winks was an outcast at Leicester under Van NistelrooyGettyRumours of unrest soon followed, with reports of disputes between various players and coaching staff. Two players who seemingly bore the brunt of this were Jannik Vestergaard and Harry Winks, both of whom would be omitted from the majority of matchday squads for the rest of the campaign.
A 2-1 away win at Tottenham Hotspur proved to be a false dawn, and was directly followed by a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Everton, setting in motion those eight consecutive league defeats without scoring a goal.
The winless run was compounded by a series of questionable team selections, where Van Nistelrooy belligerently stuck by underperforming players, most notably Wout Faes, James Justin, and Jordan Ayew.
Fans made their feelings clear, and the manager may well have received more criticism, if so much of the anger had not been directed towards the boardroom instead.
Relegation was confirmed in April – marking the second time in three seasons Leicester have fallen out of the Premier League – to conclude a torrid season.
Between untenable results, confusing tactics, player friction, and fan disillusion, there was ultimately no way back for Van Nistelrooy, who must now seek a reputation-salvaging job elsewhere, should he wish to continue his coaching career.
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