Ruud van Nistelrooy swears at Leicester players for ‘disastrous’ Newcastle failure
Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy couldn’t hide his disdain towards his players after they conceded just one minute and 56 seconds into their clash with Newcastle.
The Foxes’ came into the fixture second bottom in the Premier League, having lost six games in a row without scoring and their chances of avoiding relegation fading rapidly.
Southampton became the first team in the competition’s history to be relegated with seven games remaining, however with Leicester 15 points adrift from safety it is only a matter of time before their Championship status is confirmed for next season.
Van Nistelrooy’s men have managed just three wins, two draws and 14 losses in 19 games since his appointment, with the under pressure boss caught swearing at his players by Sky Sports cameras after a disastrous start on Monday night against Newcastle (7 April) as Jacob Murphy finished off a Magpies move with ease.
The Leicester fans are starting to turn on Van Nistelrooy
The Magpie’s made an excellent start to proceedings when Harvey Barnes and Tino Liveramento combined down the left, with the latter playing an inch-perfect ball across the six-yard box for Murphy to tap home.
In response to the incident, the Dutch coach could be seen shouting “[expletive] sake” towards his players with a pained look on his face on the sideline.
Alan Smith, on Sky Sports Main Event (8.02pm, 7 April) responded to the start by saying: “You can hear boos within this stadium from Leicester fans. Such an abject start from them.
“They’ve got five at the back but it doesn’t look that way does it here? How easy is this? Simple as you like.”
He summed up the opening as “disastrous for Leicester, it really is”.
Van Nistelrooy the wrong appointment for the struggling Leicester
Football Insider Verdict
At the time of Steve Cooper‘s departure from the club in November 2024, Leicester were sitting 16th in the league and two points above the relegation zone.
Fast forward to now and the hierarchy must be looking back at that decision with regret, as despite Cooper maybe not playing the exact style of football which they aspire to play, he certainly wouldn’t have been this easy to beat.
Appointing a manager of Van Nistelrooy’s experience when you are battling to stay in the most completive league in the world, can only be seen as a lack of judgement.
| Van Nistelrooy’s record since taking over at Leicester |
| Games – 19 |
| Won – 3 |
| Drawn – 2 |
| Lost – 14 |
It appears to be a decision which had been based on the scenario that Leicester were going to be playing Championship football next season, regardless of who was in charge.
The only hope for the Foxes now is that Van Nistelrooy can leave the club in a suitable position for a new manager to take over the club ahead of next campaign.