After Leicester suffered defeat to Crystal Palace on January 15, a few senior players had seen enough.
While the rest of the team were back in the King Power Stadium dressing room, it was explained to them in strong terms that the Foxes were sleepwalking towards the drop.
Keep doing this and we'll go back down, was the general message. Although boss Ruud van Nistelrooy added his thoughts, this investigation was player-led. The occasion would have been Palace's second goal, with Marc Guehi strolling forward unnoticed to shoot in via the far post.
Why was there a shout from the bench: 'Pick up the six!' (Guehi's jersey number) – not taken into account? Why was young winger Kasey McAteer given the task of marking Guehi, a much stronger player? It was the last straw.
Unfortunately, the chat didn't make an ounce of difference. Four days later, Leicester were even worse as they lost 2-0 at home to Fulham, a seventh straight defeat under Van Nistelrooy. This time the fans' patience broke as director of football Jon Rudkin, along with other board members and Van Nistelrooy, felt the full force of their anger.
As Mail Sport revealed on Friday, matters reached another boiling point in the dressing room after the 2-0 home defeat to Fulham when Van Nistelrooy turned on Facundo Buonanotte, who had performed sloppily as a second-half substitute. The duo are said to have had an awkward exchange in Spanish, which Van Nistelrooy speaks fluently after playing for Real Madrid and Malaga.
Van Nistelrooy's mood is said to have turned somber of late, especially due to the lack of transfer activity this month, with some even fearing he is considering quitting – as he did at PSV Eindhoven two years ago. While this may be a dramatic take on the matter, Sunday's match against Tottenham could be decisive in many ways.
Van Nistelrooy is a symptom of this malaise, not the cause. The Foxes hired the Dutchman in November after Graham Potter and David Moyes made it clear they would not be interested in succeeding Steve Cooper.
It was a confusing decision: Van Nistelrooy's only experience of managing a top-five league was a four-match stint as caretaker of Manchester United, after the sacking of Erik ten Hag and before the appointment of Ruben Amorim. That period included two wins over Leicester, but those results alone certainly could not have been the basis for his appointment. Could they?
Players would appreciate Van Nistelrooy's clear communication in tactical meetings, which are short and to the point. Despite an excellent playing career, Van Nistelrooy is believed to be relatively quiet and reserved at the club's £95million training centre. He behaves more like a traditional manager than a natural coach on the training pitch.
Four points from nine games is a grim run, but like managers before him, Van Nistelrooy is working under difficult circumstances.
The only staff member he brings with him is goalkeeper coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar. First-team coach Brian Barry-Murphy, who has worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, was appointed by the club, rather than specifically recommended by Van Nistelrooy.
First-team coach Ben Dawson, Danny Alcock – another goalkeeping coach – and set-piece specialist Andy Hughes all joined Leicester during Cooper's five-month tenure. Rather than one group of staff promoting a particular idea, as was the case when Enzo Maresca led Leicester to the Championship title last season, there is no single principle uniting the coaching team.
When Van Nistelrooy was hired, he made it clear that he needed a wing-back, a left-sided centre-back, a winger and a striker. But with financial constraints in the background, and with the sluggish Rudkin in charge of transfers, progress has been painfully slow, with only full-back Woyo Coulibaly signing a £2 million contract from Italian club Parma.
Rudkin's desire to earn the best deal for Leicester is admirable, but his haggling could be counterproductive.
At the start of the window, Sheffield United wanted Hamza Choudhury on loan with an option to buy. Leicester would only agree to a loan with an obligation – for a player with a large contract who is unwanted by the current manager. Leicester still agreed to a loan with option on Friday. Valuable time lost on a single problem, in a month when speed and flexibility are crucial.
Crucially under Cooper, Buonanotte has only started three of Van Nistelrooy's nine league games and Mail Sport understands that Brighton have discussed the possibility of terminating their season-long loan deal, with the 20-year-old unhappy about his lack of playing time. even before the last match. Saturday clash with his manager.
Stephy Mavididi, meanwhile, is said to have been unsettled by the Foxes' pursuit of a new winger and while Jamie Vardy has beaten many rivals over the years, the news that Van Nistelrooy would like another striker is unlikely to have ruffled feathers . in his step.
The player to provide competition for Vardy, who turned 38 earlier in January, would be Odsonne Edouard, but he isn't even on the bench as Leicester are desperate to send him back to Crystal Palace – despite the staggering £5million cost . the seasonal loan.
There are extenuating circumstances. Leicester's aim this season is to stay high and they are just two points below the finish line. With Southampton virtually adrift, Leicester, Ipswich and Wolves appear to be locked in a battle for seventeenth place. The Premier League is starting to look more and more like a closed shop and even previously consistent players like Leicester will suffer if they make a mistake.
Although the Foxes are not seen as a typical 'newly promoted' team having won the Premier League title in 2016 and the FA Cup five years later, they are still battling the same forces as other clubs moving up from the Championship. Despite concerns over flight spending rules, the club is financially secure, but those rules mean they cannot spend as freely as they would like this month.
Yet many of the problems have been of Leicester's own making. Vardy's contract expires at the end of the season and a further nine players' contracts expire in the summer of 2026. Recruitment has been haphazard.
The powerful Rudkin is a key ally of Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, but it appears he needs help. Former boss Enzo Maresca was often frustrated by Leicester's difficult approach to recruitment and wanted the club to appoint a specialist sporting director, with more knowledge of the current market than the current staff. Looks like he had a point.
It has long seemed that Leicester players are given too much rope. In recent seasons it has become relatively normal for players to put their concerns ahead of the manager and club officials – a disastrous trend that can only undermine the boss.
Although a large proportion of the squad live in the Leicester area, some have chosen not to move and face long daily commutes, which is hardly conducive to creating a strong team ethic.
Most of the squad never sided with Cooper from the start and indeed, others grumbled about Van Nistelrooy's methods quite early in his reign.
These are the same guys who saw fit to travel hours to Copenhagen after the defeat to Maresca's Chelsea on November 23 and pose on the dance floor near a sign that read 'Enzo I Miss U'. That was the day before Cooper was fired.
It's time for some of these players to look in the mirror, and the same goes for board members. A group of supporters are planning a protest ahead of the home match against Arsenal on February 15.
A hesitant regime that is looking increasingly out of depth, a manager running out of answers and a team that seems to be pulling down resources at the first sign of adversity. No wonder Leicester fans have lost hope. It is up to those on the field, those in the dugout and – most relevantly – those in the boardroom to fix it.
Comments