After the Foxes started the season in terrible form under the leadership of former Nottingham Forest player Steve Cooper, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha hired Ruud van Nistelrooy as manager in late 2024.
Before the season started, Leicester City faced challenges due to the departures of Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Nonetheless, it’s reasonable to argue that Cooper truly fell short of the club’s already low standards.
In his 12 Premier League games as manager, he only managed two victories before being fired by the Leicester owner and replaced by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Although the Dutchman has little managerial experience, his cup success in the Eredivisie and a few encouraging outcomes as Manchester United’s interim manager suggested he might be the right candidate.
However, relegation is now imminent because Van Nistelrooy has not been able to improve the Midlands team’s fortunes thus far.
The reasons behind Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha’s dismissal of Ruud van Nistelrooy are already evident.
The most recent setback to Leicester’s survival hopes came when they fell to Crystal Palace, another struggling team, 2-0. With just 14 points from 21 games, the Foxes are currently in 19th place heading into the upcoming Premier League schedule.
They have lost their last six league games and given up at least two goals in each of those games, and they have not won in seven. Some supporters might anticipate Van Nistelrooy’s dismissal if this performance persists in the upcoming weeks, as a spot in the top flight is at stake.
However, a report released by the Telegraph in late November 2024 indicates that the former Manchester United star is likely to remain regardless of what transpires during the rest of this season. At the time, it was said that after Cooper was fired and Ruud was hired, Leicester owner “Top” spoke to his team at their training facility.
According to reports, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha discussed the Foxes’ financial predicament, how paying off a manager would strain them, and their difficulties adhering to PSR.
Leicester City Premier League relegation chances predicted
Leicester are now set to face off with Fulham in a 3pm Premier League kick-off on January 18th. Although it currently appears highly unlikely that the Foxes will survive, Opta updates their predicted Premier League table after each set of fixtures.
If they lose that game, they will have just 16 games left to accumulate 26 points and reach the magic 40-point mark typically required to stay in the top flight. Leicester currently has an 87.16 percent chance of being relegated in 2024–2025. Right now, the only team with a greater chance of being demoted is Southampton (99.75 percent).
However, some fans are already starting to turn against Ruud and even say he’s no better than Cooper, even though he only took over his first game on December 3.
Another merely wrote: “Cooper > Ruud,” and a third said: “Lettuce was 16th with 10 points after 10 games.” With 14 points after 21 games, they are in 19th place. It was never a Cooper problem; it is a Ruud problem.
A player’s opinion about a manager should never be taken seriously by an owner. “Ruud is the problem, not Cooper,” a fourth person added.
“Ruud’s lack of understanding of his team is worse. “Wrong first eleven selection,” a fifth Leicester supporter commented.