Latest news with #JonRudkin
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
A season to forget for Leicester as they look for a new era
The season will hardly be remembered fondly. Relegation, a record-equalling run of defeats, division between the fans and the club, a change of manager, the departure of a legend and a season-ending profit and sustainability charge. Ruud Van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper in November and the change did not work. The Dutchman has carried himself extremely well - as you would expect for someone of his experience in the game - but failed to get results. He lost 19 of his 27 games, winning five - with two of those coming in the last four matches when the Foxes had already been him Leicester became the first Premier League team to lose eight games in a row without scoring during a run of defeats between February and April, which also equalled the club's record losing streak. It leaves Van Nistelrooy in a fragile position, with the expectation he will leave while Russell Martin is a leading contender to replace him. Fans called for the departure of director of football Jon Rudkin, who they view as key in their decline following two relegations in three years yet there seems to be no appetite to change at the top. Leicester are entering a new era - one post Jamie Vardy - with the striker leaving at the end of his contract next month. He is the last of the 2016 title winners left and the Foxes must find a new direction in the Championship next season, even as they look to avoid a points deduction.
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Jamie Vardy's farewell party a convenient distraction from Leicester's rudderless decline
Jamie Vardy will wave farewell to Leicester City this weekend and his departure serves as a brutal reminder of how far the club have fallen. Vardy has rescued Leicester on so many occasions and will be at it again on Sunday, saving the club from a potentially toxic atmosphere over a season he has branded a 's---show'. The final game for Leicester 's greatest-ever player, against another relegated club in Ipswich Town, promises to be an emotional and poignant afternoon. He has been present to help deliver a multitude of memories, including a Premier League title, FA Cup, magical European nights and 199 goals. If there is to be a glorious end to this fairy tale, Vardy, 38, will score his 200th goal at King Power Stadium in his 500th, and final, match for the club. There is little doubt that his goodbye comes at a very convenient time for owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and Jon Rudkin, the club's director of football. On Sunday the full focus will be on the club's 'GOAT' (Greatest Of All Time) – as it should be – and all the problems from a nightmarish campaign will be briefly pushed aside. Vardy's goals... #1️⃣ #5️⃣0️⃣ #1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ #1️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ #1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣ The 🐐 — Leicester City (@LCFC) May 14, 2025 Yet as Leicester prepare for a future in the Championship without their £1 million legend, so many questions remain unanswered. Nearly four weeks after the club's relegation was confirmed, there has been no public statement on how they intend to bounce back. Ruud van Nistelrooy, the head coach, is still waiting for clarity on what his future holds. He was unable to prevent relegation and, despite encouraging signs in recent weeks, the expectation is still that he will leave. For a club whose communication from the boardroom to managers has often been poor, this is no way to treat a Premier League legend. Regardless of his record. Van Nistelrooy is in complete limbo. He presented his vision for the club's future early last month, before relegation was even confirmed. In those talks, he outlined how he envisaged reshaping the squad with a list of potential signings. He also highlighted the strength of the club's academy, and how talented teenagers such as Jeremy Monga and Jake Evans will be key players in the future. Since that day, there has been silence. Van Nistelrooy has no idea whether he will remain in charge for next season. With so much uncertainty, the club are drifting. Worryingly for Van Nistelrooy, players available on free transfers are already slipping through his fingers. He said on Friday: 'There is no news on this [my future] to bring and when there is, I will let you know. I said five or six weeks ago that it needed to be the sooner the better. 'It's visible in performance and points, and goals scored and conceded, that we have improved. We can't take away the disappointment of relegation but I'm happy with how the players have been performing. We want to finish the season as well as we can.' This weekend, many players and staff members from the memorable Premier League title-winning season of 2015-16 will be present. Danny Drinkwater, Shinji Okazaki and Matty James are confirmed attendees, while Nigel Pearson – the manager who signed Vardy from Fleetwood in May 2012 – is also expected to be there. Many of them will be pained by what has unfolded over the past few years: two relegations in three seasons, declining standards and a poor culture in place of one that was once a huge source of pride. Fans are demanding change but not expecting it. The threat of apathy replacing anger should be a serious concern for Leicester's board. Externally, there will be tired accusations of entitlement and that Leicester's relegation is the cycle of football. Those accusations completely miss the point. Leicester had a shot at glory and then squandered it. Ahead of this weekend, fans' group Union FS issued a statement claiming that plans for a Tifo dedicated to Vardy had been blocked by the club. Leicester are rumoured to be honouring Vardy by using an external agency. 'Tifo by fans, not hired hands' was the title of the Union FS statement. Ipswich (H) — Union FS (@UFS2013) May 13, 2025 What is next for Vardy? He will fly out for a family holiday early next week and has been excused from Leicester's final game at Bournemouth. The difference between finishing 18th and 19th is worth almost £3 million, with Ipswich facing West Ham at home on the last day. Leicester will go above Ipswich this weekend with a win. Yet Van Nistelrooy will go into the Bournemouth match without his leading scorer, as Leicester and Ipswich fight for the dubious honour of finishing third from bottom. Vardy was always going to bid farewell on his own terms. But his absence next weekend still feels rather odd. Next season he will be watching from afar, perhaps in the Premier League, and the big question is what happens next for the club he taught to dream.
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'This model is not working - it is broken and needs to change'
The Athletic's Leicester City correspondent Rob Tanner says there has been "collective" failing in the Foxes' hierarchy and suggests hiring a new director of football to allow Jon Rudkin to change has been in his role since 2014 - and has overseen the most successful period in the club's history - but has been the subject of fan chants calling for his removal throughout this season."Criticism should be there - there has to be accountability," Tanner told BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast. "He [Jon Rudkin] has been picked out as the one figure that will be accountable for all the mess at Leicester but I think it is a collective. "There is more than one person involved. We had the Brendan [Rodgers] era where the contracts got out of hand and some of the transfer spending increased without selling assets. We had success for a number of years but it wasn't sustainable success. Leicester's relegation was confirmed on Sunday with five games still to play after a miserable period involving a club-record run of home defeats without believes the executives at King Power Stadium need to take responsibility."It's the decision-making at the club as a whole and a lot of that rests on Top [chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha] but certainly Jon needs some accountability," Tanner said. "Director of football? Just focus on the football, nothing else. Let the people from other departments focus on those because from what I gather Jon can be involved in a lot of things inside and outside the football club.""There needs to be clear focus. If he is going to take this more general overview then perhaps he should move to an advisory role with Top and then have someone who is totally and utterly focused on the football aspect to put in place a strategy."We need to to have a strategy on who to recruit that goes beyond the manager because the manager is changed so often. "This model is not working. It is broken and it needs to change."Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Now we're the club everyone is laughing at'
So the fat lady put on her make-up and sang so loudly she was probably heard in time we were relegated we had some fight. It went to the last game of the season. This lot seemingly do not know how to club is now rotten from the top (no pun intended).On the day we were relegated, our owner sat in his comfy seat laughing with his director of football who, along with our chief executive, have led us to some of the biggest losses in our article on Monday said Leicester City are at a crossroads and in need of a rebuild. No we are not. We are at a dead end and could turn into Luton Town mark did not agree with Jon Rudkin's choice of manager and said so publicly while identifying Ruud van Nistelrooy as his choice. How did that work out?Not so long ago we were the club everyone looked up to. Now we are the club everyone is laughing these are the people that took us to unbelievable highs. But every clock is right twice a day, and now sadly our time is more from Chris Forryan at Leicester Till I Die, external
BBC News
21-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Q&A: Will Foxes fall through the Championship?
BBC Sport's football news reporter Nick Mashiter has been taking your Leicester City asked: Seeing our club go back to the Championship without laying a glove on anyone is a sad state of affairs. When do we stop blaming the players and start looking at Jon Rudkin and Susan Whelan as being responsible for years of awful management and almost negligent running of our club, particularly around signings, contracts and wages? I do also feel Top is maybe a little naïve, which is understandable given the circumstances surrounding him becoming our owner. Do we need a reset at board level, before getting rid of 70% of the squad which is going to struggle in the Championship next season?Nick: The focus has been on Jon Rudkin for a while now and, therefore, Susan Whelan will be in the spotlight is extremely rare a manager loses 13 out of 14 games and there are no calls for their head, it all appears to be directed towards the hierarchy. Supporters acknowledge the problems pre-date Ruud van Nistelrooy, even if there has been no improvement under Van Nistelrooy watched the defeat at Brentford in November, before taking control, he listened to the calls for Rudkin to go from the away fans and there has been plenty of dissent towards him banner against Manchester United on Sunday - 'from dogs of war to doggy daycare' was clearly directed at the and Whelan oversaw the title win, the Champions League and Europa Conference League runs, the FA Cup triumph and two fifth placed finishes - the most successful era in the club's history - so they have if relegation - which looks inevitable - comes then someone needs to take responsibility as the legacy of the previous era has been is important to remember, though, Leicester are not the only side at the bottom who have been unable to bridge the gap and that is a wider problem for the Premier I have genuine concerns that when our relegation is confirmed and our best assets are stripped, we might do a Luton or Derby and drop straight to League One. Do you think we will be able to rebuild enough to stay in the Championship, bearing in mind the EFL are gunning for us?Nick: The Championship is a competitive and fascinating league but because it is an average have seen in the last two years in particular the top four have been streets ahead of the rest of the division. It's a discussion for another time but speaking to those in the division they recognise the quality has dropped - Brexit (denying clubs a pool of players who can no longer qualify for work permits), financial concerns and Premier League clubs hoarding players being some of the will remain attractive for players at that level - but that is without the threat of punishment from the EFL or knowing what they have to spend in the much is unknown ahead of next season. Will Van Nistelrooy still be here? Will there be a change at board level? Which players will leave? So we would be second-guessing exactly how it will go but I would still be surprised to see them struggle like Luton.
