Leicester City

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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 roles.

Rudkin 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 scoring.

Tanner 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."

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Lee Carsley, Danny Rohl and Russell Martin are on Leicester's shortlist should they sack manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. (Sky Sports, external)

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We wanted you to share your thoughts on the two starting XIs which have seen Leicester City relegated to the Championship in two of the past three seasons, and plenty of you have been sending your views in.

Did the Foxes get their recruitment right over the past three seasons? Have the new additions improved the squad?

Here are some of your thoughts:

Vin: How did we go down in 2022-23 with that line-up?! It's a case of the same issue though - players throwing in the towel.

James: Nothing has improved. We haven't been able to make genuine, long-lasting signings. We aren't strong enough for the Premier League. With barely any signings made, we weren't going to survive with the squad we have got. We need new, young talent to build the team, but we also need a manager willing to stay with us no matter what. The past two years in the Premier League have just been nothing but an embarrassment!

Ian: We just haven't been good enough this season. The players we brought in even struggled to get into the team. We need a good clearout and to start again. Give some of the youngsters a run out for the remaining games. Also, I'm afraid it is time for our great Jamie Vardy to step aside too.

Neil: The squad is very poor as a result of the inept management of the football club. The past few years of player and manager recruitment have fallen well short of the standard required to maintain Premier League status, yet nobody seems to be accountable for this. The recruitment last year was horrendous, with only one player making a positive difference to the quality of the squad - El Khannouss. Skipp, Edouard, De Cordova-Reid, Ayew and Okoli are all Championship standard unfortunately.

D: Our biggest problem is Soumare. He doesn't see a defence-splitting pass and a lot of the time you wouldn't think he was even out there playing. We need a new midfielder who can read the game.

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BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club panel reacted in disbelief to BBC Radio Leicester's Owynn Palmer-Atkin's revelation that the younger Foxes players had a "disconnect" with Steve Cooper that contributed to his sacking.

"It seems strange that it would happen to Steve Cooper as his reputation was built on the England Under-17's World Cup," said New York Times chief football correspondent Rory Smith. "He is famously good at bedding in young players and building around young players.

"You could have understood it if it was Jamie Vardy, Conor Coady and people with that level of experience. It does seem strange that the younger ones would go against him.

"It seems that the players who undone things for Cooper were loyal to Enzo Maresca and they didn't like their stepdad."

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton added: "That sums up everything wrong with Leicester this season. If we're hearing that young players are questioning a relatively experienced manager and his tactics - then heaven help Leicester and where they go.

"There's a lot of bad eggs in there."

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When Enzo Maresca left Leicester for Chelsea last summer, there was great anticipation over who would replace him for the start of the Premier League campaign.

Steve Cooper was perhaps not the most glamorous appointment, but his top-flight experience - albeit with rivals Nottingham Forest - was a positive weapon in his arsenal.

Fast forward 12 games and Cooper was surprisingly sacked, despite Leicester sitting outside of the relegation zone, competing in games and picking up crucial points.

They went from scoring in every game under Cooper, to not scoring at home since the beginning of December.

So why did Leicester sack him?

"The majority of Leicester fans were willing to give Cooper a chance and they enjoyed his touchline passion," said BBC Radio Leicester correspondent Owynn Palmer-Atkin. "We got the impression from the club that it was his connection with the players that was the initial problem. There was a disconnect.

"But it's muddled up thinking to go from Cooper, to a manager like Ruud van Nistlerooy, who hasn't then been able to pick up the results as well. Usually a manager comes in and they are at least able to lift the team and regain the passion to an extent but that didn't happen.

"Having dug a little bit deeper, some of the senior players like Jamie Vardy and Conor Coady were players that were on board with Steve Cooper and buying into what they wanted to do because at that stage they were - at the very least -competitive in most games but were largely outclassed.

"It seemed to be more the younger players, the kind of players that weren't maybe at the total level of some of the older guys in the squad, that were maybe not connecting so well with the manager because it was a completely different style of play [than Enzo Maresca].

"He was asking them to do things they weren't used to and they wanted to continue playing the 'Enzo Way' if you like. Cooper was trying to build his own way as any manager would want to. There is a perception that this is the case at Leicester - it's not a perception that shines well."

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Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart has said Jamie Vardy is "allowed to feel how he needs to feel" after the Leicester City captain apologised to the club's supporters on social media for a "miserable season" that has been a "total embarrassment".

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, Hart added: "Vardy felt he needed to make that statement - good for him - but I'm sure Leicester City would have much preferred him scoring goals and discussing it from a different angle.

"But he is obviously very close to the club - and the club is very close to him.

"It's strange, isn't it? The noise coming out of Leicester City at the moment is quite a hard one to get your head around.

"If they hadn't had their huge triumph in 2016, it feels like the club would have really imploded.

"But their standalone, absolutely unbelievable bit of modern-day history seems to be holding the club together by a thread at the moment."

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We asked you to compare the starting XI that saw Leicester City go down to the Championship in 2022-23 to Ruud van Nistelrooy's XI that sealed the club's relegation fate this season.

Did the Foxes spend their money wisely during this period? Have the new additions improved the squad?

Here are some of your thoughts:

Peter: We should've never been relegated two years ago. We had the players to stay up but it started going wrong in the August sunshine. The recruitment has been poor, with no striker to support Vardy. This season's team is just not good enough, at both ends of the pitch. It was always going to be difficult to stay up and we have got nowhere near. The squad needs a complete overhaul (easier said than done) with a clear out of the non-performers, otherwise we will be stuck in the Championship - or worse down in League One - for some time.

Nick: When you look at the quality in 2022-23 XI, I'm not sure how they got relegated. I guess the board and/or manager got it wrong even then. There has been no investment.

Sam: Most of the recruitment has been short-sighted and ineffective. I like El-Khannouss, but I wonder whether we should've got a player to play alongside Buonanotte or a different loanee to get more creativity in the side. The injury to Fatawu was a killer. Overall the squad is weaker, older and harder to sell - so that can only be seen as a negative.

Richard: Terrible recruitment. Skipp for £20m - if take the zero off, that's what we should have paid. Ward is still hanging around the club, another load of money wasted. Ayew hasn't been bad but for £5m, Crystal Palace must have been laughing all the way to the bank. The Edouard loan... what can I say apart from WHY?! This is all of Jon Rudkin's poor investment - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. It makes me sad.

Chris: Let's build for next season and start doing it now. Get rid of Ruud and put Jamie Vardy and Andy King in until the summer.

We are keen to hear even more of your thoughts, so do get in touch here - and we will post some of your replies on this page later on Tuesday.

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BBC Radio Leicester's Owynn Palmer-Atkin says a lot of what has been happening at King Power Stadium "hasn't really made sense".

Explaining why it has been a disappointing and "frustrating" season for Foxes fans, Palmer-Atkin told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "It is from top to bottom, and it is all around strategy and their alignment now compared with what they have had before.

"The recruitment is patchy and hasn't really made sense, and the managerial appointments don't really add up either. Alongside all of that, there is quite a deafening silence from the board, who haven't spoken for a great deal of time.

"If you add all of those things together with the performances this season and relegation, it makes for a frustrated fanbase.

"They are also escaping Profit and Sustainability Rules by the skin of their teeth, so it is not good. It doesn't look like they have a plan.

"I saw the logic of hiring Enzo Maresca. They understood the way he wanted to play and they backed him. It was a risk that paid off. But when he left they brought in Steve Cooper, who is not really the same sort of manager.

"Maresca to Cooper to Ruud van Nistlerooy doesn't feel very joined up.

"Paired with poor recruitment, it doesn't feel like there is a clear strategy that links all of the club together."

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Chris Forryan
Fan writer

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So the fat lady put on her make-up and sang so loudly she was probably heard in Nottingham.

Last 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 fight.

This 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 history.

An 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 two.

Top 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 at.

Yes, these are the people that took us to unbelievable highs. But every clock is right twice a day, and now sadly our time is up.

Find more from Chris Forryan at Leicester Till I Die, external

Leicester City's starting XI has changed considerably since relegation to the Championship in 2022-23, with current boss Ruud van Nistelrooy only naming three of the players that started in the Foxes' relegation-defining fixture against West Ham United two years ago to face Liverpool on Sunday.

The three players were left-back Luke Thomas, centre-back Wout Faes and defensive midfielder Boubakary Soumare.

Significant changes to the squad came after the Foxes suddenly found themselves in the second tier with a wage bill of a top-half Premier League team, forcing them to sell high-profile player James Maddison and academy talents such as Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

So comparing the XI that saw Leicester go down two years ago to the XI that sealed the club's relegation fate this season, how do you reflect on the two line-ups?

What is your verdict on how the Foxes spent their money during the Championship rebuild in 2023-24 and during this top-flight campaign?

Have any recent signings improved the squad?

Let us know your thoughts here

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Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has criticised the club's hierarchy after relegation from the Premier League was confirmed by Sunday's home loss to Liverpool.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast, Piper said the Foxes' decision-makers have "not been good enough" for a while now.

"We have been flip-flopping around for too long now. Yes, we did have success last season but we've gone straight back down," he added.

"The recruitment for managers and players has been all over the place for too long. It's not been good enough.

"We haven't been signing the right kind of managers and players and we've been getting it wrong. It's clear that the whole football hierarchy department of the King Power is not right and it hasn't been for some time."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

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Jamie Vardy has apologised for Leicester City's season, saying the Foxes have "failed" and have "no excuses" after relegation was confirmed.

The former Premier League winner has cut a frustrated figure for most of the campaign as he has only scored seven goals in the top flight this season.

He wrote on X, external: "At this point, I don't even know what to say.

"No words I have can ever express my feelings of anger and sadness with the way this season has gone. There are no excuses.

"Collectively, as players and as a club, we failed.

"There is simply no hiding, and I refuse to entertain any suggestion of doing so.

"Having been at this club for so long, we've experienced so many highs and successes - and this season has been nothing but miserable and for me personally, a total embarrassment. It hurts, and I know you're feeling it too.

"To the fans: I'm sorry."

Leicester City's fate has been sealed but what went so wrong this season?

BBC Radio Leicester's Owynn Palmer-Atkin is joined by former winger Matt Piper, journalist Rob Tanner and Foxes fan Kate, to dig through the relegation wreckage on the latest episode of When You're Smiling.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has urged club chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha to "dig deep within himself" and "question" whether he would like to continue in his role at King Power Stadium, after taking on the responsibility in October 2018 following his father's tragic death.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast, after the Foxes' relegation was sealed, Piper said: "The highest level of this football club hasn't been quite right for quite some time. There does need to be change and fresh ideas brought in at boardroom level.

"What's going to be massively important is whether the chairman is able to make some big decisions that can put us on the right pathway again.

"It baffles me that since he has been in charge, he has been very reluctant to make decisions and he seems a little bit too nice. He definitely hasn't got the ruthless streak that his father had.

"I think he really needs to dig deep within himself and think about whether this job is what he really wants moving forward.

"I get the feeling that he has taken something over that he maybe has no deep passion for. That's the first port of call - he needs to ask himself the difficult question and be able to answer it truthfully to move forward.

"If he does want to keep going - and he has the passion to see us back in the Premier League and winning things again - then he has to make difficult choices in the structure of the football club."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

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Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper says there was a "real feeling of despondency" from both the players and the supporters after the home defeat by Liverpool, which saw the Foxes' relegated from the Premier League for the second time in three seasons.

"We all knew it was coming," he said on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast. "It is no big surprise that this club has dropped back down to Championship football.

"There is a sadness about it. There was anger earlier on in the season but, as time has gone on, that anger has dissipated and it is more disappointment.

"There is a real feeling of despondency from the crowd and the players.

"The players that pulled on the blue shirt against Liverpool you felt were running and fighting for the football club. They had the passion to wear the shirt - and that's what we have been asking for all season.

"We knew the quality was lacking in the early parts of the season, but you can always bridge that gap with hard work, endeavour and passion.

"We haven't seen anywhere near enough of that this season. I would include the manager, some of the hierarchy and the chairman in that.

"Unfortunately, when it has been collectively this poor, you are really going to struggle in the top flight of English football.

"We haven't deserved to be in Premier League this season - and that has been rectified now because we are back down into the Championship."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Leicester failed to learn their lessons from relegation two years ago, according to the Foxes Trust.

The club were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday after the 1-0 defeat by Liverpool left them 18 points adrift of safety with five games left.

They have made an immediate return to the Championship having lost 16 of their past 18 games and scoring just six times since 8 December.

Leicester were relegated in 2023, just two years after winning the FA Cup and seven years following their Premier League title triumph.

"We were obviously resigned to it." said Foxes Trust co-chair Lynn Wyeth. "For some time, I don't think anybody was under any illusion that the Great Escape had been on.

"People are angrier this time because it doesn't feel like we've learned from our mistakes from last time. I think it's the over-arching feeling of the club not being managed very well at the moment.

"It's not just about 'well, we weren't good enough'. The three teams that went up weren't good enough. We knew it was going to be a hard season but it was how we came down. It was the capitulation on the pitch. It was the lack of fight and then it's what a lot of fans see as mismanagement in so many areas of the club.

"Not just about really duff signings in the summer and letting contracts run out, it's some of the other stuff off the pitch, the fans feeling disconnected from the club,

"Years and years of loyalty don't seem to matter anymore. It doesn't feel like a family club. It's that Premier League corporate stuff coming in that disconnects you. All of it happening at once has just created a miserable season."

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We asked for your views after Leicester City's relegation was confirmed by defeat at home by Liverpool on Saturday.

Here are some of your comments:

Phil: We don't have much of a base to build on in the Championship and are in danger of following Luton. With hindsight, Steve Cooper should have been retained and could have developed the young players we will now have to rely on. We need a new manager, but who will want to take this massive job on?

James: The club needs a clear-out from top to bottom The manager has to go as does several players and start again next season.

Carl: Leicester started well but faded. It is clear the fitness levels of all players are not where they should be. This new training ground is too good and the club have gone backwards since it opened. The players are spoiled! Time for Vardy to retire - thank you Jamie. A club legend. The rest need to leave, every one of them including Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Roy: A much better performance from Leicester, but even so Liverpool really should have won a lot more comfortably than the 1-0 that they actually did win by. Leicester need a reset for next season in the Championship.

Ramona: Leicester should never have gotten rid of Cooper, they didn't give him a chance. At least Leicester were scoring under him! Fans just couldn't see past him being at Forest.

Mark: Never going to get anything. A season to forget. Couldn't attract players at the start of the season due to the threat of a points deduction then there was no money available for the January window. Need to take a long look at what the club expects next season.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Leicester's inevitable relegation is finally confirmed and now the club can seek clarity.

Sunday's defeat by Liverpool confirmed the drop but it had been coming for a long time. After 16 defeats in the past 18 games, it may even come as a relief.

It allows the Foxes to move forward and decisions have to be made over Ruud van Nistelrooy's future, with his appointment in November failing to stop the club's slide towards the Championship.

The Dutchman said there was no date set for talks with the club's hierarchy over his future but knows time is of the essence.

"The club has to use this time, otherwise you will waste it," he said. "In a situation like this, you have to sit very carefully with the club to discuss the matters.

"I'm focused and taking my responsibility to do the best things for things for the football club, the future and next season.

"Performances like Brighton and the Liverpool game are signs the players are willing to do that and finish the season the best way possible the new season will start and continue.

"We have to take responsibility and that's what I'm doing for the next five weeks and after that we have to see."

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to Sunday's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Ipswich Town 0-4 Arsenal

• Manchester United 0-1 Wolves

• Leicester City 0-1 Liverpool

The latest episode of BBC Radio Leicester's 'When You're Smiling' podcast has landed.

The team discuss Leicester City's confirmed relegation to the Championship with five games to go after a defeat to Liverpool.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds