Leicester City

Tyrese King
BBC Sport journalist

Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Tottenham (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On the club's transfer situation Van Nistelrooy said: "We are looking at options within the possibility to strengthen the squad, and also this deal with Tom [Cannon] is part of that situation. So we are addressing that, and are looking at players to strengthen the team within the possibilities that are there at the moment."

• On Leicester bad form he said: "We know where we are in the league but for the remaining games it's about getting out of this situation. Sunday is a new game where we can start fighting to get out of this period. This is when you need character, togetherness and unity. We are that."

• Asked about his own job security the Dutchman offered: "I'm focused on getting this team out of the situation, that's my only concern."

• He called for his side to "roll-up their sleeves".

• New signing Wayo Coulibaly could play a part against Tottenham after "a very good start to the week".

• He is hopeful that midfielder Wilfred Ndidi can be involved in team training next week but he will miss out on the upcoming game.

• Winger Abdul Fatawu is making "very good" progress but his manager added: "The steps he has to make, he's making them. But we also know the length of the injury, it isn't in the short term."

• Injured goalkeeper Mads Hermansen is "making good steps but needs to make further steps to be involved in team training and playing games".

Follow all of Leicester City's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Former Leicester City goalkeeper Mike Stowell told BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast that clubs hold each other to "ransom" in the January transfer window.

" I always think that the January transfer window is the last-gasp saloon window for many clubs," Stowell said.

"You're always held to ransom because if you go after players, everybody knows that you're desperate. They are not going to give you their better players, they want to keep their good players for the push. They are going to give you players you don't want, or you're selling average players for more money because teams are desperate for new recruits."

Stowell also believes that the window is "only good" if you're a team "fighting for the title" or if you have "some money" and "want to recruit some extra firepower or quality".

"At the other end of the table, I'm afraid it rarely ever works," he added.

"I don't want to be all doom and gloom but Leicester City two years ago brought in Victor Kristiansen, Harry Souttar and Tete. We went to Aston Villa thinking we solved the problem with three new signings, and we know how that went."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Serie A club Lecce are among the clubs to have enquired about signing Leicester City winger Laolu Omobolaji.

The Foxes are believed to be keen on tying down the 17-year-old, who is a regular for the under-18s, to a new deal.

Omobolaji joined Leicester in February last year. He is eligible to play for both England and Nigeria through his parents.

This Premier League pursuit becomes a lot easier if you take your chances.

BBC Sport has checked in on some data comparing goals versus expected goals this season.

You can see from the bar graph some teams aren't finding the goals (yellow) to outstrip the expected goals they should score (black).

Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Brentford, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Leicester have all scored more than expected.

Wolves in particular have found the net 32 times from an expected 23.56 - a significant overperformance.

League leaders Liverpool are pretty much bang on in returning what they should, while Arsenal have outperformed, with 43 goals from an expected 37.78.

Bournemouth - 36 goals from an expected 43 - are leaving opportunities on the table.

Former Leicester City winger Marc Albrighton tells The Football News Show how senior players like Jamie Vardy and Conor Coady will be leading the inquest into their recent run of poor form in the Premier League.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

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I thought Leicester were harsh in getting rid of Steve Cooper, but the fans turned against him and we know what comes next when that happens.

But he had Premier League experience and knew how to fight at the bottom of the table. That is important when you need results.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has not been in that position in any of the clubs he's been involved with previously, so it is a big job for him now at Leicester. I do not think he knew the task at hand.

The promoted clubs from the Championship are usually down at the bottom and fighting to sty up. Many people believed at the beginning of the season that the three who came up would also go back down.

Having a manager who has the knowhow of staying in the Premier League is something money cannot buy and Cooper had that after his time at Nottingham Forest.

But I also think the Leicester squad is not good enough to compete in the way he might want them too at this level.

They are still reliant on Jamie Vardy, who of course has been a fantastic finisher and servant over the years. However, to rely on him now in every game does mean they are in a bit of trouble.

Stephy Mavididi has been their only bright spark of the season, but if you look around that is it.

I think Van Nistelrooy is going to find it difficult to keep them up, but then any manager who had gone in at this point probably would have as well.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

Leicester City are mired in the relegation zone having lost seven Premier League games in a row, but could financial constraints hamper their ability to recover if they were to go down?

Foxes fan Chris Forryan tells The Football News Show why he believes it could take 10 years to recover and why even the finest football minds would not be enough to save the team this season.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

On a new episode of The Football News Show focused on Leicester City, Ben Croucher asks why the Foxes are having such a difficult season, with the side no better off under Ruud van Nistelrooy than his predecessor Steve Cooper. So what's going wrong and how can he keep them up?

Watch the show above or on iPlayer here

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on what is going wrong for Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leciester, and how he can turn his fortunes around.

Here are some of your comments:

Ian: RVN is not to blame for his appointment - accountability for that lies with the board. He is however responsible for finding a pattern of play to suit the players he has - not persist in trying 'his way'. So far he is an abject failure and in my book the same would happen in the Championship.

Trev: When Ruud covered at Man Utd he had a quality team and players. Now he has lower quality players who are not performing. A novice manager was a bad idea in such a situation. It needed a tried and tested manager who knew what to do. Sorry Ruud, it's time for another change. It pains me to say he must go as I like him, he's just not experienced enough a footballer manager for our situation.

Jack: Start Daka and give him a run of starts. He's a confidence player so we need to persist with him and get him firing. He brings more energy to the attack over Vardy and works his socks off every game. I hate to say it but it's time for Vards to move over and allow someone else to start. He's just not on it anymore.

Bill: Financial mismanagement, poor recruitment and no plan for replacing Enzo. Compare with Brighton and we are where we deserve to be. The squad is Championship level. No lessons are ever learned - the same people are on post and no one is held accountable.

Ken: I don't believe Leicester are a club that can really look to be one of the top 10. They won the title not long ago, but this was a freak year. Ruud needs to be given time, a lot of this squad are not really Premier League players and Jamie Vardy is running out of steam. The team needs a complete overhaul, and if the first team players don't perform, then play some of the development players. What do they have to lose?

Leicester City supporters directed their frustration towards Ruud van Nistelrooy during their 2-0 defeat by Fulham, with the Foxes boss admitting he understood their frustrations.

Dutch football journalist Marcel van der Kraan tells The Football News Show that despite their seven-game losing streak in the Premier League, Van Nistelrooy will stick with his management philosophy.

Watch The Football News Show on iPlayer

BBC Radio Leicester's Owynn Palmer-Atkin says "it's actually quite incredible to watch" the belief leave Leicester City's players when a goal goes in against them.

Speaking on the latest When You're Smiling podcast, he said: "When they concede - their confidence is on the floor.

"As soon as that first goal [against Crystal Palace] went in and as soon as the substitutes were made - which were very, very unpopular in the stadium - you could just see the confidence draining out of the players."

The Athletic's Leicester City correspondent Rob Tanner agrees, and thinks although some players don't seem to take it as badly as others, it cannot be long before it takes its toll on them.

"You look at the youngsters - like [Facundo] Buonanotte and [Bilal] El Khannous - and they look like lads who are not affected too much at the moment," he said. "But, the longer this goes on, they will be affected.

"If I'm thinking I've not got the confidence they won't keep it out of the net... how are they feeling? They're the guys who have got to do it."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton believes it is no surprise Leicester City's form has not picked up under Ruud van Nistelrooy because the Dutchman was "a massive punt" by the owners.

The Foxes remain second from bottom of the table and have lost seven of the nine league games Van Nistelrooy has been in charge for.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, Sutton said: "He wasn't part of the thought process when Leicester appointed Steve Cooper, but then because he was caretaker manager when Manchester United beat them twice, all of a sudden it's, 'oh, he must be good'.

"Talk about gambling. It was a massive punt. I don't mean it in a disrespectful way to Van Nistelrooy as he had a good year at PSV and he did a good job as caretaker of United."

• Not a Leicester fan? Find your team's page here

Watch the full episode of Monday Night Club on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Chris Forryan
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

"You don't know what you're doing" and "sack the board" rang round King Power Stadium on Saturday.

As good as Ruud van Nistelrooy was against QPR, he was the opposite against Crystal Palace and Fulham. So the question is: are we any better under him?

Better performances, some say - but the facts would say not in the league.

Van Nistelrooy's first nine games with decent performances: W1 D1 L7. That is four points.

Steve Cooper's first nine games with less pretty performances: W2, D3, L4. That is nine points.

Yes, Cooper had pre-season, but he also had a style of play that disrupted the opposition. So far, Van Nistelrooy has a style of play that says "here's three points" to the opposition.

Cooper had fewer injuries? Well, Bournemouth had nine first-team players out, but still managed to beat Newcastle 4-1.

We have now lost our past seven games, conceded at least two goals in eight of the matches under Van Nistelrooy and failed to score in five of our past seven - all with pretty much the same starting XI.

So what is the Dutchman doing wrong?

At 38, Jamie Vardy is past his best, but plays 230 minutes across three games in a week.

James Justin is not a right-back. Wout Faes is among the poorest defenders the Premier League has seen. Harry Winks is not a Premier League player. Jordan Ayew is not a starter, certainly not over Facundo Buonanotte. Bilal el Khannouss is taken off when he is the best player on the pitch. There are substitutions that are just like for like.

The list goes on.

We built a new training ground for £100m. We have some hot prospects in our youth ranks, yet they do not even make it on to the subs' bench. They could not do worse than this bunch.

"You're not fit to wear the shirt" was another chant on Saturday. The fans were not wrong.

What is going wrong under Ruud, Foxes fans? What would you be doing differently if you were him?

Let us know here

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

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Leicester and Fulham.

Here are some of your comments:

Leicester fans:

Simon: Just when you think things can't get worse, they get worse! The decision to sack Steve Cooper and replace him with a relatively novice manager, was pure gross incompetence.

Neil: This game was the summary of four years of financial mismanagement by Jon Rudkin and the board at LCFC. Years of poor recruitment and bad decision-making, crippling the club with debt and awful deadwood players on long-term deals. We need a change at the top and the owner needs to make a decision and sack the people responsible for this utter mess.

Ian: Once again, tactically naïve and we concede straight after half time. Players don't look happy and chants of 'you don't know what you're doing!' Unfortunately, for me, that's my belief done and dusted. We can talk about 'the great escape' year, but that relied on guts, determination and fight. I don't see those things now. Too passive, not enough quality. It was good while it all lasted. It will be a long while before we taste it again.

James: You don't know what you're doing. Sack the Board. Get out of our club. You know it is desperate times when the happy-clappy fanbase turn against the hierarchy. Baffling subs, puzzling starting XI, mixed with some disorganised chaos. All the goodwill of the Christmas season for Ruud has now well and truly expired. The freefall continues, exponentially.

Fulham fans:

Robert: It appears to be a comfortable win, but you have to wonder, do we practice shooting during training? We only managed two efforts on target against one of the worst teams in the league. A clean sheet is nice after the defensive errors at West Ham.

Will: Great to get back to winning ways, not only for the confidence of the team but for Smith Rowe. An overdue goal from him really helps his confidence. I think he has the ability to create out of nothing and we need that.

David: After a poor-ish first half the goal ignited the game. We didn't look like losing it from then on. If we'd taken our chances it could easily have been three or four-nil. Berge was impressive coming back from injury, if only we'd had him at West Ham. Bring on the Red Devils next week.

Ben: Pretty solid, albeit Leicester weren't great. Great for Smith Rowe to get another goal. Hopefully it will boost his confidence. Very controlled midfield performance, and most importantly an elusive clean sheet! Bring on the tougher run!

Image source, Getty Images

Former Leicester City striker Matty Fryatt says "mood, confidence, morale and belief" have all disappeared at the club and it has now turned "ugly" following defeat to Fulham.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast after the club's latest home defeat, Fryatt was asked how damaging he thought the loss was and said: "Very - pure and simple.

"Leicester needed a minimum of three points, you don't achieve that on Wednesday [against Crystal Palace] and that game was built up as if it was the biggest game in years - it didn't materialise that way.

"This one had to be even bigger and then nothing from this - and it didn't look likely after 10 minutes. Now you've gone from a minimum of three points to no points and mood, confidence, morale belief has all of a sudden evaporated and it turned ugly.

"I don't want to go on about the negatives but it felt ominous and it's going to take a lot to change that and obviously the results and performances in both second halves of really important games weren't there."

It is now seven straight Premier League losses for Leicester, and Fryatt added: "Something has to change - can you get others into the building to lift the ones around? It's really difficult, you have to manage it and stick together - these are the hard times.

"We mention characters and leadership, this is where it has to come to the fore, it needed to start today, but next game has to be like that - you're running out of games and now looking on others [dropping points] so early on.

"At some point you've got to win yourself."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Watch highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures.

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

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brentford 0-2 Liverpool

• Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa

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

Listen to post match analysis of Leicester's defeat to Fulham from former Foxes' striker Matty Fryatt and hear reaction from Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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Leicester City defender James Justin talking to Premier League Productions after the loss: "It is frustrating. It has been a shocking run from us. We're trying to do everything to change it but nothing seems to be working. We are deflated. We'll have a couple of days off and then regroup and see where we can improve."

On fans booing: "They pay their money to watch their club and we're not doing the club any good at the moment. They can boo if they want to be honest. They are entitled to do that. It doesn't help anything I don't think, but we're the ones getting them there at the minute so we need to do something to change that."

On what is going wrong: "To put our finger on it is hard to be honest. We just got caught at the start of the second half and we've done that a few times recently to be honest. We tried to do a professional job, particularly in the first half, but to go out in the second half and concede from a nothing throw in is really disappointing and something we need to look at.

"When we take a step back and analyse the game we'll see what we did well after their goal and see if we can build on that and improve, but at the end of the day we've conceded another two goals and not scored so something obviously has to spark in the group and staff to get us going.

"Anyone with eyes who looks at the league table can see we're struggling with form at the moment. It is up to us within the building and training ground every day to do something and get out of this rut that we're in. We need to be better but the Premier League is difficult and you need to take every game as it comes and just play the match in front of you."

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy talking to Sky Sports after today's defeat: "We deserved to be beat, Fulham were the better team. It was disappointing in all aspects of the game. We weren't good enough in all aspects. This is the first game I've felt like this. In the other games I felt there was enough aspects to get a result and today there wasn't.

"We have time to reflect. There is no need to be positive today. We need to think about the performance and the behaviours and how to bring this forward. These are the biggest questions we need to ask as a group of coaches, me as the manager and as a group of players. We have time to move forward after those reflections.

"It is up to us as players and me as a manager to bring this forward. It is clear we need to bring hope back for the fans and that starts with us. It is our responsibility to work on and do better and move on from there."

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

"You don't know what you're doing."

The Leicester fans made their feelings known towards manager Ruud van Nistelrooy when he substituted attacker Bilal el Khannouss in the second half despite being a goal down.

Four minutes later, Leicester conceded again and were well on their way to their seventh Premier League on the spin.

Like Wednesday's loss to Crystal Palace, Leicester started the game in promising fashion but it quickly diminished as they lost the grip on the match and it looked like a matter of time before Fulham broke the deadlock.

That is exactly what Marco Silva's side did in the second half and the Foxes never looked like getting back in the game once Emile Smith Rowe scored.

A stadium with empty seats from kick-off then started turning on the manager with loud jeers sounding all around the King Power.

With an xG of just 0.48 at full-time, Leicester are extremely lacking when attacking and Jamie Vardy was hugely isolated once again.

The Foxes have failed to score in five of their last seven games after netting five times in Van Nistelrooy's opening two games in charge.

Leicester remain rooted in the bottom three with just 14 points on the board.