![Steve Cooper [L] instructs his Leicester City side from the touchline. Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy [R] answers a question during a p...](https://cdn1.leicestercity.news/uploads/48/2025/04/Cooper-Van-Nistelrooy-1140x641.jpg)
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Ruud van Nistelrooy has struggled as Leicester City manager.
After a win and a draw in his opening two games, Van Nistelrooy has won two games in all competitions.
Defeat against Newcastle United saw the Foxes break a 141-year record after they lost for the eighth home game in a row without scoring.
It’s now got to the point where even Van Nistelrooy appears to be in doubt about his future at Leicester and as one damning statistic has suggested, he has every reason to wonder why he hasn’t been sacked.
- READ MORE: Leicester City considering Ruud van Nistelrooy’s future with European boss eyed as replacement
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record vs Steve Cooper’s makes for grim reading
When Steve Cooper was sacked in November, outsiders questioned the decision as the Foxes were 16th in the table at the time.
Since being replaced by Van Nistelrooy, the club have plummeted into the bottom three and are 15 points adrift of safety with only seven games left to save their season.
Cooper’s dismissal came after 12 Premier League games in charge, by which point he had picked up 10 points.
Sounds bad, right?
Well, in comparison, his replacement has only amassed a measly total of seven points in 18 games.
| Steve Cooper’s Premier League points tally after 12 games | Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League points tally after 18 games |
| 10 | 7 |
It’s a pitiful return for the 48-year-old who after arriving to the King Power Stadium promised so much, has returned to so little.
Why haven’t Leicester sacked Ruud van Nistelrooy?
There’s all sorts of theories that could be posited when it comes to asking why Leicester haven’t put Van Nistelrooy out of his misery.
When he was first appointed in November, reports emerged suggesting that the Foxes couldn’t afford to sack Van Nistelrooy.
Secondly, with relegation basically inevitable, sacking the 48-year-old wouldn’t change all that much at this point and any genuine replacements aren’t going to be available until the end of the season at the earliest.
The only alternative that the club’s hierarchy are seemingly holding out for is that Van Nistelrooy resigns from his position, which could allow for the stars to align and Andy King becomes the caretaker manager for the final few games.