The Ruud van Nistelrooy era at Leicester City went from bad to worse on Friday as his side were thrashed 4-0 by Brentford.
It was a painful watch for the majority in the King Power Stadium as Leicester were 3-0 down by the time the clock struck 30 minutes, leading to some fans streaming out of the exit doors.
Brentford fans even mocked Van Nistelrooy with chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’, which were accompanied by boos from the home fans at the full-time whistle.
Leicester fans want Van Nistelrooy sacked after watching him collect just two wins from his 14 league games in charge, leaving the Foxes marooned inside the bottom three.
But whilst the manager can be blamed for the tactics and continuous errors of judgement, including the decision to bench Facundo Buonanotte each week, one thing some players did after full-time was unforgivable.
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Some Leicester players didn’t acknowledge the fans at full-time
Supporters were made to watch through a gut-wrenching 90 minutes of football, seeing their team get played off the park by a resurgent Brentford.
They would have witnessed a lack of fight and passion on the pitch, with Leicester second best to every ball while failing to do the simple basics of defending.
Considering the fans pay hundreds, or even thousands in some cases, to watch their team up and down the country, it was disappointing to see only a select few players go over to acknowledge the fans at the full-time whistle.
As pointed out by journalist Rob Tanner, those were captain Jamie Vardy, Buonanotte, Conor Coady, Oliver Skipp and Victor Kristiansen.
It wasn’t surprising to see Vardy appreciate the fans, especially given his legendary, as well as the leadership figure of Coady.
But the rest, including the likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Mads Hermansen and Boubakary Soumare have done something unforgivable by marching down the tunnel instead of clapping the fans.
At the end of the day, without the fans, the sport is nothing and the players need to realise that.
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Ruud van Nistelrooy sends message to Leicester fans
Following the game, Van Nistelrooy could have blamed external factors or players for the defeat, but that would have perhaps been him waving the white flag.
Instead, Van Nistelrooy took full responsibility for the loss, sending a clear message to the Leicester fans after the game.
“We have to recover from blow after blow,” the Dutchman said. “Then we have to pick ourselves up and try to get some positive performances. I can only say that every individual, me first, is taking full responsibility.
“I have to recover and reflect, like all the staff here and take it from there.”
The Leicester boss also admitted, rather brutally, that the players just simply aren’t good enough to compete at this level.
“From now on, I can only ask the players to play to their capabilities. So far we are doing everything we can but the level of opposition that we face is too big for us. It’s difficult to compete.”
Leicester’s best call of action is sacking Van Nistelrooy and perhaps replacing him with Sean Dyche, who is a survival specialist and available to be snapped up.