RUUD VAN Nistelrooy admitted he is taking inspiration from the likes of former Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alex Ferguson in trying to handle the adversity at Leicester.
The Dutchman worked with former England boss Robson for one season at PSV Eindhoven in 1998-99 and spent five years under Ferguson’s tutelage at United from 2001 to 2006 before leaving for Real Madrid.
Having also been coached by Fabio Capello in Madrid, Van Nistelrooy is seeking to take the lessons he learned into relegation-threatened Leicester’s final eight matches of the Premier League campaign.
“When you’re having a poor season or you’re not successful with Man United, Real Madrid or PSV where you’re expected to win every game, it’s similar,” Van Nistelrooy said.
“In the end what it’s about is: it’s not going well, how do you react from it? How are you going to be better the next day, starting with you and then within the collective?
“You experience some of the strongest leaders and managers that I’ve been able to work with and how they’ve handled these things. That is my inspiration and the things I’ve taken from my career.”
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After seven defeats in a row during a run where they have not scored a single goal, Leicester welcome a Newcastle side tonight still jubilant from lifting the Carabao Cup last month.
The Magpies defeated Brentford in midweek to remain firmly in the mix for a top-four finish and Van Nistelrooy knows his side will have their work cut out to prevent an eighth successive defeat.
“It’s clear the momentum they’re in,” he said. “Winning their first trophy in a long time, that’s a tremendous boost, beating Brentford on top of that, competing to be in Europe and the Champions League.
It’s clear that the amount of pace they have and the counter-attacking possibilities they show, we have to be really good in stopping that.”
