Leicester owner 'tears into squad' during angry meeting at training ground

Leicester City owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha tore into Foxes players in a crisis meeting at the club's Seagrave training ground earlier this week, according to reports.

A turbulent weekend at the King Power Stadium saw Leicester lose at home to Chelsea, resulting in Steve Cooper being sacked just 12 Premier League games into his reign. Hours before his dismissal, and in the wake of the Chelsea defeat, Leicester players were spotted partying in Copenhagen.

The Christmas get-together was signed off by Cooper in advance, but it brought criticism from fans, who were fresh from witnessing a fifth consecutive winless match.

Srivaddhanaprabha was not impressed either. According to The Telegraph, the Thai businessman confronted the whole squad and accused them of letting Cooper down by performing poorly since their promotion back to the top flight.

He is also understood to be 'bitterly disappointed' by the footage of their Danish night on the town, which features players laughing at a sign reading "ENZO I MISS U", seemingly in reference to former Leicester manager Enzo Maresca.

The Foxes owner wants to protect Leicester's image as a 'family club', which was nurtured by his late father Khun Vichai, who died in a 2018 helicopter crash and has a statue outside the King Power Stadium.

Both experienced and young players are said to have accepted the telling-off and listened in silence as Srivaddhanaprabha voiced his concerns in a 'measured' way.

Cooper's sacking came as a surprise to some, given that he left with Leicester 16th in the table, one point ahead of Ipswich Town and six points better off than Southampton, who were both promoted with them last campaign.

The search is now on for his successor. Srivaddhanaprabha has reportedly informed players that the next managerial appointment will be a free agent, ruling out West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan and Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick.

Though they are currently employed, neither David Moyes nor Graham Potter are being considered by the Leicester hierarchy. Ruud van Nistelrooy has been left as the standout candidate following his brief interim stint in charge of Manchester United.

Van Nistelrooy oversaw three wins and one draw in the gap between Erik ten Hag's sacking and Ruben Amorim's arrival. The former Premier League marksman made it clear that he wanted a spot on Amorim's backroom staff, but the Portuguese brought his own team with him and left Van Nistelrooy out in the cold.