Ruud van Nistelrooy is a unique case in Premier League management. It’s rare that a boss who is enduring such a dreadful run of form would be afforded as many games as he has.
Of managers to have taken charge of at least 15 matches with the same Premier League club, only two have a bigger losing rate than van Nistelrooy (80 per cent).
Those managers, Mick McCarthy with Sunderland (84 per cent) and Russell Martin with Southampton (81 per cent), perhaps survived so long as to rack up those poor records because they had built up goodwill in guiding the team to promotion to the Premier League in the first place.
That’s what makes van Nistelrooy stand out. There are no prior good results keeping him in a job. So how do you explain his continued presence in the dugout?
Perhaps the hierarchy feel he has improved the squad’s performances compared to those under Steve Cooper, and has been unfortunate with results.
That would not be an unreasonable stance. The best performances of the season have come under van Nistelrooy, but so have the worst.
Perhaps there’s a sense too that the Dutchman is doing all he can with a limited squad. Van Nistelrooy himself has suggested survival is a mountain to climb with the players at his disposal, and it’s not as if City are the only promoted club struggling.
Perhaps they do not feel there are better managers available beyond van Nistelrooy. Perhaps the cost of sacking him would damage the club’s PSR standing so as to leave them facing punishment anyway.
Whatever the reason, van Nistelrooy remains in this unique position. If his comments after the defeat to Brentford felt a little like a manager throwing in the towel, his words since – committing to staying with the club if they are relegated – and the attempt to do something new with a change in formation at Chelsea suggested he’s not given up yet.
But then again, he does have his own reputation to protect. If City are relegated and van Nistelrooy is then dismissed, he will want to have positives he can point to.
For any recruiting clubs, the focus may no longer be on his season with PSV or his few games in charge of United, but his poor points return at City.
It’s rare that a manager like van Nistelrooy is afforded an opportunity like this, a chance to recover from a dismal run of form. He won't want to have his name alongside those of McCarthy and Martin at the end of the season.
The change in system at Chelsea represents an attempt to take that opportunity. He will hope it bears fruit, and would clearly love it to be this weekend, against Manchester United.
For City, if it merely is patience that is keeping them from sacking van Nistelrooy, then they will hope to have that rewarded.
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