Roy Keane questioned Jamie Vardy after Leicester City’s captain issued a heartfelt apology for the club’s relegation from the Premier League. Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s Foxes had their long-known fate sealed by Liverpool on Sunday.
A 76th-minute goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold saw the Reds snatch a 1-0 victory – moving one step closer to a now inevitable title win – and confirmed Leicester’s drop to the Championship next season as they suffered their second relegation in just three years.
The campaign has been nothing short of a disaster for the Foxes, first under Steve Cooper and then Van Nistelrooy – who has set unwanted record after unwanted record. Vardy, who has announced this will be his last season with the club after nearly 13 years, took to social media to express his disappointment and apologised to fans on the back of his side’s relegation – but Manchester United legend Keane, speaking before Vardy’s departing announcement, was not impressed.
“At this point, I don’t even know what to say,” Vardy began his Instagram post. “No words I have can ever express my feelings of anger and sadness with the way this season has gone. There are no excuses. Collectively, as players and as a club, we failed.
“There is simply no hiding, and I refuse to entertain any suggestion of doing so. Having been at this club for so long, we’ve experienced so many highs and successes – and this season has been nothing but miserable and for me personally, a total embarrassment.
“It hurts, and I know you’re feeling it too. To the fans: I’m sorry. Sorry we haven’t performed, and sorry we end the 2025 season with such a s**t show.”
On the Stick to Football podcast, former United midfielder Keane was ruthless in his take on Vardy’s end-of-season reflection, questioning why a look in the mirror wasn’t done sooner.
Keane charged in: “Why did he wait until the end of the season? We have to look in the mirror…’ You look in the mirror every evening.
“You look at yourself, what you’re doing with your club, with your life. Why is it at the end of the season, when you’ve had a bad season, you go, ‘Oh, we need to start looking at ourselves’. Bit late now, isn’t it?
“When the previous manager left… And they’ve got some senior players like Vardy and Conor Coady, listen, all good pros who have played at a good level for many a year. When Steve Cooper was there, what was Cooper there three or four months?
“He left, and I remember Conor Coady got interviewed, and he went, ‘We probably just needed a new voice’. You’re like, ‘He’s f***ing been there three or four months’.
“Just like nonsense kind of statements, going, ‘Oh, we need to look in the mirror’. Come on. I don’t [just] mean the Leicester team. Every time a team has a difficult spell and goes, ‘We need to start looking at ourselves’. A bit late for that now, isn’t it?”
Vardy will continue his career aged 38, leaving Leicester after a fairytale story which saw him lift the Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield and two Championship titles. He’s been linked with Hollywood-backed Wrexham, but it’s since been reported that he’s eyeing a move abroad.
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