‘Vardy’s An Example To Follow’ – Van Nistelrooy Pre-Ipswich

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‘Vardy’s An Example To Follow’ – Van Nistelrooy Pre-Ipswich

Ruud van Nistelrooy says the best way Leicester City can honour outgoing legend Jamie Vardy on Sunday is with a victory over Ipswich Town.

2025-05-18T07:00+01:00

Ruud van Nistelrooy & Jamie Vardy - Leicester City

by Sam Stevens

Published

18 May, 2025

from King Power Stadium

‘Vardy’s An Example To Follow’ – Van Nistelrooy Pre-Ipswich

Ruud van Nistelrooy says the best way Leicester City can honour outgoing legend Jamie Vardy on Sunday is with a victory over Ipswich Town.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-18T07:00+01:00

‘Vardy’s An Example To Follow’ – Van Nistelrooy Pre-Ipswich

Ruud van Nistelrooy says the best way Leicester City can honour outgoing legend Jamie Vardy on Sunday is with a victory over Ipswich Town.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-18T07:00+01:00

‘Vardy’s An Example To Follow’ – Van Nistelrooy Pre-Ipswich

Ruud van Nistelrooy says the best way Leicester City can honour outgoing legend Jamie Vardy on Sunday is with a victory over Ipswich Town.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-18T07:00+01:00

‘Vardy’s An Example To Follow’ – Van Nistelrooy Pre-Ipswich

Ruud van Nistelrooy says the best way Leicester City can honour outgoing legend Jamie Vardy on Sunday is with a victory over Ipswich Town.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-18T07:00+01:00

Kieran McKenna’s side, also relegated from the Premier League this term, visit Filbert Way for what will be Vardy’s last-ever appearance in Leicester’s colours.

On the occasion of his 500th outing for the Club, the possibility of a 200th goal looms for our Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield and two-time Championship winner.

As we prepare to say farewell to our greatest-ever player, van Nistelrooy paid his own tribute to Vardy in Friday’s press conference, as well as previewing this clash with the Tractor Boys.

Vardy’s goodbye

Bidding goodbye to a player of Vardy’s stature is no small matter for the Club or van Nistelrooy, but he’s adamant that the best possible farewell would be three points.

“Him and the players and the fans are leading in this,” the Dutchman said. “He’ll be leading the team out again on Sunday.

“For me, it’s important to prepare the match like I always do, which is today and tomorrow. We’ll prepare the team as best as we can as staff for the team to perform and that’s the most important thing I can do. The rest is up to him and he’ll be ready for that.

“For me, when you see the amount of time a player has performed at the highest level, that is the biggest achievement.

“When you’re capable of performing for 13 seasons at this level, coming up to 500 games and 200 goals, it says it all on your mindset, standards and how you live your life around football – preparing yourself to perform.

“You’ve got look at the trophies he won and the individual achievements he reached, which is the total package why he’s one of the greatest”

Selfless Vardy

Van Nistelrooy knows, too, that helping the Club achieve its goals will remain the top priority for our No.9. It promises to be an emotional day for the 38-year-old, with much of the focus on him, but his Manager knows it’ll all be about helping the team for the striker himself.

“It's something that will be clear on Sunday,” he added. “Because of his status at the Club and what he gave the Club, it’s special that we are part of that, that he’ll play his last game.

“We’ll be around Jamie and his family. We’re all ready to give him the best possible send-off, of course. Closing a period of time, it’s also on the [anniversary of the] day he signed 13 years ago. There’s many dates and numbers coming together.

“The way I know him, he’ll come in and train the best he can and try to win the game. That’s what he’s always thinking about and he’ll do the same on Sunday.

“That’s his aim. If that comes with a goal for him, or if he assists someone, I think he’s thinking like that – and that’s the example to follow.”

Visible improvements

With City now unbeaten in two, having followed a 2-0 victory over Southampton with a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest, van Nistelrooy has been enthused by the recent development of his squad.

While aware nothing will erase the fact we’ve been relegated, now it is all about setting ourselves up for next season, and the Manager believes that is progressing well.

“It's important,” he explained. “You start shaping the future. We know we’ll face them next season so it’s something special and an extra motivation to do well.

“It's visible in performances and points, in goals scored and conceded. I’m happy with that development. Since the Brighton game (a 2-2 away draw), there has been that development and those performances.

“Of course we can’t take away the disappointment of relegation, but I’m happy with how the players have been performing. It’s also reflected in the stands, in the away ends, and also the home games. [The fans] were positive so we want to finish the season as good as we can, get as many positives as we can – and that’s our task.”

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