Has it come to this?: Preparing for Leicester life after relegation
It’s times like these Leicester City could use a ‘cunning plan’ but the news that Brendan Rodgers was seemingly sacked without a replacement in mind has been met with dismay among the Foxes faithful.
After yet another depressing display against Aston Villa, the news broke that we’re planning to stick with Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell for Saturday in what is likely to be one of the biggest games of the season and my WhatsApp blows up with anger and frustration.
Every time I think about the state of our season, The Streets lyrics pop into my head: ‘Some men rise, some men fall, I hear ya call, stand tall now, has it come to this?’ The truth is the malaise is deepset, half the squad know they’re off in the summer and I’ve often been left pondering one question...
What is the actual plan?
The plan in the summer seemed so strange and one I can’t get my head around – was it really to stick with a manager who wanted a refresh, hold onto our best players, sell the fringe ones for an inflated amount and go again?
All this while the rest of the Premier League spends money like it’s going out of fashion and taps up our best players. Add into the mix our captain leaving without much notice - did we really expect much better than what we’ve seen? I’m sure we do have a plan somewhere but I’d be lying if I said I understood it.
With that in mind, we come to the challenge ahead: the biggest reset the club has seen since we were relegated to League One regardless of what division we’re in next year. As we left the game on Tuesday night, my Dad - embarking on his 67th season as a Leicester fan - remarked: ‘I quite enjoyed the Championship’.
This highlights where we really are. Barring a miracle at this stage, we’re down. Heading towards the Championship with the most well-renumerated squad the club has ever seen, a team sinking like the Titanic which will be a shock to everyone except the match-going faithful of the last 18 months.
The challenge ahead then is how we plan for life in the Championship. Yes, I’m aware there are still 9 games to go, but allow me to catastrophise the season away – this is someone who, four weeks ago, pulled together a Powerpoint presentation for the BSLB podcast on why we were going down so apologies if I’m slightly ahead of you. The truth is you might thank for me for this when the final whistle goes on 28th May at around 6.20pm. Planning for the worst - we could use a bit of that.
A staggering 50% of the squad are out of contract in the summer, which probably helps. Many of our players will attract interest from the Premier League because most were part of the side that won the FA Cup and finished 5th twice.
So will anyone actually stay?
The good news is you’d imagine Victor Kristiansen, Harry Souttar and Wout Faes will stay, being the last through the door, as well as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall after signing a new contract in the summer. Patson Daka and Boubakary Soumare are likely to stay as well given they’re on long contracts and haven’t exactly lit up the Premier League. James Justin and Ricardo might attract some interest but their injuries will likely put people off and they’ve recently signed new deals.
Could Championship football be what some of our players need to start the rebuild? Add to that Daniel Iversen, Marc Albrighton and a Jamie Vardy swansong and you’ve got the makings of a squad that would look pretty strong in the Championship. Excited yet?
The bad news is Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyuncu and Timothy Castagne will almost certainly leave as well as the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi. Danny Ward and Jannik Vestergaard might still stick around too to continue their legacies of being nothing other than a financial drain on the club.
The biggest challenge will be the funds we need to raise, but the reality is even if we don’t get market values for players there’d be enough there to fund whatever loans the club has taken.
Add to this a manager in the mould of Michael Carrick or Vincent Kompany and could we see the phoenix rise from the ashes at the first attempt? Plus we wouldn’t have to deal with all the patronising nonsense on Sky. Would it be that bad?
It’s often said amongst die-hard fans of Italian teams that relegation should be welcomed as it allows a reset of the whole club from the fanbase to the players.
That makes me hark back to the days of Nigel Worthington and Nils-Eric Johansson, thinking maybe surviving this season would only mean the same next time around. Only time will tell but maybe a shock relegation might be the reset the club needs.
EI EI EI O, UP THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE WE GO...
