Lots to do and so little time: Leicester City’s worries won’t end with relegation
Leicester’s relegation is most visible sign of a football club in severe trouble. Jack Holmes investigates the complacency that got us here, and the sheer amount of work that needs doing to haul us out of the malaise.
I don’t have time to count the number of times the word ‘worry’ has been used in the various Leicester WhatsApp groups I’m in over the past 18 months, but the reality is all our concerns and worries are on the verge of coming true.
Relegation is a constant worry for any fan old enough to have seen us succumb to League One (I’ve still never forgiven Stoke for that). As early as September 2021, following the debacle in Warsaw, some wise owl pointed out that relegation could be a distinct possibility. The scarring stays with us as Leicester fans – this will be my fifth relegation should the inevitable be confirmed, for some it’s as many as nine.
It’s what makes this one all the more frustrating. As Ric Flair pointed out on the BSLB podcast, it’s like watching Titanic in slow motion, with Brendan Rodgers and Jon Rudkin as the two main characters, with someone next to you telling you the boat won’t sink every two minutes… and yes, the famous painting would definitely be of Brendan.
By and large, we’re a constantly paranoid bunch. Maybe other fans are too, given most have been up and down. Even the European giants of Aston Villa (that’s sarcasm by the way) were relegated less than five years after winning the trophy and Blackburn succumbed to relegation just four years after winning the Premiership, as it was then called.
I’ve often wondered if the sense of reality is grasped by the people in charge of football at the club, the narrative emerging from the press is that it hasn’t. ‘We’ll be fine’, someone said to me after the home defeat to Chelsea, ‘we’ve got too many good players and the manager will sort this out’. That conversation still has me waking up in a cold sweat.
My anxiety and concern over the state of this football club is through the roof and It’s not just because of relegation. I’ve accepted that, it’s going to happen, barring a miracle and even if it doesn’t, the club is in utter disarray from a footballing perspective. And I’m not just talking about the first team:
Leicester City Men’s First Team: likely to be relegated in the next two weeks
Leicester City Women’s First Team: currently 11th out of 12
Leicester City Under 21s: relegated
Leicester City Under 18s: 9th out of 12
I’ve been one over the last few years that has perhaps dismissed the concerns about the club from a footballing point of view and become complacent about the success we’ve had. I thought it was all under control – looking at that, I reckon it’s not. This summer will be horrible and for those of you that haven’t even contemplated it yet, let me do it for you:
The season starts again in 75 days (at the time of writing). In that time we have to find a new manager, replace at least 8 players, and balance the books with sales of anyone of any value, with the added challenge of another 7 players out of contract next year.
Oh, and we’re off to Asia on a pre-season tour. Remember the last time we did that?Trips away with Leicester City always go well, don’t they Tom Hopper?
This is a club that went into the last summer with a manager saying one thing and a board saying another. A club that managed to employ a set piece coach but then took another two months to get him a work permit. A club that allowed the head of recruitment to leave and, in the process of recruiting another, infuriated Southampton so much that he was on gardening leave for the whole window.
A club that waited until the week before the season to sell our keeper and captain, and then failed to replace him. A club that then proceeded to sell Wesley Fofana in the last two days of the window so that only one outfield player came in.
But that’s fine, right? We can all have a bad few months at work though, can’t we? Then we’ll pull our socks up and ensure the same mistakes don’t happen again, right?
Wrong. We then wait until the last week of the January window to sign three players (all of whom have struggled), let our vice captain go on the last day of the window, and failed to sign Jack Harrison (mixed blessings here if we’re honest). And I’m not even going to dwell on the debacle of sacking Rodgers, replacing him with two former goalkeepers as caretakers, and then bringing in Dean Smith for eight games.
So I’m not going to dress this up as all being under control anymore, because it’s not. I’m not going to push my fears to the back of my mind and I’m not going to tell anyone to calm down one day into the transfer window when nothing has happened. We need action fast this summer given the amount of work that needs doing, regardless of what division we’re in, and I want it to start on May 28th.
