The Period
I grew up in Leicester and have been a Leicester City fan since I’ve known myself. I am also a Season Ticket Holder since 2021 – as I was a Fox’s Member and accrued a lot of ‘Match points’ in the last 10-15 years (of course with a bit of luck in the draw!). I display a lot of Leicester City memorabilia in my bookshelves, including a nicely framed ‘Salt and Victory’ Walkers Crisps packet and the ticket from the 1st ever Champions League home game v Porto FC.
Triumph
After narrowly avoiding relegation in 2014/15 (considered one of – if not the – greatest escapes ever!) to five years of surreal highs like the Premier League and 2021 FA Cup wins, and near-misses of top 4/Champions League spots (e.g. 2019/20 & 2020/21 seasons) and European Silverware (esp. 2021/22 Conference League campaign)!
Eye-watering stuff!
Five Years Later
However, ‘regression to the mean’ was always going to happen – esp. with the tragic death of the club’s Chairman and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected King Power’s revenue streams. I also think even the relegation to the Championship in 22/23 – which could have been easily avoided with a better goalkeeper (than Danny Ward), quicker/better replacement of Rodgers or a bit of luck (e.g. too many injuries to key players, if Maddison scores ‘that’ penalty against Everton or doesn’t gift Bournemouth a priceless win at the King Power) – did not turn out to be a disaster as the team were able to come straight back up to the Premier League the following season as Champions of the Championship (in a very strong Championship year too – as even a strong Leeds Utd missed out on promotion) and there was a positive outlook.
A Disappointment
That is until Maresca (and KDH) was gone and Steve Cooper was appointed as manager – a totally different type of manager and someone who did not suit Leicester City’s ‘fabric’ at all. Almost no fan was happy with the appointment and although we all wished he would surprise us, the weak showing and 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest at home (in Week 9) confirmed that Cooper was definitely not a Premier League manager – as he could not even mastermind a win against a team he should know inside out (same with Cifuentes in the 4-1 loss to QPR)!
Echoing Footsteps
I think this decision by the board showed that they did not even comprehend a basic tenet of modern football, which is that the manager (and accompanying staff) is the most important person in the club and you need to bring in the best out there (e.g. Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace brought in Unai Emery, Nuno Espirito Santos, Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner, respectively, and these clubs’ fortunes changed dramatically since their appointments). This lack of ability to bring in a suitable (and ‘Premier League’ level) manager was the starting point of the mess we’re currently in – as they kept making the same mistake of:
1- Bringing in the wrong manager (e.g. Cooper and Cifuentes proved to be equally poor appointments – as they were not only tactically weak compared to their opponents but were also poor man managers), then
2- Taking too long to sack them – so the team loses all confidence in themselves, making it harder for a ‘new manager bounce’, then
3- Leaving the team without a manager for a few weeks so we lose essential points (especially the Andy King era was unbearably poor) – leaving little margin for error to the new manager, and then
4- Bringing in another poor replacement (not forgetting Dean Smith but he and his coaching staff might have done better if brought in earlier)
Dusk
In most businesses, making one ‘big error’ makes one’s position untenable but to make four errors in a row (and cause two relegations) and to still keep your job implies that the club’s current owner is not too fazed by the club’s catastrophic decline – and this is the most worrying and disappointing aspect for me! I hope the current owner is either working day-and-night to rectify the situation or looking to sell asap!
The Shoemaker
If the former, it is crucial to appoint the right manager and provide him with enough power and resources. A good manager will bring in good coaching staff with him and – even if results don’t show straight away – the fans will see what the team is trying to do and some of the players improving game-by-game (e.g. under Maresca, although it was a tough watch sometimes, it was clear he was a solid tactician and man manager). Under Cifuentes, the same players were making the same mistakes every week and – although some individual brilliance by Abdul Fatawu was winning us undeserved points/games – nothing was improving. As time passed, opposition managers could see that if you stop balls getting to Fatawu and then target Thomas (who is clearly not a good defender and looks like will never be one) or Perreira (who plays like a 45 year old), you will win against Leicester City. Cifuentes did not improve a single player and many got even worse. A prime example is Mavididi – who was the star player of the team a couple of seasons ago – finished the season with <5 G/A contributions but somehow started most of the games without any signs of improvement. This season was therefore a fantastic opportunity to concentrate on players like Monga and slowly replace declining players like Mavididi – but Cifuentes somehow got this all wrong too (e.g. not even playing him in the last 10-15 mins of home games then suddenly starting him in away games where teams would bully the kid and make him lose confidence). Luke Thomas – who has a decent left-foot and is clearly trying his best and cares about the club – should not have played as a left-back after it became clear teams were targeting him. I am therefore amazed none of the managers tried him on the wing as he can clearly make good overlapping runs and deliver great crosses – and would have definitely produced more than Mavididi (who had a shocking season to say the least). I also want to mention the lack of support Fatawu got from his manager and team mates – as he was probably the only Premier League-level player we had – so the tactics should have been shaped around providing him with space and the ball up the field where he is most dangerous. As teams learned to double up on him, he became increasingly ineffective and that was the end of our main goal sources when we needed them the most. Cifuentes and Rowett were equally inept in this regard.
A Hand at Cards
After the manager (and his staff), the second most critical piece in the team is the goalkeeper. Without a solid (and preferably a leader) goalkeeper, no team can be successful. Unfortunately, Stolarczyk and Begovic are one of the main reasons we got relegated from the Championship. However, it is not their fault as I don’t think they expected to be 1st-choice goalkeepers when they signed their contracts. A solid and experienced goalkeeper should have been signed as soon as Hermansen was sold and/or Jakub should have been trained by a top-tier (GK) coach – as he made the same mistakes virtually every week and looked incredibly soft for a person of his build.
Darkness
I was at the 4-3 loss at home to Southampton in Feb 2026 – which I think was the lowest I felt in my entire time supporting the club. Until then, I was still optimistic that we would be mid-table (as the teams around us were also not great – it was overall a poor Championship year) but this game showed everything that was wrong with this group of players, manager/coaches, and board. The first half – which we won 3-0 with great goals and performance – showed that this squad (esp. Abdul, Winks, Mukasa and Skipp) had the ability to take the game to even the best teams in the Championship. However, the Southampton manager (Tonda Eckert) did not wait till the 60-70th minute to make a change like Cifuentes or Rowett (or Andy King!) would have done but made clear tactical changes and three substitutions at half time. Eckert schooled King and – with a bit of clinical finishing – masterminded a win against a rookie manager (who subbed in a 17 year-old Page at 3-1 when Southampton had already gained full control of the midfield).
This loss was a devastating trauma for the players and fans – and shaped every game after it. Not only the players and the fans knew that we could not hold onto even a 3-0 lead but also the opposition. It is therefore not surprising that we – even with bad management – have taken the lead in 26 games (see below table), a figure that’s just three shy of automatically-promoted Ipswich Town’s, but got relegated (and with 2-3 games to go!). Even the home game we won against Bristol City could have easily been a draw (or even a loss!) had they scored their penalty.
Championship 25/26 season: Points after taking lead (Source: Transfermarkt)
The Honest Tradesman
I wasn’t inspired with the appointment of Gary Rowett but I don’t want to be too harsh on him as he seemed to honestly care about the club and might have done better if he was brought in earlier. Unfortunately, he is not a manager who can take us back to the Premier league and that showed. He was content with draws when we had to go for wins and that ultimately cost us!
To finish with a provocative example to underline my main message in this blog post: I think if we had Rowett instead of Ranieri in the 2015/16 season, we would have likely finished mid-table (with ~20 draws)!
A Plea
1- Please get the next manager right!
Just bring in any Bundesliga team’s manager (and entire coaching staff including psychologist!) if you’re still not sure about who to get. Germans get the basics right and take their job seriously whatever the challenge or circumstance! (As of today, unless a bigger name could be brought in like Edin Terzic, Nico Kovac or Bruno Labbadia, I think someone like Thomas Reis or Ralph Hasenhuttl could be a great hire)
Then let them also bring in a Cambiasso (or Xhaka) style captain to the team!
2- Please sign a solid (preferably ~30 year old and talkative) goalkeeper!
3- Please sign a solid striker!
A striker who can stand up to defenders (unlike Carranza), has scored >15 goals in a respectable league (e.g. League 1-level or above in England/Europe) and stays in and around the box like a striker should (unlike Ayew)!
4- Please show some humility and sincerely apologise to fans and make it clear that you want to bring the team back to the Premier League as soon as possible!
It is important to create a positive atmosphere and to do this, the owner must hold everyone at the club accountable for their incompetence (e.g. how does the team with the highest wage bill in the league get relegated?) and mistakes! One quick fix could be to bring in a few of the title-winning players to the Advisory board and fan-facing roles.
Or sell asap!
In Secret
PS: Once we get back to the Championship (hopefully next season!), we should work closely with Data Scientists to identify players who are similar to the 16-17 squad players we had during the 2015/16 season. We see even more clearly the importance of having solid defenders but also leaders like Huth and Morgan, and solid wingers like Simpson and Fuchs – whom we should be able to find at decent prices if we hire the right data scientists!
An ordinary blog by an ordinary bloke 