This week we welcome Leicester fan Ian Gallagher back to LFW to get the low down on the Foxes, who started the season in great form but are enduring a difficult spell approaching the trip to QPR on Saturday.

What were the key factors in Leicester's success last season?

IG: A superb goalkeeper behind up a very settled back four. Arguably the Championship's best midfielder making things tick. Pace on both flanks and through the middle. Plenty of experience on the bench to call upon. Fantastic team spirit, and incredible attention to detail behind the scenes.

I could go on forever there, but we were as close to a perfect team at that level as you're going to get. I can't remember the last time I went to every game expecting us to win — that's how it felt. We always had goals in us.

It was the culmination of several years' work by Nigel Pearson and his staff to clear out Sven's dead wood, build a squad and get it operating at the level it should. There were a few sticky moments, but not last year.

It was a magic season, one I'll never forget.

How do you think they went about the summer? What did you make of the signings? Were you happy come the end of August?

IG: I remember writing in my last set of ramblings for your esteemed website that I wanted to see the title-winning squad given a chance in the Premier League. So I was actually pretty happy at the end of August — I'm not going to pretend I had the foresight to see any problems, because we'd not played enough games for any real weaknesses to show up.

I was pleased with the signing of Leonardo Ulloa (even more so after the first few games) and the signing of Esteban Cambiasso was another one of those moments where you pinch yourself. Nigel doesn't do sentiment, so I trusted his judgement on the signing.

On paper, the other summer signings seemed OK too. Marc Albrighton and Matt Upson both have plenty of top-flight experience, exactly the sort of signings we realistically should have been aiming for. Then we signed Danny Simpson (who you know well, of course), followed by Nick Powell on loan — a physical midfielder, and again probably the sort of player we needed to be signing.

What we know now is that Upson's been crocked since the second he walked through the door, and Simpson, Albrighton or Powell have barely kicked a ball between them. The situation with the latter three confuses me greatly.

I genuinely have no idea on Simpson. Some of our fringe players have been playing for the U21s fairly regularly but don't think Simpson has. It beats me, cos De Laet is dicey at best - good going forward but he's so easily beaten by any forward with nous. Only thing that's clear is Person is not singling Simpson out - lots of other new signings are not playing either.

Obviously you started the season brilliantly, what was the key to the success?

IG: We were clearly riding the crest of a wave from last season, and we went into games with no fear at all. We could have got something from Chelsea and probably should have beaten Arsenal.

We were snapping at teams' heels, pressing them and not allowing them any time to settle. This was particularly effective against Wenger's traditionally tackle-shy outfit, and that rag-tag defence that Louis van Gaal brought to the East Midlands.

We were still trying to carry over the attacking intent which served us so well in the Championship, and it worked. Jamie Vardy's performance against Man Utd probably summed up what we're all about (on a good day, of course).

And why has it gone awry since?

IG: Simple enough — goals. We've managed two since the United game, and they were both against Burnley. It goes without saying that you can't win games if you don't score...

Ulloa has struggled a bit, but never through lack of trying. He needs more help from his colleagues, namely Vardy and David Nugent, who only have one goal each. I don't expect Nugent to get many, but I think Vardy has more goals in him than he's shown so far. Ulloa can't do it all himself, and we're relying on him too much.

A settled team was critical to our success last season, and Nigel has seemed a little too keen to change things around this year. Plus, key men haven't made the grade yet.

Anthony Knockaert has been brilliant for us since he arrived, but he's not really getting a sniff. There are rumours there's been a fallout behind the scenes, but he's shown willing to play in the stiffs, so I don't think he's lacking in application.

Finally — and never for a second did I think I'd be writing this — Danny Drinkwater has struggled. He made the game look so easy last year, and I thought he'd cut it with ease. My standout memory this year has to be a moment in the Swansea game, where he got the ball in space, panicked and just hoofed it down the field to Fabianski in their box. He just doesn't look like the same player.

Is Nigel Pearson coming under any pressure? Would you be tempted to make a change? Or how bad would it have to get before he is in trouble?

IG: Not really, and nor should he be. I'm 100 per cent behind him, and I think it would have to take an absolute disaster of a run for the owners to consider a change. It's not just the team on the pitch he's crafted, he's changed the culture of the club behind the scenes with the sports science side, player analytics and so on.

I think my view is shared by the majority of the fanbase — there were plenty of positive Pearson chants on Saturday, and no signs of dissent. I think people can see the players are giving it their all.

I know it's all ifs and buts, but if we'd have held on against Burnley, and nicked a goal against Sunderland (which we probably deserved), we'd have 15 points and we'd be about tenth. Depending on how optimistic you are, if we'd nicked the winner against Arsenal (again, something we probably deserved), we'd have 17 points, and we'd be two points off the Champions League.

The margins are clearly a lot finer at this level (old news to your fans, I suspect), but nobody's thrashed us. Quite the opposite, in fact — we've handed out one of the most memorable spankings in recent Premier League history.

Greatest league in the world, my arse.

Where is the team strong and where is it weak? What needs doing in January?

IG: We're generally strong at the back. We're not shipping many goals, and that has to come down to consistency — it's the only area of the park where we're not chopping and changing things.

We've only used six defenders so far this season, and all of them got promoted with us. Wes Morgan looks every bit a top-flight defender, and Paul Konchesky (who I called out all of last season) has been solid. In hindsight, he's got the experience, and isn't facing out-and-out wingers every week.

However, to temper that, Ritchie de Laet has been found wanting on several occasions. Seamus Coleman, Jefferson Montero and Sadio Mane all had plenty of change out of him. I'm surprised Simpson hasn't been given a chance at right-back yet.

We're pretty strong in midfield, as Cambiasso, Matty James and Dean Hammond have all performed well on occasions. James was Man of the Match against Sunderland and really drove us on, while Hammond has been a very pleasant surprise. I didn't see him featuring much, but he's done very well. However, we're still shy of a big, physical box-to-box midfielder (again something I've scribbled for your site before). If anyone knows where you can get a cheap version of Yaya Toure, please drop Nigel a line.

The main weakness has to be in attack. As I said earlier, we're relying on Ulloa too much, and we look shy of confidence in that area. If Saturday is anything to go by, players look scared to shoot and our strikers aren't making runs into the right areas.

We need to make better use of the pace in our team. Riyad Mahrez is excellent and deceptively fast, whereas Jeff Schlupp is rather more unpredictable. I can't help feeling we should have tried harder to keep Lloyd Dyer, as I think he'd be more effective on the left than Schlupp at this stage.

In January, we need a proven goalscorer, maybe two. Jermain Defoe has been mentioned again recently — he'd be perfect, but I suspect there will be plenty of competition if he is available.

Will Leicester survive? What happens if they don't? Where can the club go if you do?

IG: I've got to say yes. Far too early to be pessimistic. Overall I think we have enough in the squad, and there's so little between the teams in the bottom half.

It's quite heartening when you consider we're only a point behind Hull, who have a expensively assembled team full of internationals with many years of combined Premier League experience (Or on the flipside, it's a depressing example of how much you have to spend just to stay in this division...)

I think if we don't, we should be fine. We've tied a number of players down to long contracts, all players we know can be outstanding in the Championship.

I'd like to think if we stay up and spend wisely, we could become an established mid-table Premier League team again. If you look at how the likes of Swansea and Southampton have done, that has to give you confidence. We've got the fanbase and the support from the owners, so it could happen. Just the small matter of winning another 30-odd points this season to contend with first...

The Twitter @iangallagher82, @loftforwords

Pictures — Action Images

Photo: Action Images

TacticalR added 22:40 - Nov 26 Thanks to Ian. It's interesting that doing the right things doesn't necessarily bring the right results. Perhaps the only downside to not trying to change everything (the way we did) is that there will be some players who just can't step up. On the other hand Leicester haven't hocked everything for success (the way we did), so presumably relegation wouldn't be the end of the world. If I was them I would hang on to Pearson even if they do go down.

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