Leicester waltzed to the Championship title last season but with the manager that took them there now at Chelsea the Foxes look like they’re heading straight back our way – Ian Gallagher (@IanGallagher82) runs us through the situation.
How's the big return to the Prem gone?
Badly. The table doesn't lie - second bottom with 14 points is a fair reflection of where we are. There's been a few games we've played well and got nothing - Manchester City being a recent example - but also some dreadful performances in games we could have expected to get something from.
As bewilderingly enjoyable as last season in the Championship was, it's still hard for many Leicester fans to shake the anger at how we threw away our Premier League status in 2023. While this season isn't dreadful in context of how promoted teams usually fare, we really shouldn't have been in this mess in the first place.
While we usually provide an attacking threat, we ship goals for fun and miss lots of big chances. In many cases it's a simple fact of the other team being better than us in most areas rather than the team just playing badly.
Enzo Maresca was never universally liked at Leicester, and often for good reason, but it's impossible to think we wouldn't be doing better if he was still here given his record so far at Chelsea.
Foxes so far in the league…
Leicester 1-1 Spurs Vardy 57 – Porro 29
Fulham 2-1 Leicester Smith-Rowe 18, Iwobi 70 – Faes 38
Leicester 1-2 Villa Buonanotte 73 – Onana 28, Duran 63
Palace 2-2 Leicester Mateta 47, pen 90 – Vardy 21, Mavididi 46
Leicester 1-1 Everton Mavididi 73 – Ndiaye 12
Arsenal 4-2 Leicester Martinelli 20, Trossard 45, Havertz 90, Ndidi og 90 – Justin 47, 63
Leicester 1-0 Bournemouth Buonanotte 16
Southampton 2-3 Leicester Archer 8, Aribo 28 – Buonanotte 64, Vardy pen 74, Ayew 90
Leicester 1-3 Forest Vardy 23 – Yates 16, Wood 47, 60
Ipswich 1-1 Leicester Davis 55 – Ayew 90
Man Utd 3-0 Leicester Fernandes 17, Kristiansen og 38, Garnacho 82
Leicester 1-2 Chelsea Ayew pen 90 – Jackson 15, Fernandez 75
Brentford 4-1 Leicester Wissa 25, Schade 29, 45, 59 – Buonanotte 21
Leicester 3-1 West Ham Vardy 2, Khannouss 61, Daka 90 – Fullkrug 90
Leicester 2-2 Brighton Vardy 86, Reid 90 – Lamptey 37, Minteh 79
Newcastle 4-0 Leicester Murphy 30, 60, Guimares 47, Isak 50
Leicester 0-3 Wolves Guedes 19, Gomes 36, Cunha 44
Liverpool 3-1 Leicester Gakpo 45, Jones 49, Salah 82 – Ayew 6
Leicester 0-2 Man City Savinho 21, Haaland 74
Villa 2-1 Leicester Barkley 58, Bailey 76 – Mavididi 63
Why didn't it work for "The Man They Call Coops" (© The Athletic)?
I feel bad for the bloke. He's clearly a very capable manager but he was totally the wrong hire for us. I'd argue his was the least well thought-out appointment we've made since the mid-2000s (if you excuse the Dean Smith desperation hire in 2023).
In the end, it seemed to boil down to the fact he was both available and happy to work with a team with a huge points deduction hanging over it. We've become accustomed, for better or worse, to managers with a very clear identity and plan and under Cooper it felt like we had neither. But as soon as the threat of a points deduction went, he should have been out of the door.
We rolled over and had our tummy tickled in too many games, plus he was always looking to point the finger at referees to distract from poor performances. And he didn't start Abdul Fatawu every week, which is unforgivable.
To counter this, he had a very limited squad to work with, one arguably weaker overall than the one promoted in May. If you just look at numbers his sacking was harsh but as we know it always goes deeper than that.
Ruud. Bit leftfield. How's that going? Does he dive around the technical area?
Odd hire for me. Doesn't dive around the technical area but he's exceptionally well-dressed and wouldn't want to see him spoil those outfits.
There's the seed of something there with Ruud, but we don't have the luxury of time to see if it works. It sounds boring but I wish we had gone for David Moyes, who West Ham fans are beginning to see the wisdom of ditching. Proven, pragmatic and would give us a good chance of survival, which is where we are right now.
RvN's style is closer to Maresca's so should suit some of the more technical players, but if you're incapable of defending your own goal for 90 minutes in any match, it doesn't matter how pretty your football is.
January business so far? Any rumours? What needs doing?
No business done whatsoever and no proper rumours either, which is hardly encouraging.
We desperately need new full-backs, particularly right-back where poor James Justin is being subjected to weekly starts simply because we have nobody else to play there. I won't go in too hard on him as it's just a sad case of a superb young player who's never fully recovered from injury, but we are absurdly leaky down both flanks.
We need more attacking support - particularly with Fatawu being out for the season - and the eternal struggle to find a replacement for Jamie Vardy continues.
I remain utterly confused as to why we signed Tom Cannon, never played him and then loaned him out again this season where he continues to score for fun in the Championship. I can't see we have anything to lose by recalling him.
Ins >>> Oliver Skipp, 23, DM, Spurs, £20m >>> Bilal El Khannouss, 20, AM, Genk, £18m >>> Issahaku Fatawu, 20, RW, Sporting, £14m >>> Caleb Okoli, 22, CB, Atalanta, £12m >>> Jordan Ayew, 32, CF, Palace, £5m >>> Bobby Reid, 31, RW, Fulham, Free >>> Odsonne Edourd, 26, CF, Palace, Loan >>> Facundo Bounanotte, 19, AM, Brighton, Loan
Outs >>> Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, 25, CM, Chelsea, £30m >>> Kelechi Iheanacho, 27, CF, Sevilla, Free >>> Dennis Praet, 30, CM, Royal Antwerp, Free >>> Harry Souttar, 25, CB, Sheff Utd, Loan >>> Tom Cannon, 21, CF, Stoke, Loan >>> Ben Nelson, 20, CB, Oxford, Loan >>> Wanya Marcal, 21, RW, De Graafschap, Loan >>> Marc Albrighton, 34, RW, Retired
Best bits of the team?
Jamie Vardy. Six goals and three assists for a player who turns 38 on Saturday is both incredible, and an indictment of how we've been standing still when he is still an irreplaceable part of our team.
Mads Hermansen is doing a wonderful job of keeping scores respectable and will be sold really, really soon, I have no doubt.
Winger Bilal El Khannouss clearly has plenty of promise and I've still got a lot of love for Harry Winks in the middle. Facundo Buonanotte has shown plenty of flair and promise but isn't a regular under RvN and I wouldn't be surprised to see Brighton recall him. I also think Jordan Ayew has done a really solid job, exactly the one he was signed to do.
But overall, this is a weaker squad than last season. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has gone, Fatawu and Ricardo Pereira are both injured, our manager walked out and several other good squad players (Dennis Praet, Yunus Akgun, Kelechi Iheanacho) have also left.
Weak links?
Mainly in defence. Aside from the aforementioned Justin, Wout Faes could be a good player if he could concentrate for more than 20 minutes per match.
Jannik Vestergaard and Conor Coady have performed decently but they're being exposed more at Premier League level, while Victor Kristiansen is energetic but error-prone. I don't know enough about Caleb Okoli to comment but he's been binned off pretty quickly.
It's pretty basic analysis but when you're conceding twice as many as you score, you won't win many games of football.
How low on a scale of one to low does this game figure on the priority list?
If we go down, there will be a fire sale of our remaining assets, the EFL will fly in two-footed with more PSR charges and we'll spend years trying to keep our heads above water with freebies and academy players.
So given how keeping our PL status looks as an alternative to that, I think Saturday is the least important game in recent memory. I'm sure you weren't expecting me to say anything less...
Expectations for the second half of the season?
Very modest. We don't have a strong enough squad to stay up on merit, but with some sensible business in January and several games left to play against bottom six teams, all hope isn't lost just yet.
The bottom half of the Premier League is absolute muck, so if we can somehow scrabble our way to 35 points we might stay up. Hardly the stuff dreams are made of though, is it?
Links >>> Leicester City Official Site >>> Leicester Mercury – Local press >>> Foxes Talk – Message Board >>> When you’re smiling – Podcast >>> The Final Whistle – Vlog >>> Fosse Posse – Fan Site