Fourth bottom following a points deduction, Leicester have turned to survival specialist Gary Rowett to save them from a second consecutive relegation, but as Ian Gallagher (@IanGallagher82) tells us the problems at the club stretch far further than who's in the dugout.

Looks like a bit of a disaster all round, how's the season been from your point of view?

It's been a car crash. Sadly, for many fans it's now gone way beyond football into something more existential. This is a club which has given me some of the best days of my life and ten years on from the Premier League title win I no longer go to the games. I don't feel sad or angry when we lose and I'm just clinging to the hope that something will change to get me back through the door, whatever league that is in. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Apathy rules, and apathy kills football clubs.

The protests against the owners grow louder by the week, especially in the wake of a boardroom 'restructure' which is more akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Kevin Davies, who's overseen the club losing hundreds of millions of pounds over the last few years, has been rewarded with a promotion to CEO and the hated Jon Rudkin, whose masterful management of the football side has taken us from Champions League contenders to the brink of relegation to League One in five years, has been promoted to 'chief football officer' (whatever that means). And yet, the club still talks about a plan to become a sustainable and competitive Premier League club - an ambition which feels like a fantasy at present. The level of groupthink on display is staggering - no accountability, no plan, no clue.

Football fans are fickle beasts and I fully accept this vision of catastrophe is worse for the results on the pitch. But it feels like many more people are waking up to just how bad things have become.

Leicester in the league so far…
Leicester 2-1 Sheff Wed Vestergaard 54, Faes 87 – Chalobah 26
Preston 2-1 Leicester Devine 7, Osmajic 85 – Monga 67
Charlton 0-1 Leicester Fatawu 48
Leicester 2-0 Birmingham Fatawu 8, Pereira 88
Oxford 2-2 Leicester Lankshear 9, Soumare og 44 – Ayew 13, Pereira 55
Leicester 0-0 Coventry
West Brom 1-1 Leicester Iling-Junior 10 – Phillips og 90
Leicester 1-1 Wrexham James 36 – Broadhead 77
Swansea 1-3 Leicester Idah pen 70 – James 13, Fatawu 77, Vestergaard 85
Leicester 1-1 Portsmouth Ramsey 26 – Swift 58
Hull 2-1 Portsmouth Millar 6, Gelhardt 31 – Ramsey 67
Millwall 1-0 Leicester Azeez 44
Leicester 0-2 Blackburn Gudjohnsen 20, 63
Leicester 1-1 Middlesbrough Ayew pen 45 – Ayling 90
Norwich 1-2 Leicester Kvistgaarden 62 – Reid 75, James 90
Leicester 2-1 Stoke Mavididi 23, Daka 44 – Jun-Ho 48
Southampton 3-0 Leicester Harwood-Bellis 18, 42, Azaz 23
Leicester 2-3 Sheff Utd Mavididi 53, James 83 – Cannon 2, O’Hare 4, Peck 32
Derby 1-3 Leicester Langas 63 – Reid 8, Skipp 15, James 31
Bristol City 2-2 Leicester Sykes 46, Riis 83 - Ayew pen 17, Reid 45
Leicester 3-1 Ipswich Reid 8, Fatawu 43, Ayew 52 – Cajuste 71
QPR 4-1 Leicester Saito 2, Kone 29, Dembele 33, Mbengue 45 – Thomas 82
Leicester 1-2 Watford James 7 – Maamma 45, Pollock 65
Leicester 2-1 Derby Reid 6, James 41 – Brewster 9
Sheff Utd 3-1 Leicester Tanganga 36, Cannon 52, O’Hare 88 – James 90
Leicester 2-1 West Brom Ayew 18, Fatawu 90 – Grant 34
Coventry 2-1 Leicester Simms 47, Wright 85 – James 10
Wrexham 1-1 Leicester O’Brien 63 – Vestergaard 90
Leicester 1-2 Oxford Fatawu 84 – Long 4, Harris 71
Leicester 0-2 Charlton Carey 36, Dykes 45
Birmingham 2-1 Leicester Osman 3, Stansfield 67 – Fatawu 21
Leicester 3-4 Southampton Mukasa 9, Daka 13, Fatawu 29 – Stewart 61, Stephens 82, Manning 86, Charles 90
Stoke 2-2 Leicester Wilmot 3, 89 – Mukasa 52, Winks 76
Middlesbrough 1-1 Leicester McGree 45 – Okoli 18
Leicester 0-2 Norwich Slimane 68, Ahmed 78
Ipswich 1-1 Leicester Egeli 76 – Daka 39
Leicester 2-0 Bristol City Nelson 13, Fatawu 28

The thing we said at Loftus Road is you guys are so much less than the sum of your parts, to churn a performance like that out with the players you had on the pitch, why and how is this happening?

It's not a squad which is fundamentally lacking talent. Catch us on a good day like Ipswich/Derby have and we'll look like a proper side. The problem is all about mentality - the fish rots from the head down, and the lack of accountability in the boardroom is mirrored on the pitch.

When the chips are down, we revert to being a team of individuals with no leadership, no accountability and no grit to dig us out of tricky situations. You saw that at Loftus Road, with bells on.

Many lurid stories do the rounds about how players treat our training ground like a holiday camp, Jannik Vestergaard bringing his dog to work etc. What that tells us is the fundamentals are wrong - the collective accountability and standards demanded by the likes of Vardy, Schmeichel, Morgan, Albrighton, Simpson etc became the club's culture and now, as the memories of their great achievements fade into the past, what they stood for has faded too. In short, player power works both ways...

Why didn't things work for Cifuentes?

I feel bad for him, no ill feelings whatsoever. A guy who clearly wanted to do well and create a positive culture but the cards were stacked against him from day one.

He had a truncated pre-season due to how late he was hired, watched on as the higher ups conducted a fire sale of our remaining assets, then wasn't given any funds to strengthen the squad. His appointment felt like us trying to replicate what we had with Enzo Maresca and we'd simply sweep everyone aside with a great style of play. Sadly, the landscape has shifted a lot in those two years, and he was unable to galvanise a squad of players who were either demotivated, overpaid, halfway out of the door or a combination of all those things.

When it worked, we looked good - but the soft underbelly, awful defensive record and pitiful running stats suggested both team and manager were grossly undercooked for the challenge it faced.

I don't think he helped himself with his post-match platitudes and lack of plain speaking. I understand the need to protect players but it felt like a bit of honesty and transparency (which we now have with Gary Rowett) would have gone a long way. Trotting out a well-worn cliché, genuinely wish him well for the future and hope he finds a club to manage which isn't a basket case.

What do you make of the Rowett appointment? What's he changed so far?

A sensible, pragmatic hire and a sign of where we now are in the footballing pyramid. Even that was done badly, though - Rowett was already available when Cifuentes was sacked, but the owner held out for a unicorn while we threw club legend Andy King to the wolves and lost another hatful of matches in the meantime. Rowett has been upfront and straight-talking about what he expects from the players and has talked candidly about our weaknesses and where we must improve. He's definitely got a tune out of the squad already, with a noticeable spike in performances. We also don't look quite as likely to capitulate when we concede, so that's also a step forward. So, all the usual Rowett positives around solidity, attitude and application.

As I write this, we miraculously managed a clean sheet and a win last night but up until that point, he'd not managed to address our tendency to give away dreadful goals. But it'd take a miracle worker to do that.

What was done in January? What was left undone?

A few sensible signings which were all we could expect in our current financial situation (i.e. transfer fees are still off the table). Jamaal Lascelles is a sensible signing, albeit an unfit one, ditto Joe Aribo. The biggest bright spark is 18-year-old Divine Mukasa from Man City. Hell of a talent and to paraphrase an old LFW piece, the guy looks like he could play in a suit. The game is played at his speed, not a step faster. We're enjoying him while we can, before he returns to Manchester to much bigger and better things.

What remains unsolved is the complete lack of an effective striker. Being beaten to the punch by Charlton for Lyndon Dykes (who then scored against us) is another sign of where we now are. This still leaves us with Jordan Ayew and Patson Daka as our only senior striking options. I can't even muster the energy to finish this sentence.

Summer Ins >>> Asmir Begovic, 38, GK, Everton, Free >>> Aaron Ramsey, 22, AM, Burnley, Loan >>> Jordan James, 21, CM, Stade Rennais, Loan >>> Julian Carranza, 25, CF, Feyenoord, Loan >>> Fran Vieites, 26, GK, Unattached, Free

Winter Outs >>> Boubakary Soumare, 26, CM, Al-Duhail, Undisclosed >>> Wout Faes, 27, CB, Monaco, Loan

Any player of the year candidates out of this train wreck?

A nice easy one. Jordan James has been outstanding - goals, assists, work rate, quality, heart. The sort of player you can hang your hat on every week. We've got an option to buy him for £5m in the summer, which we absolutely must make happen if we're still in the Championship.

Where is the team particularly weak?

Aside from the mentality issue and strikers I've already touched on, the defence has been brittle from the start of the season. Bristol City was our first clean sheet in 30 games, which tells you all you need to know. We've struggled to get a consistent back four on the pitch and the current line-up you'll see on Saturday are literally the only fit senior defenders left at the club.

Harsh to single out individuals, but Caleb Okoli was being touted for a move to Serie A last summer. Watching his performances this season, I can only conclude he has a really good agent. On the plus side, one-man comedy act Wout Faes has finally left the building and says he really wants to stay at Monaco. One can only hope his wishes are granted. Also, Rowett's short reign has led to a marked improvement in the form of the much-maligned Luke Thomas, a local lad who most fans really want to do well.

Will you survive?

Oh, fuck knows. I couldn't say yes with any degree of confidence. We should have enough quality and enough encouragement from the dugout to stay up, but there are zero guarantees. If the team that showed up at Middlesbrough and Ipswich walks out on the pitch every week, then yes. If it's the team that showed up against Norwich at home, then it's probably League One for us.

What does the club need to do next to turn this all around?

The owner has given us memories that will last us a lifetime, we will forever be in his debt for all he and his father have done for the club and the city. Nobody will ever be able to take that away. However, a glorious past doesn't give you carte blanche to make mistakes in perpetuity when so much is at stake. For things to truly change, the owner needs to hand the club over to a custodian who can run it properly. For many fans, there is zero confidence that he and his merry band of yes-men have any of the tools required to turn this ship around.

I dread to think what a future in League One looks like for a club with a reported £50m wage bill and £40m of non-footballing expenses. I fear we still have a long way to go to hit rock bottom. Sheffield Wednesday, Blackpool, Reading, Charlton, Derby...all those crisis clubs we looked on at with the utmost sympathy, safe in the knowledge that we had the best owners in the land. Those same owners have now turned us into one of those clubs, with no light at the end of the tunnel in sight.

There's plenty more where this came from but we've all got our real lives to get back to…

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

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