The Foxes’ fall from grace is extraordinary
AT the 23-game stage last season, Leicester City were top of the Premier League and about to extend their lead by beating Liverpool and Manchester City inside a week. We all know what happened after that. With 23 matches played this season, the Foxes are just outside the relegation zone.
They play in-form Manchester United at the King Power today and are at relegation rivals Swansea next Sunday, having not won away from home all season.
If they lose both games and other results go against them, they could be bottom of the table when they play their Champions League fixture against Sevilla.
That would represent a fall from grace as extraordinary as their incredible rise.
Last season, Jose Mourinho made a similar journey from top to bottom – and Chelsea sacked him.
So far there has been virtually no talk of Claudio Ranieri suffering a similar fate. But the prospect of losing Premier League status is a game changer.
The club’s Thai owners have no desire to do it. The fans still worship him and won’t call for his head. There will be no pressure from the media, who respect him both as a coach and as a man.
Yet Championship football would be catastrophic for a club who awarded huge new contracts to virtually all their players after the title win.
Even with parachute payments Leicester couldn’t afford to keep the likes of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, though it’s unlikely they’d want to stay.
Those contracts – and the bonus of a £105,000 BMW i8 supercar for every squad member – have brought comfort and security for players who had been Premier League journeymen prior to last season.
But that comfort looks to have destroyed what made Leicester great – hunger, fire and team spirit.
Footballer of the Year Vardy has written an autobiography, had a film made about his life and appeared on the cover of glossy mags, but he has only scored five League goals this season.
PFA Player of the Year Mahrez scored 17 times last season. But only three so far this.
The defence has already conceded more goals than in the whole of last season. The midfield looks as if it’s missing three players, not just N’Golo Kante.
And it’s not exactly all-for-one-one-for-all when Leonardo Ulloa accuses Ranieri of betrayal because he wouldn’t sell him in the transfer window.
So the owners, fans and media are right not to want Ranieri out. They all know where the blame lies.