Leicester aim to emulate relegation miracle as Smith faces up to challenge
Rewind nine years and Leicester City were in the midst of one of the most miraculous escapes from relegation that the Premier League has seen.
Bottom of the table and seven points adrift of safety, the Foxes, then under the stewardship of Nigel Pearson, won seven out of their last nine matches of the campaign to secure an admirable 14th-placed finish. The East Midlands side need an equally impressive reversal of fortunes this season if they are to avoid joining Blackburn Rovers as the second former Premier League winners to be relegated from the top-flight.
Amid a horrendous season in which they’ve won just seven league matches, Leicester languish in 19th position. They’ve lost nine out of their last ten games in all competitions - a run that includes a humiliating FA Cup exit to Championship side Blackburn and bruising defeats to relegation rivals Southampton, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
The decision to eventually sack Brendan Rodgers was one that was agonised over by the club hierarchy and one that probably came too late, as Leicester’s slump stretches as far back to one of the greatest days in their history: the 2021 FA Cup final.
Despite ending their long wait for the trophy against Chelsea, the Foxes’ form under the Northern Irishman was already on the slide. Since that glorious day at Wembley, they have won just 21 league games.
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When it comes to points, that represents just 77 from a possible 210 - just over a third of what was on offer. For a side that has lifted the three domestic trophies over the past decade, that is a dramatic slump.
Brendan Rodgers was sacked by Leicester after a wretched run of form (Getty Images)What do you think has gone wrong for Leicester this season? Share your thoughts in the comments below
The club’s recruitment over the past few seasons has also been rotten, a fact that only seems to have exacerbated the growing problems at the King Power Stadium. Big fees have been spent on the likes of Boubakary Soumare, Patson Daka, Jannik Vestergaard and more - none of those having particularly convinced in the East Midlands.
That impacted the club’s summer business, with Wout Faes being the only arrival for a considerable fee and even he was a signing to offset the departure of Wesley Fofana to Chelsea. Even the thinking behind a replacement for Rodgers appears to have been scrambled.
Names such as Rafa Benitez and Martin O’Neill were mentioned, whilst caretaker coaches Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell took charge for two games. Jesse Marsch was reportedly in talks before discussions collapsed and Leicester turned to an interim option in the form of Dean Smith.
He now has a big job on his hands to turn around a seemingly sinking ship - starting with this weekend’s clash with Wolves. Speaking after being handed the reins at the King Power Stadium, the former Aston Villa and Norwich boss made it clear that he was aware of the task at hand: “"If it was something that I thought was unsurmountable, I wouldn't have come - and Shakey [Craig Shakespeare] and JT [John Terry] wouldn't have come also.
"We're looking forward to the challenge, but we know it's going to be tough. We'll be putting demands on the players and on ourselves. We'll be spending every minute of every day making sure we work hard to keep this football club in the Premier League."
This season’s malaise is certainly not the fault of Smith or his coaching staff having only overseen a clutch of training sessions and the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City so far. There were promising signs at the Etihad Stadium and upcoming fixtures against Wolves, Leeds, Everton and potentially Fulham will provide reason to be optimistic.
Leicester lost Dean Smith's first match in charge of Leicester against Man City (Getty Images)Even if Leicester somehow manage to stay up, a big rebuild is still needed in the East Midlands. Record signing Youri Tielemans is set to leave on a free transfer, whilst he could be followed out of the exit door by Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Daniel Amartey and Nampalys Mendy.
James Maddison could also bid farewell as he approaches the final 12 months of his respective deal. Another seven of the current squad could also be playing their football elsewhere in 18 months’ time.
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Academy graduate Harvey Barnes might also be sold to generate some much-needed funds ahead of what is anticipated to be a huge summer rebuild at the club. King Power, the Thai duty free giants, have owned the club since 2010 and have regularly poured funds into the playing squad and the infrastructure of the club.
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha oversaw the move to a new £100m training ground in 2021, has already put down plans for an extension to the King Power Stadium and converted around £194m worth of debt to equity only two months ago. For the time being however, Leicester need to put all of that to the back of their minds with all focus needed on their battle for survival.
Fortunately for Leicester, there remains just two points between themselves and survival. Leeds’ late season slump is putting them firmly in the conversation, whilst Everton and the Foxes’ local rivals Nottingham Forest at the moment are on a hiding to nothing.
Whilst they are not as far adrift as nine years ago, the Foxes will certainly hope to emulate their efforts of 2015 and secure another near-miraculous escape from relegation.
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