The dreaded hope
Coming away from the King Power Stadium on Wednesday night there was a sense of acceptance from Leicester fans. Relegation was now odds on wasn’t it? Somehow, for reasons I don’t quite understand, despair is always preferable to hope. It’s the hope that causes the most pain. Following this week’s matches - and defeats for Everton, Wolves, Southampton and Ipswich – the dreaded hope was back on the agenda. Could City get another chance? It was with this mentality that I, and no doubt many Foxes’ fans, arrived on Filbert Way for yet another six-pointer, this time against Fulham who went into the game on a three-match winless run.
Hope expunged
The optimism quickly evaporated. Yet another defeat, the seventh league reverse in succession, surely puts paid to any lingering hope that the Foxes will avoid the drop. The game followed a strikingly similar pattern to the last match. The first half was evently contested with the home side putting in a decent performance, albeit without the quality that is necessary to win games at this level. In the second half, defensive lapses again proved costly with goals by Emile Smith Rowe and substitute Adama Traore putting the game beyond Leicester’s reach who never looked likely to get back into the game. An Ayew shot blazed over the bar was about the only real chance. In the end, the better team won.
A toxic atmosphere
As soon as the Cottagers’s opened the scoring, the atmosphere amongst the home fans became toxic. Familiar calls for Director of Football John Rudkin to depart were accompanied by calls to sack the board. Even Ruud van Nistelrooy didn’t escape the criticism. Widespread booing was heard as he substituted the popular Bilal El Khannouss together with chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’. This is a club in trouble and sinking fast.
If they have not already done so, Leicester must now seriously plan for life in the second tier. With the severe reduction in income, the board must put in place cost-cutting exercises to avoid another battle with the EFL. Players will leave and cheaper alternatives recruited. It has also been suggested that there will also be a shake-up at board level. That would be welcomed by many Foxes’ fans.
The Foxes' board do have a great deal to answer for. As Jordan Blackwell points out, the club are still fielding the defence that got the club relegated two seasons ago and this season’s signings have been a disappointment to say the least. Oliver Skipp, at £20 million, is not deemed good enough to start, Caleb Okoli, at £15 million can’t even get on the bench and the loan deal for Odsonne Edouard has been a complete failure. Moreover, given that relegation is now extremely likely, I agree with one pundit that the decision to sell Tom Cannon – apparently to Sheffield United – is a strange one given the likelihood of relegation and the striker’s obvious quality at Championship level.
It remains to be seen whether van Nistelrooy stays with the club in a lower league next season. One thing is for sure. He must surely be having some regrets about his decision to take on the job.