The shadow of regression lengthened over King Power Stadium as Gary Rowett offered a somber post-mortem following Leicester City's latest stumbling block against Norwich City. While the LCFC manager clutched at the thin reeds of improvement seen against Middlesbrough and Stoke City, these supposed strides feel less like a march toward safety and more like a weary shuffle in the dark.
In the cold, unforgiving EFL Championship spotlight, a marginal uptick in perspiration cannot disguise a fundamental deficit in inspiration and metal. Rowett's side is currently a ghost of its former self, even a couple or years ago. It is now haunted by a tactical rigidity that feels increasingly detached from the demands of the modern game.
Leicester City post-match autopsy
​The 51-year-old's interviews after the final whistle pinpointed a familiar litany of grievances. Firstly, a debilitating lack of energy; an inability to shoulder the onus of expectation at home; finishing with a recurring lapse in concentration.
"We were waiting for something to happen in the game, everyone looking around and waiting for a team-mate to do something instead of doing something themselves.Rowett - BBC Sport
"The two goals sum up this season. It's been too easy to score against us"
Yet, there is a biting irony in Rowett's diagnosis. He lamented his side's tendency to retreat and their failure to retain possession. Though his own tactical blueprint seems to mandate the very 'hit and hope' philosophy that invites disaster.
By instructing a defensively fragile squad to perpetually clear their lines rather than courageously utilising the ball, Rowett is effectively surrendering the midfield. A strategy that feels increasingly antiquated in the modern era, even comparably to Marti Cifuentes' approach.
Right man, right time, or wrong man, wrong time?!
​The squad, arguably a rotten collection of mismatched, so-called professionals, appears tethered to a manager who may be out of his depth. By constantly backing off and inviting pressure, the Foxes are not just conceding goals: they concede their identity and bite.
Rowett claims to have identified the rot, but his insistence on primitive pragmatism suggests he is treating a systemic collapse with unnecessary kid gloves. Until Leicester abandon this culture for a philosophy of composure, they remain a club adrift, led by a man whose solutions are indistinguishable from the problems themselves.