Monday against Newcastle was another embarrassment for Leicester. Yes, the Foxes were able to muster something of an effort in the second half. It was far too little too late against a team that was happy to see the result through.
Officially, only Southampton are relegated at this point. Wolves have created too large of a gap, however, between LCFC and Ipswich at this point. The current lower three teams holding out hope is something of a foolish endeavor right now. Granted, the job of everyone in the building is to try to finish the season on as much of a positive note as possible, but the result is solidified.
Internally, the pivot toward Championship play is needed. The East Midlands side has managed to earn promotion again, shortly after leaving the Premier League before, but even that doesn't look promising if it were to happen again.
This past month's worth of matches in particular shows that the Foxes just aren't able to compete at the top-flight level. They are bigger and have more experience in defeating the sides in the Championship, but that clearly doesn't have any bearing on frustrating potential Prem campaigns.
Everyone will agree that staying in the EPL is what is needed for financial and club purposes. In order to achieve this, however, the operations and decisions need to reflect proper long-term planning to achieve sustained success. Bouncing between a league that they are out of place in and one that they can comfortably do well in leaves City in a bad middle ground.
Rather than making temporary fixes, the Foxes need to focus on their academy talents and make the club appealing enough for the better players to want to stick around, even when the Man Citys and Chelseas come calling. For when that does happen, Leicester needs to at least be able to hold on to the rising players long enough for a higher asking price.
One of many problems at Leicester City
In this moment, many are going to understandably look for the exit doors as quickly as possible, and those with promise won't have any incentive to stick around. There isn't any leverage for LCFC, and the continued ill effects of not being able to stay up will only worsen.
There are other areas, of course, that need to be addressed, but in the immediate, focusing on the youth movement and getting the most out of the homegrown talent is the only feasible and best way forward heading into 2025-2026.