After seven straight losses, being in the worst position we have ever been in after 22 matches, and having brought in Abdul Fatawu, Oliver Skipp, Bilal El Khannouss, Facundo Buonanotte, Odsonne Eduoard, Jordan Ayew, Bobby De-Cordova Reid, and Caleb Okoli in the summer, the writing seems to be on the wall. It is unsurprising supporters have had enough.
Leicester City was recently a European challenger. They missed out on Champions League football twice, crashed out of other competitions, and for a brief moment under Brendan Rodgers were considered to be in a title race with Manchester City! How the mighty have fallen.
Several of the players from that time remain, and several of those were with us during the pitiful relegation campaign. Yet this season has somehow been a worse showing than the 2022/23 season. That is either impressive or just tragic. That being said, considering we have so many of the same players and spent a lot to not really strengthen or recover those losses we had, it is not surprising.
During the shambolic showing against Fulham, fans chanted, booed, and generally vented their despair and anger over the state of the Foxes. The King Power heard 'Rudkin out' 'You don't know what you're doing' and much more. Not long ago, Danny Ward was lambasted with boos and abuse for poor performances too.
Leicester City fullback responds
James Justin apparently feels supporters should reconsider their booing. During a recent interview, the right-back who now has competition for his spot stated that supporters have a right to boo and chant when their team have been so poor for such a long time, but that they are not helping.
"They can boo if they want to be honest. They are entitled to do that. It doesn't help anything I don't think"James Justin
It is fair to say that booing will not change the results. It is also fair to note that applying extra pressure and hatred on players does not galvanise them behind their home supporters to fight harder for the club. Booing individuals is rightly not the right way to go around things. It is also unfair to boo a manager who has lost essentially four of our best players to long term injuries.
That being said, chanting about things all of us can see as obvious is fair. For example, that Ward should have been nowhere near our starting line-up - Daniel Iversen was available - that El Khannouss should never really be taken off the pitch, or that it is those individual mistakes and wastefulness which have got us into such a terrible spot. That is why Justin receives abuse, why Ward received so much, and why our centre-backs will be receiving more and more.
"We tried to do a professional job, particularly in the first half, but to go out in the second half and concede from a nothing throw-in is really disappointing... but at the end of the day we've conceded another two goals and not scored so something obviously has to spark in the group and staff"James Justin
The English fullback is right on his assessment of the team. They do well in one half, concede disappointingly, and fail to mount a sufficient challenge and fight back when all is said and done. At the end of the day, the Foxes seldom make their domination at points count. This is frustrating for supporters, who should let Ruud van Nistelrooy know that he has to fix that, he has to do something about the inconsistency within matches themselves.
'JJ' deserves credit for at least recognising the reason behind supporters anger. What really matters is whether or not the Dutchman recognises what is wrong, fixes those issues, and the board then acts as a professional organisation should and fix their management issues. The one chant which should never stop, the one not aimed at players who did not choose to play that day and were happy to sign for the badge, is 'Rudkin Out'.