The transition of power at Leicester City has, by Gary Rowett's own design, been one of structural reinforcement. Under his fairly astute tutelage, the Foxes have successfully fortified their defensive ramparts.
Yet the offensive engine remains caught in a frustrating state of stasis. While leaks at the back have been plugged, the forward line has neither flourished nor foundered; instead lingering in a lukewarm purgatory that threatens the East Midlands club's very survival.
There is a palpable, growing urgency that if the front line (specifically the languid Jordan Ayew or the impotent Patson Daka) cannot rediscover their clinical edge, Rowett's men will find themselves in all sorts of existential bother. The former Oxford United and Stoke City gaffer, ever the realist, undoubtedly harbored visions of utilising the current hiatus to refine these attacking blueprints.
One imagines him eager to choreograph the intricate plays and tactical maneuvers necessary to dismantle Preston North End once the domestic calendar resumes. Although, he can't.
A King Power conundrum: Seagrave silence for Leicester City
Those grand designs have been scuppered by the exodus of the international break. With the vast majority of the starting Leicester side dispersed across the globe to represent their respective nations, the posh grounds of Seagrave have fallen into a hollow, unproductive silence.
It is precisely this vacuum that Rowett describes as the "worst period of time" in his brief tenure. The irony is as sharp as a well-timed tackle: at the moment he requires the most profound influence over his roster, he finds himself a general without an army.
"We’ve got two weeks with a lot of the players not here. That’s the challenge. Then, it’s a Friday game and a lot of the players will come back on the Thursday, which adds to the challenge. Sometimes that international break, the thought process of being able to work with your squad, it’s actually completely the opposite.Lancashire Post
“It’s probably the worst period of time because you don’t get to work with your squad. The players who are left will get a chance to train well. We’ll get a chance to improve one or two things. We’ll get extra fitness work into the ones who haven’t played"
The 52-year-old possesses a desperate list of training ground rectifications but no stars to whom he can impart his advice. As the Good Friday clash with Preston North End looms, Rowett is left to toil with a skeleton crew, hoping that the absentees return with the vigour and sharpness that currently eludes them.