Leicester fairytale turns sour as relegation to third tier looms

By the time Rowett was hired in February, the Foxes were two points from safety and the former Leicester defender has mustered only one win from his 11 matches since.

But it is his players that have taken the brunt of the blame, with fans chanting "you're not fit to wear the shirt" and engaging in an altercation with midfielder Harry Winks after last weekend's loss at Portsmouth.

"A lack of fight is something that's been labelled at the team over the course of a season. I don't know whether that's fair but I think we've showed a lack of quality," Rowett acknowledged.

Boardroom blunders have been the defining influence on Leicester's plummet towards League One.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has struggled to fill the shoes of his father, Vichai, who was killed in a helicopter crash at the King Power stadium in 2018.

Claudio Ranieri, architect of their title-winning campaign, was sacked just months after lifting the trophy, with Craig Shakespeare and then Claude Puel proving inadequate replacements.

Brendan Rodgers, who masterminded the club's FA Cup triumph and two fifth-placed finishes in the Premier League, was dismissed as relegation beckoned in 2023.

Even when Enzo Maresca led Leicester to promotion in 2024, he immediately departed for Chelsea, necessitating the unpopular and unsuccessful appointment of Steve Cooper, who previously managed rivals Nottingham Forest.

Rudkin's recruitment has been no better, with expensive flops Patson Daka, Oliver Skipp, Jannik Vestergaard and Harry Souttar adding to a wage bill that topped £200 million ($270 million) in 2023 and reportedly contained no clauses to reduce salaries upon relegation.

Foreshadowing Leicester's descent, Aiyawatt said in January: "In almost 16 years, we have won five trophies, we've had two relegations, three times in Europe. It's like a movie. It's like a super drama on Netflix.

"We grew bigger and bigger and we forgot what we were before. We thought we are here and that is the most dangerous position to be in."

On the precipice of relegation, Leicester will hope for another against-the-odds miracle, but the bleak reality of their situation is impossible to ignore.

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