Complacency, contract mismanagement and a lack of ruthlessness: How the Leicester dream turned sour

Too good to go down? Leicester were too bad to stay up, as so many supporters had feared for some time. The inquest into this sorry season will be lengthy and painful, as a club once regarded as flag-bearers contemplate the end of their nine-year Premier League existence, having lurched from a golden era to a collection of errors.

Leicester’s relegation feels completely self-inflicted and there has never been a stronger disconnect between supporters and players, ahead of a mass exodus this summer.

With eight players out of contract, it is mismanagement on a grand scale and the scrutiny has to extend beyond a squad who have gone down with barely a whimper. From Leicester’s indecision on the future of Brendan Rodgers, the lack of investment last summer, poor recruitment and the contracts mess, fingers have to be pointed at chairman Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin.

Rodgers will be viewed as the main villain of the piece and many fans hold him responsible for the club’s drop into the Championship. He guided Leicester to their first FA Cup final win, also finishing fifth twice, but over the past 18 months it unravelled dramatically. Rodgers should have gone long before April 2, and probably would have accepted it.

Dean Smith, his replacement, was given a near impossible task after coming in with eight games to go, but will have still expected to do better. Many fans saw this decline coming, but the people in power either did not or refused to believe it.

While Rodgers has become the primary focus of anger, much of what he said was prophetic. He warned last year that a “healthy shake-up” was required with so many players out of contract.

After the FA Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest in the February of that season, he said many of the squad “had achieved everything they can”. Last summer’s transfer window set the narrative for the season.

Rodgers was convinced there would be money available and lined up signings, but suggested that on his return to pre-season he was informed the financial brakes would be applied. Some of his comments on funds frustrated Leicester who, privately, insist Rodgers was always fully aware of the threat of potential financial fair play breaches.

When the squad were not strengthened over the summer, it only seemed a matter of time until he would depart. The departure of title-winning goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to Nice was a grave mistake: he was one of the club’s highest earners and Leicester were not prepared to offer him new terms, while Rodgers’s relationship with the Dane had become strained.

But Schmeichel’s leadership and experience have been sorely missed and Danny Ward as a replacement has backfired badly.

After the 6-2 drubbing at Tottenham on Sept 17, Leicester were bottom and had lost six of their seven matches. That was surely the time to part ways.

The absence of ruthlessness allowed the club to drift. It seemed to suggest a mindset of “everything will be OK”, despite all the warning signs.

That mindset appeared to seep into the dressing room: in March, James Maddison responded to what he perceived as a negative article by tweeting that “we’ll be absolutely fine”.

When Rodgers finally left, it was too late. One of Smith’s first jobs was to get Caglar Soyuncu, Wilfred Ndidi and Boubakary Soumare back “onside”, such was their disillusionment under the previous manager. But Rodgers does not deserve all of the flak for the club’s decline: he is one of Leicester’s most successful managers and the first 2½ seasons were exhilarating.

Scrutiny should also extend to Rudkin, a key figure under first Khun Vichai and then “Top”. Their decision to give caretakers Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler the matches against Aston Villa and Bournemouth, after Rodgers’s exit, has proved disastrous.

Leicester lost both matches and two points from them would have been enough to keep the club up. Previously the club’s academy director, Rudkin is perhaps best known outside Leicester as the man who informed Claudio Ranieri of his sacking at the Radisson Blu hotel near East Midlands Airport.

He has not spoken publicly since Ranieri’s introductory press conference in July 2015 and operates in a very private, tight circle, where leaks of information outside the club can often spark internal inquests.

The farcical situation over contracts would appear to be his responsibility. Eight players will leave as free agents this summer – including Youri Tielemans, Soyuncu and Jonny Evans – and that is inexplicable.

Though footballers should have professional pride, how can those players be expected to fully fight when they are out of contract and have an eye on their next move? Incredibly, Leicester have seven other players whose deals expire next summer. Maddison is one of them and will definitely leave, for about £30-40 million, now, with his former club Norwich City to receive 15 per cent of the fee.

For many years, Leicester were a well-run club but, equally, recruitment in recent times has been a colossal disappointment. The £50 million spent on Patson Daka, Soumare and Jannik Vestergaard in the summer of 2021 was a huge waste. Ryan Bertrand also signed as a free agent on big wages and has not started a match since December 21.

After winning the title in 2016, most of the signings who followed were underwhelming. There was also the Adrien Silva farce a year later, when paperwork was submitted 14 seconds late on deadline day for him to sign from Sporting. Other senior officials will also be in the firing line.

Susan Whelan is the club’s chief executive and cannot escape criticism, though she is not involved in football decisions. A respected voice at Premier League board meetings, Whelan has been a strong leader at Leicester through tough moments, such as Khun Vichai’s passing and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Irishwoman has also been crucial in some player sales, including the £80 million transfer of Harry Maguire to Manchester United. Last August she moved to break the impasse in talks between Leicester and Chelsea over Wesley Fofana’s transfer.

Relegation will be especially hard on Whelan, who spearheaded the development of the state-of-the-art Seagrave training ground that will be home to a Championship squad next season. Her relationship with Rudkin is said to have become fractious in recent months.

Departures will not just be on the field, but off it. Simon Capper, the club’s financial director, has accepted a position at Newcastle United. Capper has been crucial over the past 12 months in handling Leicester’s finances following record pre-tax losses of £92.5 million.

John Ledwidge, the head of sports turf and grounds who played a major role in the development of Leicester’s £100 million training ground, is also understood to be departing for Manchester City’s City Football Group. Plans are in place to abandon the old Belvoir Drive training ground, the home of Leicester City Women, and replace it with housing. The womens’ team will then be moved to Seagrave.

While there is now fury over relegation, Leicester will be back. Before returning to the Premier League in 2014, they had spent nine seasons in the Championship and even one season in League One, so this is not a new experience. They can reflect on some glorious moments: the great escape from relegation in 2015 under Nigel Pearson which kick-started their momentum towards the title win the following season.

A surprise visit from Leicester legend Engelbert Humperdinck to watch the players train in Los Angeles on a pre-season tour. Those amazing Champions League nights in the cities of Bruges, Copenhagen, Porto, Seville and Madrid.

The FA Cup win in 2021 was a great second act after the title five years earlier. Players such as Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kante, all signed for a total of £7 million, at the peak of their powers.

This has been a remarkable period in their history and will never be repeated, yet Leicester will return some day. It is the cycle of football, but this could have all been avoided.