Leicester City have been relegated from the Premier League to League One within twelve months. Since Tuesday, the Foxes with Jannik Vestergaard and Jordan Ayew have been relegated ahead of schedule.
It was certainly not due to a lack of experience. Asmir Begovic (38), Ricardo Pereira (32), Jannik Vestergaard (33) and Jordan Ayew (34) are seasoned senior players for their countries, have played in the Champions League – and in this season’s Championship. Even though the first nine letters of these two competitions are the same, they are worlds apart in sporting terms.
Their club, Leicester City, was relegated to the world’s financially strongest 2nd division. However, they also finished the season as relegated teams. Since Tuesday’s 2:2 draw at home to Hull City, the Foxes can no longer be mathematically saved with two matchdays to go in the regular season.
Six points deducted
In the summer, Leicester terminated the contract with coach Ruud van Nistelrooy in order to make a fresh start. Club icon Jamie Vardy left for Cremona after 13 years, while Wilfried Ndidi moved to Besiktas after eight and a half years. But some other pillars remained.
Harry Winks, for example, as well as Pereira, Vestergaard and Ayew. Under the new Spanish coach Marti Cifuentes Corvillo, the sensational 2016 champions sailed in midfield for a long time, but in the winter they finished 14th. Things got tricky after the six-point deduction at the beginning of February due to breaches of the profit and sustainability rules. As a result, Leicester slipped to 21st place.
One win in three months
When a 3-0 lead against Southampton FC turned into a 4-3 defeat a few days later, it must have dawned on everyone: This was not going to be a normal season. Even with Gary Rowett, who has experience in the lower leagues, in the manager’s chair and after the signing of Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles in the winter, there has been no turnaround. In the past three months, they have managed just one win (2-0 against Bristol City) – simply not enough in the competitive lower division.
“We shouldn’t be relegated with this squad,” said controversial club chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, son of Vichai, who died in an accident in 2018, at the end of January. And: “Nobody wants to see us in League One.” But that is exactly where Leicester City have now returned. According to the Guardian, it is already clear that 17 players will leave the club in the summer.
