An unnamed Foxes player's defiant speech reveals a dressing room grasping for hope with four games left to avoid becoming only the second Leicester side in 142 years to fall into the third tier
Leicester City stand five points from Championship safety with four games remaining, prompting an unnamed player to deliver what manager Gary Rowett called a defiant speech about creating "something special" in the season's dying moments.
The intervention came during a team meeting as Leicester face the unthinkable prospect of dropping into League One just 10 years after their miraculous Premier League title triumph.
Leicester's potential relegation represents one of football's most dramatic falls from grace. The club that shocked the world as 5000-1 outsiders to win the Premier League in 2016 now faces becoming only the second Leicester side in 142 years to drop into the third tier.
The numbers paint a brutal picture of decline. This would mark Leicester's third relegation in four years, following their Premier League drop last season.
Leicester's current Championship campaign ranks among the worst in club history. Their 41 points from 42 games represents their lowest second-tier total when adjusted to three points for a win.
Even without the six-point deduction for financial breaches, the Foxes' record of 11 wins, 14 draws and 17 defeats places them alongside the poorest Leicester sides of all time.
Relegation to League One would force Leicester to slash spending by tens of millions, with widespread job losses inevitable across the club.
Manager Gary Rowett acknowledged the human cost when addressing his players:
It might not affect you as a player, that is a reality, but what it certainly will do is affect quite a lot of people at the club.
The unnamed player's intervention during a team meeting offers a window into Leicester's fractured dressing room. Rowett revealed the speech focused on seizing an "opportunity to do something special" despite the dire circumstances.
One of my players stood up in one of my meetings recently and spoke a little about how we have an opportunity to do something special at the end of the season. OK, it won't quite be what everyone felt we were going to do, but we still have that opportunity and we have to feel that chance.
The timing speaks volumes. With supporters "vociferously" booing and jeering, and the team winning just one match in three months, the speech represents a last-gasp attempt to salvage pride from disaster.
Rowett acknowledged the current squad lacks the inspirational figures who drove Leicester's previous escapes from danger.
People who've been around football for quite a while still hanker for those characters and those players that are inspirational. I think there's less of those players.
The contrast with the 2016 title-winning squad is stark. Where Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, Kasper Schmeichel and captain Wes Morgan powered the 'Great Escape' and subsequent title triumph, today's Leicester lack comparable leaders.
Despite previously rescuing Oxford United, Millwall and Birmingham City from relegation battles, Rowett admitted this represents "probably the toughest" rescue mission of his career.
His record at Leicester tells the story: 10 games, one win, six draws, three defeats. The manager confessed he "expected more" from his tenure.
Leicester travel to relegation rivals Portsmouth on Saturday in what Rowett previously called their "last chance" to save themselves. Though he later softened that stance, the mathematics remain brutal.
With four games remaining and a five-point gap to bridge, Leicester likely need at least three wins to survive. Their recent form suggests that's beyond them.
Portsmouth sit in the relegation zone themselves, making Saturday's clash a genuine six-pointer. Victory would give Leicester genuine hope; defeat could effectively seal their fate with three games still to play.
Rowett emphasised the need for belief:
If you don't believe you can do it, then you are simply not going to do it.
The 10-year anniversary of Leicester's title triumph looms just weeks away, but Rowett insisted past glories aren't weighing on his players.
It's about our performances and us playing with a real pride about us and reflecting the fans' mindset of seeing a team go out there and do everything they can.
Yet the contrast remains inescapable. The team that engineered the 'Great Escape' in 2015, winning seven of their final nine games, went on to conquer England. This Leicester side has managed one win in 12 matches.
Leicester's remaining fixtures offer little comfort: Portsmouth (away), West Brom (home), Watford (away), and Norwich (home). Three of those four opponents have promotion or play-off ambitions.
The unnamed player's speech may have provided a moment of defiance, but Leicester need more than words. They need the kind of miracle that once made them champions. This time, the odds suggest that miracle won't come.
Leicester City are currently 5 points from Championship safety with 4 games remaining. They need to make up this deficit to avoid dropping into League One for the first time in 142 years.
Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016 as 5000-1 outsiders in one of football's greatest underdog stories. Their potential League One relegation would represent a dramatic fall from those heights just 10 years later.
Relegation to League One would force Leicester to slash spending by tens of millions of pounds. Manager Gary Rowett has warned of widespread job losses across the club if they drop to the third tier.
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This would mark Leicester's third relegation in four years, following their Premier League relegation last season. They currently have 41 points from 42 Championship games this season.
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