Russell Martin‘s Leicester City have shown the first real shoots of recovery at one of the lowest points in the club’s history. Back-to-back wins this week — the first time the Foxes have managed that since last November — have pulled the club up to 10th in League One, but the scale of the decline remains staggering.
Russell Martin (Credits: BBC Sport)
A decade ago, Leicester were the reigning 5,000-1 Premier League champions, the toast of world football. Five years ago they lifted the FA Cup for the first time and were challenging for the Champions League. Now, after three relegations in four years, they sit in the third tier, the club up for sale, and this summer they were operating under a transfer embargo for five weeks.
The Five-Week Embargo That Shaped the Summer
BBC Sport has revealed the Foxes could not sign players until they brought money in, after the EFL’s Salary Cost Management Protocol ruling meant future Premier League distributions could not be used to increase their spending capacity. It only disrupted the order of business, but it meant Jeremy Monga and Abdul Fatawu were not sold until mid-July — and only after Monga left for Manchester City on 11 July could Leicester bring in Conor Chaplin and Alex McCarthy five days later.
Four of Tuesday’s starting XI signed on deadline day, and 66% of the players joined after the season had already started. Targets who would not wait were missed, but Chaplin, McCarthy and Wes Burns all held on to join Martin — a sign of the relationships the head coach is building.
Changing the Culture at Seagrave
Martin inherited a broken, expensive squad that had lost the faith of the supporters, with a dressing room where egos got in the way. In a different financial reality, it was stripped back: 34 players left in the summer, loans and academy exits included, and 16 arrived. Sources say the atmosphere at the club has markedly improved.
The £100m training ground is one of the best in the country, but Martin has worked hard to change the culture. There is a blanket ban on mobile phones in the canteen — and anyone breaking the rules does not get fined, they run. Players and staff must sprint the length of the pitch and back in 35 seconds, three times. The same punishment applies for lateness, with Martin and his senior staff holding themselves to it.
It is early days, and the external noise has only just started to dampen after a 4-0 thumping of Bromley and a 2-1 win over Doncaster. But from 17th and a point above the relegation zone just weeks ago, Leicester finally have something to build on.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.