Leicester will hit the reset button after their disastrous relegation

Just seven years after the greatest day in their history, Leicester experienced one of the worst of modern times.

Despite the turmoil last summer, relegation should have been unthinkable for the seventh highest paid side in the Premier League, coached by a proven top boss in Brendan Rodgers.

Yet a series of errors from the boardroom contributed to this debacle.

Leicester will look into what went wrong, but expectations need to be adjusted immediately. The club that won the title seven years ago and the FA Cup two years ago is no more.

A full reset is required and everyone at the club needs to change their mindset. Here, Mail Sport looks at three key steps to take.

Leicester fans are accepting the club’s drop back to the Championship after a nine-year stay in the top flight

Players awaited proceedings at Goodison Park after securing a 2-1 victory against West Ham on the final day

Decisive action

There’s no point in James Maddison and Harvey Barnes signing up at the start of pre-season when everyone knows they want to leave and Leicester have to sell them.

It will muddy the waters for a new manager trying to build a team to gain immediate promotion, and affect his attempts to forge a strong team spirit within a new group of players.

While transfer negotiations are rarely easy, both players have suitors and crave Premier League football. So now is the time to determine the nature of the market, have pragmatic discussions and close a deal.

Leicester are unlikely to receive the same fees they would have paid had Barnes and Maddison been sold last summer. But these are the gamble clubs have to take and this time Leicester lost.

They are now a Championship side and will be treated as such. Second tier clubs are very rarely involved in £50 million transfers and the sooner the Foxes understand this the better.

Jamie Vardy has had a frustrating season, scoring just three times in 37 appearances

The Englishman has a year left on the lucrative extension he signed in 2022

Talk to Vardy

Although his powers are waning, Vardy did enough in Smith’s eight-match spell to show he is still a dangerous striker – and will continue to be at a lower level.

If he still feels like it, Vardy – who is comfortably the club’s highest-paid player – will be a key figure in the Championship, while also retaining a link to the glory days of the 2016 Premier League title and FA Cup win. win five years. later on.

Still, the championship is a long way off and while no one doubts Vardy’s professionalism and work ethic, he may need to think seriously about what lies ahead. This is a real top of the Premier League. Does he really want to spend the last year of his contract traveling to Plymouth and Rotherham for midweek winter away games, a scalp for centre-backs unable to tie their boots?

On the other hand, what better way to solidify a legacy than to lead Leicester back to the top in the last year of his contract? Vardy’s place in Leicester’s history is assured, but this would be a wonderful final chapter.

Dean Smith could only manage two wins from eight games with the Foxes

The former Aston Villa manager is set for crucial talks with King Power officials who will decide his future

Back the coach

Dean Smith will hold talks with Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and Football Director Jon Rudkin on Tuesday. Smith won promotion to the top flight with Aston Villa four years ago, but his latest attempt to do so ended last season with the dismissal from Norwich. He is a good manager, but his qualifications are far from impeccable.

Rudkin and Srivaddhanaprabha – known as Khun Top – will have plenty of voices in their ears at this point, from inside and outside the club, all pushing their own agendas.

Some will prefer an experienced, ‘big name’ like Rafael Benitez. Others a younger candidate with a bold, clear style, following the example of Vincent Kompany at Burnley. Others will push managers who understand the championship and its unique demands.

Whoever it is, Khun Top, Rudkin and recruiting chief Martyn Glover must have his full back and be willing to build a squad that he can successfully work with. Otherwise, another long season awaits.