“WHATEVER happens to me here at Leicester, whether I stay and continue to fight on, I will always respect them,” Brendan Rodgers shrugged with almost an air of resignation after another damaging Leicester City defeat. At this point, the Northern Irishman surely knows the case for his continued employment at the King Power Stadium is thin, and getting thinner.

Leicester City are currently rooted to the foot of the Premier League table. The Foxes have lost each of their last six matches in succession and have conceded no fewer than 22 goals in just seven outings – no team in Premier League history has conceded more goals at this stage of the season.

Under Rodgers, Leicester City have generally overachieved. The East Midlands club punched well above its weight by challenging for Champions League qualification in back-to-back seasons. Rodgers gave Leicester City one of the greatest days in its history by lifting the FA Cup, but a lot has changed since then.

Now, Leicester City’s players are playing well within themselves. They are better than the performances they are currently producing. There is enough talent at the King Power Stadium to steer Leicester City away from relegation danger, but this is a team that appears to have lost faith in their own manager.

None of this will come as much surprise to those who witnessed Rodgers enter a managerial spiral at Celtic and Liverpool. Rodgers wasn’t sacked as Celtic manager, but his team started to deteriorate before he left the club in February 2019 – this was clearest in the underwhelming performances produced in Europe.

Liverpool fans know this version of Rodgers well. While he guided the Anfield club to within touching distance of an historic Premier League title, overachieving in relative terms, Rodgers’ Liverpool fell away as quickly as they had risen. Parallels can be drawn between his final season as Liverpool manager and this season at Leicester City.

Individual errors in defence became contagious. Players lost confidence to the point of no return. The trademark intensity and tempo of Rodgers’ favoured style of play dropped dramatically and Liverpool became easy to play against. This is a trend that can be applied to Leicester City’s current slump. Then and now, Rodgers struggled to find answers.

Transfer market troubles have also been a feature of Rodgers’ managerial career. At Liverpool, the money collected from the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona was spent on a series of misfits who came nowhere close to replacing the Uruguayan striker. At Celtic, the strength of his team declined with almost every transfer window.

Of course, Rodgers might argue that the poor transfer record of his employers can’t be pinned on him, but the 49-year-old has repeatedly demonstrated his inability to regenerate his teams. The best managers find a way to stay competitive at the top level. Rodgers, however, starts strongly and ultimately fades away.

The international break will give Leicester City’s owners time to consider their next move. ““I totally understand the frustration of supporters,” Rodgers said after the 6-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. “Whatever happens I will have a huge amount of respect for the owners because they’ve given me great support since I have been here.”

Brentford’s Thomas Frank is believed to be on Leicester City’s radar should they make the decision to sack Rodgers with Sean Dyche mentioned as a potential short-term solution to guide the Foxes away from the bottom three. Not so long ago, Leicester City were seen as lucky to have Rodgers. Now, there is a growing sense that they can do better.

Leicester City Specials