Football Season Guide

Leicester City face an uncertain future as they return to the Championship after relegation from the Premier League. Billionaire owner Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and Director of Football Jon Rudkin have come in for justified criticism for their inability to run the club consistently in recent season. Last season’s relegation from the Premier League was an inevitability. A complete lack of patience in head coach Steve Cooper saw him sacked after just a dozen league matches and yet successor Ruud van Nistelrooy was given the rest of the season despite winning just five of his 26 league games. The club have been charged with a breach of EFL financial rules, having previously been charged for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules. An independent commission is expected to impose a 9-points deduction on the Foxes. To avoid further breaches of the rules, the club were forced to wait until the end of the financial year before sacking van Nistelrooy, illustrating the farcical financial management from the very top. Martí Cifuentes becomes the latest head coach to step into this mess. He enhanced his reputation whilst at Queens Park Rangers but has a rather unenviable task here. He has inherited a large squad full of Premier League quality and international standard players; however several of them are expected to be sold in this transfer window. Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen was one of a few players to enhance his reputation in a poor season and has been linked with West Ham United. Defenders Conor Coady and Victor Kristiansen and midfielders Bilal El Khannouss and Wilfred Ndidi are some examples of those on the departure list. One player who has already left is striker and talisman Jamie Vardy, and he represents a changing of the guard. Cifuentes is unlikely to be given much room for manoeuvre when bringing in replacements and it threatens to be a painful season of transition.