In just 7 years, from the Premier League championship to relegation, the once most exciting inspirational story has become today's cruel reality. Leicester City's relegation has a special symbolic significance: a pure football ideal is shattered, and even if it was a Premier League champion seven years ago, it cannot escape the fate of the failure of the capital competition.
Seven years ago, Leicester City won the title with pre-season odds of 1/5000, forcing British football legend Lineker to fulfill his promise and appear half-naked in the live broadcast room wearing only Leicester City pants. But his famous quote lives on to this day: "There will always be such miracles in football, otherwise everything would be boring." ”
But now, everyone is awakening from a dream of miracles. In today's Premier League, is there still room for the "civilian miracle" to survive?
In the summer of 2015, Ranieri was sacked for leading the Greek national team to a loss to the Faroe Islands, sparking outrage among Leicester City fans. But it was such a "failed" coach, with 24 goals from the grassroots Vardy, who brought Leicester City the first top-flight trophy in 132 years in the team's history, and also created a true civilian team victory miracle in the five major leagues of the 21st century. Everything seemed so rosy, but Leicester's nightmare began.
Ranieri was sacked in the 2016/17 season when Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: "There are three things I can't understand this season: Brexit, Trump and Ranieri being sacked. Twenty months later, Leicester City's Thai-Chinese boss Vichai (Chinese named Xu Weicai) was tragically killed in a helicopter crash, laying the groundwork for the tragedy in Leicester City. His youngest son, Aiyawatt, succeeded him as chairman and comforted his father by beating Chelsea to win the FA Cup for the first time in 2020/21, which unfortunately also turned from prosperity to decline.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant decline in the wealth of Leicester City's Thai owners, and the Blue Foxes have struggled to keep up with Group One in the era of Premier League capital competition, dragged down by huge market investment and huge salaries. N'Golo Kante, Drinkwater, Mahrez, Maguire, Chilwell, Fofana... Leicester City have been selling their main players to cash out in recent years, supporting the 7th largest team in the Premier League in terms of total salaries. However, most of the high investment in the market in recent years has ended in failure.
Leicester City, which has a world-class training base and a first-team team full of international players, was still in the middle of the table in the first two seasons, how could it be relegated miserably after winning the title seven years later? Football director Rudkin and CEO Susan Whelan bore the main responsibility, and when other relegation teams changed coaches and changed coaches, the utter failure of Rodgers did not leave class until April 2, and the management could be said to sit still. Rogers has asked for reinforcements since last winter window, only to receive silence from management. Last summer, spiritual leader Schmeichel Jr. left the club and sold centre-back Fofana for a measly £15 million. It was too late to sign Suttar and Christian Ansen and Tate in the winter window.
Leicester management's "tumultuous operation" has even more: putting two inexperienced assistants in charge of two key relegation games at home against Aston Villa and Bournemouth, and the delay in finalizing the firefighting coach. As early as last September, injured players and club staff played golf next to the training base, which has led to a deep disappointment with the management of the team. Seven first-team players have their contracts expired this summer, and the other eight have only one year left on their contracts, but the club has never renewed their contracts. How can distraught players unite to fight the relegation battle?
The cover of the Premier League's final home matchday booklet reads "The Foxes never give up", but the players have lost confidence. Also on the relegation squad are Vardy and two other Premier League champions. But now, they can only endure the immense pain of going from the Premier League title to the Championship.
With the relegation, veteran striker Jamie Vardy, midfielder Tilemans, central defender Ceyunju, etc. will leave the team, and international midfielder Maddison, Belgian centre-back Fez and defender Ndidi with only one year left on their contracts are also unwilling to commit to the Championship, and the future will be a decline in the strength of birds and beasts. This season, Leicester City ranked in the top 10 in the Premier League in terms of revenue, but due to the relegation of broadcast fees and a sharp drop in commercial revenue, the season revenue will plummet by 2/3. For the Blue Fox, which just announced a record annual loss of £92.5 million in March, it was a disaster.
Club chairman Seo Sai Yuen says he is committed to returning to the Premier League, but the Blue Foxes are losing the Thai appeal that once made the club charming. Vichai, who bought the club that year, had a profound impact on Leicester City, and while still in the Championship, he had renovated the stadium and training base, introduced high-tech facilities and training methods. The Premier League victory is a testament to the success of "big data" technology, which has kept the team in the middle of the table.
Vichai must go to the dressing room every home to motivate the players, but never interfere with the coaches. He never gives interviews to the media or comments on players and coaches on social media. Vichai paid for a banquet at a luxury restaurant in London, and each player received a BMW luxury car worth £105,000 "Championship Award".
On team anniversaries or victories, beer and snacks are provided free of charge, and 60 lucky winners are given new season tickets. No matter how far away the game is, the official fan bus ticket price is always only 10 pounds... This "Thai" people-friendly culture is the cornerstone of Leicester's miracle. But now, the Thai boss who has been greatly damaged no longer has the heart of his father. The menacing American capital intends to buy Leicester City, and the Blue Fox may change hands at any time, which means the disappearance of civilian traditions in the future.
Manchester City won the English top flight title in 1936/37, but were relegated in the defending season afterwards. Blackburn, who won the Premier League in 1994/95, were relegated four years later. But the era in which the two live is completely incomparable to the Premier League, which is now controlled by Sky Capital. Leicester City's last relegation from the Premier League was in 2003/04, and it took 10 years for the Blue Foxes to return to the Premier League. This time, how long do they have to wait?