The last international break before the World Cup is here and Brendan Rodgers still has his job at Leicester City. If he’s still employed on Monday, then it looks like he’ll be back in charge when the Foxes return to action after the internationals. Honestly, we’re surprised he’s even lasted this long, given a.) how truly terrible his side has been this season and b.) the way he ripped club brass just after deadline day for not strengthening the Foxes side in the summer transfer window.
Leicester is dead last in the table, but a full three points, and they are one of just two sides (Nottingham Forest is the other) to not have registered a win yet.
Yesterday, they fell by a very ugly score line of 6-2 to Tottenham Hotspur. This put their season goal differential at -12, with only Bournemouth’s -13 worse in the league. Asked if he was feeling the pressure, Rodgers admitted to the BBC:
“It increases the pressure on me very much so. I come in every day and do my work. I totally understand the frustration of supporters. I can’t hide from that. It’s my responsibility. Whatever happens I’ll have a huge amount of respect for them [the owners] because they’ve given me great support. I understand the game. The scoreline didn’t reflect the game but the bottom line is it’s a heavy defeat.
“Whatever happens to me at Leicester whether I stay and fight on, I’ll always respect them.”
Sounds like he seems somewhat resigned to his fate right now. Maybe, on the inside, he even wants to get released so that he can move on. Brendan Rodgers took over in February of 2019 and guided Leicester to consecutive fifth-placed finishes, with the squad battling for Champions League qualification on Championship Sunday. He also won the 2020-21 FA Cup.
However, Leicester fell down to 8th last season, and heading into deadline day, Leicester was the only club in all of Europe’s big five leagues not to have signed a single new player. They did end up signing one, who was just cover for a first teamer that they had already sold off. Bournemouth sacked Scott Parker for just four games, after he made comments, similar to Rodgers, about his own’s club’s failure to provide him sufficient roster upgrades.
And with Thomas Tuchel already canned at Chelsea, it’s hard to fathom anybody else who might be on the chopping block ahead of Brendan Rodgers at this point.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.