Leicester will hit the reset button after their disastrous relegation

Just seven years after the happiest day in their history, Leicester have suffered one of their worst modern times.

Despite last summer’s turmoil, relegation should have been unthinkable for the Premier League’s seventh-highest-paid side, coached by a tried and tested top-flight boss in Brendan Rodgers.

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

Leicester will conduct a review of what went wrong, but expectations must be reset immediately. The club that won the title seven years ago and the FA Cup two years ago is no more.

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

Foxes fans come to terms with club’s fall to Championship after nine-year stint in top flight

Act decisively

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

This will cloud the waters for a new manager trying to build a team to win immediate promotion and affect his attempts to forge a strong team spirit within a new group of players.

Although transfer negotiations are rarely straightforward, both players have suitors and yearnings for Premier League football. Now is the time to establish the nature of the market, have pragmatic discussions and strike a deal.

Leicester are unlikely to receive the same fee they would have received had Barnes and Maddison been sold last summer. But those are the bets clubs have to take and this time Leicester have lost.

They are now a championship team and will be treated as such. Second-tier clubs are very rarely involved in £50million transfers and the sooner the Foxes figure that out the better.

The players awaited proceedings at Goodison Park after securing their 2-1 win over West Ham

Having talks with Vardy

Although his powers are waning, Jamie Vardy has done enough in Dean Smith’s eight-game spell to show he’s still a dangerous striker – and that will remain the case on a lower level.

If he still has an appetite, Vardy – who is comfortably the club’s highest-paid player – will be a key man in the Championship, while retaining a link to the glory days of the Premier League title in 2016 and victory of the FA Cup five years later. later.

Still, the championship is a long one and while no one doubts Vardy’s professionalism and work ethic, he may need to give serious thought to what lies ahead.

He’s a real Premier League great. Does he really want to spend the final year of his contract traveling to Plymouth and Rotherham for midweek away matches in the winter, a scalp for centre-backs who aren’t adept at lacing his boots?

On the other hand, what better way to cement a legacy than to return Leicester to the top flight in the final year of his contract? Vardy’s place in Leicester history is assured, but it would be a wonderful final chapter.

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

Return of the coach

Dean Smith will speak with President Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and Director of Football Jon Rudkin on Tuesday. Smith was promoted to the top flight with Aston Villa four years ago but his last attempt to do so ended in a sack at Norwich last season. He is a good manager but his credentials are far from impeccable.

Rudkin and Srivaddhanaprabha – known as Khun Top – will have a lot of voices in their ears at the moment, from inside and outside the club, and all will be pushing their own agendas.

Some will prefer an experienced “big name” like Rafael Benitez. Others a younger candidate with a bold and clear style, in the mold of Vincent Kompany at Burnley. Still others will push managers who understand the league and its unique demands.

Whoever it is, Khun Top, Rudkin and head of recruiting Martyn Glover need to be fully behind him and ready to build a team he can work with successfully. Otherwise, another long season awaits.

Dean Smith is set to speak with King Power officials who will decide his future