Leicester City’s deeply underwhelming start to the season — two wins in eight — isn’t all Russell Martin’s fault.
The reason the Foxes are even in League One is down to widespread structural, stylistic and cultural problems that long predate Martin’s arrival.
Director of Football Jon Rudkin is a poor communicator. He’s intelligent, but deeply unfit for a leadership role that involves bringing people together. Stories from people who have worked with Rudkin suggest somebody who tends to bunker away, responding sporadically to calls and messages. He works better on his own, rather than as part of a team.
That would be one thing if he was a head of recruitement, and there was an arrangement to meet with people once a week, before getting on with stuff. But a DoF role requires more.
Problems from the top
The problem is, Rudkin is the important — and most powerful — active person at the club. And it has serious costs.
James McCarron has come in as Technical Director, and the signs are positive. But it’s hard to say how much he’s able to really shake things up — and how much it’s a case of another person coming in to simply report to Rudkin.
On the pitch, Leicester were relegated from the Championship due to a combination of their points deduction for breaking spending regulations, and deep-rooted cultural problems.
Unwanted figures like Harry Winks and his tantrums became the example for everyone else. The toxicity stemming from the lack of leadership saw the Foxes relegated, despite the individual quality of Jordan James and Abdul Fatawu.
So, Martin did inherit a big rebuilding job. That has to be acknowledged. The question is, however, whether he has managed that job well enough so far.
So, it was a big rebuilding job that Martin inherited, and that has to be acknowledged.
Russell Martin not completely innocent
Martin was appointed in mid-June and had a full pre-season to impose a certain code of conduct to eradicate previous issues. The reason why I don’t think he’s done that, is because I don’t think he’s different enough from the troublemakers.
I believe he exudes a sense of arrogance that correlates with the kind of attitude that got Leicester into this position.
He carries the impression of being a sulker. Somebody who can’t take responsibility for his part when things go wrong. Somebody incapable of refining his plan when there are flaws in it, dismissing criticism as lazy, and insulting his predecessors who have done their best in difficult circumstances.
In this chapter of Leicester’s trajectory, the Foxes need to get back to some core values. The ones people like N’Golo Kante demonstrated: humility, teamwork and togetherness.
Unwillingness to improve
Leicester have one of the best academies in the country, and some top international talent. And those youngsters need people who can set an example.
Martin is a talented in-possession coach. And there have been spells when his team have demonstrated some really nice patterns of play.
The problem, however, is that I don’t think he can recognise the areas of his management where he’s weak, and therefore enlist support from people who are strong in those areas. And if the manager isn’t taking himself on and showing signs of growth, where’s the encouragement for the players to do that?
When Martin was at Southampton, there was a perception that senior players were somewhat in his pocket. People like Jack Stephens and Flynn Downes would always play regardless of performance.
Leicester need change
But what Leicester need at this stage is a meritocracy. A code of conduct that everybody has to follow without exemption. A precedent, that if the 30-goal top scorer is two minutes late for a meeting, he doesn’t play the next game, and is then on the bench for the following one.
The Foxes need those sorts of boundaries, imposed by management but supported from the top. And I see Martin as too weak to carry that out.
So, a tough hand? Yes. Unquestionably. This is an oil tanker that will take a long time to turn around and get back on the right track.
At the same time, this group of players should be capable of a lot more than two wins in eight. And they shouldn’t be losing their first three Saturday home games in succession with poor, limp performances.
So, no, Martin isn’t solely to blame — far from it — but he hasn’t played that hand well. And I think his position as manager needs to be questioned: even this early into a campaign.
It might sound early, but sometimes that’s what’s needed to rescue a season. Leicester are eight points off the top two already… so how much longer do you want to leave it?