AdminGary Rowett’s suggestion that Leicester City’s squad is not built for a relegation battle has caused plenty of debate, but the remark has been taken out of context.
The Leicester manager was not questioning his players’ commitment or suggesting they had already accepted the club’s fate.
Instead, he was making the point that the squad was assembled to challenge at the top end of the Championship, not scrap at the bottom.
Rowett has repeated that view for several weeks, long before City slipped five points from safety. His argument is that many of his players are more suited to a possession-based style associated with promotion contenders rather than the physical demands of a survival fight.
He said: “I’m not going to fit the narrative. People can judge the season and judge the team however they want. I think in the last 10 games there’s been a different type of energy about them, in my opinion.
“The team have fought for me. I’ve said it before. We’re a different type of profile of player. We’re not a squad that’s been designed for a relegation fight. So we have to try to do it a different way.”
That has left Rowett trying to find a balance between his own methods and the strengths of the players available. While performances have improved in patches, results have not followed.
As Leicester edge closer to the drop, the growing concern is whether manager and squad have simply been an awkward fit at the worst possible time.
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