There is a point at which a manager has made such a stern rod for his own back that even a brief flash of inspiration is an indictment of what has gone before.
Imagine the surprise of the Leicester City fans, who long ago accepted that Jamie Vardy would be best consigned to the bench as an impact substitute, when both Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho were named in the starting XI.
Imagine the exasperated sense of inevitability when both got on the scoresheet within just over half an hour – and the resignation when the Foxes capitulated anyway. Even when Rodgers gets it right, he cannot stop this – still very competent – squad from descending into freefall.
The way Leicester defended in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Brighton cannot be blamed on the hierarchy, though Rodgers has a point when he says that “with the greatest respect, we haven’t been helped in the transfer market”. That will win him no friends in the boardroom, it is also a cop-out which does not explain the total absence of spirit that has shunted his side to the bottom of the table.
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The defending for Luke Thomas’ own goal, the cross over the heads of the entire defence and the left-back then blind-sided by Pascal Gross. Rodgers wants to bring in a set-piece coach to address their recurring issues from corners, but it is not clear what else Leicester are working on in the week. Only Bournemouth have conceded more goals this season, and that is skewed by the 9-0 defeat to Liverpool.
Sunday’s game had started with just the hallmarks of aggression that was needed, Youri Tielemans shouldering Brighton out of possession. Then the passiveness set in. That is the crux of why Leicester are bottom, not because they have a worse squad than Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth.
In fact, they have the eighth most valuable squad in the Premier League. Amidst all this, Rodgers has sought to lower the bar for his own protection, setting a 40-point target with survival the bare minimum for a team that was in a Conference League semi-final at the end of last season – and that two years ago was disappointed to miss out on Champions League football.
But for VAR, this would have been even more catastrophic – and such is the misery surrounding Leicester that even the relief at seeing one of the great Premier League goals from Alexis Mac Allister ruled out for a tenuous offside that nobody had even appealed for, was limited.
The options for change are limited. Harvey Barnes was taken off and replaced with Timothy Castagne, who was himself at fault for Raheem Sterling’s second goal in the defeat to Chelsea last weekend.
Rodgers is the last easily dispensable pawn – it is now a question of when, not if, he is sacked.
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