Martin's reputation on line as he tries to halt Leicester slide

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A draw and a defeat to start their League One season. One victory in 11 league matches. A player exodus. A new manager already under pressure. And the club up for sale.

These are, to put it mildly, not happy times for anyone connected with Leicester City.

The club are in a very different place than they were a decade ago, when they were basking in the joy of being the Premier League's most unlikely champions.

Celebrations marking that 10-year anniversary throughout the year are unlikely to offer supporters much respite. The reminder of those glory days might even pour more salt in the wounds.

Soon after the Foxes were relegated from the Championship, King Power Stadium hosted a 10-year anniversary match which was billed as the 5,000-1 celebration - their initial odds for winning the league in 2015-16.

Players from that Foxes squad faced an All Star XI managed by Tony Pulis and in scorching conditions in front of about 5,000 fans, it finished 0-0.

Sixteen days later, Russell Martin was appointed manager. He joins with his reputation under the spotlight as he faces the task of turning around the Foxes' downward spiral to the third tier for the first time since 2009.

Since May 2024, when he led Southampton to the Premier League through the play-offs, Martin has won just two league games in charge of Saints and Rangers, whom he managed for just 123 days.

Leicester have started the league season with a draw at Notts County and a 2-1 defeat at home to Burton Albion.

That result led to a number of bets being placed on the club to drop even further - into League Two. Their odds of a third successive relegation are now 33-1.

Leicester's alarming start to the season is amid a backdrop of uncertainty off the field, with Thai owners King Power seeking to sell the club after 16 years in charge.

An eight-page sales booklet has been produced to help attract potential buyers, but no official announcement about the sale has come from the Srivaddhanaprabha family, who run King Power.

Concerns about Leicester's ownership have grown since 2022, when they invested heavily in the transfer market but then failed to qualify for European football.

The Foxes' accounts revealed they lost nearly £100m in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, resulting in a six-point deduction for breaches in profit and sustainability regulations in 2025-26.

Leicester finished last season in 23rd place in the Championship, five points adrift of safety.

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