‘Huge mountain to climb’ – Leicester in ‘alarming situation’

Just 27 minutes into Friday’s game against Brentford, with their side 2-0 down and already looking beaten, some Leicester fans had seen enough.

After a 4-0 defeat and a sixth successive loss at home without scoring in English Premier League history, the natives are restless, even if apathy overshadows anger. This is a new top-flight record.

The struggle to mount a consistent revolt was highlighted by a half-hearted fan protest before and during Arsenal’s 2-0 loss at the King Power Stadium last weekend.

However, after Christian Norgaard had made it 3-0 after 32 minutes, the Foxes were still second bottom of the table thanks to their depressing defeat to Brentford.

Everyone has a right to voice their opinions, according to Captain Jamie Vardy, and that is what the fans are doing. We just need to focus on the football, and that is all they can do.

Leicester supporters are not indifferent to their situation. They care, but they are brow-beaten and demoralised, which is driven by a disconnect between themselves and the club.

Leicester turned to him in search of a new direction, but they have since lost four points in their first two games against West Ham and Brighton.

Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham last month put an end to a run of seven straight league defeats and gave the Foxes a seven-game losing streak. However, they were unable to continue, falling behind at Everton, who had shown an appetite for a fight to avoid relegation, over the next four games.

This 4-0 defeat by Brentford, which could have been by a bigger margin, left Van Nistelrooy admitting his side now face an uphill battle for survival, almost questioning their quality.

“You have to acknowledge it’s a huge step back”, said the Dutchman. Overall, the difference between Brentford’s standard and ours was significant and a concern for our future hopes.

” With the squad we have it’s a huge, huge, huge mountain to climb to stay in this league, that’s the reality. Today it showed.

“The mountain we have to climb is enormous, and the situation we are in is alarming.”

The former striker for Real Madrid and Manchester United has put in a lot of pressure on the team since joining Leicester, despite not having many victories.

Even those who aren’t playing regularly acknowledge his influence, according to sources close to the first team.

Van Nistelrooy has made a point about the team’s unity, but it is acknowledged that players cannot transfer that positivity onto the field with victories if they don’t.

That spirit of unity contrasts with the King Power’s atmosphere after Arsenal’s defeat, where fans vented their anger toward the club’s leadership, particularly football director Jon Rudkin.

A planned protest, labelled Project Reset, failed to catch on, but there was more dissent as the Foxes crumbled against Brentford.

The growing sense of disappointment was highlighted by the chants against Rudkin and the board and the walkouts as the goals came in.

In the loss at Everton, and having conceded after just 10 seconds, it didn’t take long for the visiting Foxes faithful to sing “we’re going down”.

Van Nistelrooy has generally stayed out of the way of fan revolt, despite criticizing his replacement for Bilal El Khannouss in Fulham’s defeat.

The Dutchman, though, will be the one fronting up to questions which fans, and the media, would prefer to ask Rudkin or chief executive Susan Whelan.

As was demonstrated on Friday, the disconnect between the club and the fanbase is only growing.

In what was referred to as a frank and open discussion, Whelan and club directors met Foxes Trust co-chairs Lynn Wyeth and Steve Moulds, members of the Supporter Engagement team, and the supporters on the LCFC Fan Advisory Board.

When things go wrong, you need some leadership. Wyeth reaffirmed that you need people to speak out and comfort us.

“That lack of communication was causing frustration, anger and toxicity in the games.

” Other fans can’t understand it. They’re like, ‘ Leicester fans are so ungrateful, they’re so entitled. They believe they are lucky with their owner because they won the Premier League.

“It’s not about that. We are so grateful for what that family’s done]owners the Srivaddhanaprabha family] and what an amazing time we’ve had, but it’s how badly wrong it’s gone in the last few years”.

It is up to Van Nistelrooy to get a tune out of what he has, but of Leicester’s summer buys, none have made a consistent impact.

Midfielder Oliver Skipp, a £20m signing from Tottenham, has struggled for form, while defender Caleb Okoli, who joined from Atalanta for £15m, only made his first start under the Dutchman last week.

Moroccan attacker El Khannouss, a £21m arrival from Genk, has shown flashes of potential – including the winner at Spurs – but remains green to the league.

With Odsonne Edouard’s move from Crystal Palace in doubt and tiering up a crucial loan position, right-back Woyo Coulibaly was the only January arrival.

“It’s really difficult to judge him (Van Nistelrooy) because he hasn’t got the squad”, added Wyeth. They “weren’t good enough to stay up last time,” he said, adding that “we now have worse players.”

Leicester are still far from unbeaten in the table despite a poor run of form.

Although they have played more games than either team, they are only two points ahead of Wolves in 17th place and 18th.

The Foxes ‘ Premier League-winning captain Wes Morgan, who also helped them avoid the drop in 2013-14, is confident they can defy the odds once again.

Teams can escape the relegation battle because it has been demonstrated that it can be done. I was part of the team that did it”, he said.

“I’m sure the fans are disappointed with how things have been recently,” he said. Things can change, we know it has happened in the past.