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To many observers outside the club, Leicester City seem like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

To those pundits and fans of other clubs, City’s season could be summed up be a series of baffling questions.

Why is there so much discontent amongst the fans base?

Why is Claude Puel so unpopular with many City fans?

Why are those fans so impatient while Puel develops a youthful team?

Why did Puel throw away the cup competitions by resting players?

Are the players too powerful?

Why is one of the best squads in the Premier League not competing for European qualification?

The list of questions regularly asked by those who don’t watch City every week reflect the baffling nature of City this season?

Many of the fans that do watch City home and away are asking similar questions.

Here, Leicestershire Live attempts to try to provide some explanations and offer some analysis of what is really happening at Leicester City.

The Fans

You only have to do a simple search on social media to understand that many City fans are not happy, and in recent games there has been evidence of their frustration inside the grounds as well.

This discontent in some quarters has been slowly building for some time and has been fuelled by a number of factors.

City’s poor home form has been fundamental.

They have the fifth worst record, equal with Burnley, on home soil in the division, with four wins and two draws from their 12 home games, equalling 14 points.

Only Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Southampton and Huddersfield Town have a worse record on home soil.

(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Only Huddersfield, Palace and Newcastle have scored less than City’s 13 home goals this season too, and when you consider 90 percent of the fan base only really see the team live at King Power Stadium it can create a negative perception.

In contrast, City are eighth in the away table with the same points return on the road as Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Only Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham have a better away record.

The mood of the supporters is also not helped by City’s alarming regularity for conceding early goals and the first goal in games.

They have conceded 11 goals in the first 15 minutes and have gone behind 18 times in 26 games, meaning they often have to chase games and on home soil, when sides sit deep having got an early goal, they have lacked the inspiration to break down what Puel refers to as ‘the deep block.’

When your strength is on the counter attack, City can scarcely afford to keep offering sides a flying start and giving them something to defend.

In contrast, their better displays have come against the big six, who are less inclined to defend deep with the intention simply to frustrate City.

When faced with such resilience, Puel’s tactics have come into question.

Why the need for two defensive midfielders? Or even three? It worked at Chelsea and Manchester City, but why do that against Southampton at home?

The idea is that Wilfred Ndidi and Papy Mendy are supposed to sit deep and cover to allow Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira, the attacking full-backs, to go forward with confidence they are covered, but when that supply line is blocked City have lacked creativity in central areas and the play has become slow, ponderous and predictable.

Puel’s selections have also been a source of irritation, most notably last week when he left out main striker Jamie Vardy at Tottenham Hotspur, but he has also been questioned for continually changing his starting line-up and is often accused of not having a plan B.

(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)

Ultimately, City’s cup exits have been a huge bone of contention.

When City were two steps away from a Wembley final in the League Cup Puel fielded a much-changed side, including leaving out Vardy, against Manchester City and although they only went out on penalties, the perception was City had again let a great opportunity slip by, and Puel was accused of not giving the competition a good enough go.

That was compounded when he fielded another changed side at Newport County in the FA Cup third round, and although the starting line-up included five of the regular starters from the title-winning side, and City created more than enough chances to win the game, their exit was a source of embarrassment for the fan base.

When you factor in the desire amongst the supporters to challenge for silverware even more in the memory of late chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, which Puel himself said they wanted to do, it leads to bubbling discontent.

The Manager

Maybe Claude Puel wasn’t perceptive enough to read the mood within the City fans when he made the changes in the cup, not that Puel would make decisions designed to appease the supporters.

He may be softly spoken, but he is head strong, almost to the point of stubborn, when it comes to making decisions.

It seems Claude doesn’t seek too much input from others either, as his relationship with Michael Appleton demonstrated.

They didn’t have an argument or bust up, but over time simply stopped communicating.

There is much to admire about Puel’s work.

His faith in blooding youth is unique in the Premier League, where the pressure for results leaves managers looking to recruit only finished players.

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Puel has not only given academy graduates opportunities, he has also spent his transfer kitty on young players he believes will grow and develop, and command higher market values than those paid.

James Maddison, Caglar Soyuncu and Filip Benkovic are three examples.

The task he was given to oversee the transformation and rebuilding of the title-winning squad into a rejuvenated squad ready to challenge again probably goes unappreciated.

Those champions are club legends and adored by the supporters, but the club know they cannot go on forever.

With Wes Morgan, Danny Simpson, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs out of contract this summer and increasingly marginalised in the meantime, Puel is well into a difficult rebuilding job.

Ben Chilwell, Harry Maguire, Wilfred Ndidi, Maddison and Demarai Gray are leading the next wave of City favourites, but it is going to take time for the transition to be complete and in the meantime there will be inconsistencies and frustrations as they grow together.

A fundamental problem for Puel is communication, both with his players and the fans.

The reason his work is underappreciated is because he isn’t open about his plans.

There is the language barrier, and that was highlighted when he was asked about the speculation over his future, which frequently emerges, and he replied by saying it was not his concern.

Some took that to mean he wasn’t concerned what the fans thought, when in reality he was referring to bookmaker odds and the media, but that incident highlighted the public relations and communication issues Puel faces.

“Ah, the image,” he sighed when asked whether his public persona was a problem.

He is aware that he may not come across as the most passionate of managers.

Although he can become very animated in the technical area during games, he doesn’t race across the pitch to celebrate with away fans after wins, like Jurgen Klopp or Neil Warnock, and it is very rare he is animated in front of the television cameras.

He remains measured and calm, but that does leave those critical supporters asking if he struggles to inspire them, how can he inspire the players?

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Puel may be the man that lays the foundations and the club will hand the baton to another manager to take the club to the next level, and whoever takes on that task will inherit a good, young squad.

There will be no shortage of managers wanting to take on that role because they will know there will be a strong base on which to build.

Many people within the game recognise Puel’s work, even if many of the supporters don’t.

The Players

Player power. It has often been said that City’s squad can make or break a manager and that they wield too much influence at City.

Many were branded snakes when Claudio Ranieri was sacked.

There have been national newspaper reports of growing unrest in the camp while recently, the dropping of Vardy at Spurs and the comments of Kasper Schmeichel’s father Peter have added to the impression that all is not well behind the scenes.

(Image: Plumb Images/Getty Images)

It is true that City have always had a strong dressing room.

That was encouraged and fostered by Nigel Pearson.

There are strong characters in the group, like Wes Morgan, Schmeichel and Vardy. Andy King was also one of the squad ‘management’. They policed themselves and Pearson liked them to do so.

If anything needed saying between themselves, if a situation needed sorting, the players would retreat to their meeting room and do it together, without outside influence.

Slowly, that group is breaking up, but there remain some strong figures and the likes of Vardy and Schmeichel remain influential.

The fact both have been given new long-term contracts reflects the fact they are seen as essential in the development of the younger squad.

(Image: Plumb Images/Getty Images)

Contrary to speculation, there has not been a bust-up between Vardy and Puel, and while they don’t always see eye to eye on all matters, there has been no breakdown in their relationship, as Vardy’s shenanigans as his alter-ego Spider-Man in training, jumping out on Puel, demonstrated.

The dropping of Vardy created shock-waves, and understandably so.

Puel said he wanted to give others an opportunity, but the real reason was the boss was demonstrating his authority.

Whether the comments Vardy was caught making on camera at the end of the Manchester United game were directed towards Puel, only Vardy would truly know, but if Puel believed there was even a hint that they were he would have felt he had no choice but to show his authority should not be challenged, although he must have known he was cutting his nose off to spite his face by leaving out his best striker.

In terms of unrest, the players who are being edged out will understandably be unhappy, although it is impossible to imagine Okazaki being miserable, but the young players who are being given opportunities will embrace the current situation as their careers are benefiting.

There remains a strong player representation at City but suggestions of open player revolt are exaggerated.

Club Management

The tragic death of Khun Vichai rocked the whole club, but City remain strong as a business.

There has been huge upheaval at the King Power Stadium since the events of last October and the shockwaves will continue to resonate at the club.

Thankfully, in Susan Whelan, the club have retained a steadying influence and even though his father and mentor has gone, Khun Aiyawatt remains very much at the helm.

City are pressing ahead with the training ground project and the stadium expansion, as Khun Vichai wanted.

(Image: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

There has also been upheaval down Belvoir Drive as Puel has parted with both his assistant managers last summer; Michael Appleton and Pascal Plancque, while Jacques Bonnevay has come in, while there continues to be speculation over the future of head of recruitment Eduardo Macia, with recruitment in recent years a bone of contention for many fans.

Having been the epitome of stability in recent years, City’s transition on the pitch has been matched with changes off the field too.

In the current climate, and with Khun Top having plenty on his plate right now, both with his father’s King Power empire and City, changing manager mid-season may not be on his agenda - unless there is open revolt from the fans.

Then that would really have the outside world looking more closely and wondering: “What is going on at Leicester City?”