January 2016 and Leicester was on top of the world in the EPL with results beyond their fans wildest dreams. The Foxes had only narrowly avoided relegation the previous season and were now enjoying the lofty heights in the top echelon of the league table alongside Manchester City and Arsenal. This was not part of the script any of the so called experts envisioned with Leicester picked as one of the early relegation favourites for the 2015/16 season.

Despite the positive on-field results the naysayers were adamant the fall from grace was coming. Leicester simply did not have the quality and depth to maintain a serious challenge for Champions League qualification and a title push, well forget about it.

But the unthinkable and unimaginable did happen. Leicester City were crowned Champions. It is amazing to think on the eve of the 2015-16 season the odds on a Leicester title win was an astonishing 5000-1. Alex Donohue from betting agency Ladbrokes summed up the Leicester triumph succinctly.

“The Leicester City story is truly phenomenal – we’ll never see another long shot go from rags to riches like this again. At the start of the season there was as much chance of them winning the league as there was of Elvis turning up at the ground alive and well.”

Fast-Forward to present day and title aspirations are certainly not on the agenda. The current goal is Premier League survival. The latest loss to Southampton leaves the Foxes only 5 points above the relegation zone. They have not won an away game this season and will not be keen to create history as the first Premier League team to win the title and be relegated the following season.

The champions are looking to bring new players to the club during the January transfer window but manager Claudio Ranieri needs to get more out of the current squad. Key players Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have failed to recapture their best form and the defence is leaking goals with regularity.

The loss of N’Golo Kante one of their most important players last season was a major blow and new signings such as Napalys Mendi and Islam Slimani are not having the impact Ranieri would have hoped for. The Manager himself is under pressure less than year after he was considered by many to be a genius.

An off-field departure that cannot be underestimated is that of key scout Steve Walsh. The man credited with bringing in much of the talent that made up Leicester’s title winning squad departed for Everton on the eve of the season to take up their role as Director of Football.

So will Leicester’s league status be safe? It is hard to imagine title holders falling behind clubs such as Sunderland and Hull but if last year proved anything it is anything is possible. Amazingly they still have Champions League competition to contend with but may need to start thinking about priorities later in the season.

Whatever transpires Leicester fans would not trade in the heroics of last season for anything in the world. Not only was it one of the great moments in the world game, it was one of the all-time great sporting triumphs. Many pundits realistically expected a fall this year, just not a potential fall to the next division.

by Liam Sheedy – contributor

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