Cliques, Fear, and Comfort: Leicester City Player Reveals Reasons Behind Premier League Relegation
The ex-Aston Villa, West Brom, and Leicester player shares his insights on the tumultuous 2022/23 season
Marc Albrighton has shared his perspective on why Leicester City faced relegation in 2023, despite having a squad filled with talented players.
Albrighton, who was a key player in Leicester’s 2016 Premier League-winning team, experienced relegation in 2023, although he was on loan at West Bromwich Albion for the latter half of that season.
On Ben Foster’s podcast, ‘Fozcast,’ he discussed several factors he believes contributed to the team’s downfall.
He mentioned that the team entered games with an unwarranted sense of fear towards opponents.
Albrighton explained, “We were going into games, fearing teams that we should never have been fearing.
Going into games… not really knowing what we were doing—that’s not on the manager [Brendan Rodgers] at all.
He was giving the information. It would get so far in and something would happen and everybody was just lost.”
Albrighton also noted the emergence of cliques and a toxic atmosphere within the team as a result of their losing streak.
“When you start losing, cliques start appearing—people whispering… you get that little bit of toxicness around the training ground,” he said.
A surprising factor he pointed out was the move from Leicester’s old training ground at Belvoir Drive to the new Seagrave facility.
He remarked, “I’m not saying this caused our relegation, but it contributed. We got too comfortable… the new training ground.
We moved from a tight, familiar setup to a multimillion-pound state-of-the-art facility with massages, steam rooms, saunas, ice baths, and swimming pools—it was like a spa.”
He elaborated, “Everything was done for you; you didn’t have to lift a finger.
If this comfort off the pitch affected us, it surely translated to our performance on the pitch. I think that was a major factor.”
Now 34 and currently without a club after his contract with Leicester ended, Albrighton was given a hero’s send-off at King Power Stadium on the final day of the Championship season, marking the end of his decade-long tenure at the club.
He mentioned that while he is still eager to play if the right opportunity arises, he has been enjoying time with his family away from the demands of professional sport.
