When Sheff Utd went 3-0 up before half time at Leicester last month it didn’t look like Marti Cifuentes would last the day, but there’s been something of a turn around since as the former QPR boss starts to get to grips with the task according to Ian Gallagher (@IanGallagher82).

How's the season been so far for Leicester?

We're 16 points off the top and 11 behind the automatic promotion places in a league many people expected us to walk, so in that sense, it's not exactly ideal. However, you don't need to scratch far beneath the surface to see where the problems lie.

I know the reservoir of sympathy for our plight is hardly going to be overflowing, but it has been a hard season. The summer was all about shifting our remaining sellable assets to try and keep the EFL off our backs, then putting whatever was left into a functioning team at Championship level - not exactly easy.

With precisely £0 spent on new signings and a handful of loans bundled through the door on deadline day to complement a squad of largely underperforming, expensive Premier League failures who don't really want to be here, we're probably not doing too badly all things considered.

The club needs a total reset and we're still only early on in that - so we still need to move the likes of Wout Faes, Harry Winks and Boubakary Soumare off our books this season if we can. Winks and Faes both sum up where we've gone wrong - typical modern footballers with ideas above their station, who think they're entitled to better things elsewhere (lads - there's a reason you're playing for Leicester in the Championship and your phone ain't ringing...).

With all that taken into account - there's been some genuinely eye-catching displays of late and the first shoots of a revival, despite the upheaval and senior pros moaning behind the scenes.

Leicester in the league so far…
Leicester 2-1 Sheff Wed Vestergaard 54, Faes 87 – Chalobah 26
Preston 2-1 Leicester Devine 7, Osmajic 85 – Monga 67
Charlton 0-1 Leicester Fatawu 48
Leicester 2-0 Birmingham Fatawu 8, Pereira 88
Oxford 2-2 Leicester Lankshear 9, Soumare og 44 – Ayew 13, Pereira 55
Leicester 0-0 Coventry
West Brom 1-1 Leicester Iling-Junior 10 – Phillips og 90
Leicester 1-1 Wrexham James 36 – Broadhead 77
Swansea 1-3 Leicester Idah pen 70 – James 13, Fatawu 77, Vestergaard 85
Leicester 1-1 Portsmouth Ramsey 26 – Swift 58
Hull 2-1 Portsmouth Millar 6, Gelhardt 31 – Ramsey 67
Millwall 1-0 Leicester Azeez 44
Leicester 0-2 Blackburn Gudjohnsen 20, 63
Leicester 1-1 Middlesbrough Ayew pen 45 – Ayling 90
Norwich 1-2 Leicester Kvistgaarden 62 – Reid 75, James 90
Leicester 2-1 Stoke Mavididi 23, Daka 44 – Jun-Ho 48
Southampton 3-0 Leicester Harwood-Bellis 18, 42, Azaz 23
Leicester 2-3 Sheff Utd Mavididi 53, James 83 – Cannon 2, O’Hare 4, Peck 32
Derby 1-3 Leicester Langas 63 – Reid 8, Skipp 15, James 31
Bristol City 2-2 Leicester Sykes 46, Riis 83 - Ayew pen 17, Reid 45
Leicester 3-1 Ipswich Reid 8, Fatawu 43, Ayew 52 – Cajuste 71

I thought Cifuentes would be lucky to see the end of the day when I watched you play Sheff Utd but something seems to have clicked/changed since half time in that game, what is it?

I really hope there was some sort of realisation among the group that a well-paid, experienced XI like this turning in a display as abject as that one was completely unacceptable and couldn't keep happening. There were rumblings from the week prior that the aforementioned Winks was causing problems in the camp and the preparation was disrupted, but that can't be used as an excuse.

We might be a limited team, but a big part of this is about getting people on the pitch who at least have some pride and grit, regardless of their ability. I think we're getting towards that point and if that means one of our best players is never seen again, then so be it.

Cifuentes underperforming, or working in difficult circumstances?

The story of how we've gone from one of the best-run clubs in the land to a jobbing mid-table Championship outfit has already been well told, so I won't labour that point - only to say that blaming Cifuentes for this situation is like hiring a sparky to change a socket and sacking him for not rewiring the whole house.

The club is still rotten at the core and no manager can fix that, let alone in a few months. Cifuentes needs time, which sadly I'm not sure he will ultimately be given, but the circumstances are very difficult.

He only joined late on in pre-season thanks to the shabby way the club handled the sacking of Ruud van Nistelrooy, then basically had to sit and wait to see who was left at the end of the transfer window to try and fashion a team from that.

There are still plenty of very good Championship players here, but trying to win games with what has to be one of the weakest strike forces in the division is bordering on impossible. Jamie Vardy is, of course, irreplaceable, but due to circumstances we've not even tried to. Julian Carranza (nine games, 0 goals) is clearly not at the level and Patson Daka has scored his annual goal, so that leaves us with 34-year-old Jordan Ayew as our best forward option. The contrast between this and the embarrassment of riches we had under Enzo Maresca two seasons ago couldn't be more marked.

Cifuentes says all the right things about wanting to change the culture and build something, and I hope he's given the time to do it. Despite all our recent failures, we're still brilliant as a club at blooding and developing youngsters and hopefully he is the right man for that job.

January plans? Mainly outgoings?

I would expect so. We did a good job of balancing the books in the summer and there's probably a few more to shift - either to recoup some sort of a fee, get their wages off the books or simply because they're rubbish.

If we can rattle a few tins outside the ground and sign a player in any position, it has to be a striker. I'm not confident it will happen - if we had the funds to do it, we'd surely have gone for a Richard Kone, a Josh Sargent or a Carlton Morris in the summer.

Ins >>> Asmir Begovic, 38, GK, Everton, Free >>> Aaron Ramsey, 22, AM, Burnley, Loan >>> Jordan James, 21, CM, Stade Rennais, Loan >>> Julian Carranza, 25, CF, Feyenoord, Loan >>> Fran Vieites, 26, GK, Unattached, Free

Outs >>> Mads Hermansen, 25, GK, West Ham, £18m >>> Kasey McAteer, 23, RM, Ipswich, £10m >>> James Justin, 27, RB, Leeds, £8m >>> Wilfred Ndidi, 28, DM, Besiktas, £7m >>> Conor Coady, 32, CB, Wrexham, £2m >>> Daniel Iversen, 27, GK, Preston, Free >>> Danny Ward, 32, GK, Wrexham, Free >>> Jamie Vardy, 38, CF, Cremonese, Free >>> Bilal El Khannouss, 21, AM, Stuttgart, Loan >>> Woyo Coulibaly, 26, RB, Sassuolo, Loan >>> Will Alves, 20, AM, Huddersfield, Loan

The team looks strong on paper but is less than the sum of its parts, where do you think it's strong and weak?

That's a fair assessment. We're really strong in midfield and wide areas - Jordan James is a great find and a flickering sign that we can still spot a good deal (loan with £5m option to buy - an absolute no-brainer). Likely Puskas Award winner Abdul Fatawu has been frustrated at times when he gets man-marked by about four men at once, but he's one of the best players in the league. Stephy Mavididi is showing some signs of the player he was two years ago, and now he's fit, Bobby Decordova-Reid has shown what a class act he can be. In short, we're good at creating stuff again. The possible return of Aaron Ramsey this weekend should only add to that.

On the flip side, we're very brittle at the back - Jannik Vestergaard has again been a very solid performer, but it's taken until recent weeks to pin down a regular partner for him in home-grown Ben Nelson (arguably Cifuentes' biggest misstep, he should have been in from the start of the season). We're often exposed down the flanks and clean sheets are like hen's teeth. Jakub Stolarcyzk is a good replacement for Mads Hermansen between the sticks but is prone to the odd wobble as well - as is our willing pensioner Asmir Begovic, formerly of your parish, who was pressed into unexpected action with Stolarcyzk's recent injury.

Overall we struggle to show up for a complete 90 minutes, which is a clear weakness. There is a lot of development needed to lose the Jekyll and Hyde nature of our performances.

Any sign of that points deduction?

No, but they tend to land when you least expect them, don't they? Maybe a Christmas Eve surprise for us to look forward to?!

We've hired QPR’s own Nick De Marco KC again (aka Mr Loophole) so one can only hope he's found another new way of stopping us receiving the punishment which, frankly, we deserve to get.

Revised expectations for the season?

Realistically, the logic should be that as an inconsistent team with a looming points deduction, we should just look to consolidate in mid-table, clear a few more duds off the books and go again next season.

However, if we can keep up our recent form and somehow avoid that points deduction, I don't think a play-off spot is out of the question. I think the top two are already out of sight but everyone else is beatable on our good days.

Links >>> Leicester City Official Site >>> Leicester Mercury – Local press >>> Foxes Talk – Message Board >>> When you’re smiling – Podcast >>> The Final Whistle – Vlog >>> Fosse Posse – Fan Site

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Pictures - Ian Randall Photography