Leicester City

Former Southampton and Rangers manager Russell Martin is among the candidates to take over as Leicester City manager following the sacking of Marti Cifuentes. (Football Insider), external

Former Foxes player Gary Rowett and Hearts manager Derek McInnes are also being considered by the Foxes. (Mail), external

Northampton Town have entered advanced talks with Leicester for a potential loan move that would see 17-year-old Foxes forward Jake Evans return to his hometown. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City sacked boss Marti Cifuentes after the 2-1 home defeat by relegation-battling Oxford left the Foxes 14th in the Championship and six points off the play-off places.

We asked for your views on whether the club was right to part ways with the 43-year-old Spaniard and on who should replace him.

Here is a selection of your responses:

Daniel: I can see why the frustrations are placed against Marti. However this is a role that is set up to fail from the start. No strength up front means we constantly have to defend and inevitably concede. The club needs changing from the top down, not the bottom up.

Mark: To be honest, this has been coming for a while. The team is disjointed, lethargic and needs someone to instil some fight and energy into them. Instead of looking for a new manager now, they should leave Andy King in charge until the end of the season and hope that he can get them to actually play like a team that cares about playing and fight to keep us up.

Alex: Cifuentes has carried the can for yet more director-level failure. He was their appointment and left to make do with a box of largely worn-out or misshapen tools. Difference is that the directors get to carry on and probably make more glaring errors.

Nick: Set up for failure. Who would take the job now? Still no money, fans with unrealistic expectations, club lacking direction. Get an experienced manager in short-term to steady the ship and avoid relegation.

Steve: Results show that change is needed but the club need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Marti was brought in with no pre-season and no chance to build the squad of his liking. We now sack him with a week to go in the January window meaning that any new manager will have missed the opportunity to shape the squad and therefore will inherit a squad of players who have been incredibly poor, are overpaid and lack the commitment to our club. Combine that with a forthcoming points deduction and no money for anything and you wonder who would be foolish enough to take such a position.

Kimbo: Letting him go was the right decision. Anyone can see that the problems are deeper rooted than him. Was he the problem? Not really. Unfortunately, he wasn't the solution. Had good intentions and wish him well but he just wasn't the man for the job.

Hadrian: Can't wrap my head around it. The club have deep-rooted issues that need addressing and the players need a long, hard look at themselves, as do the fans. Our fanbase is toxic.

Joe F: While Marti was not the right man for the job, at the end of the day the issues are far more down to systemic issues in the backroom. The team Leicester has isn't good enough but this is the reckoning that has been coming. The headlines can be seen already: '10 years ago champions of England, today relegated to League One'.

Kevin: Probably correct call given recent dire performances but I do have some sympathy. Short pre-season, no money to spend, squad lacking in quality, a portion of whom clearly don't want to be here. Club's been on a downward spiral for 4-5 years now, fear it hasn't reached the bottom yet. As for who next? Who would want it?

John: Cifuentes brought in good players like Jordan James and Aaron Ramsey but couldn't make the team consistent at all. Existing players should take some responsibility. Last two games were dire and everyone was starting to panic. Seemed to have lost the dressing room so had to go. Could we do what Celtic have in bringing in an ex-manager until the end of the season? Nigel Pearson working with Andy King?

Joe T: Easy to lay the blame on the manager but he's always come across as a genuinely decent man, trying his best for our club. The same at the moment cannot be said about the majority of the players. I'm not sure where we go from here and who would want to touch this role with a bargepole. A Nigel Pearson-like character would be an ideal solution even if it's just in the short term.

Leicester City's issues go beyond just the manager, according to former Foxes striker Matty Fryatt.

The Championship club have sacked boss Marti Cifuentes after only six months in charge and with the team 14th in the table.

"The bigger issue is, is it a club problem, not just a manager problem?" Fryatt told BBC Radio Leicester's podcast 'When You're Smiling.'

"You've had three managers in a year who've been sacked - everyone has to take accountability for it."

Listen to 'When You're Smiling' and more Leicester City content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Shutterstock

Leicester City have sacked manager Marti Cifuentes after only six months in charge.

The Foxes are 14th in the Championship and six points short of the play-off places.

But are the club right to have parted company with Cifuentes and who should they replace him with?

Leicester fans can have their say here - check back on this page on Monday to see some of the responses.

Naz Premji
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

The Foxes put in an abject performance against Oxford United on Saturday and were deservedly beaten 2-1 in a game which saw new U's boss Matt Bloomfield get his first win since taking over at the Kassam Stadium.

Marti Cifuentes' side lacked ideas and there was not much determination to get back into the game when they went 2-0 down.

A large number of the Leicester fans were heading to the exits when Mark Harris scored the visitors' second goal.

Remember, Leicester are waiting on a verdict on a points deduction for their previous financial issues and rules that were allegedly broken during the past few seasons.

They could get anything from six to 10 points taken off them and, if it's the latter, they will be in trouble and in a real relegation fight.

Add in the fact they are unlikely to bring in any new faces in January, and there is a real recipe for trouble brewing at the King Power Stadium.

In fact, former Foxes striker Matty Fryatt said on BBC Radio Leicester that the side look like they are sleepwalking into a relegation position.

Worrying times in the East Midlands.

Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes said his side have to be "better" and "look at themselves" following the chastening defeat at home against lowly Oxford United.

"We struggled after going 1-0 down we did not move the ball quickly enough," Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester.

"We need to look at ourselves. There are many things we need to do much better.

"The Championship is a tough league. We need to regroup and understand the picture and move in the right direction. We need to create more.

"The expectation from ourselves is that we want to win every game. I understand it's frustrating.

"It doesn't matter what the score is. I want the fans to go home proud. I know they probably didn't feel that way."

Image source, EFL

A new initiative highlighting the work of football club charities has been launched by the English Football League (EFL).

'Scan to Smile' will be rolled out in stadiums across the EFL from Friday until the end of January, with supporters invited to scan QR codes on posters displayed around grounds.

Each scan will unlock a short, uplifting story from a person whose life has been positively impacted by the support of their local club charity.

The subjects tackled include mental health support, combating loneliness, improving physical wellbeing, employability and confidence.

The EFL said it hoped the initiative would use "the reach and influence of football to offer fans a moment of positivity on matchday".

Trevor Birch, chief executive at the EFL, said: "Behind every club are people whose lives have been positively changed through the work and dedication of their local EFL club charity.

"This initiative gives supporters the chance to see that impact first-hand and reminds us that football truly is a force for good."

Image source, Shutterstock

Leicester City midfielder Jordan James will be out for at least month after suffering a hamstring injury in their midweek draw at Wrexham.

The Wales international has scored four times in his last six games for the Foxes and nine goals overall this season.

He had to go off after 41 minutes at the Racecourse Ground and Leicester have also lost Oliver Skipp for Saturday's home game against Oxford United following a clash of heads.

"Unfortunately, neither of them will be available for the next game," head coach Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester.

"JJ suffered a hamstring injury that will take him out for some weeks and the medical team is working with Skippy but he will definitely not be ready for this game.

"They are both doing really well and when we analyse the second-half performance (at Wrexham), that was definitely a big part of it, the fact that we lose two important players in the midfield."

Asked whether three or four weeks was a likely period out for James, Cifuentes replied "perhaps slightly more".

Leicester are 14th in the Championship, five points adrift of the play-off places.

Kate Blakemore
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

The five-hour round trip away to Wrexham on Tuesday was exactly as you'd imagine on a cold, wet night in January.

Football is supposed to make those kind of trips worthwhile, but sadly it just added to the misery of the evening.

The fans were muted for the most part, likely stunned into silence by what they were witnessing and have witnessed from our performances these past few months.

The equaliser was met with a sarcastic cheer from some and despite rescuing a point late on, it really felt like a loss.

Seeing the glass half full is getting increasingly harder to do with this side. We are an enigma; a team seemingly full of talent but unable to orchestrate any 90-minute performance this season.

The 22 games without a clean sheet in the league tells the sorry tale of our defending.

Oxford arrive on Saturday and what should be a winnable game really doesn't feel like it, and I have no idea how we are going to break this cycle of apathetic football. More so, if star man Jordan James misses the game through injury as is expected.

Marti Cifuentes made some tough decisions earlier in the season, with the Harry Winks and Wout Faes sagas.

But he must make further ones to punish the persistent under-performers and at least experiment more with some of the youth, whilst cash is tight, who have been given only minutes here and there.

If his stubbornness continues, so will the poor performances and his job will become increasingly untenable. Nothing changes unless something changes.

Listen to more from Kate Blakemore at Leicester Till I Die., external

Matt Bloomfield will aim to collect his first win as Oxford United boss when the side visit an out-of-form Leicester City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Bloomfield was appointed U's head coach on 9 January but has yet to see his side score after his first two games at the helm both ended in goalless stalemates.

The Foxes, however, are also having a hard time as of late after losing two of their past four league games (W1 D1).

• This will be the first time that Leicester City have hosted Oxford United in league action since November 1993, a match the U's won 3-2 in the second tier.

• Oxford United are unbeaten across their last three league games against Leicester City (W1 D2), only once have they gone four undefeated against the Foxes in the Football League – a four-match stint between September 1970 and October 1985.

• Leicester have won four of their last six home league games (L2), scoring 2+ goals in five of those matches. The Foxes will be looking to win three in succession at home in the same season for the first time since April 2024.

• Only bottom side Sheffield Wednesday (14) have failed to score in more different Championship games than Oxford this season (11), with the U's last two games finishing 0-0.

• Leicester kept a clean sheet in three of their first six league games this season, but have since conceded in each of their last 22.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

It may be 2026 but people are throwing it back to 2016 in a popular social trend to show how they and their lives have changed a decade on.

And it is fair to say 2016 was a big year in history.

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States and Pokemon-Go had people running round all over the place.

Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Drake commandeered the charts and a big sporting year saw an Olympics in Brazil and European Championships in France.

But it was a monumental year for the Premier League too.

So let's hop on the viral trend and throw it back to see just what happened in English football a decade ago.

Leicester crowned Premier League champions

Image source, Getty Images

There is only one place to start and that is with Leicester City.

The Foxes achieved the unthinkable when they were crowned 2015-16 Premier League Champions.

It remains an achievement beyond compare as they were rank outsiders at the start of the campaign, and it seems hard to imagine now another team emulating the same underdog success

Leicester were led by the eccentric Italian Mr "Dilly Ding" Claudio Ranieri, with party starter Jamie Vardy plundering goals for fun and N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez running rings around the opposition.

It remains one of the greatest sporting stories of all time.

Caballero was the hero as Pellegrini bowed out

Image source, Getty Images

Willy Caballero was Manchester City's hero as they beat Liverpool on penalties to win the Capital One - now Carabao - Cup at Wembley.

The Argentine goalkeeper spectacularly rewarded the faith of manager Manuel Pellegrini with saves from Lucas, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana in the shoot-out after he was selected ahead of first-choice keeper Joe Hart.

That was a huge decision by Pellegrini, but one that ultimately paid off as he lifted his final piece of silverware with City.

Pep Guardiola was to be Pellegrini's successor and the rest was history - so they say.

Mourinho arrived and Pogba returned

Image source, Getty Images

Louis van Gaal's final match as Manchester United manager was the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace which they went on to win in extra-time.

It was United's first trophy since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and marked the end of Van Gaal's largely undistinguished two-year spell in charge.

He was replaced by Jose Mourinho and shortly after former Barcelona and Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived to much fanfare.

But it was the return of Paul Pogba that is perhaps so memorable.

Four years after his departure, Pogba returned to Old Trafford for what was at the time a world-record £89m transfer fee.

Was he worth it? That debate is for another day.

Pardew threw some shapes

Image source, Getty Images

It would not be a 2016 recap without taking a moment for Alan Pardew.

His infamous wiggle - if you can call it that - when Jason Puncheon scored for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final against Manchester United will go down in history as one of the best (or worst) managerial celebrations.

Pardew was, of course, later sacked in December 2016 after taking just 26 points from the 36 Premier League matches they played that year. Thankfully his iconic dad dancing is out there for us to admire 10 years on.

Leicester City are keen on Chelsea striker David Datro Fofana but fear they could be priced out of a deal for the 23-year-old Ivorian, who scored eight goals in 15 games while on loan at Turkish side Karagumruk in the first half of the season. (Leicester Mercury), external

Want to read more EFL transfer news and rumours? Check out Thursday's gossip column in full here.

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All English Football League games across a four-day period in February will begin one minute late to raise awareness for the Every Minute Matters campaign.

The initiative will be in place for 36 matches across the Championship, League One and League Two between 5 and 9 February.

EFL sponsor Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have been working together since May 2024 to highlight the importance of speed when it comes to performing live-saving CPR.

Later kick-off times will serve as "a stark reminder that every minute matters", the EFL said.

Bristol Rovers defender Tom Lockyer collapsed while playing for Luton Town eight minutes into the Championship play-off final against Coventry in May 2023.

Lockyer then suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch seven months later during a Premier League game at Bournemouth.

"What happened to me can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time," said Lockyer, who is now a BHF ambassador.

"Every year, more than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and most of them never make it home.

"I'm here today because of the transformative power of CPR as every minute matters when it comes to saving a life.

"This February, we want everyone to get behind this life-saving initiative, learn the skills and be ready to step in because your actions could give someone else the chance I was given."

Throughout February, the Every Minute Matters campaign will call on fans to learn CPR using the BHF's online RevivR, external tool.

"Each minute without CPR reduces a person's chance of survival, so we're urging fans to learn the skills now, before you ever need them," said Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF.

EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch added: "The one minute kick-off adjustment is a simple, powerful reminder that swift CPR can be the difference between life and death."

Morecambe have signed forward Chris Popov on loan from Championship club Leicester City until the end of the season.

The 21-year-old came through Leicester's academy having initially played in Manchester United's youth set-up.

He also spent time on loan in League Two last season with Barrow, making 12 appearances for the club in all competitions.

Image source, Getty Images

Wrexham midfielder Matty James said Leicester City are a club "close to my heart" but insists he is determined to secure three points against his former side in the Championship on Tuesday evening.

James, who has signed a new contract to remain at Wrexham until the summer of 2027, spent nine years with the Foxes and made 117 appearances for the East Midlands club.

He was with Leicester when they won the Premier League in 2016 but missed the whole campaign due to injury.

"It's a club that I hold close to my heart and having had the reception that I got at the away game, it's always nice to play against them," James said.

"But certainly for us, we're looking to try and get them three points on the night."

Both Wrexham and Leicester will be looking to bounce back after defeats on Saturday - Wrexham lost 2-1 at home to Norwich City while Leicester were beaten by league leaders Coventry City.

Relegated from the Premier League last season, Leicester have had an inconsistent season on the pitch while also experiencing off the field financial issues.

Martí Cifuentes' side are currently 13th in the Championship table – three points behind 10th placed Wrexham and six points off the play-off spots.

"I think they'll probably be expecting more from themselves," James added.

"I think there's things going on, and off the pitch at the moment, which is not nice to see."

James believes Leicester have what it takes to climb up the table and will pose a strong challenge for his current side.

"I think for us, we just focus on ourselves and make sure that we're prepared for the game. They've got good players and we have to respect that," he said.

"Hopefully, we can go out there and put on a great performance and get three points.

"The Championship's ticking fast, the games come round quickly. It's a good opportunity for us at home on Tuesday night."

Image source, Opta

Leicester City will seek to end a winless midweek streak dating back to 2024 as they head to Wrexham on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

The Foxes allowed an early lead to slip to a 2-1 defeat at Championship leaders Coventry on Saturday. City's third straight league defeat on the road left them 13th but only six points adrift of the play-off places.

The Red Dragons are three places and three points better off, despite seeing a 10-match unbeaten home run ended by a 2-1 defeat to Norwich last time out.

• Wrexham remain winless in seven Football League games against Leicester City (D4 L3), scoring just two goals in those meetings.

• Leicester last visited Wrexham in league competition in April 1982, drawing 0-0. They have never conceded a goal on three previous trips.

• Leicester City have only lost one of their past 13 Championship games against newly-promoted opponents (W7 D5), going down 0-1 at Plymouth in April 2024.

• Wrexham have only lost one of their past seven midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (W3 D3), going down 0-2 to Hull in December.

• Leicester City are winless in their past 10 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D3 L7) since a 3-1 Premier League win over West Ham in December 2024.

Marti Cifuentes was left frustrated by his Leicester City side's slow start to their second half as they were turned over 2-1 by local rivals and Championship leaders Coventry City.

Jordan James struck for the Foxes within the first 10 minutes of their derby at the CBS Arena, but Coventry replied through an Ellis Simms effort - just 90 seconds after the restart - and then the Sky Blues claimed all three points through Haji Wright with just five minutes to spare.

After victories over West Bromwich Albion and Cheltenham Town in league and cup more recently, Cifuentes was hopeful of building on that positive form - but he considers the timing of Coventry's equaliser to be unacceptable.

He told BBC Radio Leicester: "It's a tough one, because it's a derby. It was an opportunity, as well, to have a good moment after our last two results, to reconnect with our fans, so it's a tough one.

"We knew the first half was very good, it was at the tempo we want the team to play. There was good communication, there was good controlling of the game, creating chances but perhaps we needed to be more clinical.

"The game was there for the taking, but we spoke at half time that Coventry are playing at home, chasing the game and would try to push.

"We knew there'd be moments we have to cope with, but what we cannot accept is the way we conceded after just seconds after restarting."