That spectre looms ever more likely, even though, within the changing room and the club offices, there is a determination that the fight for Premier League survival is far from over.
Leicester’s players, I’m told, are bristling at the suggestion they have given up the fight and are determined to answer their critics in the remaining two matches, with one of those at home, against West Ham, and one away at Newcastle.
The fans, though, are quite rightly bemused about how this has happened. Especially when the last three seasons have seen Leicester challenge for the Champions League themselves, finishing fifth, fifth, and eighth. It was only two years ago that Leicester won the FA Cup.
So how has it all gone so spectacularly wrong so quickly? Here are some of the key reasons:.
Recruitment has been a key problem. Leicester have excelled in this area for many years and have been an example to so many other clubs, so this has been a shocking failure of late.
Leicester spent more than £70 million on Patson Daka, Boubakary Soumare, Jannick Westergaard, and Ryan Bertrand last season. This season, they have spent more than £50 million on Harry Souttar, Wout Faes, Tete, and Victor Kristiansen.
Quite simply, they have not got £120 million worth of quality for that spend based on this season’s performances. Those new signings just have not had the impact for which they were bought.