Leicester City are in crisis, and former Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles may have just found himself facing one of the toughest tasks career: helping keep the Foxes in the Championship.
The former Premier League champions have recently sacked Marti Cifentues and been deducted six points for PSR breaches that occurred during their last stint in the top flight.
So the recruitment of Lascelles, still a solid defender when fit and with heaps of experience in both intense situations and Championship battles, seemed like a great signing for the struggling side.
What’s the worst thing that could have happened for Lascelles as he made his home debut at the King Power Stadium…?
Leicester were one of the wrong side of one of most embarrassing, albeit remarkable comebacks of the season on Tuesday night in their 4-3 loss at home to Southampton.
The Foxes, under the interim management of Andy King, raced into a 3-0 lead inside the opening half hour of the game, thanks to goals from Makasa, Daka and Fatawu.
And it was smooth sailing for the remainder of the first half as well as the first 15 minutes of the second half: that’s when the tides turned against the home team. Stewart pulled one back just after the hour mark, then Jamaal Lascelles came on with 75 minutes on the clock, hoping to help his new side see out that game from 3-1 up.
However, in the next 15 minutes, goals from Stephens, Manning and a 96th minute strike from Shea Charles saw the Saints condemn Leicester to another crushing defeat this campaign, with Lascelles’ side conceding three in just over 15 minutes to go from 3-1 up to 4-3 down at the death.
The disastrous result leaves Leicester fourth bottom on 32 points, only above 22nd place Blackburn Rovers on goal difference, with Oxford second bottom on 28 points and Sheffield Wednesday rock bottom on -7 after a points deduction and just one win all season.
Lascelles made his first appearance for his new club last weekend, starting (despite his total lack of training time in 2026) in their 2-1 defeat at Birmingham.
Leicester are in serious danger of total collapse, with relegation to League One a sudden possibility if things don’t improve.
Lascelles has been in turbulent, tumultuous situations like this before when he was with us: serving as captain in multiple relegation battles in the Premier League, he’ll need to act as a calming, motivational presence in the changing rooms to stop Leicester just completely switching off at this point.
And the 32-year-old will need to do it fast. Up next for Leicester is the fourth round of this season’s FA Cup, and the 2021 champions will want to exact a measure of revenge on Southampton as they head to St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.