How Marti Cifuentes actually feels about Leicester City situation | OneFootball

Marti Cifuentes has opened up on his difficult stint with Leicester City

Leicester City are on their way down to the third tier of English football for just the second time in the club's history, as one former boss has now spoken out on his time with the Foxes.

It has been a miserable year for Leicester, who have succumbed to relegation for the second time in two years and the third in four.

However, this is undoubtedly the most damning and damaging of the lot, as the former Premier League champions, just a decade ago, will be playing their football in League One next year for just the second time in their history.

There can be numerous factors pointed to as the crux of their demise, from the unfortunate passing of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, to ditching their previous transfer model or selling one of their star assets per summer, to the ageing of Jamie Vardy; each has had its own substantial impact.

The appointment of Gary Rowett did little in the way of rescuing them from their dire situation, as his predecessor, Marti Cifuentes, has now opened up on his time with the club.

Marti Cifuentes has expressed how he really feels about his time with Leicester City

Spanish boss Marti Cifuentes took charge of Leicester on the eve of pre-season over the summer, as the Foxes waited to dismiss previous manager Ruud van Nistelrooy so that the compensation fee paid to the Dutchman rolled over into this year's accounts amid financial turmoil.

Cifuentes had previously been in charge of Queens Park Rangers and showed glimpses of his ability as a head coach despite difficult circumstances at Loftus Road, and was appointed to lead Leicester into the new season.

However, the Spaniard was dismissed just before the end of the January window after a 2-1 home defeat to Oxford United, and has now opened up on his time at the King Power Stadium, saying: "I cannot say I am extremely happy about the way it ended but at the same time I feel quite proud and calm with the way we tried to handle the whole situation of the club.

"It was a good experience in terms of managing a great club with a lot of great people. I really wish them well.

"Since we left, things didn’t get much better. I would say the opposite. It was a challenging moment for the club and definitely an intense period for us.

"This (the culture of the club) is one of the main things. It was one of the main conversations we had before arriving there, it was about giving us the time to change this.

"We spoke about top managers having a lot of resources. But in our case financially it was very difficult. We had to sell a lot of players and we couldn’t invest a penny. It was not easy to make this transition.

We felt we were on the right path to make this transition over the season. We were closer to the play-off positions when we left. It didn’t go much better.

"Any successful club has to start with a clear philosophy and how you want to do things. In football you can achieve success in many different ways, but the culture must be high performance, it must be with clear high demands and high standards, and that’s something that I know there are a lot of good people there and they are looking at improving that

Indeed, Leicester were just six points off the top six when Cifuentes was dismissed, and with Rowett winning just two of his 14 games in charge, their fate was sealed.

Whether Cifuentes would have fared any better than Rowett is up for debate and will never truly be known, as the Foxes prepare for third-tier football next season.

Leicester City will be beginning preparations for League One

As Leicester prepare for next season, huge changes will be made around the club.

First and foremost, the managerial appointment they make must be the correct one for the club, though whether they can make the correct call on that remains to be seen.

A lot of their top earners must leave the club to reduce the wage bill, with departure of Ricardo Pereira having already been confirmed, whilst the likes of Patson Daka and Abdul Fatawu are certain to go.

It's a huge summer for Leicester, who must ensure they don't find themselves stuck in League One for too long, otherwise the challenge of finding their way back will become increasingly difficult.