Leicester’s League One slide puts Russell Martin under mounting pressure
A 4-0 home defeat to Oxford United leaves Leicester City 17th in League One and with one win from Russell Martin’s first five matches.
Leicester City are 17th in League One after a 4-0 home defeat to Oxford United, intensifying pressure on manager Russell Martin after one win in his first five matches.
Supporters reportedly chanted for Martin to be sacked during the defeat. Sky Sports reported that Leicester’s current position is the club’s lowest since entering the Football League in 1894, a historical claim not independently verified in the supplied material.
The result adds to a wider run of poor form. Martin has recorded three league wins in 28 attempts since the start of the 2024–25 season, according to the report, while Leicester’s ownership has put the club up for sale amid reported fan unease.
Former Leicester assistant manager Michael Appleton said Martin had the experience to recover, while acknowledging that the home defeat and earlier results had made the start difficult. Reading co-CEO Joe Jacobson attributed some of the club’s problems to an inexperienced squad and tensions between Leicester’s supporters and ownership.
Leicester’s next match is away to third-placed Stockport County. The club won the Premier League in 2016 and was preparing for Champions League football a decade ago, underscoring the scale of its decline into the third tier.
