Last Christmas, Leicester City was half-way to a miracle, perched atop the Premier League standings, but it heads into this festive season in a more familiar place — three points above the relegation zone with their fans left wondering where the magic has gone.
“Surely they can’t?” was the question heard across English football 12 months ago as a club that had narrowly escaped relegation the previous season and which had been playing in the third tier League just seven years earlier produced win after win to streak away from the stumbling elite.
The same question is being asked again — surely the club which became the story of the year in international football, can’t follow up the joy of its title winning campaign with the misery of being the first title holder to be relegated since Manchester City in 1938?