Conor Coady says that he was “destroyed” by the relegation of Leicester City, the first of his career. But although he accepts that it is deserved, he is convinced that the gap between the championship and the Premier League can be bridged – if lessons are learned.
“I could talk about this all day because I have an opinion about it and I see the opinions of other people and I agree with some and I don't agree with others. But I just think we can prepare ourselves better as clubs. I really believe that.
“We have not been good enough. That is all and the end. I take responsibility. But for the best possible opportunity to do it well, if the club is in a situation that they probably did not expect, we have to adapt to it. And we didn't do that well.”
That is a reference, partly, to the fact that Leicester came from the championship after he has won the title under Enzo Maresca. They had 62.2 percent that season and played with a clear style, a clear idea that was located under Italian.
But when Maresca left for Chelsea in the summer, the idea seems to be leaving with him. The appointment of Steve Cooper saw a shift in the approach, one that could be seen as pragmatism, but one that seems to suggest coady had them overtaken.
“We had a way to play in the championship last season that everyone understood and they knew what they were doing. And then, clearly not because of the choice of the club, the manager leaves in the summer. And then you have to start a bit.
“You have only had six weeks to prepare for what the largest competition in the world is, with the greatest players, the biggest managers. Six weeks to prepare for what is coming. Now some people can say that that is enough, you are professional football players.
“But you have Pep Guardiola in the competition, you have Unai Emery in the competition, you have Eddie Howe in the competition, managers who have been building for years and years to get to this point. It is really difficult and I think we have felt the effects of it.”
COADY speaks from experience as the last man to promote a team of a team of the championship and then qualifies for Europe in the following season. He did that with Wolves in 2018, the team with which Leicester is confronted in the Premier League this Saturday.
Wolves' points total as winners of the championship title were only two more than Leicester, although the side of Nuno Espirito Santo invested heavily in promotion, including Joao Moutinho and Raul Jimenez. “A large part of it is money,” coady accepts.
“But I really think that when we did it earlier with Nuno, the only thing I take from it, and the only thing I take from clubs that have done it in the past and stay up, they never changed what they did, what they built in the championship.
“That was their basis, what took them out of the championship. They didn't need six weeks in the preseason to build a foundation, they had built it for the past nine months and then used it in the Premier League. That really helped us at Wolves.
“It helps when you had a full season to work on it, as we did with Wolves, as Sheffield United did under Chris Wilder when they finished ninth, and Brentford did it when they came up, Fulham did when they came up. That feeling is already there.
“I think it helps as a football player when you have a certain way, an identity and an identity that you really believe in and you really trust and understand you as the back of your hand. We lost that a bit in the summer and were prepared under a new manager.”
It is worth pointing out that Leicester was not in the relegation zone when Cooper was fired in November. Their record under Ruud van Nistelrooy has been worse. Coady also knows that supporters will see the players, including him, as part of the problem.
He acknowledges that the example of Southampton is contrary to his theory. They tied to their principles under Russell Martin and bumped anyway. It can go the other way. “Of course it is possible,” he says. But coady is a student of this game.
“For example, I look at Bristol City. I watch their games and I think they are top drawer, a rear five every game. I like to watch back-five teams, how the manager is working on it, does not change. Coventry has an identity under Frank Lampard, whom I know well.
“It is huge to have an identity in the Premier League. When you saw how Leicester played in the championship, we never changed. At Wolves the idea was easy for the players who went to the Premier League, they believed in it and that was huge.”
Once that faith began to disappear, the fate of Leicester went from bad to worse. Nine consecutive home reductions are gloomy enough, but nine consecutive home reductions without scoring a goal in it is almost inexplicable. But that is the reality for this team.
Trust has evaporated. “It happens, believe me, because we are still people, at the end of the day we are not robots, and so you see it with our game when there is a chance to beat a man, but they turn and go back,” coady explains.
“That is only because it is easier to go back. That's not because they are a bad player. It's because they are struggling and thinking:” I don't want to go further in case I lose the loss. ” So what happens is that they eventually come back because it is a trust thing. “
At Molineux they confronted with a wolf side that has won five in a row. “Look at someone like Matheus Cunha. Wolves fought with us this year and they have Cunha. The only thing I read is that he is going to leave £ 60 million. It is crazy where these competitions are.”
Proof of the size of the task with which Leicester was always confronted? But coady maintains his mantra. It could have been different. “We have not been good enough. It is devastating, size, frankly. I can't tell you how stripped I am with the situation,” he concludes.
“But what are we doing now? Do we feel sorry for ourselves? Or are we going to show 32,000 people at the King Power, or two or three thousand if we travel away, that we are still fighting and we try to place this club at the best possible place for the summer?
“It's about senior guys who stand up, speak and be a real driving force in the dressing room. But it must also be about your own individual pride. This is what you register as a professional football player. These are not all roses, all fantastic.
“You sign up for life as a professional football player and that means that if it goes bad, you have to bounce back, you have to show yourself even more. It is really bad now and we don't enjoy it. It is not something that someone wants from us.
“But if it happens, what are you going to do? Are you going to hide and don't be part of it? Or are you going to get up and be counted? Don't look at your own situation. Look at the football club and where you can help it bring the summer.
“Because this club is in a situation, it should not be in it.”