Five potential Leicester City candidates assessed - from Rafa Benitez to NOT Adam Sandler

Don’t be sad that it’s over, just be glad that it happened. Brendan Rodgers has left Leicester City, an FA Cup winner, a European competition semi-finalist, and more recently, a relegation-threatened mess.

Actually, he left a few days ago; he was part of a Premier League sacking double feature alongside Chelsea’s Graham Potter. On some level you wonder if the writers know that we’ve become so desensitised to the wanton bloodshed of it all that they’ve started upping the ante with ever more gory flourishes of the pen. Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

Regardless, it means that the Foxes, currently languishing in the drop zone and gasping desperately for any kind of preservatory momentum, are in need of a new boss. With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the top five favourites to fill the vacancy below...

Rafa Benitez

Rafa is ready. Any day now the little Siemens flip phone he keeps clipped to his belt at all times is going to buzz, and when it does, he will answer it with a smug smirk and a casual ola that belies the racing thrum of his mind’s eye. He can see it now; the blue tie recycled from his doomed Everton stint, the ultra-conservatism that slowly turns the fanbase against him, the failed escape act, the fervent speculation over whether he will have a crack at the Championship, the eventual departure and the sizeable pay-off. Oh yes, he can see it all so clearly.

“Si, Mr. Srivaddhanaprabha”, he whispers into the receiver, “I would love to come in for an interview”.

Graham Potter

Look, lads, it’s not happening. Let it go, okay? Potter may be second favourite among the bookies, but if a salvo of fresh speculation is to be believed, he has absolutely no interest in becoming Leicester City manager whatsoever. And let’s be honest, who can really blame him? If he were to scuttle Chelsea and sink the Foxes in the space of a single campaign, he might never work again.

No, instead Potter is said to have his heart set on... West Ham. Go figure. It might not feel like the most ambitious or obvious choice for a manager who has just had a taste of the Champions League (albeit fleeting) but it does tie into my working theory that he is slowly morphing into a kind of David Moyes 2.0. Until now, there have been definite parallels, but this... well, this would be the first true point of convergence. Watch this space.

Adam Sadler

Not to be confused with Adam Sandler. I repeat, NOT to be confused with Adam Sandler. The man who has been entrusted with the caretaker role at the King Power in the aftermath of Brendan Rodgers’ departure boasts a lenghty coaching career, but up until now, has never held the top job. In a den of feeble foxes, he may be feeling more vupline, and indeed vulnerable, than most. Thrust out from the cosy cover of the undergrowth right into the snarling, gnashing jaws of the relegation bloodhounds, suddenly Sadler is a man under scrutiny.

How long that will last, nobody knows for certain, but his inclusion in many bookmakers’ list of prospective candidates is probably based on the outside possibility that he can guide this ailing side to a run of form, a successful survival bid, and then a permanent appointment. It worked for Craig Shakespeare. For a bit.

Ralph Hassenhutl

See, now we’re talking. Hassenhutl is arguably the first manager on this list who feels like he could be Leicester City manager. Like, spiritually. It just fits - the club shop baseball cap, the general malaise of unfulfilled potential - all of it. There are clearly reasons as to why he is so far down the pecking order, and in truth, we may never be privvy to the specifics on why that is the case, but if things were to change and he did somehow end up at the King Power, nobody would bat an eyelid.

He would probably do a decent enough job too, truth be told.

Ange Postecoglou

Ange, Ange, Ange. Many a manager du jour has found themselves in the position that he does presently. He is the eternally touted, the man for all vacancies. Barely a sacking goes by where his name doesn’t get thrown into the ring, however speculative his association may seem. We’ve reached a stage where if a branch of Morrisons in Basingstoke advertises for a new shift supervisor, Postecoglou will probably have to come out and publicly distance himself from the role.

One of these days, a rumour will stick, and the Australian - revered as he is at Celtic - will make the move to pastures new. But it is unlikely to be just yet, and it is unlikely to be Leicester City.