Leicester City's trip to Tottenham on Saturday looks set to be make-or-break for Brendan Rodgers.
The Foxes currently sit rock-bottom of the Premier League, having failed to win any of their opening six matches, picking up just one point in the process. Only Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have conceded more goals than City's 16 so far, with Aston Villa and Leeds United also registering double-figures in that statistic.
But if you would've said to Leicester fans in the 60th minute of their opening day game against Brentford that they would be on just one point from a possible 18, then they would have perplexed. Rodgers' side were cruising to a comfortable win over the Bees, up until they collapsed and buckled under pressure.
Goals from Ivan Toney and Josh Dasilva earned Brentford a 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium when - at one point - the game looked beyond them.
It was a moment in time that completely shifted Leicester's start to the season into a bad one, with the Foxes losing their next five matches against Arsenal, Southampton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion.
The latter was arguably the most damaging, given the fact Leicester took the lead and equalised to make it 2-2 just before the break. They could've used Patson Daka's leveller as a platform to build on, but instead crumbled to concede three second-half goals and lose the game 5-2.
Leicester have dropped the most points in the Premier League so far this season (8), along with Forest. But this isn't a new problem. The Foxes let a number of leads slip during the second-half of last season, including against Tottenham where they conceded two injury-time goals to Steven Bergwijn as Spurs ran out 3-2 winners.
What else is going wrong? Rodgers has publicly criticised the players for their performances and even the fans for how they are supporting the team. This isn't going to help the cause one bit, especially for the supporters who travel in their numbers week-in-week out to home and away matches.
Rodgers said: "All I encourage is that when it’s 0-0 or they're 1-0 behind, they keep pushing the players and keep supporting them. It's so important for the players on the field that they feel that support, otherwise, if they're trying to build the game and get through the pitch and it's a bit nervy and the support's not quite there, players get nervous.
"That's not what you want. You need the players calm and supported.
"If supporters give the team that, it takes away the anxiety and the players can go and be their very best. I'm not too sure there are many players who will get better if they don’t have that support. So it’s so important that the supporters get behind the team."
Will Leicester get relegated this season? Let us know in the comments below!
Subsequently, the Foxes boss has been put under increased pressure from fans, having already been under scrutiny for a number of decisions. There was some confusion amongst the Foxes faithful when Castagne was left out of the starting XI, while others have been unhappy about Caglar Soyuncu's lack of game time.
The Belgian was dropped for Luke Thomas ahead of City's game against Man Utd and also started on the bench at Brighton, with Rodgers citing the decision to leave Castagne out as being about correcting the balance in the side.
However, the 49-year-old then added that Castagne needs to "train well" to get back into the team.
But how does that work? Thomas is naturally left-footed and that is supposed to be the reason behind why Castagne was dropped, not because of his ability on the training field. He has given two completely different responses and implies that Castagne could've been left out for other reasons than "balance".
Meanwhile, Soyuncu posted a cryptic message in Turkish on social media after City's defeat by Man Utd. It said as translated: "All good things come after patience." This came after Rodgers claimed that Soyuncu has been "out of form for a while in training" - a similar reason to that of Castagne.
Something doesn't seem right but Rodgers does have a chance to put that right when Leicester travel to Spurs in the 5:30pm kick-off on Saturday. New £17m recruit Wout Faes could be in line to make his Foxes debut at the back - with the Belgian the only outfield player Leicester signed in the summer.
Rodgers often expressed his frustration at the club's transfer policy throughout the window, with the Northern Irishman claiming that "this isn't the club that it was a couple of years ago." This could be one of the reasons behind Leicester's poor start, but there should be no more moaning about that now, as Leicester look to steer themselves away from safety.
Although it could be said Rodgers does have some credit in the bank, having guided the Foxes to the FA Cup and two fifth-place finishes, the tide has quickly turned the other way and sometimes it can be hard to swing it back to the positive side.
The game against Spurs feels an important one. Leicester cannot afford to be beaten as heavily as they did against Brighton - that is a must.
Despite Tottenham's superiority in terms of league position and form, Leicester have shown they can compete against the best around, beating Liverpool and Man Utd last season - with every single player bar Ademola Lookman and Kasper Schmeichel that started those matches still at the club. There is no reason why, despite the Foxes' form, that Leicester can't get a result in north London.
With Nottingham Forest to come after the international break, Leicester cannot fall further behind the pack as a huge defeat at Spurs would leave major pressure heading into that game.
