That makes some of the criticism Rodgers and Leicester have endured this season hard to understand. I was driving home from a game two weeks ago, listening to a radio phone-in, and I heard the cliched complaint about managers enduring a tough period that Rodgers has ‘taken the team as far as he can’.

My question is this: where exactly are Leicester supposed to be right now? Has one historic season created the illusion that should be the norm?

Fans’ high expectations are understandable, but they should also be realistic. Leicester’s title winning team included N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez, players who were snapped up by Chelsea and Manchester City shortly after. Rodgers has not had a player to compare, and when a prospect like Ben Chilwell breaks through, or Harry Maguire establishes himself as an England international, he too is lured to a bigger club.

Aside from Youri Tielemans, who would get into a top four team? Jamie Vardy would have done so in his prime. The rest of the squad is made up of excellent Premier League players and youngsters with potential. No neutral can seriously look at its depth and say Leicester should be in the Champions League.

The narrative which took hold in 2020 and 2021 that Leicester blew it in the final stages is unfair. Over the course of 38 games they finished higher than should have been expected when each season began.

The trouble for modern coaches, especially those who hit the ground running having been appointed, is that only an upward trajectory is tolerated. That is contributing to the shortened shelf life of a manager at a club. Fans and executives believe the best and most cost effective way of freshening up the training ground is to change the coach rather than sign new players.

Marcelo Bielsa is going through a similar experience at Leeds United, the questioning of his position ridiculous given what he has done at the club and the obvious mitigating factors of injuries to key players which have caused a dip this season.

You can imagine a situation at West Ham either next season or in the season beyond in which star players like Declan Rice move on, the current levels dip a little, or competitors like Aston Villa emerge. Moyes will be fighting against a similar wave of over-expectation. If Steven Gerrard ever leads Villa to fifth place, it might be the pinnacle, not the foundation for finishing in the top four 12 months later. 

It should be perfectly reasonable at all these clubs that there will be peaks and troughs. A less successful season after one or two outstanding ones is not evidence that a coach has lost his mojo and needs to be replaced. In Rodgers’ case, injuries to Wesley Fofana and James Justin have been especially unfortunate.