Jamie Vardy’s penalty miss seconds on coming on as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur on the weekend summed up everything wrong with Leicester City.

The Foxes haven’t won a game since New Year’s Day when Vardy’s winner gave them three points. However, that’s the last bit of joy both he and Leicester have enjoyed this year.

After a torrid FA Cup humiliation to Newport County, they’re winless in five Premier League games. A surprising draw away to Liverpool was the best they’ve managed in the league this year. However, The Foxes showed urgency against Spurs, playing vibrant attacking football and testing their defensive resolve. However, apart from Vardy’s redemption goal, the end result wasn’t there.

If you ask the England striker, he may discreetly point towards the manager being the root of all troubles. Vardy didn’t hesitate to make his feelings felt after losing to Manchester United last week, allegedly slagging off his manager after noticing him with Paul Pogba after the game. Vardy’s own confidence has gone down and his frustrations are clear as daylight.

Puel is trying hard to turn things around and the signing of Youri Tielemans seemed a bright sign. However, the French manager seems to have lost his dressing room’s trust and his tensions with Vardy aren’t helping things. Knowing how crucial he is, benching his star striker against Spurs was shocking.

Claude Puel is on borrowed time. Having disrupted the momentum of a lethal striker like Vardy, he’s brought Leicester back to mediocrity, which won’t go away until he’s replaced with someone better.