“Awful, embarrassing and a lack of hunger.”
As Leicester City’s reign as FA Cup holders came to a tame end, humiliated 4-1 in the fourth round by second-tier local rivals Nottingham Forest, Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers was in no mood to hold back.
“Our players have to look at themselves in the mirror and prove they are good enough to be here,” said Rodgers.
“A lot of players have to improve. It was an awful performance. I have to apologise to the fans. We needed physicality and authority and lacked it.
“There was a lack of hunger and you get destabilised when you make errors. That’s the first time since I’ve been here that I was embarrassed.”
‘Time up’ for some Leicester players?
It is a far cry from May, when Leicester beat Chelsea 1-0 thanks to Youri Tielemans’ brilliant 25-yard strike as the Foxes won the FA Cup for the first time in their history.
In an attempt to inspire his players, Rodgers said he had brought the trophy into a team meeting earlier this week “so they could see what we went through last year…
