Leicester City - What on earth do we do now?

I will never tire of seeing the stark contrast between the 2015 and 2016 Premier League tables. We'd see Leicester rooted below QPR and Burnley at the foot of table, only to be then standing proudly above every English team a year later, ending with the little golden "C". It'll never wear off. The greatest sporting fairytale, the Fearless Foxes, 5000/1 champions, you know the rest. 

What begins this summer and what technically began when Chelsea won at The Hawthorns to clinch the title, is the realisation that the title win is now consigned to history. It's evident that an increasing number of football fans, namely those of the bigger clubs are delighted that our 15 minutes of fame are up. These feelings manifested perhaps due to both Ranieri's sacking and bitterness of being embarrassed by persistent "also-rans". Now, a quite frankly bizarre season that has seen us lose to 10-man Millwall and defeat the perennial European winners Sevilla within 24 days is finished. The dust can settle and as far as many are concerned, we can get back in our box with Norwich, Middlesbrough, Derby and the like. Thanks Leicester, but we'll take it from here. I'm not naive. I knew that this was only a temporary stint in the footballing spotlight.

And so, this summer the curtains will finally close on what was the greatest show this city has ever seen. In a year of what's essentially been a title-winning hangover, we still managed to enjoy a few dizzy heights such as our trip to Wembley, sticking four past Pep's Man City and of course the Champions League journey ending so tightly in the quarter-finals. Despite this, I do think that the opportunity to lay down a marker and establish ourselves as the standout Midlands club, consistently in the top half was completely thrown away. We don't have the history of Forest or Villa, but this was a chance to make it our turn. Instead, we've seemingly squandered colossal amounts on Islam Slimani, Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy and have now effectively lost the most gifted player to ever wear a Leicester City shirt in Riyad Mahrez. Will our owners be so quick to reinvest the impending fortune?

The woeful recruitment of 2016's summer was a culmination of poor judgement, overt loyalty and blind optimism to expect the same journeymen to reproduce anywhere the same level of heroics from the year before. The former was actually down to our scouting team and the much heralded departing Head of Recruitment: Steve Walsh. Leicester's signings are often meticulously planned and in turn are linked to The Foxes 6-12 months before they're actually signed. For every Jamie Vardy, there is unfortunately a Marco Futacs and there were a lot of them this year. This rule doesn't just apply to Leicester, of course. For every Ruud van Nistelrooy that Manchester United found, there was too a David Bellion.

Alas, as Spurs fans buoyantly reminded us after dishing out a 6-1 drubbing, to some degree we've got our Leicester back. In recent memory, it's probably only a question that fans of Blackburn Rovers can answer (and given their state, I hope not) but what do we do now? What are we supposed to expect from our beloved team? We hear of Danny Simpson and Jamie Vardy talking of pushing for the top 4 next season, and as nice as it is to hear the level of ambition, it pays little more than overly optimistic lip service, keeping fair-weather fans interested

I'm happy to temper expectations when travelling to Burnley and Watford. I've followed Leicester long enough to really appreciate and consume every single moment of joy and I am bloated. Over the past 2 years and even the Championship years leading up to now, I've been well and truly spoilt. What we're now facing is managerial uncertainty and the inevitable fate of our stand-out players being taken away from us with at best, a mid table finish and perhaps a domestic cup run to keep things interesting. Another poor summer's transfer business could see us in another relegation battle and unthinkably, I would gladly accept a boring mid-table year. Amidst all the glory, I almost lost sight of what it was to be a City fan. I've watched us draw at home to Stockport in League One and ship four to a then, League Two team in Burton Albion. I nearly began to believe that Leicester City really were reshaping football as we knew it. Obviously that hasn't happened.

Last night, I finally began to watch the "Champions" DVD to soak it all up. I paid £15 for it on release day, only to see a copy for £2 in the recent sale! For one year at least, we did break the mould and our name is forever etched onto the Premier League trophy. 

Now for the first time ever, I might just enjoy a summer break from Premier League football.