Leicester City League One promotion odds following Russell Martin appointment

Leicester City have confirmed the appointment of Russell Martin as the club's new manager.

Just over 10 years on from winning a seismic Premier League title, the Foxes find themselves heading into a League One campaign for the first time since 2008/09.

It's been a catastrophic demise for the East Midlands outfit since earning promotion back to the Premier League in 2023/24; a severely underwhelming return to the top-flight in 2024/25 can be forgiven given the squad's glaring lack of quality, but a 23rd-placed finish in the Championship is hugely disappointing given the expectations heading into the season.

Leicester have had great difficulty finding a capable successor for Enzo Maresca following his move to Chelsea, with Steve Cooper, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Marti Cifuentes and, most recently, Gary Rowett unable to live up to the job.

Martin is next through the King Power door, returning to the third flight of English football for the first time since 2021, where he managed MK Dons.

Martin's reputation took a sizeable hit when overseeing a dismal start to the 2025/26 campaign with Rangers, leading the club to just one win in their opening seven games of the Scottish Premiership term and subsequently sacked.

There had been an overarching sense that Martin was progressing upwards throughout his managerial career. 19th and 13th-placed finishes in League One with MK Dons saw him land the Swansea City hotseat in the Championship, while 15th and 13th-placed finishes with the Swans earned him a shot at the Southampton job.

The Brighton-born manager did lead the Saints to promotion in his debut campaign at St Mary's, beating Leeds United 1-0 in the 2024/25 Championship play-off final at Wembley after securing fourth-place in the league standings.

A dismal start to the top-flight campaign saw Southampton win just one of their opening 16 league matches, and he was sacked following a 5-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

Plagued with financial uncertainty, the circumstances at Leicester are far from ideal upon Martin's arrival, but a drop down to the third tier of English football demonstrates the 40-year-old's willingness to kick-start a project after a difficult 18 months or so in management.

Leicester City's League One Odds

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Odds displayed in the above article were correct at time of writing and are subject to change or withdrawal at any time.