Martin approach 'not good recipe' to win over fans

Leicester manager Russell Martin will have a hard time winning over the fans with his brand of football in England's third tier, says former Foxes defender Matt Heath.

The high possession approach, which Heath's former Leicester team-mate Matt Piper described as "passing teams to death", has been widely criticised after Leicester were beaten 4-0 by Oxford United at home on Saturday.

The defeat left the Foxes 18th in the League One table, which is the lowest position the club has been in the English football pyramid in its 142-year history.

Heath says he has been "surprised and underwhelmed" by the poor start Leicester have made after the club suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and Championship.

While Foxes defender Jayden Joseph has come out to say that he and his team-mates believe in the style of football Martin has them playing, Heath has questioned how effective it will be in League One.

"I know the modern-day footballer does like to have high possession, and when completed correctly it has a real good dominance on the game. And you just have to look at the top teams in the top leagues across Europe and across the world to see this style of football does work," Heath told BBC East Midlands Today.

"But the big caveat is that Leicester is a team in League One that have players that are League One standard.

"It is a high risk and high reward style. When playing out from the goalkeeper to the centre-halves in the penalty box, the risks are there to be seen.

"So, on the occasions that it doesn't work it really does look bad.

"And to try to win the fans over, who are very disgruntled with the seasons they've previously had with two relegations, and play such a high risk style of play is probably not a good recipe really."