Leicester board 'confused' amid 'serious' Russell Martin 'discussions' behind the scenes

Leicester City are not fully aware of the challenges that they are about to face as they prepare to head into League One.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Foxes board have shown that they are "confused" with some of their actions in recent months.

The East Midlands outfit moved to appoint Russell Martin as their new manager earlier this week, with the 40-year-old tasked with immediately leading them back

Wyness believes that the former Rangers boss is the right man for the job, but faces a difficult challenge to get the club hierarchy to see his way of thinking.

Leicester are desperately trying to recover from their back-to-back relegations, and Wyness feels that they simply must trust Martin.

Instead, he suspects that the new boss may not be given everything that he needs in order to give the team the best possible chance of promotion.

Keith Wyness: Leicester must be ready for 'hand-to-hand combat'

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Leicester may not be prepared for the "hand-to-hand combat" of League One football.

The Scottish businessman made it clear that the third tier is not a league for the "purists," and added that the board simply must listen to Martin's demands in the coming months.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness stressed that "serious discussions" will be ongoing to find out what the new boss wants.

"I think Leicester are confused at board and ownership level at the moment" he said.

"I think that Russell is the right type of character to fight. But let's not forget, this is not the Championship, this is League One we're talking about now. League One is not football purism; it's hand-to-hand combat.

"It just smacks of a club that doesn't quite understand the challenges in front of it and is hoping they've got the right manager in, rather than actually looking at where they are right now in a bit more depth."

"There'll be some serious discussions going on behind the scenes, but it's whether that ownership, which to me seems to be the big problem at the moment, really listens to Russell and what he needs and lets him get what he wants. 

"I'm watching that one closely because I don't necessarily think it could be that easy to get back up at the first attempt for Leicester, although it should be."

Leicester working on new addition for Russell Martin

Football Insider revealed earlier this week that Leicester have set their sights on Conor Hourihane to become Martin's assistant.

The Irishman led Barnsley to a 15th-placed finish in League One last term, and impressed despite working with a limited budget.

He left the Tykes by mutual consent at the end of the season, and is now being lined up to join the backroom team at the King Power Stadium.

The 39-year-old previously played under Martin during his time in charge of Swansea City, and could now be about to work directly alongside him.