Leicester City have officially cut ties with set‑piece specialist Andrew Hughes, ending a tenure that saw the Foxes score only 14 goals from dead‑ball situations while conceding 20. The decision comes as the club sits 23rd in the Championship with 46 points from 46 games, a recent form of W‑D‑D‑L‑L, and remains 49 points adrift of leaders Coventry.

Why was Hughes hired in the first place?

Leicester brought Hughes from Norwich City in the summer of 2024, hoping his experience would boost a struggling side under head coach Steve Cooper. The club’s hierarchy believed a dedicated dead‑ball coach could add a cutting edge, especially after Austin MacPhee’s success at another club sparked a trend. Yet the appointment coincided with a chaotic period: Cooper left, Ruud van Nistelrooy took over briefly, and the Foxes were still reeling from a double relegation that dropped them to League One before climbing back to the Championship.

How did the set‑piece experiment fail?

During Hughes’s spell, Leicester’s set‑piece output deteriorated sharply. Last season the Foxes managed just seven Premier League goals from corners or free‑kicks, and the total fell to 14 across all competitions. Defensively, they allowed 20 goals from similar situations, a stark contrast to the league average. The numbers line up with the club’s overall struggles – 58 goals scored and 68 conceded this season, leaving a –10 goal difference. Fans and pundits alike mocked the “set‑piece specialist” label, noting that even Athletic Bilbao’s head coach Edin Terzic seemed surprised to hire a figure whose record ended in a group‑stage exit for Scotland at the recent World Cup.

What does the departure mean for Leicester City?

Hughes’s exit has been greeted with a mix of relief and sarcasm on social media, with many supporters calling the move a necessary reset. The club now faces a crucial decision: whether to reinvest in a dedicated dead‑ball coach or to integrate set‑piece duties into the existing coaching staff. With the Foxes languishing near the bottom of the table, any tactical tweak could be decisive, but the priority appears to be stabilising the defence and finding a consistent goal‑scoring outlet.

What’s next for the former Foxes coach?

Andrew Hughes has already secured a role at Athletic Bilbao, where he will be billed as a “set‑piece specialist”. The Spanish side hope his expertise can translate to La Liga, despite the mixed results in England. For Leicester, the focus now shifts to the upcoming fixtures, where the team must claw back points to avoid a relegation battle. The club’s hierarchy will likely assess internal options before making another high‑profile appointment.

Leicester City’s set‑piece saga serves as a cautionary tale about chasing trends without matching the club’s resources or personnel. As the season progresses, the Foxes will need to rely on core strengths rather than specialist hires to turn their fortunes around.