New Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy watched Kevin Schade net a hat-trick as Brentford thumped the Foxes to underline the size of the task he faces.
The former Manchester United striker, who has yet to over coaching matters, with Ben Dawson overseeing Leicester for this game, sat next to owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha in the stands at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
And the Dutchman saw his new side overrun to offer little suggestion they have the quality to pull away from danger.
Schade’s treble added to Yoane Wissa’s equaliser in the first half after Facundo Buonanotte’s 21st-minute goal put the Foxes ahead against the run of play.
The dominant Bees were 3-1 ahead by half-time with Wissa and Schade firing them in front within eight minutes of going behind.
Schade, who was also denied an early opener by a fine Mads Hermansen save, added a third in first-half stoppage time, the Germany international’s first top-flight goals of the season.
Thomas Frank’s impressively fluid side are now eighth in the Premier League, two points adrift of the top four, after a fourth home win in a row for the first time in the top flight since 1937.
It is in stark contrast to the Foxes and Van Nistelrooy will have been unimpressed when the passive visitors were split by Nathan Collins’ pass for Schade to complete his hat-trick after 59 minutes.
Leicester host West Ham on Tuesday sitting a point above the relegation zone when Van Nistelrooy will be in the dugout.
The Foxes players needed a performance after the criticism of their Christmas party in Copenhagen last weekend, 24 hours before Steve Cooper was sacked on Sunday.
They failed and ex-PSV manager Van Nistelrooy will have seen enough on Saturday to show him what the Foxes are missing. After a limp fifth defeat in eight games, he needs to make an instant impact.
