Darren Bent has claimed that Brendan Rodgers "wants to be sacked" following a horrendous start to the season for Leicester City.
The Foxes have lost four out of their opening five matches of the new campaign and sit bottom of the Premier League with just one point. They also failed to beat League Two side Stockport County within 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup - relying on a fortunate penalty shootout success.
That poor form follows an extraordinarily quiet summer window where it took until deadline day for Leicester to invest in their squad - Belgian defender Wout Faes arriving from Reims for £15m. Following defeat by Manchester United, Rodgers had some choice words and claimed that he did not receive the "help" that he required in the transfer market.
Amid those comments, former Tottenham Hotspur and England striker Bent has claimed that the Northern Irishman is attempting to manufacture an exit from the King Power Stadium.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: "They're [Leicester] in a bit of a mess. The comments that the manager has made, 'this isn't a club it was a couple of years ago', that just tells me that wants to be sacked. He doesn't want to walk away from it because he'll lose a lot of money.
"He wants to get sacked. You look at the comments Scott Parker made at Bournemouth about needing help and bodies, he kept coming out challenging the board. It's almost as though saying to everybody else, 'it's not my fault, it's their fault'.
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"Even if you continue with the comments that Brendan Rodgers made, 'we needed help and we haven't been able to do that'. He understands the fans’ frustrations, they see all their rivals getting all these players and he's not getting any. It's quite clearly saying, 'it's not my fault, I wanted the players, but we're not getting the players in'.
"I'm a big fan of his, but I do think that it has become a bit stale and I definitely think he doesn't want to walk away, but him himself, he's asking politely, 'I want the sack'."
Rodgers has been at the helm in the East Midlands since February 2019 as he left Celtic to become Claude Puel's permanent successor.
He has enjoyed a hugely successful spell with Leicester having claimed the club's first ever FA Cup, as well as leading Leicester to back-to-back fifth-placed Premier League finishes and the semi-finals of last season's Europa Conference League.
The 49-year-old has overseen 175 matches in all - the most that he has taken charge of with one club throughout his managerial career. Rodgers still has just under three years remaining on the new contract that he signed in December 2019.
