Can it really only be three months since that dismal October night? Much has changed since then - but, crucially, not the Nottingham Forest manager.
Backing Steve Cooper with a new contract, rather than wielding the axe, after the Reds’ woeful 4-0 thumping at the King Power Stadium paved the way for the improvement which has followed. It was one of the club’s best pieces of business this season.
Since then, Forest have gone from a five-match losing streak to being beaten just three times in 10 Premier League games, with two of those defeats coming away to Arsenal and Manchester United. They are also in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, the first time they have reached that stage of the competition since 1992.
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Ask Cooper whether that miserable night against Leicester City proved to be a turning point, though, and he gives it short shrift. His answer is telling.
“I don’t think anything has been turned around,” said the Welshman. “The table looks better than what it was before the last league game, but it can change again quickly - for better or worse.
“Nothing has been turned around. We are very much building and working every day to try to become who we want to be. Hopefully we get there quicker than not. And even when we do get there, there will then be the next step. I always look forward and at what we want to do.”
As always, he makes a good point. The fight to retain top-flight status is far from over - indeed, it will probably be a scrap until the very end. There is much Forest need to work on.
But if not a turning point, then the fallout from that match can still be seen as a sliding doors moment. How different might things be now if the club had gone the other way with their thinking; if someone else now occupied the hot seat?
It is also a useful marker to show the progress which has been made. They go into Saturday’s game against their near-neighbours in a better place than they were the last time the teams met.
Central to that progress is the team spirit Cooper has instilled. He proved last season how good he is at knitting together a dressing room - and the unity that generated played a significant part in the Reds’ promotion success.
It was always going to take time to do the same this time around, following the summer recruitment drive. But anyone who doubted whether he’d manage it doesn’t need to look far for evidence that time and patience with the Welshman’s methods would pay off.
Nowadays, social media offers a glimpse into the dressing room. Gustavo Scarpa has posted several clips of the Rubik’s Cube obsession gripping his teammates. Emmanuel Dennis - a man who the club are said to be willing to let go this month - shared a video of Jesse Lingard, Serge Aurier and Morgan Gibbs-White dancing in the changing room after Wednesday night’s victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
More importantly, watching Forest play in recent weeks, it is clear they look more like a team. Relationships and connections are starting to develop.
Cooper signing a fresh deal offered stability and proof the club believed in this group, as well as the man leading them. It meant the outside noise - about the manager’s position, about whether these players were good enough - could be blocked off.
The Welshman and his squad have learnt much since those early days of the season when the Reds sometimes resembled a rabbit caught in headlights. A change in formation has paid off, for example, while the ruthless nature of Premier League football and what is required to do well has been taken on board.
There is still a long way to go. But as they prepare to take on the Foxes again it is worth reflecting on how far Forest have come, and how pivotal the decision to get behind Cooper could prove to be.
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