London –

One of the attractions of football is the inability to understand how the near impossible happens. The best coaches, the leading pundits, the most experienced observers and the club's fans could not really explain how or why Leicester City won the Premier League last season. You still think you should check before writing "Champion Leicester."

Even now, in hindsight, it is still difficult to see how a 5,000-1 outsider could go from narrowly escaping relegation to winning the title and now flirting with the drop again. Yes, Leicester punched above its weight. No, it had no European involvement, it was lucky with injuries and as much as anything the traditional heavyweights of English football took their collective eye off the ball. But being a relegation candidate, champion and the former once more is an inexplicable treble, especially the one in the middle.

Only once before in Premier League history had there been a surprise champion when Blackburn Rovers won the title in 1994-95, though it had finished runner-up to Manchester United the previous season, a far cry from Leicester's struggle before success. Rovers finished seventh and 13th the following two seasons, but the burden of being the champion is weighing heavily on Leicester's shoulders as it finds itself in a relegation dogfight just three points above the drop-zone.

Leicester, which plays the in-form West Ham United on Saturday, is unlikely to be relegated come May, if only because there are surely three teams worse than the current champion, notably Swansea and Hull.

Eight months ago, Leicester won the Premier League for the first time with 81 points, 10 more than runner-up Arsenal. Now it has lost nine of its 18 Premier League fixtures — it lost only two all last season — though the demise of Leicester is easier to explain than its rise, even if few expected last year's top dog to be battling against the drop at Christmas.

Last season, Leicester was something of a surprise packet, but now opponents have worked out how to play against the counter-attacking style favored by manager Claudio Ranieri. Some players peaked mentally, unable to motivate themselves as before and have been unable to carry the momentum through. Riyad Mahrez, the players' Player of the Year, was dropped for the Boxing Day game against Everton, which Leicester lost 2-0 with Ranieri saying the midfielder needs to produce more in training and matches. Jamie Vardy's hat trick against Manchester City three weeks ago were his first club goals since September.

The transfer of Ngolo Kante to Chelsea has left the midfield bereft of pace and power, but he was the only major player to leave. The problem has been that despite spending £66 million, the summer recruitment has been underwhelming. Nampalys Mendy, Kante's replacement, has not been a regular choice, neither has Islam Slimani (£29 million from Sporting Lisbon). Ahmed Musa has two goals in 19 appearances while Bartosz Kapustka has not played a single minute for Leicester yet.

"He is working very well and he is adapting now," Ranieri said of Musa. "When I watch him in the training sessions, he now understands it is tough, but I had to choose. I think that sooner or later, he will come back and he will play." For Leicester's sake that must be sooner rather than later.

Despite domestic problems, Leicester won four of its six Champions League group stage matches to set up a Round of 16 clash with Sevilla, but right now Premier League survival is the priority. It is no consolation to Leicester that it would not be the first champion to be relegated the next season. That ignominious distinction is held by Manchester City, which won the English League title in 1936-37 with Manchester United relegated the same season. The next season City, with the wonderfully named Wilf Wild in charge, was relegated and United promoted.

Fall guy: Bob Bradley was surely the first Premier League manager to be sacked because of his accent. It has been borderline nationalism with the former United States coach after he was dismissed after just 11 games in charge at Swansea, the club once held as a model for others, but whose descent into shambolic leaves it searching for its seventh manager in the last six seasons.

Just about every headline recording Bradley's departure referred to the fact he was American. If the same remarks made against Bradley had been made against an African-American, all hell would have been let loose.

Bradley inherited a poor squad, had no chance to bring in new players during a transfer window and he was never really given a chance. Most of all, the anti-American invective has been shameful and ironic given that Swansea's majority owners, Jason Levein and Steve Kaplan, are also American.

The players Bradley had at his disposal were not good enough, they lack mental strength and leadership, while changing bad habits in 85 days was impossible. He knew what he was getting into, but two wins and 29 goals conceded in 11 matches was more down to the inadequacies of the players rather than a man who arrived with a solid coaching CV.

Swansea was in disarray when Bradley was appointed and to expect anybody to rescue this sinking ship in 11 matches is preposterous.

Levein and Kaplan bought a 68 percent controlling interest in Swansea in July. In October, Francesco Guidolin was sacked five months into a two-year contract and Bradley signed a three-year deal as the Italian's (short-term) successor. The bill for compensation is significantly higher than for win bonuses.

There were times when chairman Huw Jenkins could do nothing wrong — in the last 18 months he has done little right in terms of managers and overseeing the transfer market (a club record £15.5 million was spent on Atlético Madrid's Borja, who has scored only once since joining the club last summer).

Ryan Giggs was immediately installed as favorite for the job, though the last thing a club in Swansea's position needs is a rookie coach and the last thing Giggs needs to start his managerial career is a club in Swansea's position.

Swansea-born Chris Coleman, the current Wales manager, spent four years with the club as a player and has experience in the Premier League in charge of Fulham, where he spent four years. Coleman led Wales to the Euro 2016 semifinals and the Football Association of Wales refused to grant him permission to speak to Hull City last summer and would not want to lose its manager halfway through the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

A personal choice would be Gary Rowett, ridiculously sacked by Birmingham because the Chinese owners preferred Gianfranco Zola because he was a bigger name. Rowett knows the Championship, where Swansea will probably be next season, and there is no harm in planning ahead.

Whoever succeeds Bradley will need to work a minor miracle to keep Swansea in the Premier League, but the compensation is good.

Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.