A poor start can be absorbed. A poor start with a heavy home defeat is different.
There is also the issue of optics. Clubs coming down a division are supposed to look stronger, sharper and more settled than the teams around them. When that does not happen, every tactical choice and every team selection gets scrutinised.
Martin’s teams are usually associated with control, structure and a clear idea in possession. That style can work, but it also needs belief and clean execution. When results turn, the same principles can start to look slow or fragile.
That does not automatically mean a change is coming. But it does mean every next game now carries more weight than it should in early September.
The first task is not flair. It is stability. Leicester need a response that looks calmer, harder to play against and less vulnerable without the ball. One steady result can ease noise; another setback will intensify it.
The next fixture now feels significant. If Leicester cannot halt the drift quickly, the discussion around Martin may move from early pressure to a genuine question about whether he is the right man to lead a promotion push.