Pre-season Fixtures

Leicester City have announced 6 pre-season fixtures with opponents for the 7th match at the King Power Stadium to be confirmed in the next few days. The matches are:

Fri 12th July – (a) Leamington

Sat 20th July – (a) Ilkeston (LCFC XI)

Tue 23rd July – (a) Port Vale 

Wed 24th July – (a) York City 

Sat 27th July – (h) TBC

Sat 27th July – (a) Corby Town (LCFC XI)

Tue 30th July – (a) Northampton Town

Season Review

It is very difficult to explain how Leicester City's season came off the rails in such spectacular style. At the end of January, Leicester were 2nd in the league, having won 16 of their first 29 games with an impressive win ratio of 55%. The Foxes had the best defence in the league and the strikers were finding the net on a regular basis. David Nugent had 14 goals to his name and Chris Wood had netted 7 times in his first 5 matches. Leicester had recorded their biggest league victory for 30 years (6-0 over Ipswich) and had managed two separate sequences of 5 league wins a row - something no other Championship team matched all season. At the end of January, it looked like a question of whether the Foxes would be able to chase down league leaders Cardiff.

However, Leicester won just 3 of their last 17 league games - a win ratio of less than 18%. This included a winless run of 9 matches, their poorest sequence for 6 years. City dropped from 2nd to 6th and scraped into the play-offs by the skin of their teeth. In no other Championship season would 68 points have been enough to secure 6th. Wood and Nugent, having netted 21 times in 34 league matches for City, managed just 6 more between them in the final 17 games. 

Much has been made of City's youthful squad. Indeed, with an average age of just 23, Leicester have the third youngest squad in the entire football league. However, this doesn't explain the dramatic loss in form of key players like Nugent. The defence is not exempt from criticism either. City conceded twice in each of their final 5 league games and went through a sequence of 13 games without a clean sheet. At the crucial climax of the season at Watford, they conceded 3 goals in 1 game for the first time all season. Even though Leicester were a penalty kick away from a trip to Wembley, it would be difficult to say that they deserved the opportunity after such a poor run of form.

So where do City go next? The owners' silence has been deafening in terms of their support for the manager. It might be a case of - we back you because we can't afford to sack you. Financial Fair Play rules are looming and the money has clearly run out. If Pearson is kept on, he will need to clear a few players out before he can bring more in. St. Ledger, Wellens, Gallagher, Danns, Waghorn and Beckford are all contracted to Leicester and are on good wages. In my view, they are all surplus to requirements. However, they won't be easy to shift and this may be Pearson's biggest challenge over the next few months. 

In terms of the rest of the squad, it seems almost certain that Schmeichel will leave, Hull are understood to be prepared to pay £4m for the Dane. Other than that, City should hang on to their key players and will undoubtedly be contenders again next year. In terms of new signings, I would like to see a reliable partner for Wes Morgan brought in. Konchesky's days at left back may be numbered and back-up in central midfield and upfront is a must.

My view is that Pearson should be given one more season at least. He is putting together a young squad and the signings of Wood, Knockaert, Morgan and James have been excellent. If he does manage to get rid of the old guard, I would back him to bring in quality replacements at a reasonable price. Of course, there is no doubt that Pearson has made mistakes. He didn't adjust his tactics quickly enough when things weren't going to plan, especially away from home. Substitutions were predictable and uninspiring at times, and playing a weakened team at Huddersfield in the FA Cup was a huge error. City were in top form at the time and the season lost momentum from that point onwards.  

However, despite his stubborn demeanour in interviews, Pearson will have learnt lessons this season. If Leicester managed to get into such a strong position next season, you would back them to finish the job properly. Starting all over again with yet another new manager cannot be the answer. After all, Pearson has lead City to their 2 highest league finishes in the last 9 seasons. Are we sure that anyone else out these could do any better? If the answer is not 100% yes, then it surely can't be worth the risk. Sometimes it's a case of better the devil you know.

Leicester Pay a Heavy Penalty

Leicester lost their Championship play-off semi-final in the cruellest possible manner at Vicarage Road this afternoon. Going into the game with a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Leicester looked in control at half-time. David Nugent's header from a Matty James corner in the 19th minute cancelled out Vydra's spectacular opening goal for the home side. It was 1-1 at half-time, meaning that the Foxes were 2-1 up on aggregate. In truth, Leicester's second half performance was disappointing. They didn't keep possession of the ball for long enough periods and surrendered the initiative to Watford. With 15 minutes remaining, City were flagging and clinging on for extra time. To be honest, it seemed inevitable at that stage that the Hornets would win the tie.

Remarkably, in the 6th minute of injury time, Anthony Knockaert danced into the box, was felled by Cassetti and earned a penalty. The Frenchman stepped up to take the spot kick, knowing that if he found the back of the net, Leicester were on their way to Wembley for the £120 million match. Knockaert's penalty was saved by Almunia and pushed back into the Frenchman's path. His second effort was again saved by the Spaniard. What happened next was the cruellest possible finish to the game. Watford broke to the other end of the pitch and Troy Deeley smashed home the winner with 96 minutes and 44 seconds on the clock.  After a long, hard season of 53 games, City had been one kick away from their biggest victory in over a decade - such are the fine margins between success and failure in Championship football.

Though difficult at present, Foxes fans must put the defeat into perspective. Nigel Pearson has had two full Championship seasons in charge of Leicester City and has lead them into the play-offs on both occasions. These are City's 2 highest league finishes in the last 9 seasons. Incidentally, on both occasions, a Frenchman was arguably one kick away from taking the team to Wembley. There is the nucleus of a good squad at Leicester and overall, Pearson has made some good signings. In my view, he deserves another crack at promotion next season. It will take some time for the club to get over today's defeat. It will take even longer if the Foxes appoint yet another new manager.

Que Sera, Sera!

Leicester turned in one of their best performances of the season to beat Watford 1-0 in the first leg of the play-off semi-final at the King Power Stadium this evening. The Foxes made a superb start to the game and completely dominated the first half. Nugent, Knockaert and Keane should all have been on the score sheet before the break and City would have been disappointed to go in at 0-0. Watford came into the game a little more during the second half but the Foxes continued to dominate. Ten minutes from time, David Nugent headed in Anthony Knockaert's cross to give City a crucial lead to take to Vicarage Road on Sunday.

It was Nugent's first goal in 17 games and City's first clean sheet in 13. Suddenly, matters are back in Leicester's hands. Avoid defeat on Sunday lunchtime and Leicester go to Wembley for the first time in 13 long years. If City manage to play with the same fight and determination on Sunday, few would bet against them. Watford looked shell-shocked after missing out on automatic promotion just days ago and City didn't give them the opportunity to recover. It's a long way back to Watford tonight for Gianfranco Zola's side and there are just over 60 hours until the second leg kicks off. Nigel Pearson will be hoping that the quick turnaround works in his favour and that his side can earn a place at Wembley before Watford can work out where it all went wrong for them.

Stubborn City Sneak into Sixth!

I wrote in the week that Leicester City needed the most unlikely of miracles to secure a play-off place. That is exactly what the Foxes got this afternoon. Not only did Leicester secure their first away victory at Nottingham Forest in over 40 years, but Bolton failed to win their final home game against a Blackpool side who had nothing to play for. Through the course of the afternoon, 6th place changed hands on 4 separate occasions. The final and crucial change came when Anthony Knockaert poked home an injury time winner to put City into 6th place on goal difference. It could scarcely have been more dramatic.

The game started badly for the Foxes when Simon Cox's early shot put Nottingham Forest 1-0 up. Matty James notched the equaliser in the 24th minute after his deflected shot found the back of the net. Just before half time, King headed home Knockaert's excellent cross to give City the lead and fire the Foxes into 6th place. At that stage, Blackpool were 2-0 up at Bolton and things looked like they were going in Leicester's favour. However, Bolton scored twice in a minute to level their game at 2-2 and 5 minutes into the second half, Ward scored for Forest to make it 2-2 as well.

It looked at that stage as though it wasn't going to be Leicester's afternoon but there was time for one final dramatic twist. Forest pushed forward in search of a winner, to snatch a place in the play-offs for themselves. This left them exposed at the back and Knockaert and Wood were able to capitalise. Knockaert played Wood in on goal and the Kiwi striker, unselfishly and calmly, pushed the ball back into Knockaert's path. The Frenchman slotted the ball home, ripped off his shirt and jumped into a crowd of 2025 rapturous Leicester fans. A nail-biting few minutes followed, in which Leicester and Blackpool both held on. A remarkable day.

Ironically, there may well be a psychological shift amongst the play-off contenders now. Leicester have snuck into 6th place, having thought that they'd thrown their chance away weeks ago. They go into the play-offs with real momentum and a winning feeling. By contrast, their opponents Watford are shell-shocked. The Hornets lost their final home game of the season to Leeds today and miss out on automatic promotion as a result.

Watford goalkeeper Almunia was injured in the warm-up and replacement Jonathan Bond was stretchered off with a serious neck injury during the game. To add insult to injury, one of Watford's leading scorers, Troy Deeney, was sent off and will automatically miss the first leg of the play-off semi finals. That match takes place on Thursday night at the Walkers Stadium with the return match at Vicarage Road on Sunday lunchtime. Not long then for Gianfranco Zola to pick his players up after such a draining afternoon. Nigel Pearson will have no such problems and his team will be buzzing about their dramatic reprieve this afternoon. I know which camp I would rather be in ahead of Thursday night...