Calling it a day!

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Leicester Prove a Point

Leicester City 2 - 2 Everton

Leicester City twice came back from a goal down to rescue a point against Everton at the King Power stadium this afternoon. In the face of injuries to four key players and competing against an excellent team, who finished 5th in the Premier League last term, the Foxes proved that they do have enough about them to compete at the highest level of English football. Vardy and James, who had been so instrumental in Leicester's success last season were absent through injury, as was Albrighton - who has been so impressive in pre-season. When Drinkwater limped off with a hamstring injury in the 39th minute, City fans may have wondered if it was going to be their day. However, Leicester showed great resolve and team spirit as Hammond and King competed well in central midfield and the Morgan/Moore partnership kept £28 million Lukaku quiet throughout the match. Substitutes Schlupp and Wood made positive contributions when they entered the fold to demonstrate that Leicester have more strength in depth than some would credit them with.

Everton dominated possession throughout the game with 64% over the course of the 90 minutes. However, Leicester matched the Toffees in terms of efforts on target - both sides managing 3 each. The visitors took the lead in the 20th minute. Schmeichel made a brilliant save to deny Distin before McGeady curled a superb shot into the top right hand corner of the net. City were behind for less than two minutes with Ulloa scrambling the ball home after Everton failed to deal effectively with a City corner. Naismith restored Everton's lead just before the break. Knockaert slipped, allowing Baines to cross. Pienaar failed to connect properly with his shot and the ball fell to Naismith who made no mistake and finished into the top left hand corner. 

Chances were at a premium in the second half. One of the best opportunities fell to Jeff Schlupp, who raced onto a superb Mahrez through ball only to blast over the crossbar from the edge of the box. City were rewarded for their perseverance in the 86th minute. Mahrez and King's efforts were both blocked before the ball fell to Chris Wood. The Kiwi international curled the ball into the bottom corner to send the sell-out crowd into raptures and to put Leicester's first point of the season on the board. With such a tough start to the season, it was an important result and performance for the Foxes. They are back in the big time and, based on this afternoon's performance, they are certainly not out of place.

Season Preview

After a decade outside of the top flight, Leicester City kick off their Premier League campaign in less than a week's time against Roberto Martinez's Everton side. The opening 6 fixtures look as daunting as they do exciting. However, there are lots of reasons to be optimistic about the Foxes' prospects in the Premiership. 9 is regarded as a lucky number in Thailand, the home of Leicester City's owner and chairman. So here are 9 reasons to be optimistic about Leicester City:

New signings

The £8 million signing of 6ft3 striker Leo Ulloa has grabbed all of the headlines and rightly so. It has smashed City's record transfer fee and represents a departure from Nigel Pearson's economical and prudent approach to new signings. 28 year old Ulloa scored 23 goals in 50 games last term, a good return for a man who suffered from a number of injuries over the course of last season. There have been other significant signings, with the highly rated Hamer arriving from Charlton to compete for Schmeichel's shirt. Winger Albrighton has joined from Aston Villa and at just 24 years of age, with 89 appearances for Villa already under his belt, this could prove to be the shrewdest move of the summer. Veteran defender Matthew Upson has also joined the club to provide defensive cover.

Contract extensions

Perhaps more important than the new arrivals, City have secured the services of their key players for a few more years. Schmeichel, Moore, James, Drinkwater, Schlupp and Nugent have all signed contract extensions to keep them at the King Power Stadium. There was a lot of speculation about the future of these players, particularly over the Christmas period, and the club dealt with this situation brilliantly. Nigel Pearson has spent a lot of time and effort assembling his squad and has referred on several occasions to the importance of "protecting the club's assets." He has certainly managed to do that now. Indeed the only significant departure from the King Power Stadium was Lloyd Dyer, who turned down his Premier League contract to sit on the bench for Championship side Watford this afternoon - each to their own!

The manager

Clearly the most important signature over the summer was that of the manager Nigel Pearson. The 50 year old has signed a 3 year extension which keeps him at the King Power Stadium until at least June 2017. Pearson has said on many occasions that he sees his "long term future" at Leicester - a comment that will be music to the ears of City fans. Having lead City to the Championship title with a club record haul of 31 wins and 102 points, Nigel Pearson has a win ratio of 49.8% from his 223 games in charge of Leicester. Ignoring Martin Allen's brief tenure, this is by far the best record of any permanent manager in the club's history. It would be fair to say that, in terms of management, the club is in very safe hands.

Marginal gains

Sir Dave Brailsford, the mastermind behind the success of British cycling, coined the phrase "the aggregation of marginal gains." This is a concept that is undoubtedly driving Leicester City forward. Their preparation, facilities and attention to detail are all second to none. Indeed, City hosted a conference for a 100 FA and UEFA delegates last season to share their excellent practice. Why share the secrets of our success? Simple. By the time other clubs adopt our approach, we will have moved on to new approaches and new technology. Without doubt, Leicester City are front-runners in the quest for finding that extra couple of percent.

The chairman 

Leicester owe a huge debt of gratitude to their owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. The Thai businessman wiped out the club's £103 million debt last season to secure the long term financial stability of the club. He is an ambitious man and has recently been quoted as saying that he is prepared to spend £180 million to help Leicester to challenge the top 5 teams in the Premier League. Above all, Vichai appears to have a strong relationship with Pearson and doesn't meddle in first team affairs, a status quo which isn't prevalent at all clubs with rich owners. Of course, if the chairman continues to buy a beer for all City fans each season, as he did before the final game of last season, then the supporters won't grumble too much.

Pre-season

It is wrong to read too much into pre-season form. However, Leicester City have negotiated their preparations without defeat - the most notable results being 1-0 victories over both Everton and Werder Bremen. They have also won games at Ilkeston, Walsall, MK Dons and Rotherham - scoring 14 goals in the process. The only match they failed to win was a 1-1 draw at Preston. It was interesting to note that Pearson started the final pre-season game with a 4-2-3-1 formation, perhaps an insight into how the Foxes will line up against Everton next weekend.

Momentum

Not only have Leicester been successful in pre-season but they go into the new term on the back of one of the most successful seasons in the club's history. This squad of City players are simply not used to losing football matches. They only lost 6 league games last season - only 3 clubs in the top 4 English divisions lost on fewer occasions - Burnley, Wolves and Scunthorpe all suffering a total of 5 defeats. City won't fear anyone and are bound to surprise a few along the way.

The last 8 games

The first 6 games are difficult on paper. However, the final 8 games all look winnable and the final 6 home games are certainly an attractive proposition in terms of securing all 3 points. They are: Hull, West Ham, Swansea, Newcastle, Southampton and QPR. Should City need a few victories to secure their place in the Premier League for another season, it would be hard to ask for a better run-in.

Long term plan

One of the most refreshing aspects of this current regime is that it is not built upon a "quick fix" mentality. This is most aptly demonstrated by the signings for the development squad. 19 year old Jack Barmby, son of former England international Nick, and left back Louis Rowley, have both signed from Manchester United this summer. Staying up for one year is not on the agenda, it is all about establishing City as a Premier League team and building success on solid foundations.

Whatever the destination this season, the journey is going to be fun and don't be surprised if Leicester enjoy a successful season. My prediction, for what it's worth, is a 12th placed finish for the Foxes. We will see!