Leicester Torq a Good Game

Leicester put four goals past League Two side Torquay United last night to stroll into the second round of the Capital One League Cup. Lloyd Dyer beat the defender and the goalkeeper wih great individual skill to put the visitors 1-0 up in the 21st minute. Fifteen minutes later, Ben Marshall doubled the advantage with a superb free-kick. In the second half, two debutants also got onto the scoresheet. First, Matty James poked the ball home after an excellent through ball from Beckford. Jamie Vardy rounded things off with a well judged header, running onto Marshall's fifty yard cross from near the halfway line.

Leicester's starting line-up may well reflect Pearson's plans for the start of the Championship season. Vardy and Beckford started up front with a midfield of Dyer, Drinkwater, James and Marshall. Schmeichel kept goal behind a back four of De Laet, Morgan, Moore and Konchesky. It was an impressive performance, which bodes well for the Leicester's first home league game against Peterborough on Saturday. City have failed to win their first home league game for the last two consecutive seasons. Of course, Pearson wasn't in the dug-out for the start of either of those campaigns. He will be hoping that his team get off to a positive start this weekend.

Fixtures 2012/13

Leicester's fixtures for the new Championship season:

August

18th Peterborough (H)
21st Charlton (A)
25th Blackburn (A)

September

1st Blackpool (H)
15th Wolverhampton (A)
18th Burnley (H)
22nd Hull (H)
29th Middlesbrough (A)

October

2nd Huddersfield (A)
6th Bristol City (H)
20th Birmingham (A)
23rd Brighton (H)
27th Crystal Palace (H)

November

3rd Watford (A)
6th Bolton (A)
10th Nottm Forest (H)
17th Ipswich (H)
24th Sheff Wed (A)
27th Leeds (A)

December

1st Derby (H)
8th Barnsley (H)
15th Millwall (A)
22nd Cardiff (H)
26th Hull (A)
29th Burnley (A)

January

1st Huddersfield (H)
12th Bristol City (A)
19th Middlesbrough (H)
26th Cardiff (A)

February

2nd Wolverhampton (H)
9th Peterborough (A)
16th Blackburn (H)
19th Charlton (H)
23rd Blackpool (A)

March

2nd Ipswich (A)
5th Leeds (H)
9th Sheff Wed (H)
16th Derby (A)
30th Millwall (H)

April

1st Barnsley (A)
6th Brighton (A)
13th Birmingham (H)
16th Bolton (H)
20th Crystal Palace (A)
27th Watford (H)

May

4th Nottm Forest (A)

Please don't make us favourites!!

All Leicester City fans will shudder at the news that Bet365 and Ladbrokes have installed the club as favourites to win the Championship Title next season. The same happened last summer and that was a spectacular misjudgement! Let's hope they've got it right this time. Meanwhile, the club have announced a series of pre-season fixtures, culminating in the return of Martin O'Neill to the Walkers Stadium on Saturday 11th August. The full list is as follows:

Tuesday 24th July - (a) Hinckley United
Saturday 28th July - (a) Shrewsbury Town
Wednesday 1st August - (a) Burton Albion
Saturday 4th August - (a) Lincoln City
Saturday 11th August - (h) Sunderland

Fleetwood Star In, Deadwood Out!

Fleetwood striker Jamie Vardy has completed his move to the King Power Stadium. Although the fee has not been disclosed, it is believed that he has become the most expensive non-league player of all time, costing in the region of £1m. 25 year-old Vardy, who scored 34 goals last season in helping Fleetwood gain promotion to the Football League, had been a target for Nigel Pearson in the January transfer window. Meanwhile, Pearson has released six players today. Vassell, Howard, Tunchev, Oakley, Weale and Chamberlain have all been shown the door. They may not be the only departures this summer with rumours rife that Celtic are interested in signing out of favour Matt Mills. I suspect that if there is any truth in that rumour, Pearson will bite Neil Lennon's hand off.

Pearson Sets His Stall Out

Leicester have completed the signings of 23 year-old defender Ritchie De Laet and 20 year-old midfielder Matty James. The duo, both from Manchester United, have signed on 3 year contracts and the deal is believed to have cost Leicester City a total of £2 million. With Marshall and Drinkwater arriving last season, these signings fit in with Pearson's policy of bringing in young, relatively cheap and low profile players, who have impressed in loan spells at other clubs. It is the right policy to build for the future, rather than to bring in journeymen who are approaching the end of their careers. The squad is starting to take shape and the rumour is that Fleetwood Town's James Vardy is set to be the next arrival. To replace Beckford or to play along side him? My money is on replace!

Panayiot - who?

Academy product Harry Panayiotou scored a goal in the 3rd minute of injury time to snatch victory for Leicester at Elland Road this afternoon. Martyn Waghorn gave City the lead in the 39th minute with a cool finish from the edge of the box. It looked as though Leeds had rescued a point when Webber bundled the ball home 8 minutes from time. However, Panayiotou's deflection from Marshall's shot gave Leicester victory and secured a 9th place finish, 10 points adrift of a play-off place. Admittedly it was a meaningless fixture, but the names of the two goal scorers will please the manager. Waghorn has spent much of the season injured and Panayiotou has regularly impressed in the under-18s. Their presence in the team may be a positive sign for next season.

Those who call for wholesale changes are wide of the mark. Leicester are only 3 or 4 players away from making a challenge for the play-offs next term and Pearson has proved that he is capable of making good signings, particularly with the recent arrival of Marshall. Leicester's away form has been a major problem along with their inability to beat the teams below them in the table on a consistent basis. Leicester have averaged a respectable 1.38 points per game against the 8 teams above them this season. Against the teams below them, they have managed a less than satisfactory 1.47 points per game. City finished 10 points adrift of the play-offs yet, over the course of the season, dropped 12 points against the teams who finished in the bottom 4 places in the table. For many fans, that statistic sums up the season. Find a ruthless streak next season and anything is possible!

Collison Delivers Hammer Blow

Jack Collison scored a fabulous goal in the 58th minute to condemn Leicester City to defeat at the King Power Stadium this evening. The result, irrelevant to Leicester's fortunes this season, keeps West Ham's hopes of automatic promotion alive until the final day of the season. Leicester took the lead in the 34th minute after good work from Marshall down the right hand side. He chipped a beautiful cross to the far post and Beckford headed home for his 9th league goal of the season. Reid equalised for the visitors in the 39th minute to leave it 1-1 at the break. Collison's second-half thunderbolt was worthy of winning any football match and in truth, Schmeichel did well to get a hand on it.

Worryingly, both King and Wellens limped off during the match, the latter appearing on the bench with crutches during the second half. As a result, Bamba was forced into a central midfield role, exposing a staggering lack of depth in such an expensively assembled squad. In contrast, West Ham were excellent. They retained the ball well, passed it accurately and created a whole host of chances. They fully deserved the victory and secured what every Leicester City fan has dreamed of over recent weeks - something to play for on the final day of the season. All eyes will be on the games involving West Ham and Southampton next weekend, not many will pay too much attention to Leeds v Leicester.

Howe do you explain this one Nigel?

Nigel Pearson suggested in his post match interview that Eddie Howe's Burnley didn't come to the King Power Stadium in search of victory on Tuesday night. He stated, "I felt we were the team that tried to win the game." This seemed an odd assertion given that Burnley were going for a club record-equalling 11th away league victory of the season. The match statistics don't tally with Pearson's view either, as Burnley managed 5 attempts on target to Leicester's 4, including one unlucky effort which bounced off both posts. Pearson also admitted that Burnley were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the first half. The manager's body language was strange during the match too. He looked resigned and withdrawn with arms folded and he issued very few instructions to his team. In terms of tactics, there was no real plan B either. He changed personnel in a couple of like for like swaps in the second half and swapped the wingers over at half-time. However, there was no change of formation in an effort to win the game.

I was pleased when Pearson got the job and I still want him to be given the whole of next season to see what he can achieve. Morgan and Drinkwater look like decent signings and Marshall appears to be a steal at £1million. However, if the next two games follow the same pattern as last night's listless and lethargic effort, the Thai owners may well decide that enough is enough. I hope not. Pearson will already know the names of 2 or 3 players that he wishes to sign in the summer and that should be enough to give fresh impetus to the squad and see them in the play-off picture next season. All of this of course is based on the belief that the Thais have the desire to remain in charge and are still happy to put their hands in their pockets to sign more players. This should not be taken for granted. It may not be interesting on the pitch during the next two games but off the pitch it will be a different story!

Foxes Flop in the Lion's Den

Leicester went down 2-1 at Millwall this afternoon in a match that has ended any realistic chance of getting into the play-offs. Leicester will now have to win all 3 of their remaining fixtures and hope that all 3 of the teams above them lose at least two of their remaining three games. Even in this scenario, City would be relying on goal difference. This is simply not going to happen and Pearson can now start to plan for next season. It is a disappointing end to the season after two great wins over the Easter weekend had put Leicester right back in the hunt. The disappointing away form, as well as the poor form against struggling teams, has cost City on far too many occasions this season.

Leicester started the game brightly and it looked as though their attacking options would prove too much for Millwall to handle. However, a Harry Kane goal in the 23rd minute, from a dubious free kick, gave the home team the lead. After this, Leicester struggled to make much of an impact and created very few opportunities in the second half. An Andrew Keogh penalty, after a foul by Konchesky on Kane, doubled Millwall's lead 10 minutes into the second half and the game was won. A late Drinkwater strike offered the visitors hope of a late rally but the equaliser never materialised. In truth, a draw would have been of no consequence. Sadly, it's season over.

Leicester Egg-static after Easter Resurrection!

As one jubilant City fan said on BBC Radio Leicester after today's game, "If Jesus can come back from the dead at Easter, then so can Leicester City." With 6 points from two games over the Easter weekend, Leicester are right back in the hunt for the play-offs. The teams above them did City a favour yet again with Cardiff and Blackpool only managing draws, and Middlesborough losing their game. Brighton, the other rival for 6th place, face a tough game with Reading tomorrow. The gap is down to a tantalising 3 points with 4 games remaining. Interestingly, Leicester have the best goal difference of all the teams fighting for 6th place and this could yet be a factor in the final analysis. The fixtures may be important too. After a tough game at Millwall this Saturday, Leicester's final 3 games are against teams who may have little left to play for this season. Leeds and Burnley face mid-table obscurity and West Ham look likely to finish 3rd and may have switched their focus to a play-off semi final by the time they face City. This could all play into Leicester's hands for whom 3 wins out of 4 could still be enough. 


Leicester didn't play particularly well this afternoon but results are all that matter at this stage of the season. City went 1-0 down to a Jason Scotland goal in the 43 minute and looked destined to go into the break a goal behind. However, Ben Marshall scored his 4th goal from over 30 yards out in less than a month, thumping a free kick along the floor and into the net. It was the final action of the first half and it gave Leicester the impetus to go on and win the game in the second half. Pearson made two changes at the break, with Gallagher and King both entering the fray. Both made a significant contribution in the second half and could prove to be vital assets in the final four games after their successful returns from injury. The crucial winner came just before the hour mark, when Gallagher's perfect cross found Nugent, who headed home from 6 yards. Leiceter clung on for the win, their first league victory on the road since February. A win in the Lion's Den on Saturday and even the most pessimistic City fan will have to start dreaming of the play-offs.