Leicester City See Off Bristol To Momentarily Top Championship

Leicester City extended their winning run in the Championship to 5 games today, beating Bristol City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.

A David Nugent strike was followed by a Richard Foster own goal to give Leicester a comprehensive verdict over the Robins.

Leicester dominated the opening exchanges and could have been out of sight in the first half an hour. The break through came from Nugent, finishing neatly in a one on one situation when be put through on goal by strike partner Jamie Vardy.

The game was put to bed with 15 minutes to play when Bristol defender Foster headed into his own net after being put under pressure from Nugent after an Andy King cross.

Nigel Pearson’s men controlled the game from the offset, with highly impressive performances from Danny Drinkwater, Wes Morgan and Anthony Knockaert.

The result put Leicester momentarily top of the Championship until Cardiff City saw off Ipswich Town in a 2-1 verdict at Portman Road in a later kick off.

Leicester fan @Rossa_LCFC Tweeted ‘Oh Leicester you got me singing the bluesss!’

It was a game controlled by Drinkwater. Influenced by genius touches from Knockaert and supervised by the sturdy Morgan. Every player did their job and the only thing that marred the win was the hamstring of Sean St Ledger going in the second half.

The result and performance perfectly ended a week where speculation mounted over manager Nigel Pearson.

Leicester now go into the international break on a high and with faith very much installed in the chief running things.

Another Away Defeat – How Do We Defend This?

So another 2-1 defeat away from home and another game where Leicester City fans are wondering how their side have come home with no points.

Opinions and tempers were high as the blue army took to social network sites and forums to vent their dismay after another pointless away day on Sunday afternoon.

The manager brunt a lot of the blame, certain players had some too but selection issues seemed to be the main niggle Leicester fans had, magnified by the exclusion of Neil Danns who didn’t even make the bench.

Mark Smith Tweeted on the Danns exclusion, ‘Shocking that one of our best players last season was not selected”.

Nigel Pearson responded to the Danns omission by claiming the player didn’t take his chance when he had it, referring to the 4-2 home defeat to League Two Burton Albion when Danns played a full 90 minutes in the midfield.

Those there that night would feel Pearson’s argument justified too.

So where now? 3 away games that Leicester have arguably dominated yet have 0 points from 9.

For me there is only one issue on the field and it’s not who is being left out because I feel we are very short for quality in our squad for this area and what an unbelievably important area it is.

It’s our back four and it’s been our back four that’s let us down for the last 2 years.

Our inability to defend is criminal, especially when you consider our two full backs have Premier League experience.

Ritchie De Laet’s ball watching for Wolves’ second goal yesterday summed up the problems.

Paul Konchesky, arguably, is the most overrated individual in the squad if you consider his positional sense. Just player cam him on Wednesday night if you don’t agree. Chicken and headless will spring to mind I assure you.

Big Wes Morgan, in all fairness to him did ok and has done all season. Pace will always be his achilles but if you have legs alongside him then I think we’ll get away with having him in there.

Liam Moore, who’s been steady this season, had a stinker yesterday. He’ll know that. I’m sure he’ll bounce back and I’m certain he has the potential to be a quality defender here. In the present, is he the answer? I’m not so sure.

How we address this defensive issue is another matter. There must be better out there, well there has to be.

How To Crack Ewood

The 2-1 defeat to Chris Powell’s Charlton on Tuesday evening has deflated Leicester fans.

Arguments are brewing in pubs, pun not intended. Where’s Neil Danns? Why isn’t the Nuge starting?

Both cases potentially fuelled further indoors by the individuals themselves through Tweets following Leicester’s first two fixtures.

So to Ewood Park against recently relegated Blackburn. How do we approach it? How do we win? Quite easily I think.

We’ve had a bad result, it’s not the be all and end all of Nigel Pearson’s latest tenure and it certainly doesn’t make us a bad team.

I think it’s simple, I also think it involves the recall of the two men Leicester fans keep talking about.

4-3-3. Fill the middle up, pace on the flanks and counter the chicken feed.

Anthony Knockaert has done more than enough to warrant a start on Saturday. His pace and ability could be a real threat for us going forward. I’d have him on the right of David Nugent.

The Nuge has to play, he simply has to. We need it to stick up front, especially away from home to relieve any pressure. Beckford and Vardy just haven’t done this well enough over the last two fixtures to warrant being on point. Our Nuge also possess great quality and is a big game player, no question.

To the left of Nuge I’d go with Vardy. This boy is honest, hard working and dangerous. His part in King’s goal at the KP against Peterborough shows his team ethic and awareness. These 3 could really hurt teams and I’d shove the lot of them in on Saturday, looking at Vardy and Knockaert as outlets to break.

The midfield 3 for me would be Drinkwater to hold, King to link up with Nugent and Danns to buzz some energy into the side. We need to match Blackburn for quality and endeavour before we do anything else. These 3 balance nicely and do that in abundance.

The back four is our achilles still it seems but maybe this time it’s just due to absentees.

Morgan needs legs with him and the boy Moore does provide that but his inexperience can be exploited, perhaps as it did on Tuesday at Charlton.

If Whitbred is half fit, big Nige has to throw him into battle. We need some steel to our foundation if we’re to have any chance at places like Ewood.

So there you have it. The team to beat Blackburn and put us back on the promotion trail. It’s a piece of piss Nigel. However much I love you, you really need to swallow some pride this weekend and field two very much needed individuals.

Losing the fans this early on could be detrimental to reign two.

Leicester See Off Posh In Season Opener

Leicester City made the perfect start to the new Championship campaign today, Winning 2-0 at home to neighbours Peterborough United.

After a dull first half, the game was brought to life through a Wes Morgan header, nodding in a Ben Marshall corner off the underside of the bar.

Leicester doubled their lead with a slick move down the left hand side. New boy Jamie Vardy cleverly worked an opening to slip in second half substitute Andy King, who in one touch found the top corner to put the game to bed.

Leicester fan Lucy B Tweeted, “We officially ruined posh’s big day out!”

New boys Vardy and Ritchie De Laet were impressive in the win as well as the competent Danny Drinkwater in midfield.

Liam Moore, a home grown talent, also starred in the win, partnering captain Morgan at the heart of the defence in his league debut. The defender was steady throughout the game and Tweeted the congratulatory message from his mother.

Leicester are next in action on Tuesday night when they travel to new boys Charlton Athletic.

Sean St Ledger Injury Could Reignite Leicester City’s Interest In Harry Maguire

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson may be forced to bring in another centre half before the season starts on August 18th, just 15 days away.

Republic of Ireland international Sean St Ledger watched the majority of Wednesday nights win at Burton Albion from the bench on crutches, after injuring his knee in the friendly.

The defender has been ruled out for 8 weeks with knee ligament damage, leaving Leicester short, with only new signing Zak Whitbread and captain Wes Morgan the only senior centre backs.

The news could now lead Pearson to go in for Sheffield United youngster Harry Maguire, a player Leicester have had a strong rumoured interest in.

Maguire, a key figure at the Blades, is popular among fans and they won’t want their defender, who is in high demand, to leave Bramall lane. Jed Collins, a Sheffield United fan Tweeted “Harry Maguire, please stay with us, please!” 

Recent reports in the national media suggested Leicester was lining up a £3 million bid for the defender.

Leicester City Sign French Winger Anthony Knockaert

Leicester City have signed French under 20 international Anthony Knockaert, according to reports in the French media.

Knockaert, a winger by trade, will join Nigel Pearson’s squad from French Ligue 2 club Guingamp.

On hearing the news, Leicester City fan Lee Wallace tweeted “With the signing of Knockaert, I hope it finally sees Lloyd Dyer used an impact sub. Best way to use Dyer’s pace”.

Knockaert becomes Pearson’s sixth signing of the summer.

Leeds United Waiting In The Wings For Jermaine Beckford

On the 3^rd April 2012, days after Leicester City were beaten 1-0 at London Road by Peterborough United, manager Nigel Pearson spoke out about the public bust up with striker Jermaine Beckford.

‘I wasn’t happy and I will deal with those sorts of things internally”.

Almost 4 months later, it seems this ‘sorting out’ is taking shape.

Beckford, who scored in last nights behind closed doors friendly with York City at the King Power Stadium, has apparently been told he has no future at the club and to look for another employer.

Former club Leeds United, where Beckford made his name, are reportedly ready with a bid of around £2 million.

The news, just like Beckford, seems to split opinion at Leicester City.

Former captain Steve Walsh tweeted on the news, “Beckford is 10 game a season player! Right decision for me. We need 100% attitude and commitment to Lcfc”

Some fans share this view and clearly many others don’t.

Leicester supporter Andy Winter commented on Facebook “Best striker we've got, but I suspect this is all about cutting the wage bill”

Preparations for the new season continue tonight with Leicester City traveling to Burton Albion in another pre-season friendly.