Brendan Rodgers launches defence of James Maddison

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has launched a strong defence of James Maddison, stating that some suggestions being made are false.

Since being spotted at a Leicester casino on the night when England played Czech Republic – the Three Lions lost 2-1 – Maddison has been all over the papers and the media for all the wrong reasons.

None of what is being spoken reflects who he really is. The comments are mostly undeserved and further reflect the problem we call the English media – which English cricketer Jonny Bairstow summed up well before turning England’s ICC World Cup campaign around.

Among the selected few to be speaking sense is Rodgers, as you would expect. While he accepts that Maddison did make a mistake, he has rubbished any of the claims made about the player’s decision to go.

"“The kid went away with the international team and took ill while he was away,“ the Leicester City boss said.“He wanted to stay and hopefully be ready for the second game. But the England medical staff – which I can understand, as he had flu and they didn’t want that to spread to his teammates – decided it’s best for him to leave the camp.“So he leaves, gets some tablets with our guys at the club, then he feels better. He watched the game at home on his own on the Friday and then goes out at half-time – probably he’ll make better decisions in his life but he went to a casino on his own to sit and watch the second half by a poker table.“The suggestions are he left England purposelessly and then goes to a casino but that’s totally not the case at all. But his eyes have been opened now to the wider world in terms of what he did. He knows in hindsight he’s made a mistake.”"

The gaffer then left no stone unturned in revealing who Maddison really is in what was another resounding slap for those who have been looking to satisfy their commercial interests by baselessly deriding the midfielder.

"“People make judgments on players and people without even knowing them,” he said.“This is a player about whom I’ve seen various stories in the last few months about his arrogance and his mentality – and they’re totally false. I’m not sure where they’re coming from but it’s not what this boy is about.”He’s a very talented player and he has a belief in his ability. He’s a wonderful personality on the field and he’s actually a really good boy off it. He wants to learn, he wants to do better.”"

As has been stated before, he hasn’t committed some sin; however, as a footballer, when you represent your club and country, you have certain responsibilities, and knowing what to do and when to do it is a part of that.

The phase that the former Norwich City midfielder is in, it is very easy to let your talent and fame turn you into a bad boy, and that is where it starts going downhill.

Maddison is too big a talent to fall into that pit.