The future put on hold
There didn’t seem much point in packing the Leicester side with senior pros, most of whom have failed the club this season and won’t be at the King Power Stadium next year. Pleas to field the younger players, however, were not heeded by Gary Rowett who had said he wanted to be fair to the league (and especially Ipswich who are competing with Millwall for automatic promotion) by fielding his strongest available team. The only surprise was the inclusion of Harry Souttar, for his first game in a long while, in place of Jamaal Lascells
To be fair to Rowett, he did bring Louis Page and Jeremy Monga on with around thirty minutes left. But, it is clear that one of his failings has been his unwillingness to be more adventurous in team selection and formation. After all, this is a side that has now won only one game in 19 played.
On repeat
For the umpteenth time this season, the Foxes put in a decent performance but failed to hold on to a lead. It was, if truth be told, a game between two average sides. Millwall have over-achieved this season and have a chance of finishing in the Championship top two. That in itself illustrates that the second tier has been very poor this campaign. If the South Londoners are promoted, they are unlikely to survive in the Premier League.
In the first half, neither goalkeeper was called upon to exert themselves and we had to wait until the hour mark for a save from Jakub Stolarczyk who tipped a header over the bar. The most controversial point of the encounter came just after half time when a rash high tackle by Jake Cooper caught Abdul Fatawu. It should have been a red card for the Millwall captain but referee Farai Hallam exemplified the general poor standard of officiating in the Championship by furnishing only a yellow.
The game came into life after 78 minutes when a left wing cross by Luke Thomas was bundled over the line by Souttar, who was probably Leicester’s best player on the night. Once again, though, the Foxes went too deep inviting Millwall pressure and it was no real surprise when in the last minute of normal time a pass threaded into the box eluded the back line and substitute Macaulay Langstaff equalised with a low shot.
Sign of things to come
It was a strange experience at the King Power Stadium. With a crowd which looked under 20,000, there were more empty seats than occupied ones although the Millwall fans packed out their enclosure. I have never seen the stadium so empty for a Leicester first team league match. There were almost as many Showsec staff on duty as fans attending and, although an exaggeration of course, it did somehow symbolise the club's expertise at frittering away money. It is a sobering thought that thousands of empty seats may well become the norm next season, particularly if the Foxes don’t challenge for promotion.
Those who did attend were, for a start, hostile to the players as they have been of late but as it became clear that the team were putting in a shift, Foxes’ fans got behind the team and some even applauded them off at the end. The season is, thankfully, almost at an end.
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