The window about to close
In the club's present predicament, those at Leicester City will breathe a huge sigh of relief when the summer transfer window finally closes at 7 pm next Monday. I think it is fair to say that, so far at least, the experience hasn’t been as bad as many Foxes’ fans expected. Several players on high salaries, some of whom were on the periphery of the first team, have departed, and reasonable fees have been generated by the sale of others. Following the £12 million received for Kasey McAteer and £10 million for James Justin, some were even praising Director of Football Jon Rudkin. That is a surprise to say the least.
Despite the fact that it has been widely reported that Leicester have now raised enough to meet the dreaded profit and sustainability rules, it is still possible that more departures (and incomings) will occur by Monday’s deadline. In particular, there has been speculation surrounding the future of defenders Wout Faes and Victor Kristensen and midfielder Harry Winks. And, of course, the club’s most prized possession – Bilal El Khannouss – might still be prised away despite Crystal Palace cooling on a deal.
In this context, the team selection for Friday night’s fixture was instructive. El Khannouss didn’t figure in the squad at all and Winks was on the bench, and didn’t come on at any point. Other than that, there was one change from the side that took the field against Charlton, with the fit again Stephy Mavididi coming in for Jeremy Monga.
One bit of magic again
As with the victory at the Valley last Saturday, one bit of magic by Abdul Fatawu separated the sides for a large part of this game. After just eight minutes, the winger cut in from the right and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner. For much of the game, Birmingham had the bulk of the possession but rarely threated Jakub Stolarczyk’s goal. The Foxes were happy to sit quite deep and hit the Blues on the break. The game was put out of the St. Andrews’s side’s reach when Monga, on for Mavididi, cleverly created space and crossed for the inrushing Ricardo Pereira, on for Hamza Choudhury, to knock the ball past Ryan Allsop. Three valuable points and a promising performance
Verdict?
Despite winning two of their first three league fixtures, there have been nagging doubts about the promotion credentials of the current Leicester squad. There was the defeat at Preston and the two victories, against Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic respectively, have been less than convincing. I have - inadvisedly perhaps - made the claim that I don’t think this current Leicester team is good enough to mount a promotion campaign, particularly given the points deduction that is certain to materialise.
The performance against Birmingham City, then, was a good test for Leicester. The side from the West Midlands, managed by former Foxes’ coach Chris Davies, are ambitious, prepared to splash the cash on the team, and their start before coming to the King Power Stadium – two wins and a draw – suggests they will be formidable opponents this season.
The outcome and the performance suggests that the jury is still out on Leicester’s prospects but there was much to feel optimistic about, and the Blue Army recognised this. The finishing was clinical, two goals from the two attempts on target, and the team defended extremely well with Jannik Vestergaard probably man of the match. There was some concern that more chances weren’t created and that they allowed Birmingham so much of the ball (the away team had 55% of the possession in all). However, what was perhaps most encouraging was the way in which the Foxes worked very hard often without the ball. This suggests that the players are buying into the new City regime led by manager Marti Cifuentes. That is very positive.