Struggling clubs
In a number of ways, the two sides who met at the King Power Stadium on Monday evening are very similar. Both are big clubs with sizeable support. Both have a reputation for being yo-yo clubs, regularly getting promotion from the Championship and relegation from the Premier League. Both are currently struggling. Although expected to feature in the Championship promotion battle, both have failed this season to mount a challenge. Prior to the game on Monday, Leicester, as the Blue Army well knows, sit in 13th place. Albion are three points worse off in 18th place.
As a result, both have managers under pressure, with former Tottenham midfield Ryan Mason in as much trouble as Marti Cifuentes (second and third favourite Championship managers respectively, behind Birmingham’s Chris Davies, to be the next to be relieved of their duties). Alternatives to the Leicester boss have been cited. The one positive for the Foxes was that the Baggies had lost their last nine matches away from the Hawthorns, their worst run of results since the 1970s.
Daylight robbery
The Foxes went away from the game with three points after a blistering shot from Abdul Fatawu well into stoppage time. For a large part of the match, however – against a club, remember, with an atrocious away record – the Baggies were the better team and without some smart saves by Jakub Stolarczk, would have come away with the win themselves. The first half was a fairly even contest, with Jordan Ayew’s well-worked opener cancelled out by a run and shot from Karian Grant with Ricardo Pereira caught out of position.
For the most part, Leicester’s game, as it was against Sheffield United on Friday, was littered with errors. The passing was truly dreadful and West Brom were, particularly in the second half, first to the ball far too often. The win, welcome as it is, should not disguise the fact that this was another poor performance from the Foxes and they were mighty lucky to come out of it with all three points.
The boycott
Leicester fan’s groups - and in particular Union FS – had called for a boycott of the game to complain about financial mismanagement, lack of communication from the owners and their lack of attendance at recent games. Cifuentes had urged Foxes’ fans to attend and get behind the team
In the event, there were plenty of empty seats at the King Power Stadium. Attendances have dwindled for some time now but Monday night’s crowd was, without doubt, the lowest league gate at the King Power Stadium for a number of years. Of course, this was probably as much to do with the weather and the team’s poor performances of late rather than an organised boycott. Nevertheless, it is a warning to the club’s hierarchy that the fans are prepared to vote with their feet.