Leicester 2-2 Hull City: Three Foxes talking points as relegation is confirmed

Leicester have been relegated to the third tier of English football for only the second time in their long history. On a hostile night at the King Power Stadium, a second-half revival from the Foxes wasn’t enough to overcome familiar failings.

Play the youngsters?

There have been calls for the Leicester boss to field a team of youngsters in the final three games. The results don’t matter, it is argued, now relegation is almost certain and, given that most of the more senior members of the first team squad will be off in the Summer, picking academy players is the best preparation that can be made for next season.

Indeed, some argue that the young players ought to have been given more minutes throughout the season. That thought is reinforced by the honours won by Louis Page (Championship apprentice of the season) and Jordan James (Championship young player of the season) at the second-tier awards ceremony.

Remarkably, though, going into the game, survival was just about still possible. The Foxes would have to win all their remaining games and hope that their relegation rivals slipped up. And there is still a possible point deduction for West Brom to add to the mix. No manager is going to forego the opportunity to achieve their objective, however unlikely.

Sure enough, Gary Rowett fielded a strong side for the visit of Hull City to the King Power Stadium. He made three changes from the side beaten on the South coast, Oliver Skipp, Jordan James and Divine Makasa coming in for Harry Winks - who was benched presumably because his altercation with a Foxes fan after the Portsmouth game went viral – Hamza Choudhury and Stephy Mavididi.

The end

It was a very familiar Leicester performance. A tepid first half display culminated in the giving away of a soft goal. A massive improvement for much of the second half was blighted by a failure to convert chances and missed tackles led to a Hull equaliser. One win in 19 games is quite clearly relegation form and the inevitable has now happened.

The Foxes were dreadful in the first half and it was no real surprise when they conceded after 18 minutes after a blunder by Asmir Begovich who passed the ball out directly to a Hull player. Leicester created little, the only real chance falling to Patson Daks who really ought to have done better when well placed to convert a good cross from Luke Thomas.

The second half couldn’t have been more different. From the off, the Foxes attacked with intensity and Makasa had a shot saved by Ivor Pandur in the Hull goal. Then two goals in two minutes for the home side changed the complexion of the game. First, Abdul Fatawu was fouled in the penalty box, the decision to award a spot kick given by the assistant referee. Then, two minutes later a cross from Bobby Cordova Reid was met met by Thomas who put Leicester in front.

Hull were rattled, their manager Sergej Jakirovic red carded for protesting at the penalty decision. A little under ten minutes later, though, the away side equalised through Ollie McBurnie after two Foxes’ players – Ricardo Pereira and Jannik Vestergaard - missed tackles on the left touchline. There then followed 30 minutes or so of constant Leicester players and Daka, twice, Thomas and substitute Aaron Ramsey missed relatively easy chances.

Now that relegation has happened, the full financial implications will become apparent. It is certainly the case there will be a mass clear-out of players. There may also be a change of ownership. For now, there doesn’t seem much point in Rowett continuing as manager and there is also a strong case for fielding the players most likely to still be at the club next season in the last two matches.

Crowd reaction

Given the abject performances of the team this season culminating in a second successive relegation, and the hostility expressed by fans to players and the club in recent weeks, it was interesting to see the crowd reaction on Tuesday evening. To start with, there were plenty of empty seats, the crowd probably little over 20,000. There was a protest outside the ground, hostility towards the players right from the start, some booing the players as they were announced over the public address system, and a cacophony of boos at half time.

The crowd's hostility was more muted in the second half due to an improved performance, but Harry Winks was given a torrid welcome when he came on as a substitute and at the end of the game, ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ echoed around the King Power Stadium. It remains to be seen how many Foxes’ fans will renew their season tickets next season but the inevitable decline in gate income following relegation will be significant. It is difficult to know where the club goes from here.

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