FoxHole

Leicester City 1 Crystal Palace 0, Tuesday 28 January 2008

I daresay many of Sky’s viewers turned over to watch a drama about another Palace before Leicester scored their winner. This certainly wasn’t a classic. But who cares. We won, and we beat the odious, vile, repulsive, loutish, revolting piece of shit that is Neil Warnock.

Yes, he squirmed on the touchline when it became clear that the ref wasn’t the slightest bit interested in his opinions; and more than once the Leicester fans told him to “sit down shut up”. But despite a fairly tedious match, the final chorus of “Warnock Warnock what’s the score?” was a joy to behold.

Neither side played good football. Palace certainly didn’t look like a team who have been unbeaten in 15 matches, and the flowing passes of Leicester’s performance against Coventry were almost nowhere to be seen. But the team seemed determined, and there were flashes of skill. But as our bones started to freeze, the decision not to stay home and watch the match on TV seemed particularly stupid. But then we scored, and it all seemed worthwhile.

Leicester City 2 Coventry 0, Saturday 12 January 2008

This was a completely new Leicester City, literally. It wasn’t just all the new faces, but the fact that there was movement, and width, and a midfield, and even some skill! Ollie called it a balanced side. How could we disagree.

From the kick-off the difference was there for all to see. Instead of the usual clueless boot the ball up the pitch, there were deliberate passes to the two new Hungarian wingers. The result: we actually created chances (20 apparently). The difference was so notable that when we had our first throw-in, my mate Mike remarked, “My god, they ‘re moving off the ball!”

We left the match in high spirits. What a rare but great feeling.

I’ve not been inclined to blog recently. After the promise of some reasonable results we were all given a reality check with two successive defeats. Normally my low expectations make coping with bad results fairly easy. But whether it was post holiday blues, the cold weather or just the prospect of relegation, I have been feeling a little despondent when it comes to football.

To make matters worse, our FA cup exit was at the hands of Southampton, the team my brother and dad support. I felt the humiliation even if I didn’t have to face it. I certainly couldn’t bring myself to write about the game here.

But enough of being mard. We play Coventry tomorrow and could start with home debuts for six new signings . Ollie has certainly been busy.

Of course only the local media is in the slightest bit interested in the M69 derby. Everyone else is speculating on who will take over at Newcastle. Indeed, Radio 5 even interviewed Milan Mandaric, but to talk about Harry Redknapp and not Leicester City.

So while magpies, pundits and hacks get excited over Sam’s replacement, we will be wondering exactly who is who in that Leicester City shirt. I feel an uplifting Saturday afternoon ahead.