When You’re Smiling

Cheltenham 0 Foxes 4, Saturday 30 August 2008

Oh the joy of walking out of a ground having seen your team win 4 – 0. On the way back to the car people were stopping to ask the score, only to walk away in disbelief (apart from a Hereford fan who was nearly as overjoyed as us).

We arrived in good spirits, having had the traditional bag of chips between the car park and ground. It was a hot summer’s day, and the local stewards and police made us feel welcome. OK, the coke was warm but this was after all, a League one football ground. Then three minutes into the match Dyer shoots us into the lead with a strike so powerful it had bounced back out before we realised it was a goal.

That set the scene for much loud Leicester singing, and we barely heard anything from the home supporters.

But the first half didn’t quite live up to the promise of that early goal, so we  were looking forward to something better after the restart. We weren’t disappointed. Leicester took complete control and we celebrated four more terrific goals (although one was disallowed). Amid the goal spree, the singing got louder and more silly. Towards the end, and in the absence of any noise from the Cheltenham fans, we had to tell each other to “sit down shut up”.

Still, by the time that whistle went we were really smiling. And when one of our party walked into a tree afterwards, we enjoyed a further round of joyous laughter. It was a great day.

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

We’re off to Cheltenham on Saturday to watch the match. I can’t recall ever visiting the place so I don’t know what to expect. A quick look on Wikipedia reveals that notable Cheltonians incude Brian Jones (of Rolling Stones fame) and footballer Steve Cotterill. Like many people though, to me Cheltenham conjures up images of horse racing and of course Desert Orchid.

As for the game, perhaps for the first time in ages I feel confident that we will do well. Let’s just hope that such feelings aren’t the kiss of death, come the final whistle tomorrow. So in keeping with the Rolling Stones theme, lets hope it’s a case of Jumpin Jack Flash rather than As Tears Go By or even You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Flukey Fulham Fabulous Foxes

Fulham 3 Foxes 2, 27 August 2008, League Cup 2nd Round

Full time report: A fabulous performance against a team two divisions higher. For most of the second half Fulham were outfoxed. Play like this in League one and we will be promoted. PS. Dickov, King and Gradel should all be starting our next match.

92 mins: Oh no! More bad luck as Fulham scape a winner from yet another deflection. It’s a cruel game at times.

91 mins: Fulham’s twelth player disallows a Howard goal.

83 mins: Balls! Fulham get a second despite being second best this half.

48 mins: Goal! Dickov creates a goal for Andy King and we take the lead. Delirium time.

46 mins: Goal! Dickov equalises for the foxes. Cue scenes of great joy in the kitchen.

First half report: It was, according to Radio Leicester, a wicked deflection that gave Fulham the lead. In fact, John Sinclair said it was an own goal as it was going straight at our keeper before Morrison put a foot out. But let’s look on the bright side. City seemed to have a good amount of the ball, and they were trying to pass and move rather than kick it long. All this against a premier league side. Then there was the penalty that never was. Despite a torn shirt the ref wasn’t convinced that Morrison has been pulled back. Talk about obvious, I could see it was a penalty from my own kitchen!

Text Me The Score

Foxes 3 Tranmere 1, Saturday 23 August 2008

A long standing family commitment meant I missed this match. I had to rely on text messages and Sky Sports to keep up to date. But what a result. We are now second in the table (OK, I know it’s only after three games but hey, we’re not used to this many points out of nine) and the club from Yorkshire are currently mid table.

To make up for missing this home game I’ll be making the trip to Cheltenham next Saturday. Bring it on.

Big Improvement

Stockport 0 Foxes 0, Saturday 16 August 2008

Not had much chance to post a comment about this match, but it certainly sounded like a big improvement on the league cup meeting. Relief then.

Listening to the Radio Leicester commentary, we clearly created plenty of chances in the second half. I still think Dickov should start a match rather than being introduced for the last 20 minutes. I guess in the end we should have won, but at least the team from Yorkshire lost.

Follow the Rainbow

Was Tuesday night’s appearance of a rainbow over the Walkers stadium a sign of future foxes fortunes? At the time quite a few of us made the link with pots of gold. Others too are speculating.

Let’s look at the facts: Leicester City won the match. It was our second win in a row. We have drawn a Premier League club in the next round of the League cup. We have won the League cup twice before. Surely then this all points to a great cup run … except if you watched Tuesday’s game you’d already know the answer.

I’m a supporter, get me out of here

Foxes 1 Stockport County 0, Tuesday 12 August 2008, League Cup 1st round

“Oh dear”, as my 20 month old grandson would say. “Oh shit” as I would, and did say. This was extremely hard work.

For the first 20 minutes we hardly had the ball. Only some wayward shooting by Stockport kept the scores level. Things then improved slightly, but not before the visitors had a player sent off. Shortly after that we scored, leading most of us to assume the extra player advantage would see us through without much trouble.

Wrong. Quite frankly we were rubbish for the remainder of the game. With just one stand open for home fans, and a couple of hundred Stockport fans, it seemed more like a reserve match. The trouble was, the football was really poor. We will need to up our game on Saturday when we play Stockport again in the league.

As for the highlights, well obviously our goal, and Dickov’s excellent two shots in the second half showing just how good he can be (he needs to start a match rather than keep coming on as sub). The only other good bit was the final whistle, and my pint of cider afterwards.

On the other hand we did win our second match in a row, not something we are that used to seeing! Let’s hope our performance was just a blip (although if we keep on winning…)

Something New

Foxes 2 MK Dons 0, Saturday 9 August 2008

An opening day win at home is something relatively new for us foxes. The last time it happened was in our first season at the Walkers. So for the first time in what seems like ages we left the ground in good spirits, rather than moaning about Steve Howard and long balls.

What’s more, we are now above that team from Yorkshire in the league table!

The mood at kick off was certainly a good one. The rain had all but stopped, it was warm, and there was a real buzz in the stadium. The first half didn’t disappoint. For a change we saw Leicester pass the ball around, run into spaces, and create chances. When Fryatt was brought down in the penalty box it was because of another clever move. The subsequent goal was then celebrated almost as madly on the pitch as it was in the stands. Let’s hope it becomes a habit.

But it wasn’t all one way traffic. The promise of a similar second half was not realised as the Dons came back at us, and some of our old habits returned (Henderson being the main long ball culprit). This gave the visitors confidence and resulted in me giving my nails an early trim. Even the introduction of Dickov (to massive cheers) didn’t steady the ship.

But then we regained our confidence and after a few more chances Fryatt scored his second. What joy!

By the time I got back home the sky had turned grey and it seemed more like November than August. But all the way to the beer shop I had a grin on my face as it occurred to me that for once, we were near the top of the table

By the way, in case you missed it: Derby 0 Doncaster 1.

This Is It…

Kick-off minus 4 hours: This is it. The first match is just hours away.

I can’t remember us ever playing the MK Dons before. But in the new world of League One it goes down as a local derby (along with Northampton and Peterborough). To emphasise the optimism in Leicester some 25,000 fans are expected today, and no doubt a fair number will make the trip up the M1 from the land of roundabouts and plastic (or is that concrete?) cows.

But who exactly are the MK Dons? When they were Wimbledon FC they could claim some famous players such as Vinny Jones. But following their move in 2003 to Milton Keynes, and their re-naming in 2004 as MK Dons, their links with Wimbledon are all but over (even their trophies have been sent back to Merton). Perhaps their greatest claim to fame now is through their managers…Paul Ince, Martin Allen and Roberto Di Matteo to name but a few.

As for that first game weather? It’s clouding over and rain is promised. But unless it all goes pear shaped we wont let that bother us. Indeed, I’m banking on the game being pearson shaped – lots of passing football and a Leicester win at home!

New Season, New Manager, New Team

There are only four more sleeps left until the start of the football season. Time then to end my summer break and concentrate on the weeks and months ahead.

And I’m starting to get football withdrawal. Once the European championship was over (congratulations Spain – that’s why it’s called the beautiful game), I put all things football behind me. But now I can’t wait.

Traditionally the start of the season in Leicester is greeted with hot sunshine, requiring us foxes to wear shorts, shades and sunblock. On Saturday though I’ll be riding to the ground on my motorbike (yes, I passed my test in the close season); and hot weather with biker gear isn’t the best of mixes. I guess I’ll be stripping off before I take my seat!

A recent but less fortunate tradition has been a poor performance in the opening match. But I have a good feeling about this season. OK, probably because I just can’t contemplate another relegation fight, but also because we have a new manager, and because there were some promising signs in the friendly I saw against Birmingham City.

Of course supporting Leicester always causes others to pass clever comments. Only today a colleague asked me who our manager was this week! But despite the jokes and piss taking, despite the third tier football, and despite being completely ignored by the pundits, us foxes are made of strong stuff.

So whatever the new manager does in this new season with his mostly new team, the blue army will be there. Roll on Saturday.