The Fosse Way

The first game of the post-Vardy era was always going to be a bit of a comedown, the Foxes travelled to Bournemouth looking to secure 18th place and with Ruud van Nistelrooy about to get hit by the door on his way out. 

This could have been a chance for van Nistelrooy to finally take some risks, his fate is already sealed, he’s got nothing to lose. Instead, he served up yet another disappointing lineup and the resulting play surprised nobody in the away end or keeping up with at home. He didn’t start Monga or Evans and for some reason bringing Viktor Kristiansen back into the fold but still playing Luke Thomas. 

Who had Kristiansen playing on the left in midfield on their bingo card; anyone?

His argument for playing it safe would be wanting to ensure we finished 18th given the financial implications, but Ipswich were unlikely to suddenly go and beat West Ham having won just once in their last eight games. Of course that one win was against Bournemouth. At this point in the season, still keeping the same problem children in the side and ignoring Ricardo Pereira, Facundo Buonanotte and the academy kids is just painfully dull. 

Perhaps he wasn’t aided by Wildred Ndidi being injured and having to play without Bilal El Khannouss – the reason given was a personal issue, we’ll assume the worst and count on the Ipswich win having been his goodbye – but the away end was never going to be inspired by the feeble attacking line.

Then there’s the Captaincy void we find ourselves in now that Vardy is gone. Ricardo is the natural heir but with him starting on the bench, the very popular Conor Coady got the honours. A player whose name and mere presence gets booed and a player who allegedly wanted out in January. Wonderful.

There were spots on the substitutes bench for five young players, joining Monga and Evans were Sammy Braybrooke, Michael Golding and Olabade Aluko but their minutes were limited even with the clearly foregone conclusion of Bournemouth winning.

The home side have enjoyed some impressive wins this season and played some good football. Their recruitment strategy is one we could be jealous of, they’ve had a focus on mainly younger and upcoming talent. Selling Dean Huijsen on to Real Madrid for a healthy profit after Juventus and Roma decided not to take a chance on him. One of those sharp bits of recruit is Antoine Semenyo, the scorer of both Bournemouth goals in this tie. 

Bournemouth camped in the Leicester box for large periods of the first half. 0-0 at half-time was just delaying the very predictable conclusion. The first goal was a mess, we’ve seen this type of goal a few times. The ball comes into the box, bounces around a little and ends up near an opposition player who is totally unmarked. 1-0. Semenyo’s second also came from a rebounded ball to seal the victory. 

It was entirely deserved, Kepa Arrizabalaga could have wandered off to the refreshments kiosk for a few minutes and it wouldn’t have made a difference. 

Wave those Rudkin out signs

Don’t let the modest 2-0 scoreline fool you, this was dismal. The Foxes had one good attacking move in the first half, which probably accounted for the 0.25 xG. But despite the raft of substitutions that should have helped, didn’t manage a shot on target, in either half. 

Total humiliation was avoided by a mixture of good shot stopping from Jakub Stolarczyk and poor finishing from the Bournemouth players who had six big chances but only netted twice. Leicester rode their luck, having two left-backs didn’t seem to shore up the left side, nor did we look convincing in our own box. 

Player for player we didn’t look up to it, goalkeeping aside. A midfield pairing of Boubakary Soumare and Oliver Skipp is one of the lesser tested partnerships this season but on this performance alone, there’s no need to repeat the experiment. Remember the one game where Soumare had a storming performance and fans thought he’d been judged wrong? That feels like a fever dream now. He’s unlikely to want to stay next season and that would suit the fanbase perfectly.

If the club were hoping that two wins over other relegated clubs and a draw against our midlands rivals in the middle would paper over all of the gaping chasms, they’re sadly mistaken. Having something to celebrate and enjoying the feeling of an actual win or two was much needed, but when faced with a team slightly better again, we looked entirely hapless.

The general discontent has been bubbling away and growing more vocal as the season’s progressed. The club avoided much of the toxicity the final home game could have delivered by it being focused on Jamie Vardy, but even that didn’t spare the ‘Rudkin out’ and ‘Sack the board’ chants. At Bournemouth, there were printed Rudkin out signs handed out and dotted around, amidst the usual chants. 

It may not be the majority of the fans, some were still content to applaud the players off, but it’s not a minority of upset and frustrated fans anymore either.

Russell Martin looks to be next in line for a job that’s beginning to look as painful as sitting atop the Iron throne, which is an appointment unlikely to suddenly unite the fanbase into collective harmony. There were some chants against him from the away end, and with rumours swirling of all the places the few players we want to keep may end up, this is definitely going to get worse before it gets better. 

The wait begins to see whether the club will front up and address the current situation, and that of the ongoing BC.Game threats, or whether it’ll be business as usual; radio silence bar some legally-worded, vague and convoluted statements.

A summer of uncertainty

So concludes the 2024/25 season; it’s been largely forgettable and this match was a perfect demonstration of why. Was it the best lineup we could have put out there? No. Did the eleven who were tasked with performing, actually perform? No. The season ends less with a bang but with a whimper and one final game where Bournemouth really should have run away with much more than a 2-0 victory.

When Leicester were relegated in 2022/23, the club was in dire need of a full reset from top to bottom. What we got was a halfway approach; Enzo Maresca did signal a positive change and we did clear out some of the deadwood in the squad. We’re facing the same dilemma this time around, albeit with far less sellable assets clubs may actually want. This is a Leicester squad that if 90% of them were sold or went elsewhere, fans would barely raise an eyebrow.

For now, Foxes fans may as well try and enjoy the one week or so that will be focused on just managerial speculation, before the first transfer window opens and we’re left to worry that we’ll be forced to sell Ben Nelson to Chelsea. Oh, and the impending charges against us.

Leicester City are heading into the summer break with more questions than answers. Another summer of uncertainty for fans and trying to decipher what both club statements and PSR sanctions actually mean.

Who will be our manager next season? Will they have any opportunity to strengthen the squad? Will we be starting Championship life on minus points? Will we have to sell any and all of the young, exciting players? Will anything at the top of the club change?

The rumours last night implied we’re trying to tie down Jeremy Monga, Jake Evans and Olabade Aluko to contracts. Welcome news in a week that’s not had a lot of positives otherwise.