Prior to our meeting in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy earlier this season, Leicester City and Stevenage had only ever faced each once, in an FA Cup game back in 2008. This latest meeting now triples that tally. This weekend’s results means we’ve now beaten them, lost to them and drawn with them.
The Stevenage fans were in good spirits before the game, while not the loudest of fans. They hadn’t sold out the away end but seemed more confident and excited heading into the King Power than the home fans.
Despite having made it two home wins in a row, after beating Wigan midweek, this game felt pivotal in seeing the team turn a corner and in trying to remove some doubt around Russell Martin and the squad he’s helped assemble.
There were just two changes to the starting lineup, Sammy Braybrooke back in for Will Smallbone who’d impressed against Wigan but is lacking some match fitness. John Lundstram also came back in as Captain in place of Conor Chaplin, having served his one match suspension.
From a Stevenage perspective, there was to be no revenge 2.0 from released former player, Wanya Marcal, who wasn’t even in the squad.
It was a dream start for Foxes fans, the opening goal coming with just two minutes on the clock. It was a lovely move that saw Luke Thomas use his intelligence to put a ball into the box where Will Alves set up Sammy Braybrooke to slot home. Braybrooke has been influential in supporting attacking play and this goal was deserved. We’d started with some speed, some intensity and such an early goal should have been something to build on.
That sense of hope was short-lived. Our initial straight out of the gate approach petered out and Stevenage found themselves in control of the play for a long period in the first half. Their equaliser was a calamitous moment started by O’Hora not stopping his man on the cross, McCarthy spilling the ball while facing goal and then having all of the other defenders hack at and/or miss the ball, leaving a tap in for Ben Broggio just 20 minutes after we’d taken the lead.
The second half saw an initial improvement and Kamari Doyle put Martin’s side ahead again but old habits die hard and we looked slower and more complacent following it. The away side made a triple change which we followed with a double change and within two minutes of getting Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin on for Alves and Doyle, Stevenage got another equaliser.
Martin might be more unhappy with the manner in which we conceded the second, and it’s certainly not good, but it’s getting harder to ignore our substitution issues.
With Halloween in mind, this Leicester City side aren’t scarier than a horror film but they are even more infuriating than watching that one character who just has to open the door that’s been shielding them from the weird noises behind it. You’re screaming at them to just turn around and walk away. But much like that soon to be murdered character, Leicester City aren’t making smart decisions.
I know how you signed last summer
The club brought in 16 players over the course of the summer, including Smallbone despite his later arrival, and so far if you were to poll Leicester fans on how many of them seem worth the punt, it’s likely only three of them are making the cut. Four if we count Kangasniemi though that’s based on hope and a couple of cameo performances so far.
Smallbone, Lundstram (to the extent that we really needed a Captain) and Riis are the likeliest trio. But for the others, particularly for O’Hora and McCarthy, today reiterated the feeling that they’re not up to it.
The odds are stacked a little against O’Hora as the back three approach doesn’t appear to favour him. Though his doubts in his own ability, underlined by a decision to put the ball out of play instead of risking a pass to a teammate, are concerning. He’s struggled when trying to pass forward and has been caught out too often defensively.
Perhaps it’s time to take a bolder swing, move Okoli to that side and have Kangasniemi come in on the left of Harry Souttar. There’s still the question of what to do with Jayden Joseph once he’s back too.
Admir Bristric has been maligned so far because to quote Martin he’s ‘not versatile’. Having now seen cameos and a start from Burns and Chaplin, quite what versatility or strengths they’re bringing isn’t obvious..
These are players who should be better than this level, who probably expected to hit cruise control at this level and swat the opposition away. Neither have looked a cut above or offered us anything to get excited by. There’s a staggering lack of pace and intensity too.
Burns only really has one tactic he’s deploying when he comes on and it’s telegraphed to the defenders every time. It’s easy to stop, sometimes he stops himself. At best, he gets a couple of corners out of that move. But it feels so much more limited than Alves.
The substitutes were in stark contrast. Ours felt like a downgrade and we conceded quickly and couldn’t fix it at the other end. Stevenage brought on somebody who made an immediate impact and got them level. We should have all seen that coming when swathes of the Leicester fans mocked said substitution by saying ‘who’. We’d all settle for a name you don’t know coming on who can do that.
Our recruitment in the summer wasn’t cheap either, despite our overheads and bigger woes. Some of the players we’re not using we paid actual money for. Those on the bench aren’t likely to be ousted either because they’ll be up there with the highest earners in the squad.
It’s an ok problem to have if you’re confident you’re getting to that 90 point mark and/or securing promotion. Right now, it’s a bit more of an alarming state to be in when it’s all gone incredibly quiet on the bids to buy us front.
Waiting for something
Russell Martin’s interviews and press conferences aren’t doing much to offer reassurance to fans who aren’t bought in, or convinced by what they’re watching. Midweek he talked about how difficult it is to win games consistently, which feels like he’s setting us up to be prepared to drop points. We all know that’s a possibility, we don’t really want to hear you infer it’s coming though, Russell.
After two points dropped here, he’s not particularly said anything new again, having bemoaned our lack of ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch, he threw this in:
“It’s my job to be frustrated. There’s more. Games like today, in a few months time, we win convincingly.”
It’s a variation on what we’ve heard countless times. It’s been peppered previously with an ask for patience in bedding in new players, because the squad was younger. Both of which are no longer such valid arguments. Our midfield is young, but there’s enough experience around them and it’s actually the experienced players who have been more of the liabilities. Plus we’re into November now, they’ve had time to gel.
Despite the omen of being three points off the play offs that puts you in mind of last season, we’re much less likely to get dragged into a relegation battle this year. But automatic promotion sounds ambitious right now. The points we’d need to average per game aren’t in the ballpark of what we have actually achieved so far. This is an expensive squad to remain in League One, showing more short sighted risk taking from those at the top.
There’s still a possibility that this can come together. Martin and the players keep promising it in interviews. But we’re a quarter of the way into the season now and it’s getting harder to keep hearing that without seeing it transpire into a run or in more points won.
There were some chances. The Stevenage goalkeeper made some fine saves, but it’s also pressing to point out we have to be doing more and better. Take the Riis header that he couldn’t keep down or our most intelligent player dragging a shot wide that had to go in. Too often we were slow to get the ball forward or picking the wrong target to feed a pass into.
An apathy and denial problem
Tickets were around the £35 mark for this match. It’s not just the pricing that saw empty seats, admittedly less than Tuesday night but still plenty. It’s not just that people have to pay that to watch a team who aren’t consistent, against an opposition who also aren’t helping to justify that cost. It’s becoming harder to justify the games as worthy of your time. Even with pleasant social plans pre or post match.
As a fanbase, we’re simply not angry enough. At full time today, there was barely the inkling of a boo from anybody, and while I’m in agreement that booing is not helpful, it was surprising. Though perhaps not as surprising as seeing how many fans willingly clapped the players off. We’ve got some fans seemingly in denial about where we are and the risks at hand, and more who just can’t drum up enough emotion because nothing has changed for such a long time now.
Those who did still clap likely cite that we drew so it’s a point gained, maybe they’ll be thinking of the chances we had but didn’t take, maybe they just wanted to clap off the likes of Sammy Braybrooke and Will Alves who remain good. But make no mistake about it, we were not good today. We didn’t really deserve to win. For the most part, our chances were not big enough, frequent enough or well taken and we also fully deserved to concede both goals.
We remain the team that you just press a little bit and we crumble. Martin’s guarantees that this will stop happening are starting to grate more when the words just aren’t marrying up to the realities of what we’re being served on field and it’s more of the same from those at the top. Silence. Those seven minute interviews don’t count, they told us nothing new and they couldn’t even be bothered to mention the transfer embargo that the wider media picked up on a couple of weeks later.
This was a mediocre game for huge swathes of the 90 minutes, sprinkled with a good opening few minutes from us and a period in the first half for Stevenage where they got the better of us. But this wouldn’t have entertained a neutral for anything other than them being amused by Leicester messing it up again with the manner of the goals conceded.
The apathetic or happy-clapping response at full time should be sending alarm bells out. Should we be accepting draws like this with the money spent on transfers and the wages being paid out? Or with the alleged experience in the squad and the substitutes we brought on? Stevenage fans weren’t even mocking us for our predicament inside or outside of the ground, perhaps just enjoying getting a result like this despite their own squad being littered with injuries.
Martin said it’s his job to be frustrated and demand more. Arguably, it’s our collective job as a fanbase too. Not just of Martin and the players, but to keep pressing those at the top. They’ve had an easy time of this year, the momentum behind protests and chants has largely fallen away. Some might be content enough to wait for us to be sold, but something has to change. Something has to reconnect this club and its fans.
Some fans have voted with their feet and just not renewed their season tickets, or missed games for other plans, or simply to watch it at home where when we do fold like a poorly assembled paper plane, you can at least go make a nice cup of something to soothe the pain, rather than having to trek home angry.
The next match day offers a break from League One proceedings but a stark reminder of where we’ve allowed ourselves to fall to. Oxford City away in the FA Cup is on Friday night and while we know we should have the quality and squad to comfortably win, that outcome just never feels assured anymore.
