Sometimes, the truth hurts. And the truth is that there is no best moment of 2022. It was the worst and least exciting year to be a Leicester fan since before we were in League One.

There were no big games, no new signings, no breakthrough prospects. We undoubtedly end the year in a far worse place than where we started.

Ah, that was 2021…

The only moments I can think of that would qualify as a 'best' part of the year are completely feeble.

There was Ricardo's winner against PSV, a great winner but in a made up competition where we went out meekly in the next round, Fofana's comeback goal against Rennes, a nice redemption moment subsequently soured by the way he torched the club on his way out in August, and that time someone on Twitch claimed we were about to sign Marcelo.

Casting my mind back for anything remotely like a 'big' win, I settled on beating Liverpool 1-0 with half the team injured, before I realised that was actually last year.

After that game, it felt like we were coming through the worst of the injury crisis and ready to push on. We might embark on a cup run or two, then be ready to go again with our fully-fit and upwardly-mobile team the following season. I had high hopes that we'd have a few moments to make us feel alive.

Then the first Premier League game of 2022 was at home to Spurs. With distance, I'm more convinced than ever that the ending destroyed the mentality of the team and any hope of future success with this group of players.

Burning it all to the ground

What followed was a year of relentless nothingness. The worst kind of fan experience, as even a relegation battle provides big games to get up for and the prospect of burning it all to the ground and starting afresh if it goes wrong.

I went back through every game of the year to look for anything remotely interesting or exciting to talk about. For those of us that didn't travel to Eindhoven or to Rome, the only two games that could qualify as memorable were against Forest.

The infamous cup defeat at the City Ground took place at the start of February. Perhaps it's just me, but the loss is more memorable than the win at home a couple of months ago. It was certainly the one with more far-reaching consequences.

Nothing good and virtually nothing of any note whatsoever has happened for 11 months since then. The sudden, crippling absence of any money in a league where more teams than ever are awash with it has added to the sense of gloom.

9 out of 9

So to the fortunes of the women's team. The Lionesses winning the Euros was by far the best sporting moment of the year for me. I was excited for this WSL season.

Fast forward a few months to the winter break, and Leicester have lost nine out of nine and have had as many managers as they have goals. It's difficult to say anything new or to maintain interest and excitement in something so bad.

I thought Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's post-match interview on Boxing Day was an extreme reaction to a single defeat. But the more I've thought about it, I've realised he was channelling the frustration that's evident throughout the club. He's close enough to it all to understand.

The most exciting part of the year being that time your best player made the England World Cup squad, got injured, didn't play, was tapped up by a bunch of Newcastle players, and remained injured when the season started again isn't really what got us all into the beautiful game to begin with.

The pot of gold

The annoyance Dewsbury-Hall gave voice to was one that has seen the same performance 35 times over the course of the year.

The one that's seen points thrown away from winning positions, games lost before they've even started, roughly 300 goals conceded from set pieces.

The one that's seen us bin off our legendary goalkeeper and replace him with full-time reserve who'd never kept a clean sheet in his life, seen Daniel Amartey go from fifth-choice centre back to first choice, seen an important first team player fall apart in a friendly, again.

The one that logs onto Twitter to find we're still searching for that right winger, the most likely marquee signing is Michael Keane on loan, and the only exciting players we have left are all about to leave.

Both the male and female teams are in stasis. Like a relationship where everyone is just going through the motions. LCFC Women are waiting to be relegated to start all over again. Half of Brendan's boys are waiting to leave so they can start all over again. The rest of us are waiting for them all to leave so we can start all over again.

The only thing that unites the coaches, players, and fans is that we're all desperate for a change. The prospect of an overhaul in 2023 is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Maybe the best moment of 2022 is the fact that it's over.