Acclimatising to a new reality: Wanting to watch Leicester City again
Life in the Championship hits different - Harry Gregory gives a rundown of his first day back in the Football League and what he’s learned about our new home.
When football weekly magazines were common on the racks of supermarkets, their August sales were higher than any other point of the year. As the anticipation climaxes in August, football fans consume all the information available to us. Those sales dramatically fell by September when a lot of supporters have realised their team are not going to be challenging at the top of their division. That need to learn everything wanes.
Not that such magazines would have sold well in Leicester this summer. The vibe to the pre-season tour has been lukewarm. It felt as though it was more about ‘face’ rather than football. I attempted to get into the anticipation. However, watching the opener to the season on Friday night, it didn’t last long for me.
That was partly in annoyance that Sky Sports hasn’t moved its coverage on from the cliches it was parroting fifteen years ago and that Sheffield Wednesday in the first half appeared to have pulled a team from the nearby Hillsborough Park.
I managed to do a bit of research with a podcast. Not The Top 20 has established itself as the best in providing a well-researched and balanced prediction of the season ahead. More importantly, it has done so without the need for hyperbole and chasing the social media buzz. Even from a so-called statto, I have very little knowledge of the Championship’s playing squads. I am still adjusting to this new climate.
Thankfully by the time Sunday arrived, there was no need to self-motivate. We were playing the real stuff and against a local rival who hadn’t played us in eleven years. The feelings came back. A mixture of excitement and frustration. Enough to record a 126-bpm heart rate.
The noon kick-off did its best to be an obstacle in building excitement. Arriving in Leicester around 10, it was very Sunday morning. The pre-match analysis was accompanied by a cappuccino and a croissant. Then, I wandered off for a solo pint which I enjoyed more than expected. The pub was relatively busy, but I could find a seat to pause at. Audibly, at the table next to me, no-one knew what to expect in terms of line-up and performance.
My mood wasn’t set well when I entered the stadium to the howling commentary of Tielemans’s FA Cup-winning goal. I was slightly worried regarding fan behaviour and the new social media policy that the club hadn’t learned there was some repairing to do. Reset needed. However, I was to be proven wrong.
If you didn’t know what ‘Semper Eadem’ means as the tifo displayed, it’s the city’s motto - Latin for ‘always the same’. The message was given a real test over the hundred minutes of football.
My immediate observation was that the quality is notably poorer. The passing completion rates must drop off significantly from the top flight. Coventry spent the first twenty minutes lumping it for Ellis Simms to try and win something. When possession did break down, the midfield had open spaces. It was the basketball game that a past manager detested.
Tactically it was mad, exposing our defenders to pace and counterattack every time we lost possession. When Harry Winks in the latter part of the first half was struggling to pass to midfielders that he had earlier found with ease, he was made to come forward from his deeper midfield position. A gap would open, and Coventry could go at us.
When we kicked off the second half, we stepped away from the assured passing which at times before the break had worked well. Mads Hermansen woofed it from kick off. We lost the ball. Then he did it again. We lost the ball. Under a minute later the ball was in the net.
Chaos still reigned in the tactical battle except Coventry had improved. For a spell between sixty and seventy minutes, it felt as though the pre-season concerns had become real. Specifically, the worry that we’d be exposed defensively when the possession-based style doesn’t work. The remedy is effort and desire to win the ‘second ball’, yet we still have a team which contains personnel who want a transfer away. It was here, the nightmare at home to a local pretender.
Thankfully, ‘Semper Eadem’. Always the same. Coventry City lose in Leicester. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s first goal brings memories of the late runs which made Andy King a goalscoring wonder. The second goal looked Leicester. Win the ball. Counter with pace. Finish with quality. Just like it was. No goal music. Just like it was. Someone’s listening.
Now the noon kick-off had a benefit. A whole day to bask in the result. I could still have a lovely pub Sunday dinner and be home at a sensible time.
Monday evening. In my latest readjustment to the second tier, it was highlights time. Apparently, ITV’s effort is a car crash. So, I visit EFL’s YouTube account. Which is equally as disorganised. To search each individual club’s account instead. Every game appeared open without structure.
Goalkeepers who are poor in possession have a good attempt at being Ederson anyway and often fail. I’d forgotten about Keith Stroud but I spotted him being crowded out by multiple players at Carrow Road. Plymouth’s crowd made some bloody noise as well.
If we can keep our heads, build some confidence, and develop the squad over the next three weeks with signings like Stephy Mavididi, whose celebrations suggested he’s here to succeed and enjoy it, we will be up there. Maybe naively after seeing every team, Coventry appeared strong opposition but I am still learning the language of our new home.
The next test this weekend is playing a team, Huddersfield Town, that will hit those cliches mentioned by Sky. Direct, strong, set piece-based. I won’t be there to continue my acclimatisation in person but I feel like I want to watch Leicester City again.
