Did Leicester City’s big turning point of the season happen on day one?
Leicester City’s trip down the M69 to Coventry this Saturday is bringing back memories of the opening day for Iain Wright. But what if things had been different…?
Early hours of the morning; a Foxes fan fast asleep. Suddenly, a voice enters their dreamy brain. It’s a Sky Sports commentator I think, one of those ones who do the Championship games. He’s shouting… what’s he saying…?
“And there goes the final whistle, after 9 seasons in the Premier League, Leicester City have lost their first game back in the Championship and... oh, listen to those boos!
“It has to be said that the discontent started midway through the second half as the Foxes laboured in possession, but blimey, this is a deafening disapproval of the new manager’s reign.
“As the fans begin to leave the stadium, many will be asking if the new manager and his style are a good fit for this league and Callum Doyle, just entering the tunnel there, must be wondering if he's made the right transfer choice - it could have been him celebrating in front of the away end!”
Dilly-ding, dilly dong!! Saved by the (alarm) bell. Annnndddd breathe! Grab the bedclothes and compose yourself, it was just a bad dream. Of course, the above didn't happen.
In the real world, back on opening day, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, KDH, The King of Shepshed, stepped up to the plate and began his quest for Championship Player of the Season by delivering a finale to the opening game that turned the result on its head. This may turn out to be the most important win of the season.
Yes, yes, it's all ifs, buts and maybes, if my nan had wheels etc… but just consider it for a second. Had we lost that game, which, let's be honest, we absolutely could have done, the Enzo revolution might have been over before it'd started.
Over-dramatic? Maybe. But even now, with 21 wins from 26 games, safely through to round 4 of the FA Cup and with promotion not far from our grasp, there's still a portion of the fanbase that aren’t happy or convinced. A record-breaking points tally and averaging more than two goals a game still isn’t enough for some. They just want us to gerrit forward.
It’s easy to dismiss those complaints now, after lots of wins and with us sitting pretty at the top. But what if Enzo hadn’t had the luxury of time and was under the cosh from the start? Would the patience that we’ve all learned since been so easy to accept, if the results were poor?
With the way the season has panned out, thankfully those who remain unconvinced are in the minority and are dwindling by the week. Also, to be fair, in the last month we have scored some scintillating counter-attack goals and a couple of very direct ones. This Enzo team surely has something for everyone as it continues to develop? However, just imagine how those ‘concerns’ above about the style of play would have sounded on the back of some early defeats? This is why I think winning that the opening game was so, so important to get the show on the road.
It’s worth revisiting the context of that opening game. Time passes so quickly, but it’s fair to say that the wounds from the previous campaign are still sore now and they were positively stinging back in August. We went into the game on the back of what has to be said was a chaotic pre-season. Cancelled games, no home games, under-cooked it seemed, injuries to new signings and a real uncertainty surrounding a rookie manager.
Add to that a departure lounge at Seagrave that was still too full and an arrivals hall that was still a little quiet. It didn’t bode well. Anyone who picked the starting XI for the opening game before it was announced collected their million pound reward. In what felt like a continuation of the chaotic pre-season, the lineup had a ‘unfinished’ or temporary feel to it. It certainly didn’t scream 65 points on New Year’s Day.
As the fans approached the stadium on a Sunday morning back in August, many for the first time since that day in May, there was the usual ‘opening game excitement’ but I’m sure lots had a sense of apprehension. Some were even more concerned about ‘doing a Sunderland’ rather than emulating Burnley and bouncing straight back. It was an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation.
The occasion itself was a ‘back to earth with a bump’ experience. All the razzmatazz of the Premier League was gone, and you could feel that the Sky Sports B team were all ready to broadcast live to the nation how far the once-mighty League and FA Cup-winning Foxes has fallen. My mood wasn’t improved either by my daughter pointing out how the flag in the centre circle was different, the adverts on the scoreboard were different and the shirt numbers looked different – yes, IT’S BECAUSE WE’RE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, STOP GOING ON ABOUT IT, I shamefully snapped at her!
It does feel like a long time ago now, but my recollections of the first half were of a more even contest than we’ve since become accustomed to. That said, I do think we were on top, but not really creating a great deal (to be fair, this does sound like a number of first halves now). The only real chance fell to Kasey McAteer, making his first league start for Leicester, who stung the keeper’s gloves. This led to a lot of Twitter experts subsequently writing him off and declaring we should loan him out immediately, such was the lack of trust in the fanbase.
All in all, we’d looked okay. However, what had been a pretty competent, if not enthralling, first half quickly disintegrated into what we’d seen many times the previous season soon after the break. Coventry had already had a couple of chances gifted to them before they earned themselves a corner, to be taken in front of their away fans. The ball was swung in and, as was (and still is, sadly) traditional, we allowed Coventry’s Kyle McFadzean to crash in a header while unmarked. Cue delirium in the away end as they began to enjoy their big day out.
How it stayed 0-1, I’ll never know. What we saw was an early reminder that Championship strikers aren’t as ruthless as those in the top flight, thankfully. With 15 minutes to go, the clichéd ‘early season opportunism’ had evaporated, particularly with Mads Hermansen standing with his foot on the ball as if we were 1-0 up. There were groans in the crowd and a very understandable feeling that we needed to get on with it.
This was where the first lesson in patience was dispensed from the Enzo school of football. The ’new’ Leicester carefully drew Coventry out of their defensive block before moving the ball wide-left, good work by Mavididi instigated a flowing move across the width of the pitch to the opposite flank which saw substitute Dennis Praet swing over a delightful cross which was met by that man, KDH. Cue celebration, relief and various comments about Cov not singing anymore.
Even with the equaliser on the scoresheet and now being in the ascendancy due to a visibly tiring Coventry team who’d been Enzo-balled into numerous subs of their own, we still needed a truly magnificent Hermansen save, getting the faintest of touches to a Haji Wright shot and turning it onto the crossbar, to get anything out of the game. This save set the platform for turning nil points into three. Moments later, another patient passing move found KDH who twisted and turned in the box and lashed in what turned out to be an 87th minute winner.
The win got KDH on his way to Championship player of the season. We saw an ‘early’ substitution turn the game our way. We’d been losing in the second half of a league game and come back to win for the first time in over two years (since Brighton away in March 2021). Maybe this new manager had something?
Across the team, there was suddenly a lot to like – a keeper who could make a save, someone saying “I thought Vestergaard did ok” wasn’t met with a breathalyser test, Kasey McAteer was on the winning team and had a platform for what was to come, Mavididi with an assist. There was also the consensus that Dennis Praet would be a key figure if he could stay fit (you can’t have everything!)
The rest as we know is history. 65 points from 26 games going into the return fixture this weekend. The league leaders are in town and it’s big news at the other end of the M69. Coventry are selling out their stadium, packing local cinemas (including free popcorn!), planning fireworks and getting special shirts laundered for the occasion. It sounds like it’s the most anticipated event in Coventry since Lady Godiva left her house with her horse but without her clothes!
Regardless of the result this weekend though, Leicester City today feels so much better in every way, shape and form than it did back on 6th August.
Can you have a turning point on the opening day? I think you can. Viva Enzo!
