Vardy, Vitor and VAR - The Hazzetta preview: Wolves v Leicester City
Apologies, the printers at Hazzetta have taken a very Italian holiday and then there was significant strike action to deal with as well.
The pink paper has been stacking up at the press and we’ve managed to agree some corrupt sweeteners to get them back in work.
Ultimately, alongside Leicester City’s descent into nothingness, I ended up with a triple whammy of ailments as spring sprung including nasty headaches which bizarrely seemed to begin with me not going to any Leicester City game for a period but then disappear when I broke the break from it at our 3-0 loss to Newcastle United. The suggestion being I need an object of stress to offset against.
Thus, with a recovery back to health, and a bit of inspiration - provided from a gallivant to Stockholm - that not all football is bad, I am back tapping away at the keyboard and throwing some opinion into the discourse.
This comes at a time when Jamie Vardy has confirmed his wish to depart Leicester City at the end of this season. One of our glorious leaders at The Fosse Way has penned some excellence on the Mundial Magazine website and I am sure similarly beautiful words are to come. Personally, I slightly feel the need to collect myself and consider it all.
However, it was the point which Mr Bevan made about Leicester City from now which stuck. With Vardy’s departure, we lose the redeeming feature which made us something else. Now we are just another football club with poor decision-making. Take your pick from plenty of others in the 92.
That comment stuck because of what happened as I began to put foundations in place for a Hammarby and Leicester City friendship (Hammarby: 1 league title, 1 cup win from 5 finals as well by the way).
When introducing myself to people in Stockholm and mentioning who I support, Jamie Vardy was either the first or second topic that the Swedes wanted to discuss. This is a pattern I am sure we have all encountered as Leicester fans abroad. Vardy’s icon as a bastion of traditional football within a modern machine beats any cultural boundaries. He’s the icebreaker. The thread to start a conversation. Take your pick of destinations. He’s been a topic I’ve discussed in Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark.
In my immediate thoughts, this is one example of his impact while the other which I will try to form properly is that I can’t think of any other person in the world that I don’t personally know that I could be more indebted to for their impact on my life. Through his efforts, he’s given me memories for life – including family and friends.
Another impact is that the Hazzetta’s return was initially a long rant about Sunday’s loss to Liverpool being a void of emotion and atmosphere. In combination with a crowd which must have been at least 40% Liverpool fans or day trippers plus the air of resignation within the other 60%, it was completely flat. At sixty minutes with Liverpool gunning for a title and Leicester on the cliff-face of relegation, there was literally no noise. It was dead. It reminded me of the pre-season friendly against Real Madrid upon King Power’s arrival. Indifference reigns supreme. The anger isn’t even there any more.
In the absence of Hazzetta, there’s been a keen eye on how the Championship is going to look next season. In an attempt to find scraps of good news, we do have a fresh circuit of away days and we have no VAR. I have spoken before to Manchester United fans who enjoyed that their dismal performance has seen them qualify for the Europa League where the away trips don’t have as regular a recurrence as they do in the Champions League.
Personally, Oxford and whoever joins Birmingham in promotion from League 1 will be fresh visits with Leicester for me. While there was enough away trips I didn’t do last time out to maintain enough intrigue. The 24-team preview, though, should be a task to keep Hazzetta busy over the summer.
Interestingly, earlier in the campaign we were asked on The Fosse Way what the key games of this season would be. A few of us picked out this trip to Molineux as a landmark fixture by which we would know if we had any chance of staying up. Instead, it was the reverse fixture where everything became clear. It was from that moment also where Wolves’ superior footballing nous behind the scenes was apparent.
Their hire of Vitor Pereira appeared risky but retrospectively was sensible given the heavy Iberian base of their playing squad. Their recruitment team and director of football quickly set up correctly the most important parts of the pitch. Tellingly, they signed two centre-backs. Neither of them from particularly massive clubs nor for large amounts of money by Premier League standards. Just effective signings which answered a problem.
It's why I find the accusation that the gap between the two divisions is too large to be too easy an assertion to make. All three promoted clubs over the summer spent excessively. Ipswich’s spend was £120million, for example. The PSR concerns weren’t stopping them.
It’s probably an argument for a wider article but the key appears to be getting your spine of goalkeeper and centre back pairing right, then you have the foundation. Given Robert Huth’s impact in 2015 and Ward plus the pairing of Faes and Amartey in 2023, you would think we could recount history to suggest we need a restructuring of our defence.
Alas, we didn’t.
Alas, we are down.
