Why the return of the Leicester legends is my moment of the season so far
This week, Bristol City parted ways with Nigel Pearson. Big Nige’s latest travails gave Jamie Thorpe the opportunity to reflect on his favourite moment of the season so far, when Pearson led an army of former heroes back to the King Power.
This season has so far been an absolute whirlwind, games have come so thick and fast that the recent international break allowed me some much needed time to take stock, take a breath and look back over what we had achieved so far. There have been obvious highlights, but weirdly one game stuck out to me more than most.
Fixture release day. A fateful day that finally, and brutally, confirmed to me that relegation actually happened and wasn’t just some bizarre nightmare. To cheer myself up somewhat I scanned the list for some upcoming games to look forward to, Bristol City at home was one of them.
To many outside Leicester, this would be a bit confusing. Those people would not understand the strength of feeling within Leicester’s fanbase towards three names who have played significant roles in our club’s history: “Big” Nigel Pearson, Andy “Andy Andy King” King and Matt “Matty” James.
New against the old
Heading into the game, my focus was elsewhere. Against many expectations Leicester had made a ridiculous start to the season, both on and off the pitch. Yet, incredibly and to my immense frustration, there remained naysayers. One loss from seven league games and a win in the cup was not enough for some, despite 25 ins and outs and a complete reinvention of our playing style. Some expected immediate fireworks, some would only be happy when we had 30 shots on target a game, some expected every pass to be forward as we besiege the opposition goal for the full 100 minutes.
This game, therefore, felt like an opportunity. We know Pearson, we knew what to expect and Nige duly delivered. A well-drilled, disciplined and motivated side set up to hit us on the counter, aiming to frustrate, so could Maresca silence his naysayers and show that actually, patience is a virtue? The answer, in my eyes, was an emphatic yes. Leicester, for around 90% of the game, were streets ahead of their Bristolian counterparts.
We put together slick moves that had the defence chasing blue shadows for much of the contest, and for 10 minutes after the restart, rained chances down on the Bristol ‘keeper, forcing Pearson into a triple change on the 55-minute mark. The win, when it came, was thoroughly deserved.
733 passes, the Metronome Winks with 100 of them, wingers taking their man on at will, shots from 11 different players, tackles being won high up the pitch and some vintage Jamie Vardy acting as the cherry on top. A complete win, even if we needed some more Mads heroics to get us over the line. But then came the surprising moments, ones that I had hoped to see and that make this game stand out to me several weeks later.
Cheers Nige
The pre-match reception for Matty James was brilliant, and a testament to the role he played in one of our greatest ever seasons, helping us to stay in the Premier League. Nigel Pearson is a complicated character on the face of it, but what is simple is how he is revered around Leicester. Check any tweet made by the most sensible man on social media and despite being written as if composing a formal letter to a long-distance business partner, Nigel’s feed is inundated with responses from Leicester fans. “Cheers Nige” being a popular one.
The crutch bound manager made his way over to the Bristol fans to thank them, but it was the Leicester fans who serenaded him off the pitch to the sounds of “only one Nigel Pearson”, sang loud enough to drown out the tannoy and make the great man stop in his tracks and turn to face the East Stand in appreciation. A nice moment of mutual respect between fans and their former manager.
The opportunity to welcome back another Leicester City legend, and I don’t use that term lightly, in Andy King, is one that clearly meant a huge amount to the fans. King didn’t feature in the game itself but made his way around the pitch at the end of the game regardless to a standing ovation from the City fans. He, of course, missed out on a proper send-off when he left the club because of Covid.
When he made it to the Kop and to the many supporters who had remained to the end, he was serenaded with the famous “wins the ball scores a goal” song, which caused the club’s highest-scoring midfielder to become visibly emotional. In all honesty, it was hard not to feel the same way in the stands, and I was delighted that we had given King the moment that he missed out on at the end of his Leicester career, something which obviously meant a lot.
These scenes managed to sum up what I love most about this club. No matter what we’ve achieved, or the current circumstances be it good or bad, we never lose sight of our past, treating those who gave their all to the club with the sort of respect that rarely fades over time.
You worry that success, or lack of, can affect these values but after this showing those fears faded quickly into the Leicester sky. We may be moving in a completely new direction under Maresca, as his detractors melt away into the background, but it was our former heroes that made the real impact that day.
