Ten games in, what have we learnt: Stuck in the middle with Coops
With ten games gone, can you predict where Leicester City will finish based on these games? At this point, saying that Leicester fans are divided on that, and everything else, is like saying the sky is blue. Iain Wright assesses the state of affairs and Steve Cooper’s efforts after the ten game milestone.
There's a well worn theory about not looking at the league table until ten games have passed. In times gone by, some publications didn't even print a table until this point.
However, in this data hungry modern world, that simply doesn't happen anymore as people are analysing from the get-go, even enjoying a table with one game played in Manchester United's case.
But I do think the premise holds, as there's a lot of evidence to say that the table after ten games, over a quarter of the way through, is a decent indicator of how things will pan out over the full thirty-eight games.
Looking at it now, you'd have to say the table already has a familiar look to it, with the teams at both ends roughly where you'd expect them to be after ten games. If Manchester United and Nottingham Forest swapped places, it'd look very predictable.
So, with that in mind, 15th and already in double figures for points looks like a good start for us. That is the case for many Foxes fans, and certainly is to anyone who's not a fellow Fox looking in.
With a backdrop of many fans looking at Derby's infamous 11 points with a little trepidation at the start of the season, surely we should be delighted and fully united behind Cooper's Troopers? But as ever with Leicester City, things are not what they seem.
You can look back at the ten games two different ways and, a bit like the performances, switch from one to the other in a heartbeat.
The positives are that Foxes Never Quit is back en vogue. There was a very long spell of league games in the last couple of Premier League seasons under Brendan Rodgers where, if we were losing at half time, that was it, game over.
As a reminder, the win over Coventry on the opening day of last season under Enzo (in the Championship) was the first time we'd been behind in the second half of a league game and come back to win since Brighton away, two and half years before.
This season's team certainly has some bottle and do fight to the end. The win at Southampton was the first second half Premier League turnaround for three and a half years. The late equaliser at Ipswich also a pretty rare occurrence for us in recent Premier League history.
As with everything though, the flipside to that is that a) we bloomin' need to fight late on after consistently getting ourselves in a pickle earlier in the games, and b) the extra 3 points gained at Southampton and Ipswich are almost cancelled out by the 2 lost in injury time at Palace.
However, let's be positive. The ability to score late on is an excellent quality to have, Ayew particularly being a good finisher in both senses of the word. There is quality and match winners in the team and we've kept up the record of having scored in every game.
If you look at the backdrop of the unexpected departure of Enzo (unexpected from the board’s point of view, no one else was surprised), the 'late' appointment of Cooper, a shambles of a pre season schedule and the issues with Profit and Sustainability impacting the transfer market, then surely 10 points from 10 games is an even better return?
Well, it is... but the big question about how we've won them is ringing alarm bells and giving a sense of how different it could be. I could go into detail on how poor we are tactically, but Dominic Wells has done a far superior job than I could.
The summary is that we're absolutely winging it with limited tactical nous, little identity, conceding chance after chance and player selections are at odds with the barely discernible 'plan'. Against tougher opposition, surely these issues will be exposed further?
10 points is 10 points though, so does the tactical side of things matter? I was told in a WhatsApp group by a prominent podcast running Foxes fan that he didn't understand identity and therefore it wasn't something to worry about. Does he have a point? If we keep grabbing points by hook or by crook, then perhaps, who cares?
Ultimately, I think we'll find out over the tough looking next ten games. In the first ten, we haven't lost to a relegation rival... but we've also only beaten one of them. James's Foxy Figures stats show that by almost every metric, we look dire... except of course the one that matters - the league table.
The cup half full (or overflowing in the case of some wildly optimistic fans) would say we've built a platform to push on. Yet another crazy summer is behind us and the manager can begin to bed-in his ideas and progress us forward. Keep calm and carry on.
The cup half full/completely empty fans would say that our luck can't hold (surely both sides would agree we've had bucket loads in the last two away games) and that the malaise within the team and lack of identity will catch up with us against better opposition. The rest of November is a good test for that.
It's incredible how divided the fans are and how wildly expectations vary. We're recent trophy winners… but we were in League One once (yawn). The only real unifying times so far have been the 'moments' this team has already served up. I've celebrated goals against Spurs, Southampton and Ipswich far more vigorously than almost any from last season. That's ‘the best league in the world’ for you, I suppose.
It's my sincere hope that those moments do indeed count for something at the end of the season. Ahead we have a tough run of fixtures, before probably the most important moment of the season - the 23/24 accounts being submitted to the Premier League (with the EFL cancelling all leave in anticipation) on New Year's Eve.
Anyone planning a party may want to hold back on the celebrations, or at the very least make sure Nick De Marco is invited. In the summer, the local journalists (presumably briefed by the club) seemed quite confident that the compensation from Enzo and sale of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall filled the gaping hole in those books and all looked OK.
The worrying thing for me is that those same journalists are now hedging their bets a bit and have started referencing ‘the potential’ for deductions later in the season. Just one normal season would be nice. Super Nick is still my favourite for Player of the Season.
All in all, Steve Cooper continues for the time being. Justifiably due to the league table and with past history suggesting it takes a drop into the relegation zone before the club start discussions on sackings and posting corner flag pictures.
So, with fans to the left of him, and players doing 'alright', here we are stuck in the middle with Coops. But thankfully, the middle is the middle of the table. For now...
Our second Foxy Figures looks at Leicester’s defeat to Arsenal and reviews the season so far. Warning: xPositivity is in short supply.