2010/11 A roller coaster season

The 2010/2011 season was one to be met with huge expectation at Leicester City.

After returning to the Championship at the first time of asking under a new tenure led by Nigel Pearson, City had narrowly missed out on a back to back feat, losing in a heartbreaking play off semi final penalty shoot out to Cardiff City in South Wales.

The disappointment was overshadowed by pride in what our overachieving team had done though, and under Pearson the Blue Army felt that this team would realise the dream of Premier League football once again.

A summer of turbulence was to follow though.

Over Leicester’s unsuccessful play off semi final fixtures, club Chairman Milan Mandaric had invited Swansea City manager Paulo Sousa as his personal guest. The former Portuguese international was a close friend of Mandaric and Pearson smelt a rat.

Just over a month after the defeat in Cardiff news was spreading that Nigel Pearson had left Leicester City to join recently relegated Hull City as manager.

“I was quite surprised at Nigel Pearson’s departure. But that is in the past and now we have to look for what’s best for this club and to replace a good manager with a good manager” said Milan Mandaric.

Things didn’t add up though and once the information leaked about Sousa being invited as Mandaric’s guest to Leicester’s final two games of the campaign, the realisation set in that Pearson didn’t really leave Leicester on his own accord.

The inevitable appointment was made. On Wednesday 7th July Paulo Sousa was installed as Leicester City manager. A new regime began with the same ambitions as the old one had ended. Promotion was the target.

Sousa employed a new patient style of football at Leicester, totally diverting the team from Pearson’s compact counter attacking system. The new reign at the Walkers Stadium was not hitting the ground running by all means and after an opening day defeat at Crystal Palace, Sousa’s Leicester did not taste victory in the Championship until September 14th, the clubs sixth league outing.

Patience and football do not go hand in hand in English football and that win against Cardiff City on September 14th would be Sousa’s first and last in the Championship.

Inbetween a League Cup victory at Fratton Park against Portsmouth came a 2-0 home defeat to table toppers QPR and an embarrasing thumping at the same ground the club had tasted success on just days before. Portsmouth got revenge for their cup exit, a 6-1 verdict had the knives out. Sousa was on borrowed time.

Four days after the Portsmouth massacre saw Leicester lose again. Norwich City overcame a resiliant Leicester fightback to win 4-3. Leicester had conceded 10 league goals in under a week and Carrow Road was where it ended for Paulo Sousa.

September 28th 2010, Leicester City held up the Championship table, four points from the safety zone. A season that promised so much was rapidly turning into a nightmare.

The new Thai led consortium that had bought into the club in August were seeing their investment flop in a devastating manner. A statement needed to be made to shake up the fortunes of Leicester City.

With Sousa gone, coaches Chris Powell and Mike Stowell took charge for the visit of Scunthorpe United. A 3-1 victory for Leicester at the Walkers, only their second of the campaign, saw the club rise from the bottom. More notably than the result came a face in the crowd. Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson had been heavily linked with the vacant post at Leicester and the Swede was present for Powell and Stowell’s first and last win in charge at the club.

Eriksson was soon appointed Leicester manager and the clubs fortunes were quick to change with it.

Inbetween cup exits to Premiership sides West Bromich Albion and Manchester City, the latter resulting in a pulsating couple of games ending in a reply at Eastlands, came an unbeaten run at the Walkers Stadium in the league that would stretch for 12 games, 8 of which Leicester won.

The run had catapulted Leicester City from the bottom three into ninth, five points from the play off placings. Sven Goran Eriksson had not only ended any fears of another relegation season to League One, he’d reinstalled the summer hopes of promotion to the Premier League.

Eriksson’s run of form was dented mainly by promotion chasers QPR, Norwich City, Reading and finally Nottingham Forest as the season drew to it’s conclusion. A 3-2 defeat at the City Ground in late April ultimately ended Leicester’s languasing hopes of a top six finish.

A season that started with dissapointment was unfortunately to end in the same manner but the resergance inbetween will surely stand Leicester in good stead for next season. The ambitions of Premier League football will again be the driving force come August and this time the club won’t be starting over again.

With a high profile manager and money to spend, Leicester City have already been installed as second favourites behind West Ham United to win the Championship next season.

Last years hopes and ambitions were pinned on a manager we didn’t know too much about but with Eriksson’s feet now firmly under the Thai bought office table, this summers hopes and ambitions are warranted.

As ever, ‘this could be the year’.

David Cockcroft, June 2011
For Leicester till I Die
Twitter - @DavidJCockcroft