LEICESTER CITY SEASON REVIEW 2012/13
Following another long summer without
watching football although I did get to see some of the Euro 2012 while on
holiday in Wales, and once again England bowing out of a major tournament by
failing to win a penalty shoot-out. Something we all know about at
Leicester! It was with great excitement as I headed home from my third Welsh
break of the summer in Cardigan Bay (I love Wales!)Looking forward to the new
football season, and wondering what was in store for us at The King Power
Stadium this coming season.
It was with great optimism that we went
into our opening league game at home to Peterborough and a 2-0 win set us off
nicely and all was good with the world as me and our kid walked back to the car
thinking that this could be the season we put in a strong challenge for
promotion to the premier league.
We had the new look Wes Morgan, new
arrivals Anthony Knockaert, Jamie Vardy, Richard De laet, Matty James and young
Liam Moore who looks a great prospect, added to our squad, optimism was the
order of the day. But we were soon brought back down to earth with a touch of
inconsistency, followed by an outstanding run of results that saw us top the
table at one point. Only to be followed by a horrific run of results in the New
Year that meant we were in for a right rollercoaster of a ride that had
everything towards the end of the season. Drama, Excitement, Expectation and
plenty of tears!
I am not going to give a match by match
summary or a monthly account of our season, as that has already been done
admirably by LTID colleague Clive Nagington. I will try and give an
insight into my season at our beloved Leicester City Football Club.
As I walked to the Stadium with my
brother Roy, as we have done for many years, excitement and expectation still
overcomes me as we prepared to watch our beloved Leicester City for another
season, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted what was to unfold during
the coming months, and as I am typing this report I still haven’t got over
those last few games of our extraordinary season.
Following on from the exploits at
Watford on 12th May I think what most supporters are asking, and
even neutrals still keep asking me, is where it all went wrong!
It is easy to lay the blame on Nigel
Pearson as he is our manager. But I personally, despite getting frustrated at
some of his team selections, believe he has done a good job at our football
club and I believe he is the right man to take us forward. It is going to be a
difficult season next season, there are some good teams coming down from the
premier league that are not going to make the task of getting promotion any
easier. Plus the financial fair play rules come into force which is going to
put added pressure on clubs.
We can look back and blame some of the
tantrums and fall outs from certain players that possibly hampered team morale.
But again despite some criticism from some supporters I thought Nigel Pearson
handled situations very well. And when strikers have goal droughts as happened
to both Nugent and Wood and certain players losing form, it happens! These are
all contributing factors to why we failed. It is difficult to pin point any
significant reason why we had such a disastrous run of form in the New Year
that certainly cost us dearly. And I certainly don’t pin any blame on the
outstanding Anthony Knockaert for missing that penalty at Watford, Chris Wood’s
miss at Blackpool from the spot and other missed opportunities throughout the
season contributed just as much, but it happens!
My own personal review of last season is,
once again I had a great time. Despite the frustrations and disappointments
there were also lots of highs. How can you begin to describe the feeling and
the emotions experienced at Nottingham Forest on the infamous 4th
May? What drama was to unfold that day as I stood on the terraces at Forest and
what a great feeling when Knockaert scored the winner in injury
time---Priceless!
It is always a great feeling to go to
City away games as we have one of the best away followings in the country, and
over the many years I have supported Leicester, the away following never ceases
to amaze me and it is always a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of it. And
during the season travelling to away games I had the privilege of meeting some
new friends from the LCFC family and hopefully this will continue next season.
On the playing side it was exciting to
see Anthony Knockaert, an unknown to me when he joined us but he soon showed
what an exciting talent he is and he gave us some fantastic memories. The two
goals at Huddersfield were amazing and he contributed to some magic moments
during the season. I rate Knockaert very highly and I hope the penalty miss at
Watford is out of his system and he comes back to entertain us again next
season. A fantastic prospect is Anthony.
Kasper Schmeichel epitomised the
kind of passion and desire that we expect to see from players pulling on the
Leicester shirt and he showed what a great goalkeeper he is destined to be. I
just hope he remains in a Leicester shirt for some time to come.
Wes Morgan was mister consistency
and for me he was our player of the season. It would be nice to think that
Michael Keane would be returning to play alongside him but I believe Keane is
destined for a bright future at Manchester United. So it would seem that we
will be seeing a new centre back next season
Richard De Laet was a breath of fresh
air for me playing at right back. I was critical of some of his defending but
the lad has great potential and loads of energy, one of the successes of the
season for me, as was Matty James who showed in the last few games what a good
player he is, and Chris Wood is a player I expect to flourish next season.
So with some great prospects and
stalwarts such as Andy King and David Nugent plus whoever Nigel Pearson adds to
the squad it could promise to be another exiting season ahead.
The 2012/13 season was a mixture of
highs and lows and of different emotions and on June 19th the
fixture list is revealed for the 2013/14 season and we can prepare to do it all
over again. I will be spending some time in Cardigan Bay again during the
summer to recharge my batteries and then I will be looking
forward to walking down Filbert Way with our kid, and to travelling to away
games and to experience the mixed emotions we shall certainly endure along the
way.
Whatever is install for us next season
support our club with pride and remember we are
LEICESTER TILL I DIE
Alan ‘meashamfox’ Bennett
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