Ten man City Lose out to Lions

Leicester City 0:1 Millwall

 

The game which should have brought a new start for City brought another home defeat with Millwall playing against ten man Leicester for 88 minutes after Morgan’s dismissal. A spirited performance counted for nothing when Dunne hit an 87th minute winner.

With the City squad refreshed from a trip to Portugal De Laet, James,  Knockaert and Schlupp all returned to the side.
Sadly we will never know how things would have played out, as City suffered the blow of having captain Wes Morgan dismissed in the second minute. Keogh was sent through on goal and Morgan made contact about 20 yards out, but referee Stuart Attwell’s red card looked very harsh.
Schmeichel then had to make saves from Lowry and Smith then again as the Lions had their tails up.
The home crowd, stung by this injustice, roared on their side and in the 11th minute Knockaert crossed for Wood, who headed across goal for Keane, but Lowry cleared off the line.
De Laet and Nugent then sent efforts narrowly wide as the ten men pressed forward, but the Lions carried a threat.  Schmeichel saved a Hulse shot (and Konchesky’s blushes)  when the defender lost possession on the edge of the area.
Hulse then had the ball in the net but was denied by a late linesman’s flag.

Neither side made a change at the break but Nigel Pearson didn’t wait long to replace Drinkwater with King.
The game reached stalemate for a while with Chaplow, Trotter,Dunne and Schlupp going into the ref’s notebook but little else of note.
City’s best chance to snatch the points came in the 76th minute when Wood got his head to a Knockaert free kick but Forde managed to touch it onto the left hand post.
Wood then made way for Kane.
After holding out for so long City’s resistance was finally broken  with three minutes left when Chaplow laid on a ball for Dunne to run onto and crash home from inside the area.
City never managed to threaten in the five minutes of time added on as the dreadful run of results continued.

Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Konchesky, Drinkwater (King 59), Morgan, Keane, James, Schlupp, Knockaert, Nugent, Wood (Kane 84). Unused Subs: Whitbread, Vardy, Dyer, Logan, Wellens.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Shittu, Trotter, Hulse (Marquis 72), Lowry, Keogh (Woolford 90), Jack Smith (Abdou 72), Adam Smith, Easter, Chaplow. Unused Subs: Taylor, N’Guessan, Malone, Saville.

Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warks). Attendance: 22,365.

 

Leicester agree terms with Kiwi Chris Wood

After weeks of rumours City have now confirmed that they will be signing West Brom’s New Zealand international Chris Wood.

The 21 year old striker has agreed terms with Leicester and the transfer will go ahead as soon as the January transfer window opens.
Auckland-born Wood moved to England in 2009 signing for West Brom and like many young players now he has racked up a fair number of loan clubs, appearing for Barnsley, Brighton, Birmingham, Bristol City and, most recently, Millwall.

Wood has a steadily more impressive goals/games ratio, netting 11 times in 19 appearances while at the Den.
He has also been capped 29 times by his country, scoring 10 goals and played at the 2010 South Africa World Cup and the 2012 Olympic Games.

Due to popular demand we are extending our Christmas subs offer into the first week of January – it includes:

All the issues that have come out to date this season: The Summer Special 2012; FOX 181 and FOX 182, will be posted along with the December issue FOX 183 and will be gift-wrapped (also included will be a set of 8 Leicester City postcards).
The recipient will then receive the rest of the season’s issues when they are published in 2013…

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Leicester Edged Out By Lions

Millwall 1:0 Leicester City

A Taylor tap-in proved to be the difference between Millwall and Leicester at the Den on Saturday afternoon…

Nigel Pearson made one change to his side for this trip to South East London, with Vardy in for Waghorn who had his appendix out last week.
City got off to a decent start but couldn’t keep it going against a tough home side on a bobbling pitch.
Vardy set up King for an early opportunity but his progress was blocked by Lowry.
At the other end former City man N’Guessan sent a free header from a free-kick over the bar when he should have done better; and then Schmeichel saved from Trotter.
City’s best chance came when Vardy crossed to the far post from the left and Nugent’s volley struck keeper Forde from close in.
The last chance of a fairly uneventful half saw Schmeichel saving from N’Guessan, neither side really deserving to go down the tunnel a goal ahead.
Millwall were the better side in the period after the break, Wood sending a pull back from Lowry over the bar, and they took a 67th minute lead.
Trotter undid City on the break with a clever move down the left that saw him exchange passes with substitute Andy Keogh before squaring the ball to present  Taylor with the easiest of tap-ins from close range.
Nigel Pearson, having already brought Marshall on, then introduced James and Futacs with three up front.
But City never really troubled Millwall’s defence with Shittu having the upper hand over Futacs.
Marshall’s 30 yard free-kick tested Forde, but he gathered at the second attempt, and Nugent sent an effort narrowly wide of the left hand post, but even 5 minutes of time added on couldn’t help City claw back a point.

Nigel Pearson commented: “I see the game as a bit of a missed opportunity for us. We did quite well in the first half but conceded a sloppy goal which is difficult to take. Going into the game, we thought we had a good chance to get something out of it but we couldn’t find that bit of quality in the final third, but you’ve got to give Millwall credit, they played with great spirit and defended everything we threw at them.”

Millwall: Forde, Smith, Shittu, Beevers, Lowry, Henry, Trotter, Abdou, Malone (Taylor 46), N’Guessan (Keogh 66), Wood (Batt 79). Subs Not Used: Taylor, Wright, Feeney, Smith.
Leicester:Schmeichel, De Laet, Morgan, Whitbread, Konchesky, Knockaert (Marshall 64), King (James 70), Drinkwater, Dyer (Futacs 70), Vardy, Nugent. Subs Not Used: Logan, Schlupp, Moore, Lingard.

Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).  Attendance: 10,189. 

you can give The FOX as a Christmas present to the Leicester City fan in your life this year thanks to our new offer.All the issues that have come out to date this season: The Summer Special 2012; FOX 181 and FOX 182, will be posted along with the December issueFOX 183 just in time for Christmas and will be gift-wrapped (also included will be a set of 8 Leicester City postcards).
The recipient will then receive the rest of the season’s issues when they are published in 2013…

All this Leicester City related fun and games for just £13…

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It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…

 

Frustration for City in the Lions’ Den

Millwall 2:1 Leicester City

City were, once again, guilty of failing to ‘turn up’ when it really mattered and Millwall deservedly took all three points from this vital fixture.

Nigel Pearson made two changes from the side that won so well at Ipswich on Easter Monday and chose to bring back King and Gallagher in place of Dyer and the unfortunate Drinkwater.
It was City who started more positively and for twenty minutes they dictated the pace of the game and knocked the ball around well but failed to trouble Taylor with any serious efforts on goal. Nevertheless, it was still against the run of play when Millwall took the lead from a set piece after 20 minutes. Henry floated a free kick to the far post where Robinson knocked the ball down and as City defenders were ball-watching, Kane (on loan from Spurs) had too much time to tee himself up for a shot in to the roof of the net.
After that it was Millwall who settled down and played their own game of defend deep and counter-attack which they did very well although City could have equalised within two minutes of Kane’s goal when Morgan set up Nugent for a shot from ten yards that Taylor did very well to keep out.
Half time arrived with City fans hoping for a second-half turnaround in fortunes that sadly, never arrived. The Lions continued to show more desire and work rate and it was no surprise when they doubled their lead after Konchesky had brought down Kane for a stonewall penalty. Keogh stepped up and did a ‘van Persie’ which gave Schmeichel no chance.
It could have been three soon afterwards when a long-range, dipping effort from Wright was tipped on to the bar by Schmeichel although the referee gave a goal kick.
Nigel Pearson had already introduced Dyer and Drinkwater in to the action during the second half but the arrival of Howard sent a number of travelling City fans heading to the exits. City did get a goal back with 8 minutes remaining when Nugent rolled the ball in to the path of Drinkwater who side-footed past Taylor from twenty yards. It was too little, too late though and the game finished with Millwall defending their lead comfortably and their supporters making a huge noise as they enjoyed the fact that they were safe and will be playing in The Championship again next season.
The final whistle brought some boos from the large travelling contingent and Konchesky appeared to give the ‘finger’ to one particularly vocal critic (he has since apologised via Twitter).

So City’s season stutters again and they find themselves beaten by a side that showed more desire. It was a poor game played out by two poor sides with Millwall doing enough to fashion two goals. It is also a typical match in this division and City haven’t found the right formula to rise above it yet.
If we look up then we can see Reading and Southampton leading the way with squads of players that are no better than ours but they have astute managers that know what is needed to consistently win matches in this division. We don’t seem to have cracked that code yet.

Millwall: Taylor, Smith, Robinson, Lowry, Craig, Henry (Trotter 84), Abdou, Wright, Barron, Keogh (Batt 90), Kane. Unused Subs: Forde, Dunne, Feeney.

Leicester: Schmeichel, Peliter (Howard 76), Morgan, Bamba, Konchesky, Gallagher (Dyer 58), Wellens (Drinkwater 69), King, Marshall, Beckford, Nugent. Unused Subs: St Ledger, Schlupp.

Referee: P Gibbs (West Midlands). Attendance: 11,525.

City Mauled by Lions

Leicester City 0:3 Millwall

City suffered a shocking 3-0 defeat at the hands of Millwall at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon…

Many City fans had been expecting to see the home win that would propel Sven Goran Eriksson’s City in to the play-off frame for the first time, but they were well beaten by a Millwall side with a previously poor away record.
City, unchanged from the win against Watford, made all the early running but couldn’t find a way through the Lions’ defence.
St Ledger had a header cleared off the line and Abe sent a shot inches wide, but the game soon settled into a dull stalemate with little incident.
It was broken in the 36th minute, when Bamba was harshly judged to have tripped Howard in the box. Although Schmeichel got a hand to Henderson’s spot kick he could only divert the ball into the roof of the net. 
Wellens had a shot blocked and Koncheskey knocked Ward off his feet with a fierce shot as City pursued an equaliser, but things got worse for the home side in time added on when Simpson looped a cross over the City defence and Henderson met it at the far post for his second goal of the game.
Sven tried to shake things up for the second half, with Abe and Beckford making way for Vassell and Dyer.
City tried to build up some attacking momentum, but their best effort came in the 54th minute when Johnson pulled a ball back for Peltier, but his effort struck the bar from close range.
It was all over in the 68th minute when Henderson completed his hat-trick, rising uncontested to meet a Trotter corner with his head.
The home crowd were stunned, while Millwall’s small band of followers celebrated a great win.
Sven was not his usual ice-cool self after the game:  “I am angry, frustrated and very disappointed. We never looked like scoring today. Our first-half performance was not good enough. We looked like a team who were very tired, flat and with no ideas. We got better in the second half, but we could never get a cross right or get into the box or pass right. Perhaps we were tired. We have had three games in seven days which doesn’t leave us much time to recover. I hope it was tiredness because if it wasn’t I will be very worried.”

Leicester: Schmeichel, Peltier, St Ledger, Bamba, Konchesky, Johnson (Fernandes 74), Abe (Dyer 46), Wellens, King, Nugent, Beckford (Vassell 46). Unused Subs: Pantsil, Weale.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Robinson, Ward, Smith, Abdou, Feeney (Henry 75), Trotter, Howard, Henderson, Simpson (N’Guessan 78). Unused Subs: Mildenhall, Mkandawire, Agyemang.
Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne & Wear). Attendance: 21,991.

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What you are saying about: GOT, NOT GOT…

What people are saying about ‘GOT, NOT GOT – The A to Z of Lost Football Culture, Treasures & Pleasures…

* Well, what can I say – your book is a FINE piece of work! Honestly, I think its brilliant and I have seldom put it down since I picked it up…

* The best book about football written in the last 20 years.

* I found myself engrossed again in the trivia that so preoccupied my life between the age of 5 and 15 and laughing until my ribs hurt.

* Wonderful book, great illustrations and is a throw back to days when football was more important than anything else, Superbly written and put together.

* If there’s anyone in your life who attended football when it was still good (60s- 80s) buy them this book and they’ll love you forever.

* I don’t even follow football anymore but I love this book. It’s packed with memories of the game when it was a simpler more enjoyable (to me anyway) sport.

* Superb stuff. Anyone who grew up in the seventies with even a passing interest in football, let alone City, will love this book.

* I utterly and completely love it… so much stuff in there that I’d pretty much forgotten about, but which is a joy to rediscover.

Featuring: Aberdeen, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Cardiff City, Carlisle United, Celtic, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, England, Everton, Fulham, Hearts, Hibs, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Luton Town, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Newcastle United, Northern Ireland, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, QPR, Rangers, Reading, Scotland, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Wales, Watford, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon & Wolves…

Lions Vanquished

Leicester City 4:2 Millwall

City emerged from an eventful and hugely entertaining encounter with Milwall with a 4:2 victory at Filbert Way on Saturday…

Sven made three changes to his FA Cup line-up with Yakubu in for Howard, Vassell returning from injury and taking the injured Gallagher’s place, and Mee making his debut with Hobbs demoted to the bench.

Mee’s League career didn’t get off to a great start, a clumsy challenge on Robinson gifting Millwall a penalty in th esecond minute. Mee’s blushes were spared as Morison sent his spot-kick sailing a foot over the bar and into the Family Stand.
That blip aside, City had a good start to the game and it was no surprise when they took an 8th minute lead. A precise ball from King saw a lightning fast run from Dyer who reached the ball a fraction ahead of Lions’ keeper Forde to nudge it past him and into the net.
But City’s lead only lasted a minute… as the ball was only half cleared from City’s area it sat up nicely for Henry 22 yards out and he arrowed an unstoppable shot into the top left hand corner.
City restored their lead in the 23rd minute. Yakubu, in on the left, twisted and turned until he had made enough space for a low shot across keeper Forde who, deceived by the bounce, allowed the ball to creep in at the far post.
Ten minutes before the break City added a third, a quickly taken Wellens free-kick catching the Millwall defence out. Yakubu’s wayward shot was defelcted into the path of Bamba, who guided it over the line.
He leapt over the ad hoardings to celebrate with the front row of the Kop and was booked for his trouble.
There were further chances for Naughton and Dyer, but City were content to go in 3-1 up at the break and were warmly applauded off the field.
Millwall began the second half with a spell of attacking moves, though no one was on hand to make use of Hackett’s good work down the left.
The game then saw a controversial minute which punctured City’s two goal cushion. There were loud appeals for a penalty when Vassell was brought crashing down in the box, but referee Eddie Ilderton ignored them. Less than minute later play switched to the City end where Hackett, surrounded by three blue shirts, tumbled over and Ilderton pointed to the spot. Smith placed his spot kick low to the left just beating Weale’s outstretched palm.
A couple of minutes later Millwall were reduced to ten men was Askou was dismissed for a violent challenge on Yakubu. Wellens floated a free-kick over the Millwall defence and Bamba was on hand to bundle his second goal of the game in off the left hand post.
Mee, who had recovered well from a bad start, produced a fantastic tackle to deny Morison a goal and there was no way back for the Lions.
Wellens, particularly, was enjoying himself in the closing stages playing keepy-uppy while sat on the turf and attempting a 45 yard lob over the keeper.
It had been a tremendous performance from that that had the fans buzzing as they made their way home.
Sven, who is unbeaten in nine home games in charge, even mentioned the P-word: “We played good football and deserved to win, absolutely. We have made a good start to 2011. I still believe we can at least reach the play-offs. I want to take this club up to the Premier League and stay there.”

Leicester: Weale, Berner, Bamba, Naughton, Mee, King, Dyer (Waghorn 84), Abe, Wellens, Yakubu (Howard 87), Vassell (Oakley 75). Subs Not Used: Logan, Hobbs, Moreno, Moussa.
Millwall: Forde, Smith, Barron, Berthel Askou, Dunne, Abdou, Henry, Schofield ( Lisbie 76), Hackett, Robinson (Purse 46), Morison. Subs Not Used: Mildenhall, Trotter, Grabban, Harris, Marquis.

Referee: E Ilderton (Tyne & Wear). Attendance: 23,347. 

Top Ten Moments at the Walkers…

We know we are guilty of mourning Filbert Street’s passing on here, so let’s have Ten Great Moments since the move from Filbert Street to Filbert Way…

1.  10/8/02 - Opening Day – the first 30,000 plus crowd in many years, the excitement of being in our new home, and a great 2-0 win over Watford thanks to two goals from Brian Deane.

2. 14/12/02 – Despite Stevie Claridge’s first minute goal, City thrash Dennis Wise’s Millwall 4-1. 31,904 City fans fill the ground, but away fans are banned.

3.  27/4/03 - Micky Adams and his side celebrate promotion to the Premiership after a 1-1 draw against Norwich City.

4. 15/9/03 - City stuff Leeds 4-0 and Lilian Nalis scores a magnificent opener, all in front of the Sky cameras.

5. 8/11/04 - Craig Levein’s first home game in charge brings a 3-0 win over neighbours Coventry with goals from Nalis, Tiatto and Heath.

6. 26/11/2005 - An otherwise drab season is lit up by a fine 4-2 win over Sheffield United, Hume (2), Smith and Hammond finding the net.

7. 4/3/06 - City win a thriller against Hull 3-2, with Joey Gudjonsson scoring from the half way line.

 

8. 25/8/07 - It all clicks together for Martin Allen’s side as they beat Watford 4-1, with goals from Hume, Campbell, Sheehan and De Vries. 

9. 13/4/09 - Steve Howard’s late header against Leeds brings a 1-0 win and huge step towards the League One title.

10. 24/4/09 - Nigel Pearson’s side are presented with the League One trophy after a 2-2 draw with Scunthorpe, bouncing back from Division Three at the first attempt…