Having had a month for our title success to sink in and with the Euros now over England, we thought now was a good time to start our series of articles from our 2015/6 match reporting team for their thoughts on our season to remember and starting to look at next season.
Paul Weston’s thoughts kick off this feature…
At the start of the season, what would you have regarded as a successful season ? Having just dismissed Nigel Pearson and with Cambiasso leaving I honestly thought that 4th from bottom of the league would be a success
How far had your expectations been raised by Christmas ? Having supported LCFC all my life I still was waiting for it all to go wrong at Christmas! However at least it looked like we could enjoy the second half of the season without fretting about relegation.
After which game did you start to think, we could win this ? The away win at Manchester City was so emphatic that I started to believe that we might have a slight chance. However, I never really believed it would happen until Hazard scored that glorious goal against Spurs and it was mathematically certain. I am still not sure whether I can believe it!
It seems generally agreed across our fan base, that several factors contributed to our success, if you had to choose the most significant factor, what would it be? Every player improved to play at the peak of their ability at the same time and welded together to become better than the sum of the parts, with fantastic support from the backroom sports science and fitness team to keep them fit and injury free.
Focusing on Claudio Ranieri, what do you think his main contribution was to turn us into title winners ? His calm, dignified and humble approach took the pressure off the team throughout the season. His tactics were always positive and the team believed in him.
What was your personal highlight of the season? The last home match when we played Everton, won convincingly and collected the Premiership trophy. It was so emotional to be in the King Power with family and friends on such a special day and will live in my memory for ever.
With our players winning so many national awards this season, who would you pick out as your player of the season? A really difficult choice but I would go for N’Golo Kante. He was the powerhouse in the team and, irrespective of the quality (or size!) of the opposition, he always seemed to come out of a tackle with the ball and drive forward with pace to set up another attack.
Who within the squad would you award the title “best unsung” hero ? Another difficult one but I would choose Christian Fuchs. He rarely had a bad game and contributed to attack as well as defence. He also obviously was a great character in the dressing room which contributed to the unbelievable team spirit.
A number of players made significant strides forwards with their career, which player do you think made the most progress last season and why? Right back had been a problem for us and Danny Simpson improved beyond all expectations to claim that place. If he can improve the attacking side of his game he will take a another step further forward
The club’s success triggered unprecedented media and public interest in Leicester City. What was your most memorable ‘non-football ‘story about the club last season? LCFC were suddenly in the spotlight and it is hard to think back through all the media stories. I liked the pizza making for the players best because I think Claudio also used it as a team bonding exercise which was quite canny.
For match reporters who attended away games, which ground gave you your best away experience and why ? Sadly I was never able to obtain an away ticket to any matches
Moving onto next season
What changes do you think are necessary to improve on this year’s squad?
A higher quality strike partner for Jamie Vardy who can also lead the line if necessary. A replica for Kante if that is possible, especially if he moves on to PSG, so that we can continue to play in the same way.
While watching Premiership games during the 2015/6 season, which player from another club would you advise Claudio to sign? Troy Deeney is a good fit but I am concerned about the current asking price. Otherwise I trust the recruitment team at LCFC.
Who would you like to face in the Champions League ? Real Madrid- why not?!
Any other observation you would like to make: Whatever happens in the next season nothing can take away from me the memories of last season and pride in our team and manager. I know that it is highly unlikely that this will ever again happen in my lifetime but, judging by the current signings and Vardy’s new contract, I am hopeful that we have another exciting season ahead.
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation