City 2 Middlesboro 2
Report by Kate Thompson
It was interesting to read the post-match reports, as they seemed to suggest that City played better than I thought they did. Perhaps my expectations are too high and I am one of those with ‘delusions of grandeur’, to quote Nigel Pearson.
But I think not, what I do expect – and am not seeing at the moment, at least for the whole game – is commitment and endeavour. I have no doubt that the players are doing their best but they don’t seem to have a top gear, apart from the last few minutes of the game when they turn the after burners on!
The game was very similar to the Swindon one: we scored early but then sat back and appeared to think the job was done. Unfortunately, Middlesbrough were cut from a different cloth than Swindon, well as they played, and equalised through the sort of sloppy goal that I thought we had finally cut out. 1-1 at the break was a fair result and the City players could have no complaints.
In common I guess with most City fans, I didn’t realise that Pearson had been sent to the stands, until I heard his post-match interview on Radio Leicester. Presumably he had contact with Shakespeare to make the substitutions.
I really like the look of Drinkwater, although he was at fault for the second Middlesbrough goal, giving the ball away in a dangerous area and putting St Ledger under pressure from which he conceded a free kick. It was a very well taken strike but rather against the run of play. Although we have not seen much of Drinkwater, coming on against Southampton and again on Wednesday night for about 20 minutes each time, he made an immediate impact and the pace of the game changed.
Delfouneso also looked lively and the two of them sparked their colleagues into the sort of urgency I wanted to see. I would have liked to have seen Drinkwater on from the start instead of Gallagher; I can’t decide if the latter is lazy or clueless but he contributes very little to games lately and his corners are generally very poor.
The first City goal was a clean header from Nugent in the sixth minute, from a cleverly weighted pass from Wellens. Wellens gets a lot of stick from the ‘fan’ behind me, which in my opinion is undeserved; he does a lot of work that goes unnoticed but his errors for some reason are more glaring.
Mind you, the gentleman concerned seems to have transferred his ire to Mills! After Middlesbrough scored about ten minutes after the City goal and then took the lead just over ten minutes before the end of the match, it looked as if we would get nothing out of the game until Beckford seized on a sloppy back pass and scored an equaliser from the tightest of angles.
It was no more than he deserved, having played some lovely football during the game but being frustrated by the goalkeeper and the crossbar. Hopefully, we are now beginning to see what he is capable of and he is building up a good rapport with Nugent.
For the Brighton game, I hope that Pearson brings in Drinkwater for Gallagher and probably Ben Marshall for Dyer, who had a quiet game on Wednesday; otherwise I wouldn’t want to see any changes.
The first goal aside, the defence looked pretty solid and Wellens and Danns worked hard in midfield. Hopefully the two younger players will bring more energy and urgency and galvanise some of the ‘senior citizens’. But at least there was less of the passing backwards and sideways that we too often see and which drives me demented.
I am one of a tiny handful of fans who would rather win the FA Cup than go up to the Premier League, and unless things change very radically we are not likely even to make the play-offs; as Beckford seems to score in the FA Cup perhaps this will be our year!
City: Schmeichel, Peltier, Mills, St. Ledger, Konchesky, Gallagher (Drinkwater 62), Danns, Wellens (Howard 84), Dyer (Delfouneso 62), Nugent, Beckford. Unused subs: Logan, Morgan.
Goals: Nugent 7, Beckford 86 Booked: Konchesky, Danns, Nugent, St. Ledger
Middlesbrough: Steele, McMahon, Hines, Bates, Hoyte, Haroun, Williams, Robson (Martin 69), Emnes (Thomson 69), Jutkiewicz, McDonald (Halliday 74). Unused subs: Ripley, Bennett.
Goals: McDonald 15, McMahon 79
Attendance: 20,512 (551 away) Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey)
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