Leicester 0 Middlesboro 0
City opened their league account for the new season with a point in a goal-less draw against big spenders Middlesboro who were clearly determined to avoid starting the new campaign with successive defeats.
City played a 4-3-3 formation with Campbell, Howard and Dyer forming the front three, relegating Fryatt to the bench, a decision unlikely to go down well with some City fans. In spite of that both Sousa and Campbell were well received throughout though results will ultimately confirm or change that attitude. I found it hard to fathom why both Campbell and Dyer were played on their 'wrong' wings and it came as no surprise that they switched over at half-time.
In midfield we again saw a different formation from the Pearson days (incidentally the crowd were delighted with the thrashing of Hull by Millwall), with Oakley in front of the back four and King and Wellens in midfield proper. I have been a stern critic of Oakley but I can see that someone to pass effectively out of defence could make a difference and in fairness he had a decent game, making more tackles in this one game than in most of last season along with some probing passes. He is not the usual holding midfielder and it will be interesting to see how he manages this role….
At the back the main interest for me was to see the performance of Moreno – when did we last have a player with seemingly just one name? It was soon obvious that he was quick and a good reader of the game. For these attributes he was left to hold the fort whilst others went forward at corners and thus we were rarely troubled by Boro breaks from our corners.
His ability in the air will be tested more than Boro's strikers managed today but for a home debut it was certainly promising. Hobbs, having been responsible for one of the goals at Crystal Palace and another against Macclesfield was back to his normal standards of defending, making two great blocks in close succession, and he and Moreno could well form a strong partnership in central defence.
The first half was the better of the two halves and won by City on points though not on goals. After even early exchanges King headed against their bar from a well struck corner. We had numerous corners but our lack of aerial threat, Howard and King excluded, made us sigh for the days of Walsh, Elliott and Taggert with a small matter of Marshall and Heskey loitering elsewhere in the box!
Boro went close when Weale palmed a corner to the far post where the excellent Wheater headed instinctively a foot wide. Later in the half Howard went equally close with a header just missing the right-hand post. Apart from these efforts Campbell was a constant threat, running at defenders and always with an eye for a shot. We will have to forgive him for some misplaced passes and for losing the ball on occasions for such is the nature of the beast. Such are the memories of City fans that when Blackpool went one up against Wigan one of my group suggested the scorer was Campbell – from long range!
The second half was similar to the first in that City always looked the more likely to break the deadlock and indeed they scorned the best chance of the game after 69 minutes when good play between Neilson and Dyer left the latter to cross perfectly to Campbell unmarked 8 yards out. Unfortunately for the striker he was unable to celebrate his return to the side with the goal his general performance deserved as his untidy header sailed wide of the far post. Had he been wearing a tangerine shirt we all knew he would have buried it!
At such moments you know that your side is not going to win the match. At least we were spared the indignity of a second defeat as Boro placed holding on to a point well above striving for three so the match petered out in the last 15 minutes. One day someone is going to suggest that 0-0 gets no points, score draws get 1 and a win 3.
The City substitutions latish in the second half were of interest as Fryatt replaced Campbell without leaving any mark on the game and Lamey came on for Neilson, who like all his colleagues, had played well. The youngster looked a trifle raw but was not afraid to get forward and showed some ability in the tackle. We need for some of the signings to come good as the evidence suggests that this will be a tough league this year and whether this was a good point against potential champions or points lost against an average contender only time will tell
City: Weale, Neilson (Lamey 82), Moreno, Hobbs, Berner, Oakley, King (Gallagher 74), Wellens, Campbell (Fryatt 82), Howard, Dyer
Boro: Steele, Hoyte, Bates, Wheater, Mcmanus, Thomson (Lita 71), Bailey, Robson, McDonald, Boyd (Kink 85), Williams (O'Neill 46)
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