Leicester City make a return to action on Sunday afternoon, ahead of the International break, with a home FA Cup Quarter Final against Manchester United. On it’s own that is a special fixture, however Sunday also marks the occasion of manager Brendan Rodger’s 100th game for the Foxes. A remarkable achievement in the modern game, in a sport and league that is not known for giving managers time to deliver success, and at a club also with a reputation to cut loose their managers if they are not delivering what is required. To support this, Rodgers became the 5th manager to take charge of Leicester in the 5 years of the club being back in the Premier League after Promotion in 2014 from the Championship.
Rodgers’ 100th game comes a month after the 2 year anniversary of him taking over the Leicester hot seat, after replacing Frenchman Claude Puel, who’s steady but uninspiring managerial stint came to an end after numerous defeats on the trot. In the 2 years and 99 games, Rodgers has elevated both the team and the club overall back to being in the big-time, with the Foxes now regularly rubbing shoulders with the top 6 clubs amongst the upper echelons of the Premier League. Unlucky to miss out on a top 4 place in his first full season at the club, after taking the club to a 5th placed finish last season where Leicester fell short against Sunday’s visitors on the last game of a Covid impacted season. He has now backed this up this season, as the Foxes have not been out of the Champions League places all season – the only club to do so – as well as their progression to Sunday’s Quarter Final fixture. This is impressive in itself, but consider that Rodgers has done this with a crippling injury list that has tested his squad to the brink, as well as leading the club into the last 16 of their Europa League campaign. Whilst top 4 is still not guaranteed, Leicester go into the final furlong well-placed to do what they could not do 12 months ago. Given the challenges and hurdles that have needed to be overcome, a place in Europe’s elite competition will be an achievement that is up there with the Title success of 2016 as the club’s greatest ever.
Brendan’s impact has been immediate. Leaving Celtic after successive Title wins, and foregoing the opportunity of leading the club to a Treble Treble was a bold call especially with the vitriol and abuse that came his way in the immediate aftermath from the Celtic fans, but one that has paid off handsomely. With class clown Chris Sutton making an arse of himself on BT Sport, proclaiming that Celtic reserves were bigger than the Foxes, Rodgers set to work straight away, and led the Foxes to a strong finish to their 2018-2019 season. So good a finish, that only champions Manchester City and runners-up Liverpool, having better records over the last 10 fixtures. Results have carried on in similarly strong fashion – Rodgers goes into his 100th game with a win percentage of 52.5%, with 52 wins totted up, along with 20 draws and 27 defeats. Certainly, this is a win percentage that will take him to being one of Leicester’s greatest ever, and one that any of the best managers of his generation would be proud of.
It is not just the results that stand out as being so impressive. Brendan’s stint as Foxes manager has seen the club produce possibly the best style of football that has been seen by a Leicester team. Whilst he replaced a man in Puel, whose style of football was akin to watching paint dry, Brendan’s team play with a verve, swagger and a progressive style that is a beauty on the beholder and has marked the team out that is regularly complimented by pundits and media alike. Under Puel, a dour 1-0 win became the norm, under Rodgers, Leicester have regularly beaten up opposition teams and really put them to the sword. Most memorably, a 9-1 demolition of Southampton on that infamous, rain soaked October evening, where the Foxes took full advantage of being a man up and recorded the best away victory of the Premier League era. Last Sunday’s 5-0 home thrashing of Sheffield United was another sign of how the team under Rodgers plays the game – blitzing their opponents with relentless pace, one touch football and an aggression and ruthlessness that the men opposite could not live with. But for some poor finishing, Leicester could have regularly matched their 9 goals against Southampton against other opponents. Victories by 3 and 4 goal margins are now not uncommon and a regular feature. It is the downside of the pandemic that supporters have had to witness this from their sofas and not their seats in the ground.
Rodgers has took Leicester to such heady heights, with a transfer budget that is healthy but nowhere near the levels of the clubs they are now leapfrogging in the table. Leicester’s revenues as a business are also strong, but one look at the simply massive sums that the likes of Manchester United, Man City & Liverpool produce just shows how impressive it is for Leicester to even think about top 4, let alone looking at home. To do this, Rodgers has exhausted every ounce of his coaching talent, and used the resources of the best recruitment team in the country to great effect. Existing experienced players, like Vardy, Evans and Schmeichel have seen their games improve and taken to increased levels, whilst the young and exciting players that Rodgers inherited in Barnes, Maddison and Söyüncü are all now some of the leading lights in their position across the league. Rodgers has also recruited well with James Justin, Wesley Fofana as well as Youri Tielemens all joining the club, improving the squad in any case, and then providing further under their manager’s guidance. Rodgers has also utilised strong man management skills, getting the best out of veterans Christian Fuchs and Wesley Morgan despite their limited game time, and keeping the faith with raw diamond Kelechi Iheanacho who repaid that belief with a hattrick against Sheffield United last weekend. It is using these talents that have shown what a good manager Rodgers is.
Things have not always gone to plan, with a League Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa still leaving a sore feeling, as did last season’s exit in the FA Cup to Chelsea, with the Foxes going out at the Quarter Final stage with a whimper. Even this year, Leicester exited the Last 16 of the Europa League without throwing a punch over the 2 legs they played. Despite spending their time alongside or above the top 6 in the league table, question marks are still asked of how Rodgers sets up the team against the same sides, with painful defeats recorded along the way – a 4-0 home defeat to Liverpool last season springing to mind. Home form against lower opposition has also been a problematic affair this year, with the likes of Fulham, Leeds and Aston Villa all walking away from the King Power with 3 points in the back pocket.
Despite those slip-ups, Rodgers’ reign as Leicester manager has been a terrific success. He will rightly go down as being one of, if not the best manager seen at the club. He has returned to the Premier League, and restored his reputation after a bruising end to his spell at Liverpool. He now sits as being one of the best managers in the country, and is rightly being talked about as an Elite Manager. Brendan’s spell at Leicester has took the club to heady heights, with the club now creating debates about whether we need to have a top 7, or if they are now themselves one of the top 6. As Rodgers chalks up his century of games as Leicester manager, all the praise and good words that will be spoken or written about him will be well-deserved. Let’s hope he can lead the club to another 100 games, and maybe even win a trophy or two in that time! Here’s to you Brendan!