davieG

Gone the same way as only captains to approach referees. Are then any laws that the refs always follow consistently and I'm not even thinking about the subjective ones.

Danny Simpson’s boxing debut ends in shock result after Premier League winner’s medal bet with Danny Aarons Jordan Ellis Published: 23:54, 31 Aug 2024Updated: 9:08, 1 Sep 2024 Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Danny Simpson just about held onto his Premier League winner's medal at Misfits Boxing 17. The former defender was famously part of the Leicester City team that overcame odds of 5000-1 to win the Premier League title in 2016. Simpson wore a Leicester City top to stare down his opponent Ahead of his boxing debut, Simpson wagered one of his most prized possessions on a win over Danny Aarons, who was also fought for the first time at Misfits 17 “I wanted to bring this to you,” Aarons said during a pre-fight interview. “You won the Premier League. You got something for that, right? “What colour is the medal? It’s gold. When I got 1 million subscribers on YouTube, I got a gold YouTube play button. We both have a gold award. “The winner gets the loser's gold reward.” Simpson immediately agreed to massively up the ante for their fight. It looked like it could backfire in round one as Aarons was the more accomplished boxer. However, Simpson's wild attacks started to land and impact his opponent, who he refused to give his Premier League winner's medal without a fight. It was a similar story in round two. The Leicester City legend struggled with Aarons, who is more technically sound, before landing with big eye-catching punches. Aarons landed the best combination of the fight in round three. Simpson looked like he could be in trouble, but he bounced back with more big shots that made his rival think twice about going for the kill. Both men gave it all in the fourth and final round. Aarons appeared to hurt Simpson before the recently retired footballer rallied to take his first fight to the judges’ scorecards. Ultimately, it was called a split draw and Simpson got to keep his medal. Both men insisted they had done enough to emerge victorious during a joint post-fight interview, which ended with them agreeing to do a rematch. "I'm obviously going to say that I thought I nicked it," Simpson said. "This week has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. "We said we were going to have fun in here and I think we did. I think Danny knows I tried to jump in last minute and tried to do everything I could in the five weeks. "Maybe I'll have the chance to have a full camp and I'd love to come back and have another go."

There's nothing better about football than seeing a player play with so much heart and joy. The game is worse off without you Sol. Rest Easy

I wonder why the ground was set up so close the the houses on Burnmoor Street when there looks like there's plenty of space behind the main stand to build that further back. Who'd have thought it would be a significant reason we had to move.

Cooper’s too cautious like today should have bought the subs on when we were on top too late after they go 2 up

If you haven’t got workhorse tattooed on you Cooper’s not interested.

https://www.leicestercity.news/opinion/leicester-citys-best-xi-after-transfer-window-shuts-includes-two-summer-signings/ Leicester City incoming deadline day transfers Odsonne Edouard – loan until end of season, Crystal Palace Leicester City outgoing deadline day transfers Brandon Cover – loan until end of season, Port Vale Wanya Marcal – loan until end of season, De Graafschap Chris Popov – loan until end of season, Barrow Tom Cannon – loan until end of season, Stoke City Ben Nelson – loan until end of season, Oxford United Brad Young – loan until end of season, Hartlepool United Every Leicester City incoming transfer this summer Odsonne Edouard – loan until end of season, Crystal Palace Bilal El Khannouss – undisclosed fee, Genk Jordan Ayew – £5m, Crystal Palace Oliver Skipp – £25m, Tottenham Hotspur Facundo Buonanotte – loan until end of season, Brighton Abdul Fatawu – undisclosed fee, Sporting CP Caleb Okoli – undisclosed fee, Atalanta Michael Golding undisclosed fee, Chelsea Bobby De-Cordova Reid – free transfer, Fulham Every Leicester City outgoing transfer this summer Brad Young – loan until end of season, Hartlepool United Ben Nelson – loan until end of season, Oxford United Tom Cannon – loan until end of season, Stoke City Chris Popov – loan until end of season, Barrow Wanya Marcal – loan until end of season, De Graafschap Brandon Cover – loan until end of season, Port Vale Amani Richards – loan until end of season, Exeter City Zach Booth – undisclosed fee, Excelsior Rotterdam Sammy Braybrooke – loan until end of season, Dundee Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – undisclosed fee, Chelsea Kelechi Iheanacho – released at end of contract, Sevilla Harry Souttar – loan until end of season, Sheffield United Dennis Praet – released at end of contract Marc Albrighton – released at end of contract Yunus Akgun – end of loan, Galatasaray

Luciano Spalletti has opted to drop four players from his most recent Italy national team squad, but has handed first call-ups to Atalanta midfielder Marco Brescianini and Leicester City defender Caleb Okoli. Four players who were selected to represent Italy at EURO 2024 have been omitted from the Nations League squad set to face France and Israel in September. Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has not made the cut, nor has Roma’s Bryan Cristante. Versatile Inter defender Matteo Darmian was not selected. Gianluca Mancini has also been left off the list. There are first call-ups for Brescianini and Okoli, while Nicolo Fagioli, Destiny Udogie, Samuele Ricci and Moise Kean have returned to the group. There is also a first call-up for well over a year for Sandro Tonali, who is now eligible again after his 10-month ban for his activity in illegal gambling practices. The 24-year-old made his return to competitive action in the EFL Cup for Newcastle earlier this week.

Pop. 58270 in 2021

He'll end up being cover for injuries, cup games and rest times for the 2

Charles St. 1920s https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/524950900317974458/

Vardy - injured? Daka - Injured Ayew - We'll be lucky to get 5 goals from him. Our midfielders are hardly noted for their goal scoring ability. Fatawu is our best bet but spends a lot of the game in our own half helping Justin in defence.

What! Ndidi surely

.....and Okoli shouldn't have been an early signing leaving money tight for a No 9

I'm thinking Winks, Skipp and Ndidi as I cant see him leaving out Ndidi.

Marc Albrighton will be part of Foxes Hub's coverage on Saturday as Leicester City take on Aston Villa (3pm kick-off). - Audio commentary of Leicester City versus Aston Villa will be available on Foxes Hub this Saturday - Matchday Live begins an hour before kick-off with former Foxes pair Marc Albrighton and Matt Elliott - Join the live show via LCFC.com and social media, ahead of the Premier League fixture on Filbert Way After announcing his retirement from the game earlier this week, two of Albrighton's former sides go head to head in a Premier League bout at King Power Stadium, with Leicester looking for a first league victory of the campaign. The former Foxes midfielder will be alongside ex-City captain Matt Elliott in the studio to preview the fixture from 2pm, before handing over to the Foxes Hub commentary team of John Dunn and Gerry Taggart, who will guide you through all of the action from the Filbert Way pressbox. Supporters can listen live and for free on LCFC.com, Facebook and YouTube, with further analysis and comprehensive coverage to come during the half-time break and after full-time. All times BST.

Cool As Leicester · Follow 1d · BID Spotlight The weather this weekend looks perfect for it, as Brew Beat returns to Jubilee Square. It runs from Friday - Sunday and is FREE entry. Expect live music, a fine selection of craft beers from The Real Ale Classroom, cocktails from Audrey and 33cankstreet, street food options and more. Family friendly and dog friendly. Full info in our latest BID Leicester Spotlight. https://www.coolasleicester.co.uk/bid-spotlight-music.../

Leicester Memories Graham Hulme · 13h · An old postcard view of Gallowtree Gate. The card was posted to an address in Teddington in July 1968, though the actual photo used for it would have been taken some years before. On the left, after Finlays tobacconists shop, is the Pelican pub, the name of which can be seen over the entrance. The Pelican had been built in 1881, designed by the Leicester architect William Millican, to replace the old Pelican Inn which had stood there for many years. The Victorian replacement Pelican lasted until its closure in 1968, though the building still stands. On the extreme right of the picture is Jackson the tailor’s old shop. Jackson’s opened their Leicester branch here in 1949 and built a larger shop on the site in 1964 after purchasing Spalls building next to them (Jackson’s paid £200,000 for the old Spalls shop, as reported in the Leicester Evening Mail of 16th November 1961). Spalls moved to a new shop in High Street, opened in April 1962. They had first opened in the Gallowtree Gate building in about 1900. This was originally the business of Edward Charles Spall who was born in Birmingham in 1870. His father, Edward Spall senior, was a jeweller who became a licensed victualler in Birmingham. At the time of the 1881 census the family were residing at the Vittoria Inn on Vittoria Street, in the jewellery quarter of Birmingham, and by 1891 they were at the Lord Nelson on Birmingham High Street. Young Edward was then aged 21 and was working as a clerk. He married Emily Grace Walker at St. Martin’s Church in Birmingham in March 1893 and seems to have briefly held the licence of the Anchor Inn on Bradford Street in Birmingham. By the time of the 1901 census the couple had moved to Leicester and were residing at the Gallowtree Gate premises shown in the picture. Mr Spall’s occupation is entered as “Fancy goods dealer”. The couple had two daughters, Marie, aged 7, and Hilda, aged 1. At the time of the 1921 census the family are again shown to be residing at the Gallowtree Gate premises. Mr Spall was then aged 51 and was described as a “Fancy Goods & Jewellery dealer”. Mrs Spall is entered as “Manageress to Fancy Goods dealer”. Mr Spall’s widowed mother is also included in the household. She was given as aged 75 and had the occupation of “Housekeeper”. Two of the Spall’s children, Gerald ( and Lorna (6), were also residing there and a number of servants. Edward Charles Spall died at his Norfolk Broads home at Rollesby, north-west of Great Yarmouth, in October 1928. He was aged 58. Subsequently, the business was run by the Spall family, with the 1939 Register showing the widowed Mrs Emily G. Spall as Managing Director of the fancy goods business. Mrs Spall died in 1952, aged 79. Spalls expanded to open shops in several other towns over the years, including in Coventry, Norwich and Sheffield, but perhaps the best known to Leicestershire people was the Spalls gift shop in Lumley Road at Skegness or the shop in Regent Road at Great Yarmouth. A little further along Gallowtree Gate from Spalls shop is seen the impressive stone frontage of the old Boots the chemists store. This was built between 1927 and 1928 and was designed in a classical style with pediments and large columns adorning the frontage, which had an open central loggia on the first floor. The architects were Bromley & Watkins of Nottingham who designed a number of buildings for the company. The store included a library and a cafe where lunches and teas were served. Boots had first opened a shop in Leicester at 9 Belvoir Street in September 1902 and opened a branch in an old building in Gallowtree Gate about 1924 before rebuilding on the site. In 1956 the 1920s store interior underwent considerable modernisation but the building was replaced by the present Boots store on the site in 1970, opening on 25th September that year. The large stone-fronted building a little further along from Boots is the Marks & Spencer store. A new store was first built on Gallowtree Gate in 1929-30, designed by the London architects W. A. Lewis & Partners, who did several buildings for the company around the country. The store was officially opened on Friday 30th May 1930 and large numbers of people visited it on that first day. The original store was much shorter than the later building and extensions were carried out in 1934 and 1937, resulting in a long stone frontage designed in a Neo-Greek Classical style, with fluted Ionic columns dividing the two-storey bays above the ground floor entrances. The cornice is richly ornamented and surmounting the parapet is a central plinth with anthemion decoration. Another bay was added to the southern end of the building in the 1960s. Alas, Marks & Spencer closed this store just recently after almost a century of trading here.

Watch The Foxes' Conclusion In Perth On Foxes Hub LCFC Women LCFC Women's second match of the Perth International Football Cup against West Ham United is once again free to watch on Foxes Hub around the globe. - LCFC Women will take on West Ham United this Sunday in the Perth International Football Cup - Leicester were beaten on penalties by Manchester City in the first match - The game at HBF Park is free to watch on Foxes Hub and the Club's official YouTube channel An end-to-end encounter with Manchester City on Wednesday saw the Foxes finish the game level, only being denied entry into the final by a penalty shootout; the Citizens winning 4-3. A spirited and encouraging performance from Amandine Miquel's side, Leicester will take confidence into their second and final game of the Perth based competition, when they face West Ham, who lost 1-0 to PSG in the other semi-final. The game will once again be available to watch in the UK and worldwide, with the stream commencing shortly before kick-off at 7:10am from HBF Park, and can be accessed via LCFC.com and the Club's official YouTube channel. A final test on Australian soil, make sure to tune in to the coverage to get a glimpse of the new-look squad, as they prepare for their fourth consecutive season in the Barclays Women's Super League, which starts with an away trip to Liverpool on Sunday 22 September (2pm kick-off). All times BST.

Republic of Ireland call up Leicester City academy graduate The Republic of Ireland announced on Thursday 29 August that Leicester academy graduate Kasey McAteer would be included in their squad for the Nations League fixtures against England and Greece. McAteer was eligible to represent Ireland through his family and chose to play for them instead of England – where hopes of appearing on the international stage may have seemed more difficult. He becomes the second Foxes player to choose to play for Ireland in recent months after Tom Cannon also snubbed the chance to play for the Three Lions in favour of Ireland. Ireland Football @IrelandFootball Kasey McAteer receives first call-up having completed his paperwork and received FIFA international clearance The @LCFC winger goes into the squad for the England & Greece matches Great news Kasey!

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-fc/5070495/dundee-tony-docherty-huge-talent-sammy-braybrooke-further-signings-luke-mccowan/ Tony Docherty hails loan star Sammy Braybrooke as Dundee gaffer eyes further signings and provides Luke McCowan update Time is ticking away until the transfer deadline tomorrow night. By George Cran August 29 2024, 7:00am Dundee's latest signing Sammy Braybrooke. Image: David Young New signing Sammy Braybrooke has already taken the breath away in training at Dundee says Tony Docherty as he hailed the Leicester City kid’s “huge talent”. Braybrooke arrived on a season-long loan on Wednesday and is expected to be joined by Julien Vetro soon. The ex-Bordeaux winger has been training with the Dark Blues ahead of a loan move from Burnley with his move to Turf Moor delayed by red tape. And Docherty revealed there could be more business done before the transfer deadline at midnight on Friday. New Dundee signing Sammy Braybrooke. Image: David Young. While that work is ongoing, the Dens boss is delighted by the capture of Braybrooke and admits he wasn’t 100% sure he could entice the England U/20 international to Dens. “He is a really talented young footballer who will see this as a platform to show how good he is,” Docherty said. “He has some pedigree. “If you ask any of the boys who have trained with him this week, he takes your breath away. “He is a huge talent. We are delighted to have him on board. “When it got made aware he could be available he was very much on our radar. “We weren’t sure we would get him because of the quality he has. Tony Docherty Tony Docherty is pleased with his summer business. Image: Paul Devlin/SNS “We had real stiff competition but as a club we represent ourselves very well. “I am hugely impressed with him as an individual. “He is 20 but has a maturity and a plan for his own career. “I am sure he will do really well.” James Maddison Braybrooke trained with James Maddison at Leicester before the England international’s switch to Tottenham. Docherty himself has first-hand knowledge of the impact Maddison made on loan at Aberdeen during his time as assistant manager at Pittodrie. James Maddison curls in a free-kick while on loan at Aberdeen. “I have experience of working with Maddison and players of that ilk,” the Dens boss added. “Maddison will be a role model. There are real similarities. “I still keep in touch with Madders. “If you look at Madders, his loan to Aberdeen was pivotal. “I am hoping this proves the same way with Sammy.”

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/telepathic-combo-should-lead-leicester-9515566 Telepathic combo should lead to Leicester City change as Jordan Ayew shows transfer need Analysis from Leicester City's 4-0 victory over Tranmere, looking at Oliver Skipp, Ricardo Pereira, Jordan Ayew, academy talents, and the need for a balance in attack ByJordan Blackwell 16:30, 28 AUG 2024 Steve Cooper has said the gap in quality between the Premier League and the Championship is the biggest of any first and second tier in world football. So when Leicester City face a side three divisions below them, never mind one, there’s only so much that can be gleaned. City were confident, creative, and controlled throughout to beat Tranmere 4-0 and claim their first victory under Cooper. But it will likely have very little bearing on their fixture against Aston Villa this weekend. However, that does not stop the conversations over which players did well enough to stake a claim for a starting spot at the weekend. Cooper has named the same 11 for each of City’s Premier League matches so far, but there may now be at least one change, with Tuesday’s performance showing why, rather than being the sole reason. Signing for £20m, Oliver Skipp was never likely to be on the bench for too long. He got his first taste of life in blue at Fulham last Saturday, then started against Tranmere. Withdrawn around the hour mark, Cooper may have been saving him ahead of his first league start this weekend. It would make sense. One of the difficulties City have had in periods during their opening two fixtures has been in building out from the back, moving the ball from the defence and through the midfield to the forward players. When they’ve not done it well enough, they’ve been bombarded by opposition attacks. In that regard, Skipp helps. For starters, he’s very tidy on the ball. His passes don’t go astray too often. But more importantly, he looks to have a natural understanding with Harry Winks, his likely partner in the middle. Throughout pre-season, and in the opening games, none of Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare, or Hamza Choudhury developed a partnership with Winks that felt as comfortable as the one he had with Ricardo Pereira last season. They either occupied the same spaces as Winks, getting in each other’s way, or they didn’t offer an outlet to the defence as often as they needed to, especially when the opposition noticed Winks was pulling the strings and marked him more tightly. While it comes with the caveat of City facing a League Two side, there were no such issues for Skipp and Winks on Tuesday. They were always in separate parts of the pitch, and always an option to the other. While there’s five years between them, and while they only played 18 games together at Spurs, they’ve grown up with the same education. That perhaps helps them develop a telepathic understanding of how the other will play. It was nice, too, to see Skipp eager to move the ball quickly, the 23-year-old playing lots of first-time passes to keep City’s attacks from ever feeling stagnant. With City putting the pressure on, there was an opportunity for him to play a role in the attack as well, and he linked play well around the box, while also making penetrative runs in dangerous areas. Aston Villa, with their excellent, dynamic midfield, will be a big test for City. It feels like the Tottenham-developed duo is the best way to go to counteract it. Ricardo and Mavididi push, but may fall short of league start The controversial picks of Cooper’s early-season selections have been his decisions to leave Ricardo and Stephy Mavididi out of his Premier League starting line-up. Both were given opportunities to play on Tuesday, and both produced displays that will generate more talk around their potential inclusion this Saturday. Ricardo’s omission to this point has generated the most chatter, but even while showing how good he is against Tranmere, it still doesn’t feel like he’s going to play against Villa. For a start, the role he had in the Carabao Cup is different to that which he’d play in the Premier League. Cooper likes one of his full-backs to attack and the other to drop in and form the back three. To allow a full-back to attack, the winger ahead of them tucks inside when in possession and becomes a second number 10. So far, the attacking full-back has been Victor Kristiansen on the left, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid shuffling infield. James Justin becomes part of the back three. On Tuesday, that switched. On the right, Ricardo went forward and Kasey McAteer became a number 10, while on the left, Luke Thomas stayed back and Mavididi stayed wide. Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi scores their side's second goal of the game from the penalty spot The shape allowed Ricardo to play how he used to when he first joined from Porto, gallivanting down the right, making himself a presence in the attack, playing quick football in tight spots to cause problems for the opposition. It was great to see. But he probably wouldn’t be able to play that way in the Premier League. Cooper will want Abdul Fatawu to start and the Ghanaian is best when hugging the touchline, even if he does dribble inside and strike at goal on his favoured left foot. Plus, Kristiansen is the starting left-back, and he’s much more comfortable with roaming forward than he is at dropping into a back three. If Fatawu and Kristiansen are selected, Justin is still the obvious choice to play at right-back. He’s better physically than Ricardo and so is more adept at dropping in to form a back three. Plus, right now, it does not seem to be in Cooper’s thinking that he could play Ricardo or Justin as a left-back, even though both have previously occupied the role in their careers. For Mavididi, there was a frustrating first half against Tranmere in which he did not make the most of the space he was given. His step-overs didn’t fool his full-back and his crosses did not find City heads. After converting his penalty, he improved, and tore past Tranmere players with ease late on. While he can play the role of a winger who doubles up as a number 10, it does not feel as natural to him as it does for De Cordova-Reid. Mavididi’s wait for a Premier League start may go on. Ayew's striker performance shows the transfer City need If City do the business they want to do, Jordan Ayew probably won’t play many games up front like he has over the past two matches. He has spent most of his recent Crystal Palace career playing out wide, and it’s from there that he will likely feature for City. Because not only do City have Jamie Vardy, they have Patson Daka on the mend, and they have the intention of signing a number nine before the window ends. What Ayew did show on Tuesday night is the impact a new striker might have. City made an offer for Fotis Ioannidis earlier this month and the Panathinaikos striker remains on the radar, if perhaps out of the club’s budget. But he’s a well-rounded frontman, capable of receiving the ball to feet and holding off defenders, just as much as he is a threat inside the box. Ayew showed the benefits, and downsides, of having a striker who can hold the ball up. The Ghanaian came deep often, allowing City to better connect attacks, Ayew showing his qualities with his back to goal, bringing others into play and flicking balls around the corner. Plus, with Ayew dropping deep, it created pockets of space in behind for midfield runners. But, there were a few too many occasions where City needed him in the box, only for him to hanging outside. His superb goal, and his chances to shoot, came from outside the area, but there were plenty of crosses into the area you would have liked to have seen him attacking. What City need is a striker who operates somewhere between Vardy and Ayew, a player who is adept at receiving the ball to feet and using their strength to hold it up, but also knows how to find space inside the box and get on the ends of balls in. If City are willing to splash the cash, Ioannidis is that man. 145-game run may end soon For the past 145 games, a run that dates back to October 2021, City have had at least one academy graduate feature. It’s been easy to do so over the past few years, with Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall becoming key players, but it’s growing more difficult. City only kept up their run in the first two Premier League games of this season because Kasey McAteer came on as a late substitute. It feels like, at some point this campaign, the run will end. There is a longer streak, which dates back to December 2018, of City including at least one academy graduate in their matchday squad. That could be kept up. But having a homegrown player on the pitch every week seems much less likely now they’re in the Premier League and none of their club-developed talents are key players. It will be disappointing if it does end. Tuesday night, when five academy players got onto the pitch, showed that. Beyond the cheers for the four goals, the biggest noise of the night went to Will Alves’s substitution. It’s not just that a young player has fought back from a horrendous injury and made his first senior outing in more than 18 months, but that he’s a lad who grew up locally and has had his ability nurtured by the club. There is only one objective for City this season, and that’s to keep themselves in the Premier League. Cooper’s approach to that aim is to turn to experience, and so City’s young prospects may get their chances less frequently. Variety and risk-taking encouraged as City seek attacking balance It may be some time before City have 71 per cent possession in a match again. In the Premier League, such dominance is not possible. But what the game did allow was for City to attack for the full 90 minutes and work on their patterns at the top end. While they may not enjoy such possession and territory in league matches, if they’re going to win enough games to stay up, they still need to know how to attack with creativity. Goalless draws every week won’t keep them afloat, not with a points deduction. At half-time on Tuesday, Cooper called for his side to be more daring in attack. He wanted to see more risks and responsibility taken. “We could have been more of a threat in the first half with the variety in our attacks,” he said. “So Jordan made the difference by getting us in front, taking the responsibility and making something happen. I felt we needed more of that, whether it was dribbles, runs in behind, shots. To be fair to the guys, at half-time they took that challenge on board and were good for three more goals.” Those are probably words that need to be heeded ahead of Villa. City will get much fewer opportunities to get into the final third in the Premier League and so they need to make the most of them. There is a balance to strike. City need to have patience to find the right opening, but they can’t be too safe either. If they only have one meaningful attack every five minutes, they cannot afford for it to peter out. They cannot afford to be static and wait, they have to force the issue, and that's what Cooper was encouraging.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-must-act-100m-9513694 Leicester City must act on £100m King Power academy investment or risk future transfer windfall Leicester City news and opinions as Josh Holland highlights the Foxes' highly potential youth academy and its importance ByJosh HollandFootball Writer 05:00, 29 AUG 2024 Leicester City have an unique opportunity to become something they never managed to do. In 2021, the club opened its brand new training ground in Seagrave in the latest move by King Power to elevate it to the pinnacle of world football. The training complex, which if you have visited, is something special. Costing £100million in the north of the county, Leicester has one of the best training facilities in England. 21 playing surfaces - including 14 full-size pitches - a 499-seater floodlit pitch, customised gym and hydrotherapy facilities are all included in the transformational investment made by the club owners. But despite all of this, there is one growing concern. Prior to the Foxes' Carabao Cup second round win over Tranmere Rovers, there were frustrations over the lack of opportunities for the exciting prospects in the academy. Steve Cooper, who is renowned for working and developing wonderkids through his time with England, named highly-rated Will Alves and striker Chris Popov on his bench and handed them over 20 minutes. However, there were fears that there would be no sign of the exciting academy talent and that's a problem. If you didn't know, and you would not be blamed as the clubs official social media channels don't cover like others, City's Under-21s defeated Liverpool last weekend thanks to goals from Amani Richards. Right now, there are a number of exciting profiles coming through the ranks. Alves, Sammy Braybrooke and Logan Briggs are all players well-known for their cameo appearances in the first-team. Away from them, the likes of Josh King, Jake Evans, Jayden Joseph and Jeremy Monga are full of potential. Jake Evans Jake Evans is one of many highly-rated youngsters at Leicester City (Image: Plumb Images) On Tuesday, after Wilfred Ndidi made it 3-0, excitement built around the King Power Stadium and with fans at home when Alves and Popov came on. Despite the encouragement of Alves and the Under-18s stars, there is a feeling that the club are missing a trick with the academy. Clubs around the world are well-respected for their utilisation of youth development. Benfica have raised over £300milllion through the sales of academy graduates such as Joao Felix, Ruben Dias, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Neves and Ederson. Ajax have made over £210m from Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Jurrien Timber and Donny van de Beek. In England, despite their recent criticism, Chelsea have raised £217m from Mason Mount, Ian Maatsen, Conor Gallagher, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Lewis Hall. In years gone by, Leicester have reaped the rewards for their fine tuning in the academy, but that feeling has somewhat dwindled recently. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Harvey Barnes left the club for a combined fee of £68m in the last two summers with Ben Chilwell bringing in £45m in 2020. Hamza Choudhury, Ben Nelson, Luke Thomas and Kasey McAteer are all part of the first-team. It's easy to imagine the financial situation the club would find themselves in without the handful of successes. Only recently, Trey Nyoni and Tyrese Noubissie joined Liverpool and Manchester City respectively for small fees. The cases of those two players are ones that could occur more frequently if the idea of using the academy to the clubs advantage isn't used more often. More simply has to be done. Among all of the criticism off-the-pitch, the academy at Leicester is a goldmine. Seeing a player progress through the ranks, become a first-team regular and then being sold to inherit millions is a difficult, but simple, method to help balance the books. When you think of Ajax, Benfica, Chelsea, Southampton and Athletic Bilbao, promoting youth is a key principle in their strategy as a club. Leicester have to consider this and be a key blueprint of the club, while also keeping the priority on getting results at first-team level.

I usually cast LCFC vids to my Apple TV box but they’ve not got that on this hub