Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
 Share
Beechey

Robert Huth to Leave at End of Season

By Beechey, in Leicester City Forum

Recommended Posts

ScouseFox

ScouseFox

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, davieG said:

More people in the stadium than at half time I would think.

a lot do sack off the half time piss/queue for a pint of something genuinely good is happening at half time, though. as long as it’s communicated obviously. 

 

shouldve just brought him on injured in injury time for a lap of honour and to elbow someone. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Facecloth

Facecloth

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, David Hankey said:

Why didn't we terminate his contract when we knew he wouldn't play again. He's been coming back since October!!

Probably because his contract was over at the end of the season anyway and we're not a bunch of *****?

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Popular Post
Webbo

Webbo

Posted
  • Popular Post
Posted

On the day he joined the Foxes – 2 February, 2015 – his new team sat bottom of the Premier League table with 23 fixtures played. Sixteen games later – Huth featuring in all but one – they finished the season in the relative comfort of 14th position.

His loan move from Stoke City is regarded by many as one of the major catalysts in City’s top-flight revival that term. What the Club, with the help of Huth, went on to achieve was incredible.

But for the humble German, the last two months of the 2014/15 season saw him experience some of his proudest moments in a Leicester shirt.

“It means absolutely everything if you look back on it, really,” said Huth during his final week as a Foxes player at Belvoir Drive. “I never would have thought we’d achieve as much as we did. Certainly, when I first signed on loan, it was very much unknown about the Club’s future until we avoided relegation to stay in the league so to be here now with what we’ve achieved is absolutely awesome.

“I’m almost a little bit prouder than when we won the league because we were so far adrift from safety. At times it was tough to see where the points were coming from but all of a sudden, we hit form and we kept winning games.”

Vital In The 'Greatest Escape'
Robert Huth's move to the Club proved key in City's 2014/15 Premier League survival.

A string of four huge wins lifted City up to 17th, just one point above the drop. However, those victories completely overhauled the players’ outlook on Premier League survival, according to Huth. They simply believed.

“Although we weren’t safe at one point, it always felt like we’d be able to do it with four or five games to go because the atmosphere was so good and we started to play really well,” he continued. “We were winning both home and away games, which we didn’t do at the start of the season. It was Sunderland away where we clinched it, but I personally felt really safe two or three games before that because we were just in really good form.

“I was thankful that I had the opportunity to play for Leicester. At the time, I had just come back from injury and there weren’t many clubs that were interested, so it was an absolute no-brainer when Leicester came calling, regardless of their position. I just wanted to play football, so I was extremely grateful when they gave me the chance to come here.”

Huth’s move was made permanent the following summer, for an undisclosed fee, from league rivals Stoke City. The central defender enjoyed his first full pre-season with the Club as he and his team-mates headed out to Bad Radkersburg, Austria.

Preparations went well and with 11 points accumulated from their first five games, an early spell of productive form gave City a huge boost in confidence under new boss Claudio Ranieri. What followed took the world by storm.

“We very much started the way we finished the season, with attacking football,” said Huth of his side’s Premier League triumph. “We always had the pace up front to trouble teams, we just couldn’t quite work out how we performed over 90 minutes at the level where we could win games comfortably one, two or three nil.

“If we don’t, we’d just take a 1-0. But at the start of the season, we kept conceding goals. They were very high scoring games most of the times. About a third of the season in, we changed our style a little bit, got a little bit more defensive and hit teams on the break.

“Certainly, the home games we always were on top of teams, the crowd really got us up. I remember special night games, games under the lights. The first twenty minutes at King Power Stadium, I look back at it now and think, ‘wow, they were special, special times’.

“Most times we were winning within 10 minutes and that’s the way we’d try to finish the game or second half. If we were one-nil up, we knew they had to come out and that created spaces for us to go and score another goal and pretty much in the second half of the season that’s what we did.”

Two years on and City, alongside a maiden campaign in the UEFA Champions League, have registered respectable 12th and ninth-place finishes in the Premier League. The scenes of Manchester City’s recent title lift brought back fond memories for Huth, whose double against the new Premier League champions in February 2016 contributed to perhaps the most significant result of the season.

A Seasoned Premier League Pro

The German made his Premier League debut at the age of just 17 at Chelsea.

He said: “Every time you see it, like recently Manchester City lifted the trophy, you think it wasn’t long ago for us, and that was a good day. But in football you forget good and bad things pretty quick, so I think it will take time to really, really sink in. It could be when everybody has retired.

“It was really remarkable but over 18 months from end of February until we lifted the title, we were the best team in the country. Although it was the one season, over 18 months if you look back we lost three or four games, in probably 50 games. That’s pretty outstanding by anyone’s standards. That’s why I am really proud of the whole 18 months.”

The night Leicester were confirmed as champions, the first team squad – now a brotherhood forged from various ups and downs – gathered at Jamie Vardy’s house to watch Chelsea fight back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur.

The entire world was able to see City’s heroes burst into celebration at the end of the game. Just as well it was on camera, too. Huth’s recollection was a little hazy.

“I was pretty drunk – from what I remember!” laughed Huth. “We watched the game at Jamie’s house. It almost felt like the game wasn’t that important to us. It turned out to be a massive game but we were still five points ahead, so it wasn’t like if they won that it would mean that Tottenham would have won the league. Far from it. So, looking back, although Chelsea did us a favour, we lost three games all year, we were five or six games ahead of the nearest team with three games to go.

“The odds were massively in our favour anyway. As it turned out, Spurs lost another couple of games after that and we won one and drew one after that, so very likely we would have done it anyway. Looking back, it was just the perfect Sky moment. The last minute goal in the top corner, the fight for Chelsea and Spurs and us being at Jamie’s house having a great time after they equalised. It was a great night.”

It wasn’t the first time that he had lifted the most coveted prize in English football. As a youngster at Chelsea, he won the Premier League twice under Jose Mourinho – a moment that Huth admittedly didn’t savour until the latter years of his career.

With a smile on his face, he continued: “I was so young, I was just learning all the time and although we did win the league with Chelsea, and I felt part of it because it was a great club and Jose (Mourinho) made sure that the whole team was involved, at the time, looking back, I was thinking it was just a medal because you’re young and a bit stupid and you think you’re going to win ten more Premier Leagues, which obviously isn’t the case.

“When we did it with Leicester, having been with the players that hadn’t played that much, they’re just as important as the players who have played 38 games, they really are. But at the time, you don’t think of yourself as that valuable. You just think you’re a bit of a spare wheel, but you’re really not.

“It’s a team game and winners of the Premier League, you have to play so many games to pick up a medal. I just find it’s either a team game or it’s not. It’s not just the guys who have played 10 games. You’re either part of a team or you’re not. If you’re part of a great team, then that’s awesome and you should take it in your stride and be proud of it and I am extremely proud of both at Chelsea and with Leicester.”

'Thank You To The Fans'
Robert Huth has been a firm favourite of the Blue Army.

One of Huth’s best characteristics, perhaps unseen by those outside of the Leicester dressing room, is his personality. He can be strong in his opinion, but he has often provided balance in a team full of leaders.

“I’m easy,” admitted Huth. “That’s probably my positive thing. I get on with anyone and don’t really have any problems. The one thing here at Leicester is the changing room is pretty special.

“I’ve been in teams where we’ve been in better positions, certainly compared to when I first came here, and the atmosphere wasn’t as good as it was here. We were seven points adrift but everyone was happy.

“Other places, if we’d drawn at the weekend, then the whole week would have been absolutely miserable but it’s really probably down to assembling that sort of group. Obviously, the quality of the footballer and the quality of the person in the changing room is just as important. Over the three years, we’ve had a really good, solid changing room.”

Huth has shared the Leicester dressing room with some of the most talented players the Club has ever seen. His partnership with skipper Wes Morgan has been colossal and he was understandably honest in his answer when quizzed about his status as a Leicester great.

“I don’t play for recognition from supporters,” added the former Germany international. “Obviously, it’s great to hear but I just love defending and making it difficult for other teams to score.

“The whole ‘who’s the greatest?’ debate is one of those conversations that you have down the pub with your mates, but as players, I always really enjoyed playing with Wes. I knew what he was going to do, what he wasn’t going to do. He’s just a really good leader on the pitch and you can see what he did.”

The main stage for Huth’s City journey has been King Power Stadium. His audience, the Blue Army, have often been heard from the stands bellowing his name with the same passion he exudes on the pitch.

“King Power Stadium is just the best ground to play in,” revealed Huth. “The fans are absolutely amazing and that’s both when we were at the bottom, to when we were at the top, to now.



“You can absolutely bank on them to turn up and personally, I’d like to say a huge thank you.

“I loved every part I’ve played in this team, whether I’ve been involved or not. The supporters have always been awesome and hopefully for the future they will keep being as good as they have been.”

A Fox for just three-and-a-half years, Huth will go down in history as one of the Club’s most fearsome defenders.

 

https://www.lcfc.com/news/691866/robert-huth-the-foundation-of-a-fairytale/featured

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JamesWelshFox

JamesWelshFox

Posted
Posted

What a legend this bloke is, very underrated, and such a good centre half he managed to make Morgan look good just by playing alongside him. We have badly missed his organisation and leadership this season, would love to have seen him alongside Maguire. He will be very hard to replace.

 

Thank you Huth for all you did for us and good luck in whatever you go on to do next.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dmayne7

dmayne7

Posted
Posted

Probably because I'm well hungover, but that brings a tear to my eye. You know he means every word he says. The guy's a class act and as people have said before, our best signing ever. Changed our team. Legend

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
drofmor55

drofmor55

Posted
Posted

A run of 50 games and only 4 defeats ...  we are not talking about opinions here,the facts dont lie...he speaks a lot of sense and probably knows the premier league about as well as any player who's played in it..whos decision  was it to bring him here from Stoke ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Foxhateram

Foxhateram

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, drofmor55 said:

A run of 50 games and only 4 defeats ...  we are not talking about opinions here,the facts dont lie...he speaks a lot of sense and probably knows the premier league about as well as any player who's played in it..whos decision  was it to bring him here from Stoke ?

Big Nige. The board rejected the move initially. Stating his injury was too much of a risk. Nige and his team eventually persuaded to board late in the Jan window and the rest is history.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Alf Bentley

Alf Bentley

Posted
Posted
On 19/05/2018 at 08:29, dmayne7 said:

Probably because I'm well hungover, but that brings a tear to my eye. You know he means every word he says. The guy's a class act and as people have said before, our best signing ever. Changed our team. Legend

 

 

Spot on. I'm not hungover and it brought a tear to my eye. I hope he makes the odd half-time reappearance in future to get some acclaim. He's earned it.

 

He came across differently in that interview: more thoughtful and perceptive than I'd have expected, and a bit emotional in a quiet way. I'd imagined him as very dry, almost cynical before - though ultra-focused and professional.

 

Some might do a double take at "our best signing ever" and cite Vardy, Mahrez, Kante, or players from previous decades. But there really is a case for that claim. Could we have stayed up without him in 14/15? Probably not.

So, that alone stakes a claim for him as most crucial ever signing. Without that, Kante would never have played here and if Vardy & Mahrez had blossomed, it probably would have been at another club as we'd have been in the Championship in 15/16.

 

That's before you think of his contribution in 15/16. There were some crucial goals at Spurs & Man City, but my main memory is just feeling that our defence was almost invincible with him and Wes in the centre of it, fullbacks tucking in & N'Golo blocking the supply lines. However much possession an opposing team had and however many crosses or passes they put in, it came as a shock if opponents scored or created a clear opportunity. Brutal, superhuman discipline and consistency from Huth over those 18 months.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...