Preston North End 0-1 LEICESTER CITY

[lookwhaticando]

how tall is he exactly?

6'1"

He's supposedly built pretty heavily too - for a sixteen year old.

He's certainly no twig, looking at the pictures!

Although he surely needs a hair cut.

[Ozwin]

He grows it long, has an alice band and everything...

[MBK]

Johannson said in the interview that Max (Gradel) and Kingy (Andy) is in the first team.

[Scow]

Skills! Yeah, yeah!

I've always had faith in him - have you?

I even had a bet on him to score first against Brum at 40-1, as a laugh, like. The bastard.

Hopefully that should see us through.

[Ozwin]

Ugly ****er but he's scored one of the most important goals of any season ever.

[Daggers]

The noise at this point was HUGE

[dandannieldanok]

I must say I am impressed with the picture special today. I'm loving the 3 snapshots of the 'goal as it happened'.

[Toby or not Toby]

I must say I am impressed with the picture special today. I'm loving the 3 snapshots of the 'goal as it happened'.

yeh i also think the build up to the celebrations is good as players keep appearing in shots wish i had of gone now

[dandannieldanok]

yeh i also think the build up to the celebrations is good as players keep appearing in shots wish i had of gone now

Same here, hopefully when I go to Barnsley the atmosphere will be similarly excellent.

[Tommeh]

Better than Fulham away??? Quite possible, quality day out..Never known our support so loud in years

[Thracian]

A game I'll remember all my life.

What a fantastic effort from our team, our crowd, our manager, the police, the stewards, the lot.

First the crowd: The Great Escape has to be adopted as the club's official theme tune and sung with the passion of today and last Tuesday every time we concede a goal or have something to fight for.

It's inspiring and, make no mistake, it has genuinely helped to save our club.

It almost won us a draw against Brum and today it helped completely knackered players to force themselves forward at Preston to grab a winner.

The crowd today was never silent for one moment of the match and how the players, manager and Mandaric appreciated it.

Even the police and stewards expressed their admiration. I must have shook 20 fans at the end and with good cause because they worked as hard as the players on behalf of the club and got nothing more than the result they deserved. Magnificent hardly does em justice.

Now the team: I heard all about Preston's potential Premiership status, their dangerous attack and their strong midfield but Leicester restricted them to a few pebbles from the beach in terms of chances.

Logan foiled a couple by being as big as King Kong and a couple more were squandered but otherwise Leicester destroyed so much at source with their tireless closing down.

With very few exceptions all our players were truly praiseworthy but special mention for me goes to the young, relatively inexperienced players people have so often said shouldn't be relied on with so much at stake.

Truth is they played a major part in saving our club today. They never looked like surrendering or crumbling or failing to cope with the pressure.

Yes, Newton was provider and Nils the unlikely scorer of our vital goal. Yes McAuley, Kisnorbo, Hume and Hughes were people to admire for their endeavour. But Logan, Stearman, Wesolowski and Mattock were warriors too and each in the way outstanding. Too small or too young? All that matters to a footballer if you've got the skills is the size of your heart and they each showed theirs to be enormous.

What a proud, proud day for everyone concerned and what a return on investment Milan got for his free coaches!.

I wouldn't be surprised if he repeats it as a thankyou for Barnsley because all those fans paid their fares in a non-stop vocal effort - and I mean non-stop.

Finally the police and stewards: what a cracking example of how to deal with a football crowd.

No implied aggression, lots of smiling faces, lots of help and quiet assistance, a minimum of interference.

They contributed to a wonderful day out - made the more wonderful by Nils first goal of the season and our first and so vital win in 11.

[davieG]

Excellent day, best away game I've been to since we beat Middlesbrough in the League Cup at Hillsborough, sat in virtually the same situation with the same level of support and the same result.

I must be a lucky omen for games oop north I don't go to many but have seen us beat Liverpool twice, Burnley, our last win of any sort before today and now Preston. The good news is I'm ooff to Barnsley let's hope thats far enough north.

And if anyone, including me thinks the players don't care they should have seen their faces and their reactions when we scored. They were all terrific today even though physically they were wilting in the last 20 to 30 minutes they stuck to the task and pulled off an unlikely but well deserved win.

Also nice to see the Foxestalk contingent, virtually the whole under 21 team I think, you were all superb with your non-stop vocals.

Fanbloodytastic day.

[Flynny]

What was the footy like, Thrac? Sounded a little more attacking than a good day for RK, but difficult to tell off the radio.

Mattock sounded great and Logan sounded like he made some good saves but was at other times totally unreliable. Since you've just given him a good write up I'm guessing he might not have been as bad as was made out.

Oh and what was Danny C like? Didn't sound too involved.

[Leonisco]

This is a massive win. After weeks of thinking we were gonna go down this is such a relief!!!!

Nils you're a legend, please sign a new contract!

BLUE ARMY!!!!!

[Leonisco]

A game I'll remember all my life.

What a fantastic effort from our team, our crowd, our manager, the police, the stewards, the lot.

First the crowd: The Great Escape has to be adopted as the club's official theme tune and sung with the passion of today and last Tuesday every time we concede a goal or have something to fight for.

It's inspiring and, make no mistake, it has genuinely helped to save our club.

It almost won us a draw against Brum and today it helped completely knackered players to force themselves forward at Preston to grab a winner.

The crowd today was never silent for one moment of the match and how the players, manager and Mandaric appreicated it.

Even the police and stewards expressed their admiration. I must have shook 20 fans at the end and with good cause because they worked as hard as the players on behalf of the club and got nothing more than the result they deserved. Magnificent hardly does em justice.

Now the team: I heard all about Preston's potential Premiership status, their dangerous attack and their strong midfield but Leicester restricted them to a few pebbles from the beach in terms of chances.

Logan foiled a couple by being as big as King Kong and a couple more were squandered but otherwise Leicester destroyed so much at source with their tireless closing down.

With very few exceptions all our players were truly praiseworthy but special mention for me goes to the young, relatively inexperienced players people have so often said shouldn't be relied on with so much at stake.

Truth is they played a major part today in saving our club today. They never looked like surrendering or crumbling or failing to cope with the pressure.

Yes, Newton was provider and Nils the unlikely scorer of our vital goal. Yes McAuley, Kisnorbo, Hume and Hughes were people to admire for their endeavour. But Logan, Stearman, Wesolowski and Mattock were warriors too and each in the way outstanding. Too small or too young? All that matters to a footballer if you've got the skills is the size of your heart and they each showed theirs to be enormous.

What a proud, proud day for everyone concerned and what a return on investment Milan got for his free coaches!.

I wouldn't be surprised if he repeats it as a thankyou for Barnsley because all those fans paid their fares in a non-stop vocal effort - and I mean non-stop.

Finally the police and stewards: what a cracking example of how to deal with a football crowd.

No implied aggression, lots of smiling faces, lots of help and quiet assistance, a minimum of interference.

They contributed to a wonderful day out - made the more wonderful by Nils first goal of the season and our first and so vital win in 11.

I think you've missed someone - Worthington. In fact I'm not sure if he's been mentioned once in this whole thread, surely he deserves a lot of credit for turning this team around.

[Flynny]

I think you've missed someone - Worthington. In fact I'm not sure if he's been mentioned once in this whole thread, surely he deserves a lot of credit for turning this team around.

As did Rob Kelly last season.

[Daggers]

As did Rob Kelly last season.

No.

[Leonisco]

As did Rob Kelly last season.

What’s your point? I said Worthington deserves credit for turning us round, what’s that got to do with Kelly?

[Flynny]

What’s your point? I said Worthington deserves credit for turning us round, what’s that got to do with Kelly?

I'm just trying to keep Wortho and renewed success seperate in my mind before I disgust myself by starting to think should be given the job full time. Reminding myself of the jov RK did is quite soothing in that respect.

[Leonisco]

I'm just trying to keep Wortho and renewed success seperate in my mind before I disgust myself by starting to think should be given the job full time. Reminding myself of the jov RK did is quite soothing in that respect.

I’ll admit I’d still prefer Chris Coleman, but if we carry on improving like we are I see no reason why he shouldn’t get the job full-time.

[Flynny]

I’ll admit I’d still prefer Chris Coleman, but if we carry on improving like we are I see no reason why he shouldn’t get the job full-time.

And Rob Kelly is exactly the reason you're missing!

Any team not fulfilling it's potential will do better with a shake-up. Wortho's doing all the stuff Kelly wasn't doing, but that doesn't make him a visionary, just better than crap.

At the moment I have an open mind as to his appointment, which is probably still where I'll be at at the end of the season unless we play like Arsenal in our last two games. We can do better.

[Thracian]

What was the footy like, Thrac? Sounded a little more attacking than a good day for RK, but difficult to tell off the radio.

Mattock sounded great and Logan sounded like he made some good saves but was at other times totally unreliable. Since you've just given him a good write up I'm guessing he might not have been as bad as was made out.

Oh and what was Danny C like? Didn't sound too involved.

This wasn't peaches and cream type football it was trench warfare with each team battling for every bit of ground they could get.

But it made for a fascinating contest and in boxing parlance, even without the goal, I had Leicester ahead on points at the end.

They largely bossed the first half. With Weso and Mattock around, a fair amount of the game was played to feet. There were relapses to be sure but the intent was clear.

Mattock is another who plays the simple, floor ball.

It wasn't a game of many chances all round but Hume hit the post and whacked a piledriver just over the bar. That would have been a cracking goal coming at the end of a mazy driving run from Mattock where he left two Preston defenders in his wake.

But the key to the game was Leicester's early challenging for everything and Weso dictating so many counter attacks. Players supported each well and never went into retreat mode in the hopes of either hanging on to 0-0 or to 1-0 when we went ahead.

We still found ways of getting forward - perhaps not in the numbers we used against Birmingham second half - and generally we played well enough to look comfortable.

The effort of doing so took its toll and Worthington quite cleverly used Horsfield to help retain possession in our attacking half near the end where he linked up closely with Stearman, Newton and others to generally kill the game at the right end of the field.

Not pretty but professional and efficient. I still don't think we played, or ever play, our best side but pretty well everyone did their job today and the result made its own statement.

That Preston were restricted to about four, perhaps five genuine chances speaks volumes for our organisation. So many of their potential attacks were stifled at source, often well up the field and this meant we were rarely under serious pressure.

There looked far more the basis of a team there than I mostly remembered with Kelly because the tempo has improved, even away, and the new enthusiasm is plain to see.

[Maybes]

This wasn't peaches and cream type football it was trench warfare with each team battling for every bit of ground they could get.

But it made for a fascinating contest and in boxing parlance, even without the goal, I had Leicester ahead on points at the end.

They largely bossed the first half. With Weso and Mattock around, a fair amount of the game was played to feet. There were relapses to be sure but the intent was clear.

Mattock is another who plays the simple, floor ball.

It wasn't a game of many chances all round but Hume hit the post and whacked a piledriver just over the bar. That would have been a cracking goal coming at the end of a mazy driving run from Mattock where he left two Preston defenders in his wake.

But the key to the game was Leicester's early challenging for everything and Weso dictating so many counter attacks. Players supported each well and never went into retreat mode in the hopes of either hanging on to 0-0 or to 1-0 when we went ahead.

We still found ways of getting forward - perhaps not in the numbers we used against Birmingham second half - and generally we played well enough to look comfortable.

The effort of doing so took its toll and Worthington quite cleverly used Horsfield to help retain possession in our attacking half near the end where he linked up closely with Stearman, Newton and others to generally kill the game at the right end of the field.

Not pretty but professional and efficient. I still don't think we played, or ever play, our best side but pretty well everyone did their job today and the result made its own statement.

That Preston were restricted to about four, perhaps five genuine chances speaks volumes for our organisation. So many of their potential attacks were stifled at source, often well up the field and this meant we were rarely under serious pressure.

There looked far more the basis of a team there than I mostly remembered with Kelly because the tempo has improved, even away, and the new enthusiasm is plain to see.

Thracian is a legend. Me and wils were privileged to shake your hand at full time. Bet you dont even know who we are

The atmoshpere was fantastic today. The players and the management showed their appreciation at the end of the match. Great day out for all those in blue!!!

[filbert way]

before this match i was feeling very sick about it all week just thinking about leicester playing league 1 football made me feel sick brilliant result for the boys but got to admit dont agree with the sacking of rob kelly with 4 games to go it was a disgrace if rob had stayed on to the end of the season i dont think we wouldve been only 2 points off the drop zone before today !!! Does anyone agree ???

[Lets Be having You]

Thracian,Thanks for your review great reading,good to se we are getting better,i said this morning i had a feeling in my water,the same feeling when WE BEAT Cambridge 5.0,

Up the City,