If there’s one manager with the weight of the world on his shoulders, it would have to be Dean Smith as he looks to negotiate Leicester City’s last few games of the 2022/23 Premier League season, and hope that he’s able to turn around their form to such an extent that they’re able to stay in the English top-flight.
Smith has been parachuted in after Brendan Rodgers and the Foxes hierarchy decided that a split by mutual consent was the best course of action for a club who have been on a horrendous run of late.
According to WhoScored, they’ve lost eight of the last nine in all competitions, with seven defeats and one draw coming in the Premier League.
With Man City up next and Liverpool and Newcastle coming in two of their final three games of the campaign, things aren’t going to get any easier for Smith and his backroom team, so he deserves enormous credit for taking on the challenge.
One player who’ll likely be delighted by such a turn of events is Jannik Vestergaard.
Ekstra Bladet report that it’s ‘good news’ for the Danish International who has barely played this season, and a ‘fresh start’ for him after he was banished to train on his own because of criticism of Rodgers, ironically during an interview with Ekstra Bladet.
With survival the only thing that Smith should be worrying about at this point, he could do worse than install the towering defender back in the heart of the back line.