Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers hopes to pay back the club’s owners for the patience he has been shown. On a night where one of his rivals was sacked, Steven Gerrard relieved of his duties at Aston Villa, Rodgers expressed gratitude for the time he has been given during the club’s tough run. He hopes that he can repay the board by guiding City up the table. They started that process on Thursday night with a 2-0 win over Leeds. It was the club’s second victory of the season, and it took them above Nottingham Forest and off the bottom of the standings.
Brendan Rodgers said: “I’m bitterly disappointed for Steven. He did a fantastic job at Rangers and got a Premier League opportunity. The ambitions there are to be in European football. It seems that every day a manager is losing their job or is under threat of losing their job. I think stability and patience seems to be running out. I’m really disappointed for him. I believe that with time and patience, he could have got them to where the club wanted him to go. I’m in a great club here that have given me a great opportunity and in a tough spell. They have trusted me, they have supported me and I aim to pay them back.”
Not only did City get the three points, but they kept a clean sheet for a third straight home game. To do that, while coping with Leeds’ intense, high-pressing style, pleased Rodgers.
Brendan Rodgers said: “I thought it was a very good performance. We should have won here at the weekend but didn’t and it was a continuation of that. I thought the intensity in our defending was very good. We were playing against a Leeds team that have shown how good they are at pressing, but we played through that really well with the ball. We broke their lines well. And then when we had to defend, the players never stopped running. You play against Leeds, there are a lot of second balls, third balls, fourth balls you have to win, and the players showed the mentality and desire to defend. It was a confident performance, and it was another clean sheet. We’ve got to keep taking small steps. This season is going to be slow steps for us. If you looked at us tonight, you wouldn’t think we were in that position, but we are, so we have to fight and we have to play with quality. You saw that this evening.”
