Leicester show enough to suspect Gray skies can clear under Rodgers

WHEREAS his time at Celtic was largely serene, an injury-time defeat at Watford served notice on Brendan Rodgers that life at Leicester will be much more unpredictable.

Just when it looked as if his new side might rescue victory from likely defeat, Andre Gray slid home a winning goal that left Rodgers empty-handed on his return to the Premier League.

What will have pleased him was the speed at which his players adapted to his instructions, both at half-time and during breaks in play on the touchline, delivered positively but intensely at close quarters.

It may not have suited Celtic, but it illustrated perfectly why the Northern Irishman was right to move now, with time to impart his methods.

Rodgers said: “We’re obviously disappointed to lose the game when it looked like we were the team that was going to win it.

“The passing was a bit too slow in the first period, but that’s purely the players getting used to a different shape, a different system.

“We stayed together and stayed strong. Our passing improved, we got our goal and after that our confidence grew.

“We’re only at the beginning. I’ve got a good idea from training of what the needs are for the summer. But there’s a fantastic group of players here with great spirit.”

Leicester were indebted to Kasper Schmeichel and then Wes Morgan for keeping Watford out from a third-minute free-kick, only to fall behind after conceding another two minutes later.

Gerard Deulofeu curled in the dead ball with such ferocity that Troy Deeney needed only to allow it to skim the top of his head to beat Schmeichel.

For 20 first-half minutes, Leicester lumbered around the pitch as an ineffective unit, probing so ponderously with their passes that Watford were comfortably able to sit in pockets of space and cut off every forward pass.

Rodgers responded at half-time by moving wing-backs Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell out to their respective touchlines, only for the second half to begin almost as calamitously as the first, with Schmeichel required to beat away a rasping, rising drive from Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Leicester were still creating next to nothing, and another miscue, this time from Wilfred Ndidi, sent an intended cross against the bar with 17 minutes left.

Then came a move so simple yet devastatingly effective that you wondered why they had not tried it before.

Harry Maguire won a header, Youri Tielemans carried the ball forward

and then beautifully bent a pass into the path of Vardy, running clear of the Watford defence for once.

The outcome was inevitable. A flick with the outside of Vardy’s right boot lifted Rodgers and his coaching staff out of their seats in celebration.

Rodgers said: “Jamie’s a player I’ve always loved. He’s a born goalscorer and he’s perfect for how I work. The intensity with which he presses the game and his running ability.

“He showed what he’s great at with the goal, his speed and a wonderful finish. It’s just about getting players in and around him a bit more, so that he’s not isolated.”

Leicester ought to have won it in the final seconds of normal time when Morgan headed the ball wide.

Instead, it was Watford who stole the victory. Deeney hooked the ball into space for substitute Gray to sprint on to and slip his shot between Schmeichel’s legs.

Watford manager Javi Gracia said: “Leicester had a new coach, so we didn’t know the way they would play or shape they would choose. We adapted to them playing three at the back better in the first half than the second.”

Vicarage Road in injury time has been a cruel ground for previous Leicester managers, most notably in a Championship play-off semi-final defeat in 2013, when Watford stole victory moments after Leicester missed a penalty, Rodgers will hope the bad omens end there. (© Daily Telegraph, London)