Shakespeare joins elite with Leicester on a roll
JOSE MOURINHO, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Guus Hiddink and now, Craig Shakespeare. The man who has forged a career as an admired but relatively unknown No 2 can take his place alongside members of management’s royalty by winning his first four Premier League games in charge.
Those garlanded names are the only others to achieve the feat. Shakespeare stands alone as the only Englishman.
Since replacing Claudio Ranieri, this understated 53-year-old from Birmingham has propelled Leicester from inside the relegation places to in sight of the top half.
Beating Stoke lifted Leicester to 13th and just three points behind their ninth-placed opponents with a game in hand. Add the Champions League and this is the fifth game in all that Shakepeare’s Leicester have scored at least twice, the very fine goals here coming courtesy of Wilfred Ndidi and a reinvigorated Jamie Vardy.
There were good performances too from Demarai Gray, Shinji Okazaki and Danny Simpson. Riyad Mahrez glimmered but was a little too eager to score himself. The visit of Sunderland on Tuesday offers a chance to effectively confirm safety, while the tie against Atletico Madrid cannot come soon enough.
For now, Shakespeare is content to bask in esteemed company. ‘You have to pinch yourself in terms of the names,’ he said. ‘I’m at a very, very early stage in my management career but to be mentioned in the same breath of them makes me very proud.’
Leicester started brightly, although it looked as if the afternoon might end after 15 minutes for the excellent Gray after a terrible tackle by Ryan Shawcross. Gray had already beaten Joe Allen by the time Shawcross scythed the winger down. After treatment to his shoulder, Gray carried on.
The breakthrough arrived in breathtaking style on 25 minutes. Danny Drinkwater won possession high up and Simpson swept the ball to Ndidi in a central position. With one firm touch the Nigerian gave himself room, with a second he struck a shot that flew into the top corner.
Vardy made the game comfortable straight after half-time. Gray and Mahrez put in more good work and Vardy reacted to Simpson’s cross with much greater anticipation than a napping Glen Johnson. The England striker arrived right on time and connected with a superb volley into the roof of the net.
‘We were a little bit off the pace, probably half a yard short all day long,’ admitted Stoke boss Mark Hughes.