Pardew: Baggies lost their belief and spirit
Time is almost up on West Brom’s eight-year stay in the Premier League as a sixth consecutive loss pushed them ever closer to relegation.
Manager Alan Pardew could only watch on helplessly as he suffered another miserable day during his short spell at The Hawthorns.
Having been chosen as the man to replace Tony Pulis in November, things have backfired spectacularly.
Pardew’s team have gathered only eight points out of a possible 48, are seven points adrift at the bottom with only eight games remaining and are heading for the Championship – barring the greatest of great escapes.
The Baggies boss does not know if he will still be in charge for their next game at Bournemouth, but what most upset him here was the way in which his players accepted their fate at 2-1 down and capitulated to a heavy defeat.
“The first two Leicester goals were outstanding but from that moment, we lost our belief, shape and spirit,” Pardew moaned.
“I’ve only experienced that once before and I made it clear to the players that it was unacceptable.
“I won’t lay down tools. I’m a fighter and I will fight to the end. In any workplace, you have to keep fighting. If you’re not going to do that, then don’t bother turning up.
“I won’t accept that and I can’t take that going forward.
“I want what is best for West Brom. I will have to sleep on this but then I’ll start planning for next week, but upstairs might decide that it’s time for a change.”
Yet things had been so different when West Brom went in front inside the first 10 minutes.
Oliver Burke got down the line to deliver an excellent first-time cross into the middle where Salomon Rondon got there of Wes Morgan to steer his finish beyond Kasper Schmeichel.
And it needed a fantastic save from Schmeichel to stop West Brom from doubling their lead as he got a vital touch onto a deflected volley from Grzegorz Krychowiak to push it onto the bar.
But Leicester were level thanks to a moment of high quality from their two star men.
Riyad Mahrez found space in midfield and had time to spot Jamie Vardy making one of his customary runs in behind.
The ball was perfect and so was the finish as Vardy watched it over his shoulder before hitting a crisp left-foot
volley past Ben Foster without checking his stride, as he scored at The Hawthorns for the fourth successive season.
Vardy thought he had put the Foxes ahead before half-time but he was ruled offside. However, the momentum had shifted and there was no surprise when the Foxes went in front just past the hour.
Kelechi Iheanacho had only just come on as a substitute but his first involvement was to pick out a clever pass for Mahrez, who was able to dab a finish beyond Foster.
Belief drained from both the players and fans and Iheanacho put the seal on this game, and almost certainly Albion’s Premier League status, when he was left unmarked to head home Ben Chilwell’s cross.
There was also time for Vicente Iborra to rub further salt into the wounds when he headed home a fourth in injury time and compound Pardew’s misery.
It was a first league win for Leicester since mid-January and the ideal warm-up for their big FA Cup quarter-final next Sunday at home to Chelsea.
“It’s a good feeling for us,” said Foxes manager Claude Puel. “We had more movement and calm in our game after half-time and we found the killer edge.”