HELIK’S FULL OF BELIEF
JAMES MADDISON admits he is “hurt” that manager Brendan Rodgers has taken the flak for Leicester’s shocking start.
The midfielder says the Foxes’ six consecutive defeats is a “collective” responsibility.
Rodgers was given pelters by a section of Leicester’s travelling support as he walked across the pitch to acknowledge their backing after Heung-min Son’s hat-trick took the game away from City.
“Pressure? It’s a collective, it’s not the manager, we’re the 11 out there,” said Maddison
“It’s painful and it hurts when you see a manager who you have a lot of respect for and you have a brilliant relationship with get so much heat and so much negativity.
“Ultimately we’re the players out there, we have to do the business and we haven’t done it of late. That hurts us.
“People will check the scoreline, see 6-2 and think, ‘Wow,
Leicester got battered again’ — but I don’t think it was the case. We put so much into the game and first half it seemed like the Leicester we know, and a Brendan Rodgers side that we’ve created.
Moments
“Then obviously Son comes on, produces a couple of moments of magic, the game gets stretched and it ends up 6-2, which looks like a ridiculous scoreline and it’s hard to take.”
Rodgers brought in a set piece coach after Leicester’s nightmare defending corners and free-kicks last season, but Spurs’ first two goals were a return to dead-ball shambles.
Defender James Justin admitted: “The forward players are doing more than enough for us to win games and we need to come together as a group and stick together to keep clean sheets.
“This season, apart from the Arsenal game and this one, we’ve been pretty solid from set pieces. We’ve just been undone by a couple today, but both of those goals are preventable.”
MICHAL Helik hopes history can repeat itself for him at Huddersfield.
Helik was at Barnsley two years ago when Valerien Ismael replaced Gerhard Struber and they recovered from a winless league start to reach the Championship play-offs.
The Poland centrehalf believes Huddersfield can also bounce back under Danny Schofield’s eventual successor after he played a starring role in only their second league win.
Turn
Huddersfield reached last season’s play-off final and Helik believes the new manager can help them turn the clock back 12 months.
Helik, 27, who joined the Terriers from Barnsley on deadline day, said: “It’s a tough time for the players when the manager changes.
“I had the same situation when I arrived at Barnsley, Gerhard Struber was there and he left after a few weeks, basically.
“Of course, after Struber left, the new coach Valerien Ismael came and we were performing really good and we got to the playoffs, so I believe we can repeat that with Huddersfield.
“I’m a positive guy and I believe this could be a good thing for us.”
Jordan Rhodes bagged the winner on eight minutes with a clinical finish.
Defeat spelt the end for Cardiff boss Steve Morison, who was sacked yesterday.