‘Casino Deano’ takes a risk and nearly comes up trumps

DEAN SMITH does not strike you as the gambling type but his decision to drop Leicester’s two top scorers for their most important game of the season was the move of a Las Vegas high roller.

With the Foxes’ Premier League status on the line, ‘Casino Deano’ made the biggest call of his seven games in charge. Out went James Maddison and Harvey Barnes as Smith dispensed with finesse and went for the dogged approach. Five at the back, men behind the ball, scrap your lives. Leicester did just that in the first half and while they offered little in attack, at least they showed some of the battling qualities so badly missing of late. Both Maddison and Barnes were on by the hour mark but neither could find an invaluable winner. After the defeats by Fulham and Liverpool, fans chanted ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’. High in the gods at St James’ Park, Leicester supporters at least saw some pride from the players — even though they rode their luck along the way. If Leicester are relegated, Smith will ask himself why he did not take this approach in the Fulham and Liverpool games. But, really, Smith should be nowhere near top of the list when blame is being handed out.

What about this squad of players, good enough to win the FA Cup two years ago? What about director of football Jon Rudkin, who took his eye off the ball so much that seven players are out of contract this summer? What about owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who stuck with Brendan Rodgers even when it was clear his reign had run its course? If Leicester get out of jail from here, it will be through luck rather than judgment. Yet with time almost run out, the players finally seem alive to the predicament. If anything gives Foxes fans cause for hope, it should be that.