What a weekend it was last week! On Sunday Leicester City kindly put on an event for box holders and fans which allowed them the chance to play at the King Power stadium. Ali Mauchlan and myself were managers alongside Matt Elliott and Ian Marshall and everyone involved had a tremendous day!  I managed to get in a fair bit of action, but unfortunately we lost our match against the box holders. I only managed 15 minutes in the second game before I had to hobble off, it’s safe to say I was feeling a bit sore on Monday! For the box holders game I gave Man of the Match to Nicholas Humphrey of Nicholas Humphreys Estate Agents, so well done to him. He scored two great goals and it’s safe to say his celebration was worthy of a yellow card! I must give a big hand to everyone at the club for putting on the event though, it’s a great way to get the fans involved and feel a part of things.

 

Photo credit Neil Plumb Photography

As the games ended on Sunday we managed to pile into the bar to watch the end of the Premier League season unfold. I’d tipped Manchester City to win the league all along, even when they fell 8 points behind and what a fantastic achievement it’s been! To win it in such dramatic fashion just makes it even better, especially for the neutral spectator. The late winner was certainly a slap in the face of Manchester United fans though, none more so than my mate Kieron Hickey! Kieron actually text me with 5 minutes left to go saying “I told you Man U would win the title”, needless to say I rung him when Manchester City equalised telling him to watch out. I’ve kept the text on my phone to remind him not to get ahead of himself!

 

The last minute nature of the result certainly brought back some memories for me. In the Martin O’Neill era we were always fighting to the death in games and the fans always had hope that we could snatch a result even when coming from behind. Looking back I’d say the 3-3 match with Arsenal at Filbert Street remains the most dramatic match I’ve been a part of and is one that I’ll never forget. That one went down to the 96th minute (according to Arsene Wenger) and they don’t come much more last minute than that! The other one that sticks in my mind is the 2-2 match with Fulham where we equalised in the dying minutes. To come back from behind we showed fighting spirit and determination, which is something I hope that Nigel can bring back into the squad next season!

 

Unfortunately there’ll always be some issues that threaten to overshadow success and I have to say how disappointed I’ve been with the behaviour of Carlos Tevez in recent months. This season, from his refusal to come off the bench to the “R.I.P.” gesture to Alex Ferguson on the bus celebration, he has shown great disrespect to the English game. To me he isn’t the type of player that I want to see playing over here, which is a great shame given how talented he is. In that regard, we also have to look to Joey Barton who again got himself embroiled in trouble last weekend. Rumours are that he’ll be facing an 11 match ban – I’ve had one of those and it isn’t very pleasant! However, the important thing is that Mancini has had a fantastic season, what a great achievement and let’s not let the actions of few overshadow that!

 

Leicester City have also been busy making their first signings of the summer, bringing in Matty James and Ritchie De Laet from Manchester United. It’s great to see some young players with pace coming in. The club have a fantastic scouting system in place and it’s good that they’ve got the ball rolling so soon after the end of the season. I’m itching for the new season, as I’m sure you all are too, so it’s good news that preparations are already well under way! I’ve always been a firm believer in Pearson and I’m excited to see what his next move will be in the transfer market!

 

On a more personal note away from football I wanted to offer my congratulations to Tom Meighan of Kasabian who has just become a father. Mimi Malone was born weighing 8lb 6oz and I wish them all the happiness! Let’s see if we have another little rock star in our hands!
Finally, I’ve got some very exciting news about a new event that we’re organising later in the year. I’m delighted to announce that we’ll be hosting an evening with Mike Tyson on 14th October at the Colosseum in Leicester. This is set to be a fantastic and lively evening with a true sporting legend. Tables are already selling quickly so make sure you get in contact for further booking info. For table booking info you can email HERE.

Places are also still available for our 5-a-side football tournament at the end of July and the charity golf day on 29th June.

Oh, one last thing before we go… Congratulations to Warwick Kay who has won last week’s competition for a signed print! This will be winging its way to you soon.

Look out for more competitions in the coming weeks!