The Tottenham midfielder returns to the King Power Stadium for the first time since Leicester City’s relegation when the two teams face off in their season opener on Monday night
The opening fixture back in the Premier League – at home, under the lights, against one of the division’s big boys. You would expect a red-hot atmosphere at the King Power Stadium on Monday night (8pm kick-off).
But while those factors would usually help generate plenty of noise, the excitement levels are just not there among the City fanbase. Off-field issues around ticket prices and shirt sponsorships, the lack of transfer business, the uninspiring pre-season showings, and the potential for a points deduction have come together to create a malaise among supporters. Many are saying they feel a disconnect with the club like never before.
It’s not ideal for the fans, for the squad, for the manager, and for the club. As Steve Cooper showed at Nottingham Forest, a brilliant home atmosphere goes a long way to keeping clubs in the Premier League. Loud support for the players can drive them to victory, or see them hang on for a draw.
However, despite City fans’ grievances, the atmosphere could be saved, and by one man alone. But he will be wearing white rather than blue.
James Maddison was a very good City player for three years and then the star of the team for two. Especially in those final couple of seasons, he produced a handful of world-class performances, scored lots of memorable goals and provided tons of thrills for supporters.
But Maddison’s rise to become the City’s best player coincided with the club’s downfall. Their eighth-placed finish in 2021/22 was not viewed positively, and it was followed by one of the most disastrous relegations in Premier League history, given the club’s relative expenditure.
City’s relegation was one marked by underperformance. And so as the best player in the team, Maddison became the face of that underperformance, and the face of the relegation.
That’s not fair, of course. No single person is responsible for a team’s demise, especially not a player, one who has no say in the decisions at the very top of the club. But Maddison had gripped the spotlight. There was greater focus, and greater scrutiny, on everything he did.
Other players made mistakes, but his remain fresh in the memory. There was the poor back-pass in the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. There was the weak penalty in the 2-2 draw with Everton. Most of all, there was the “we’ll be absolutely fine” tweet, which has come to be a symbol of the club’s blase attitude to the predicament they were in, but one they will now feel the effects of for a number of years.
On Monday, Maddison returns to the King Power Stadium for the first time since the club’s relegation, and the reaction won’t be pretty. For the joy he brought over his five-year spell, he probably deserves a modest round of applause as a thank you. But the relegation and the difficulties it has plunged City into are at the forefront of fans’ minds, and Maddison, as the face of it, will be subject of boos.
That could help City. With the general malaise of supporters, they need a spark. They need a collective cause to get behind. Getting the better of Maddison can be it. Fans won’t want the midfielder to come back to the King Power Stadium and swan off with three points. They will want payback for the situation Maddison played a part in putting them in.
More than being back in the Premier League and getting behind Cooper and his players, it’s the sentiment towards Maddison that will generate an atmosphere. If that’s what it takes to make the King Power Stadium a cauldron, the manager and the players won’t mind.
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