With just forty minutes to go until midnight, the
transfer window misted as Sven Goran Eriksson breathed a sigh of relief.
Walking through the doors of the King Power Stadium to put pen to paper on a
four year deal was Jermaine Beckford. Eriksson had his striker.
To convince Beckford that he was the long-coveted
cherry on the cake would be no easy task; the reality was that he was the Fifth
Amendment to Eriksson’s recipe for success. Shane Long, Jason Roberts, Nikita
Jelavic, Yakubu and Nicky Maynard, subject of a mad nine-million pound bid at
one point, had all been pursued. Advances spurned, Sven Goran Eriksson’s list
of failed overtures had never been so long.
Arriving on a four-year deal from Everton, with
eight Premier League goals to his name, Leicester City fans were hoping that
Beckford was the man to fire them back into the big time after seven long years
away.
Fast forward a year and things have changed.
Leicester’s leave of absence is eight years. And Beckford looks to be on the
move again.
Nigel Pearson is now the man holding the keys to
the King Power Stadium and, for Pearson, Beckford’s face doesn’t fit. With just
minutes to elapse before the summer transfer window crashed shut, Pearson
pulled the plug on a loan move to Huddersfield.
Beckford wasn’t being thrown out with the bath water. Not yet at least.
But the fact remains that Pearson had shown his
willingness for a parting of the ways. Had Pearson found a lone replacement, with
it would have likely come with his rubber stamp. Should he find a loan
replacement, with that will come his seal of approval for Beckford’s
re-unification with Simon Grayson in West Yorkshire.
For Beckford, at Leicester it simply hasn’t worked
out. A meagre nine league goals in a year are scant consolation for the hefty
price Eriksson paid for the cherry on that cake. And that the cake went stale
leaves a bitter taste for many Foxes fans. The squad that Eriksson left behind
synonymous with the offerings of its football; unfulfilling, bloated and
imbalanced.
Jermaine Beckford typified everything that was
wrong with Eriksson’s dynasty; overpaid yet underperforming.
After waiting over a month for his first goal, Leicester
fans were shot an icy-cold stare for lauding the managerial decision to end an
abject individual performance devoid of any effort, commitment or class, ten
minutes after half time at Upton Park last October. In a league match away at
Reading he was so ineffective that he didn’t even last that long, removed at
the break. And as any hopes of a promotion push ebbed away at London Road
against Peterborough, Beckford refused to advance further than the halfway line
for an attacking free kick in the dying stages of a game in which Leicester
were losing.
The attitude reeked.
In the time that has passed since then, Pearson
has been a Leicester fat-fighter. And they are steadfast losing the pounds -
Bamba, Peltier and Mills, with their lucrative contracts, have been trimmed
from the squad. Weighing in with a wage that dwarfs his return, Beckford has to
be next.
Richie De Laet, Anthony Knockaert, Matt James and
Marco Futacs. These are the children of the revolution. In place of an idle
Beckford, Nugent and Vardy prosper. More industrious, more willing and more potent.
The scent now is a breath of fresh air. And in just five games Jamie Vardy, a
striker cast to the periphery of professional football only to rise again, has
shown himself superior to Beckford in a multitude of ways.
Where Beckford lacks a first touch, Vardy looks
neat. Where Beckford is dominated in aerial battles, Vardy shows a spring in his
step so often found in the free walk of the absolved. Where Beckford cannot
pass, Vardy is selfless. And finally, where Beckford shoots, Vardy scores.
Beckford’s star is fading fast. Having had his
time in the spotlight, shining brightest now are the glaring limitations that
once saw him fall to non-league too. At Goodison Park, Everton manager David
Moyes is a shrewd operator. He took a punt on Beckford on a free transfer,
cashed in his chips after eight Premiership goals. Moyes’ decision testament
enough that Beckford lacked the substance to remain at such a level.
And it is a level that Leicester long to get back
to. With one eye on getting there Pearson has built a youthful, exuberant,
dynamic side. Perhaps lacking the know-how at this moment in time, but
certainly not the flair and fluidity – a style which has seen them dominate
games this season, even if coming away pointless at times.
Leading by example, in casting aside a profligate
Jermaine Beckford, Pearson is showing a ruthlessness which, given time, his
young squad will develop. At Huddersfield, in a less pressured environment, and
back under the tutelage of Simon Grayson, Beckford may well prosper as he did
at a lower level with Leeds. But Leicester City don’t have the time to wait for
him to come good, particularly when thus far he has been at best half-baked.
So with a slice of fortune, a loan deal which
collapsed at the eleventh hour could well be resurrected this week by the twelfth. When it comes to Jermaine Beckford and Leicester City; as they say, you cannot have your cake and eat
it too.
At the King Power Stadium, Leicester have
found that promotion rhythm - yet from the click of a distressed damsel’s red
heels it is not. Instead the tap of summer signing Antony Knockaert’s red boots
dictates the beat to which Leicester now play.
In achieving back-to-back wins Pearson’s men
have accomplished something which for too long was both the bugbear and the epitome
of their inconsistency last season. Now the aim will be to secure that first
away point. If a further two could come at the same time in the form of victory,
then Leicester will be gearing up to promotion pace.
At the King Power Stadium, Leicester have
found that promotion rhythm - yet from the click of a distressed damsel’s red
heels it is not. Instead the tap of summer signing Antony Knockaert’s red boots
dictates the beat to which Leicester now play.
In achieving back-to-back wins Pearson’s men
have accomplished something which for too long was both the bugbear and the epitome
of their inconsistency last season. Now the aim will be to secure that first
away point. If a further two could come at the same time in the form of victory,
then Leicester will be gearing up to promotion pace. 
