SOME people react to pressure by throwing caution to the wind but at Home Park last night, a desperate manager watched his desperate team retreat into their shell and sink deeper into trouble at the foot of the Coca-Cola Championship table.
What would those who find fault with Sven-Göran Eriksson’s record as England head coach of three defeats in 33 competitive matches make of Craig Levein? Leicester City have won only 20 of the 72 games they have played since the former Heart of Midlothian manager arrived at the Walkers Stadium two years ago and the Leicester manager handed the initiative to Plymouth Argyle from the kick-off by opting to play with three central defenders in a match his relegation-threatened team needed to win.
Plymouth took advantage of their extra man in midfield by creating several clear chances before the interval and Rab Douglas, the Leicester goalkeeper, had to be at his best to keep out close-range strikes from Paul Wotton and Nick Chadwick. Douglas was finally beaten soon after the break when Wotton bent a long-range free kick beyond the goalkeeper’s dive.
Levein took off Mark de Vries and Matt Fryatt, replacing the forwards with Elvis Hammond and Iain Hume. However, Romain Larrieu, the Plymouth goalkeeper, remained a spectator and for the travelling Leicester supporters it was too little, too late.
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PLYMOUTH ARGYLE (4-4-2): R Larrieu — A Barness, M Kouo-Doumbe, E Ward, H Aljofree — D Norris, L Nalis, P Wotton, T Capaldi — M Evans, N Chadwick. Substitutes not used: L McCormick, A Buzsaky, L Hodges, C Zebroski, B Djordjic. Booked: Capaldi.
LEICESTER CITY (5-3-2): R Douglas — R Stearman, P McCarthy, P Kisnorbo, N-E Johansson, A Maybury (sub: R Smith, 55min) — S Hughes, J Gudjonsson, J Wesolowski — M de Vries (sub: I Hume, 70), M Fryatt (sub: E Hammond, 70). Substitutes not used: J Hamill, C O’Grady. Booked: Gudjonsson.
Referee: A Woolmer.