Leicester City defender Kranthove on trial with Sunderland

January 28, 2020 by 1 Comment

By Luke Pawley

Leicester City defender Justen Kranthove is on trial with Sunderland, after a number of young players were told they were free to look for another club.

The 19-year-old Dutchman played 60 minutes as Sunderland Under-23s lost 3-2 to Wigan Athletic Under-23s in the Premier League Cup.

Kranthove, who joined Leicester from Dutch amateur side AFC ’34 in July 2018, conceded a penalty and scored a goal in his debut outing as a Sunderland triallist.

“A mixed night for the triallist,” wrote the Sunderland Echo in their player ratings article following last night’s match.

“Was having a decent game until he conceded a penalty. Made an impact at the other end too after scoring Sunderland’s second goal. Subbed around the hour mark. 6/10.”

The Foxes’ youth ranks are strong in central defensive areas, meaning Kranthove has struggled for game time this season due to the form of players such as Darnell Johnson, Calvin Ughelumba and Darragh O’Connor.

Kranthove was a regular for Leicester City’s Under-18 side last season and put in a number of impressive displays, but struggled to make the step up and earn a place in the Under-23 squad.

A source close to Leicester City has confirmed that Kranthove is one of ‘a handful’ of young players who have been told that they are free to look for another club.

Under-18s defender Camron Gbadebo was another of the players in question, and following a trial at Watford earlier this season, the 17-year-old recently announced that he had signed for Manchester City.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old defender Lukáš Hušek and striker Raúl Uche, 22, have both left the club on a permanent basis, joining Sparta Prague and Real Valladolid respectively.

Filed Under: Football, Second Year, Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Celtic fan’s view on Brendan Rodgers’ leaving to join Leicester City: ‘They have bagged themselves a great coach’

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

By Samuel Gill

A die-hard Celtic fan who lives and works in Leicester is gutted at the departure of manager Brendan Rodgers but believes the Foxes have made a shrewd appointment.

Bernard Chan [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Brendan Rodgers (PIC: Bernard Chan [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Rodgers was announced as the new manager of Leicester City yesterday (TUESFEB26), leaving Celtic after two and a half years.

Celtic supporter Chris Johnston said: “I’m absolutely gutted, he’s done great things. He’s fantastic.”

Chris meets frequently with other Celtic supporters to watch televised matches at Duffy’s in Leicester and said that some may see Rodgers as a traitor but for him that is not the case.

“A lot of supporters feel like he’s a traitor, I don’t think that personally but it does leave a bad taste when the treble-treble was still on,” said Chris.

Despite being disappointed, he admitted that Rodgers couldn’t compete on the limited budget that the Scottish champions had.

“Leicester have bagged themselves a great coach and the fact is that Rodgers can’t compete at the highest level with the limited budget Celtic have.”

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Leicester City Women star relishing competition for places this season

November 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment

By Conor de Smith

Leicester City Women star Rosie Axten has been relishing the competition that two summer signings have brought to the squad.

City Women added striker Melissa Johnson and Freda Ayisi to their talented attacking arsenal in the summer transfer window after promotion to the FA Women’s Championship.

The former Sheffield FC Ladies and Arsenal Women forwards arrived on one-year deals and have been determined to claim a starting spot under manager Jonathan Morgan.

The Foxes were already blessed with an attacking line-up comprising of Axten and England youth international Sophie Domingo while Leigh Dugmore operated slightly deeper in a 2017/18 campaign that resulted in 69 goals for the trio.

Axten has welcomed the competition her new teammates have brought to the squad and believes the team will benefit from it further as the season progresses.

“Melissa [Johnson] and Freda [Ayisi] have been brilliant since they have come in and added some quality to the team,” she said.

“We all work well together and I think the competition has made each of the forwards improve.”

Axten had retained her place in the starting XI with Morgan opting to play the 21-year-old alongside his two summer recruits in the league this term.

The Englishwoman has scored four times and has contributed two assists in just eight starts across all competitions to help her side go into the international break in fourth position.

Axten, Women’s National League North top scorer last season, has been irreplaceable of late and three goals in two matches during October has earned her a nomination for the Player of the Month award.

Only three players – Rianna Dean, Jessica Sigsworth and Elizabeta Ejupi – have scored more goals than Axten in the league with the striker having adapted to the second division with ease.

“The nomination meant a lot to me at this level. It has been a big step up for me personally so I’m happy I can still contribute to the team.

“If my goals mean that we can climb the table and end the season in a high position then I’ll continue to score.”

Leicester City Women face a trip to Durham Women next Sunday afternoon and will be looking to return to winning ways following a narrow defeat at home to Sheffield United Women last week.

Filed Under: Football, Sports, Third Year Tagged With: , , , ,

Member of DMU staff wins FA prize

November 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment

By Conor de Smith.

De Montfort University’s Grace Morgan has been named as one of the winners of the #JoinOurSquad initiative.

GirlsFootball

Morgan, a former Journalism student who is now a Graduate Sports Development Assistant at DMU, has won 10 tickets to the SSE Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley in May.

The winners were personally chosen by Manchester City forward Nikita Parris and Twice the Health as part of the FA Girls’ Football Week.

Participants were encouraged to share their experiences by sharing a ‘squad selfie’ using #JoinOurSquad to stand a chance of winning prizes.

That is exactly what Grace Morgan, 23, opted to do and it ultimately paid dividends for the Leicester City Women player.

“I’m over the moon to win the tickets and I’m so excited for the cup final,” she said. “It will be the first time I’ve been and it’s a great opportunity for the girls to see a professional game live too.

“I never in a million years thought I would win. There were so many amazing events held all over the country throughout the week at different institutions, the week was a total success.”

A number of activities took place at universities and colleges across the country. De Montfort had five days of events including a campus crossbar challenge, free five-a-side games and a Soccercise class and UV football.

The event took place from 6-12 November and is a national campaign that aims to encourage girls to take part in football.

Grace added: “I think it’s fantastic to have these weeks because it offers girls the opportunity to join events for beginners and not feel intimidated, they really can come along and give it a go without any obligations to sign up.”

Students looking to get involved with women’s football should follow @DMUWFC on either Twitter or Facebook.

Filed Under: DMU News, Football, Latest, News, Second Year Tagged With: , , ,

City Broadcaster talks everything Puel

November 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment

By Kiran Bedder

A City broadcaster has urged Foxes fans to cut newly appointed football team boss Claude Puel some slack after initial groans of disappointment greeted the Frenchman’s arrival.

Puel took charge exactly a week ago and guided the Blues to a well-earned 2-0 victory against struggling Everton on Sunday.

Mike McCarthy, match day broadcaster for BBC Leicester, says he understands why the former Lille and Southampton boss has garnered mixed views from City fans.

Speaking to Leicestershire Press he said: “Football is all about what you’ve done lately, and looking at the way things ended at Southampton you could think well, maybe that wasn’t the best, but maybe that’s not the reason why Leicester should go for him.”

Puel did manage to get the Saints to Wembley last season in the EFL Cup and also boasts a great record within Europe.

“His record in Europe is pretty good as well,” added Mike. “He’s only ever been knocked out of the Champions League by the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona and the top teams he’s come up against.”

Puel stepped into the shoes of former manager Craig Shakespeare who was sacked on October 17th.

McCarthy said Shakespeare’s dismissal came as a little bit of a surprise.

“I spoke to him after the West Bromwich Albion game and he didn’t seem like there was pressure coming from above in terms of his position. He didn’t seem like a man who was worried.”

Only time will tell whether Puel can win over the hearts of Leicester’s expectant fans.

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