Nine players expose transfer misfire as two reasons emerge for problem pattern

CommentsSportopinionJordan Blackwell14:27, 08 Mar 2026A point away at third in the league is a good result for any side, never mind a Leicester City team that’s now on their longest winless run outside the Premier League in 19 years.

If in which they were a clear second best, are relegated, nobody will reflect on the events at Portman Road and deem the failure to win as a big moment in their demise.

However, there were aspects of the performance that will cause concern ahead of matches where draws won’t be good enough.

A solid first half in which City restricted Ipswich and created a couple of openings themselves, including for Patson Daka’s goal, was followed up by a second period in which they were a clear second best.

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Ipswich had 13 shots to City’s two after the break. Nine of the Tractor Boys’ attempts came from inside the penalty area. City’s two came from an average distance of about 40 yards out, given one was Abdul Fatawu attempting to score from his own half again.

Ipswich should have had a penalty in added time too, with Hamza Choudhury tripping Cedric Kipre in the box.

The second half followed a pattern seen in many City matches this season. When they have a half-time advantage, they too often look uncomfortable in trying to see it out, letting the opposition dominate.

Of the 13 matches they’ve led at the break, they’ve now failed to win seven, the most in the division. They’ve lost 13 points through goals conceded in the final 15 minutes of matches, the most in the division, albeit they have won 10 points late on in matches they've been chasing.

It’s not that they’re a bad second-half team. In a table of just the second 45 minutes, they would be 15th. Their problem is specifically when they have the lead.

It’s not as if Ipswich are especially strong from that position either. In their six other matches they’d been losing at half-time, they’d only claimed one point. They nearly had all three here.

Fran Vieites and Jeremy Monga were both injured. City have gone so long without a victory that, when the prospect of claiming one is within touching distance, there’s an anxiety that sees them forget to push out from their own defensive third and forget how to keep the ball.

But it’s been a problem all season, even in periods where the wait for a win wasn’t so long. There’s only been two matches all campaign, against Birmingham in August and Swansea in October, where City have won both halves.

Whether it’s nerves or something else, Rowett has to find a solution, and quickly. While City claimed a point at Ipswich, the way the second half panned out does not feel sustainable for picking up enough points. If they take the lead against Bristol City, QPR or any of their next few opponents, they need a better plan for seeing out the win.

One other potential explanation is fitness, or a lack of it. Are City losing their way in the second period simply because they can’t match the opponents’ energy?

As mentioned, it’s not that their second-half record on the whole is especially poor. When they’ve been behind in games, they’ve often shown a spurt of energy in the second period, as at Stoke in Rowett’s debut.

But maybe fitness is a problem in matches where City don’t have much of the ball. They had 36 per cent possession at Portman Road, so spent a long time chasing it. That’s far more tiring than when they're in control of the game.

While he’s not outright said City lack fitness, Rowett has dropped a few suggestions that they do.

He pointed to fatigue as a potential explanation for the disappointing showing against Norwich. He’s also suggested this is a team where the same line-up can’t play three games in a week.

That gives Rowett a problem. He seems like a manager who would prefer a consistent line-up, giving City a structure that’s more likely to lead to clean sheets.

But he can’t do that if players are flagging. More changes need to be made to keep things fresh. City have enough capable players that relying solely on 11 individuals is not sensible.

That means using more of the players that City have brought into the squad this season. It is not a good look that none of the nine signings this campaign were in the 11 on Saturday.

There are caveats, of course. Jordan James and Divine Mukasa would probably be in City’s best line-up, and it seems Rowett may be saving them for a big home game on Tuesday, while Asmir Begovic and Click HERE to have your say.

But City have already sent back Julian Carranza, the risk taken with Aaron Ramsey has not paid off with the midfielder struggling to stay fit, and that may be true of Jamaal Lascelles too, who similarly arrived at the club after an ACL tear last term.

Joe Aribo has not been deemed good enough to start by Rowett, while Dujuan Richards was only deemed good enough for the bench because Jeremy Monga was injured.

Making nine signings in a season and yet still relying on previous arrivals and academy graduates does not reflect well on City as an organisation.

It doesn’t look good for the recruitment department, that the players they’re identifying to improve the team are not able to do so. It doesn’t reflect well on those high up the hierarchy, that a manager has been appointed and sees fit not to utilise players signed just a couple of weeks earlier.

It falls under the remit of new sporting director James McCarron to fix that. Not every signing is going to be a hit, but City are never going to become an upwardly mobile team if the manager deems the new recruits only good enough to be substitutes.

This is Rowett’s eighth managerial spell and only the second, after Stoke, in which he’s failed to win any of his first four games.

A rate of 0.75 points per match is not going to keep City up, but the opening quartet of fixtures have been difficult. Three points, in the circumstances, is not a dreadful tally.

But have there been improvements under the new manager yet? The second half against Stoke, including the late flurry of chances for a winner, and the competent showing at Middlesbrough suggested there were, but the optimism has perhaps decreased a little over the past two games.

What has been pleasing has been the defenders’ positioning, and that perhaps points to Rowett’s ability to organise a defence.

A lot of the talk this season has been about fight, and defenders needing to put their bodies on the line. But it can look like they’re showing more commitment when they’re in the right place.

There were certainly a few moments towards the end of Saturday’s match where City’s defenders ensured Jakub Stolarczyk did not need to make a save because they read the game well enough and put themselves in the right spot to block the shots.

Luke Thomas in particular had a strong outing, coupling good defensive work in the form of headed clearances and aggressive pressing with a fine assist.

City’s run without a clean sheet has stretched to 30 matches, the first team in English football to reach that milestone since Wolves 14 years ago, but it does feel like they’re getting closer to it.

They do need to concede fewer chances if they want to win games, but it does now seem that fewer shots from the opposition will end up in the net simply because the defenders know where to be to make blocks.

This is where City have to profit. They’ve come through games against three of the form teams in the division and now have about as good a run of fixtures as any side will have.

Over their next six games, they face five sides sat between ninth and 16th, plus already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday. Four of the games are at home.

There’s no real mid-table in the Championship as it feels like most sides are either in the play-off race or relegation battle until the final month of the campaign, but the teams City now face do feel distinctively like they will end up in the middle of the standings.

They’re not only sat in mid-table now, but their form is stumbling. Aside from Swansea all of City’s next half-dozen opponents are in the bottom eight for form over the past eight matches.

Their seasons are petering out just as City need to ramp theirs up. Rowett and his players have been handed the ideal opportunity to lift themselves out of trouble. There are no excuses if they don’t take it.

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