Leicester City’s recruitment “mistakes” are making their battle for Premier League survival more difficult, club icon Gary Lineker has said.
A win and a draw from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first two games mean City are now five points clear of the bottom three. But Lineker is not getting ahead of himself, the Match of the Day presenter saying he does not feel the Dutchman has a great squad to work with. He added, without elaborating, that “a lot of people at the club are worried about things at the top”.
But he retains hope of the club being in the Premier League next season because of the leaders van Nistelrooy has to call upon, most notably Jamie Vardy, who scored one and set up the other in City’s comeback draw against Brighton on Sunday. The City skipper now has six goals for the campaign, double the amount he scored in the whole of the relegation season.
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Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “I’ve got to mention a little fightback from the mighty Foxes, who were trailing 2-0. Our man Vardy gets another goal, his sixth of the season, and then it’s a brilliant assist at the end for (Bobby) De Cordova-Reid to get a great point.
“Good start (for van Nistelrooy). Five points clear of relegation. I’m nervous. Like all fans of teams down there, if I express any degree of confidence here, all of a sudden two games later your head is in your hands.
“I think it’s difficult. I don’t think we’ve got a great squad at the moment. I don’t think the club has been run brilliantly in the past few years, particularly in terms of recruitment. They’ve made a lot of mistakes. A lot of people at the club are worried about things at the top.
“But there’s a togetherness there. I think you can see that. They’re fighting, they’re trying. When you’ve got leaders like Vardy and even Conor Coady who has come back in at the back, there are some good pros, I’m hopeful.”
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