Leicester Fan View: Calls for Claude Puel to leave show some have unrealistic expectations for Foxes

Given Leicester City’s start to this Premier League season, being in eighth position, just one point away from seventh, is the best we could have hoped.

Despite this, and some brilliant performances, boos followed a 1-1 draw against Stoke. Some are calling for Claude Puel’s head, making me question exactly what did people want us to achieve this season?

Yes, the weekend’s performance was simply not good enough, but it’s not cost us anything either.

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He’s not perfect, but Claude Puel is giving us the foundations to that next step

Few managers make no mistakes. This season, not even Pep Guardiola has a 100% record, so expecting Puel to nail it every single game is equally unrealistic. On reflection, he’ll look over his team selection from the weekend and look at what else we could have done.

In theory, our attacking players should have good enough, but Jamie Vardy was fed scraps up front. We lost almost every second ball and looked devoid of both ideas and desire for the most part. He didn’t make excuses either, so it’ll be interesting to see the response in the next couple of games.

Puel having already lifted us up to seventh is quite an achievement. It’s a work in progress though. Trying to incorporate some new faces while retaining our identity, as well as working in younger players isn’t necessarily a guarantee for instant success.

What the Frenchman is working towards is quite clear, but the execution has been varied. Injuries have played their part too. While we’re virtually back to full strength, there was a key absentee against Stoke: Shinji Okazaki. The exact ingredient Vardy was crying out for.

To suggest at this stage that perhaps Southampton were right, or that Puel should go, seem far too much of a knee-jerk response. It’s little over a year ago since we severed ties with Claudio Ranieri.

At that point we were in dire trouble at the bottom of the table and completely lacking in any signs of it getting better. Consider where we are now and it doesn’t feel so worrying. Yes, this isn’t a great run, but we are still in eighth. Puel deserves the chance to make amends over the next few games.

The Vicente Iborra and Adrien Silva mystery

To have both Vicente Iborra and Adrien Silva on the bench for ninety minutes, with that kind of performance, is criminal.

In a physical, scrappy sort of game, it was crying out for Iborra. While I mostly support Puel’s selection choices, the decision to keep including Matty James ahead of either of our summer signings is very strange. James is not a bad player, but not at the same level as either Silva or the Spaniard.

It might have calmed Wilfred Ndidi too, who spent much of the game trying to do everything and generally overstretching himself.

With a straight four in midfield, it’s clear that Puel doesn’t favour Iborra in this shape. The decision to disclude Silva may have come down to the size of the Stoke team.

Both players though look like they may be the answer to giving us that extra level and assisting our forward players.

Demarai Gray might have appreciated the additional support, having spent large portions of the game trying to help out and cover left-back.

A point salvaged in lacklustre display

A point salvaged against Stoke is more than we deserved, but I’ll take it. After such a good, positive start, it’s unclear what happened, but we quickly stopped doing anything well.

No player can be singled out, collectively, it all became a little shambolic. Rarely were two passes completed and if they were, the third was either not closed down or wastefully thumped forward.

Expecting Vardy to turn a nothing ball into magic against two towering centre-backs is incredibly unfair.

Our eventual equaliser came from the sheer persistence of Marc Albrighton, determined to make something happen and assisted by a rare moment of horror for Jack Butland. Such a slow, careless performance perhaps shows a little complacency.

While we haven’t been in superb form, we’re still well placed in the table and perhaps expected this to be a little easier than it was. There were moments of brilliance still, Riyad Mahrez committing another triple humiliation in the first half with a brilliant turn on the ball the highlight. Generally though, we were left with very little to cheer.

Leicester’s upcoming fixtures will be interesting. They’re all against teams who desperately need points, or would like to steal our position.

How we deal with them and bouncing back is vital. Several are home games, usually an advantage. Keeping the crowd on side helps with that, and if we start bright again, we have to maintain that intensity.