Leicester City manager Dean Smith has expressed regrets over the Foxes’ relegation from the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
The 2022/23 season came to an interesting end on 28 May and will see Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton replaced by Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United in the 2023/24 season.
It was especially damning for Leicester, who suffered their 12th top flight relegation in history to tie for the most relegations in the history of English football. The Foxes getting relegated also means that they are only the fourth team in top flight history to get promoted, win the title, and get relegated in a space of 10 seasons.
It is a season with lots of negatives for the side and Smith, who was brought in to save the season, has expressed regrets over not being able to do so.
The former Aston Villa and Norwich manager brought a little stability back to the side and even won their last match. It was not enough, however, as Everton, with whom they battled for the last safe spot, would win their own tie.
Of the events that transpired on Sunday 28 May 2023, Smith would say: “It wasn’t [to be]. Personally, I feel I haven’t done my bit in terms of keeping the Club in the league. That was my remit, to come here for seven weeks, eight games. I felt that 11 points was needed and it turns out that is what was needed.
“Unfortunately, our luck in the Leeds game away and the Everton game here, we’ve left two points out there.
“I’ve just thanked [the players] for what they’ve given me over the last seven weeks, myself, JT (John Terry) and Shakey (Craig Shakespeare). They’ve worked extremely hard and had a great attitude. There was a lot of building that needed to be done, I felt.
“They were very low when we came in. Confidence and belief was low. I felt we turned that around, but just not quick enough unfortunately.”
Smith would find time to praise his team’s performance against UEFA European Conference League finalists West Ham United in his post match comments.
A brilliantly worked goal between Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho was followed by a Wout Faes goal before Pablo Fornals pulled one back for the Hammers. Smith called it one of their best performances in the eight games he managed until relegation.
“I thought the guys were good today,” Smith added. “They dealt with the pressure of the situation. They dealt with the game. I thought it was one of our best performances. I thought we controlled the game for long periods. I thought, after we went 2-0 up, we probably dropped off it a little bit, just trying to see out the win, rather than continuing what we were doing.
“That’s understandable, but we did what we had to do. We won the game but ultimately it wasn’t good enough.
“I wanted to make sure we did our job and won the football game. That was the most important thing. Anything could have happened in the final minutes of the other games. Ultimately it wasn’t in our own hands today and that’s why we are relegated from the Premier League.”
