Socceroos World Cup hero Harry Souttar has FALLED for the first time since $26M move to Leicester City… with the Foxes seeking ‘freshness’
- The Foxes have dropped Southtar
- The star of Socceroos joined this year
- Club said they wanted “freshness.”
Harry Souttar was first dropped by Leicester City as his club, managerless and increasingly desperate, plunged even deeper into the Premier League’s relegation sludge.
The Foxes’ agents Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell, in their first and possibly last team selection following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers, surprised the big Socceroo defender, who had been ubiquitous since arriving from Stoke at the end of January, on the water. to make. transfer window for $26 million.
A Rodgers favourite, Souttar had to watch a dismal 90 minutes from the Foxes on Saturday as they lost a relegation six-pointer 1-0 at home to fellow contenders Bournemouth.
The loss leaves them one from the bottom with just 25 points, two points ahead of basement club Southampton but two behind Nottingham Forest and Everton, who are in 18th, who are 17th. Bournemouth finished 15th with 30 points.
The interim management team believed they had dropped Souttar to the bench for the first time in nine successive starts due to his recent travel schedule, having returned to Australia for the recent internationals against Ecuador where he suffered an ankle injury.
Socceroos World Cup hero Harry Souttar (left) has been axed for the first time since his $26 million EPL move to Leicester City (right)
“This was our third game in seven days and I felt the team needed some freshness in certain positions,” said Sadler.
“In Harry’s case, I know he’s had a busy schedule lately. He had an international break a few weeks ago and this would have been his third game in a week so it was purely to bring some freshness to the team and hope that’s what we needed to influence the performance .’
Unfortunately for Leicester, the ‘freshness’ never materialised, they could only deliver a performance so dismal they ended up being laughed at.
England midfielder James Maddison was guilty of presenting the Cherries as the only goal of the game by playing a careless blind back pass that was pecked by Philip Billing, who gleefully fired on goal five minutes before half-time.
Souttar was spared from the whistles aimed at the team on the field towards the end, with chants of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ echoing through the King Power Stadium.
Leicester, now without a win in eight league games, are expected to move soon to appoint a new manager, with widespread reports that American Jesse Marsch, sacked by Leeds United in February, is in advanced talks about taking over the reins.
Souttar, pictured during Leicester City’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on April 1, was dropped as the Foxes looked for more ‘freshness’
Asked about this, Sadler said: ‘I’m not going to speculate about possible new managers.
“As it stands now, it’s up to Mike and me to prepare this team as best we can. Whatever the club decides to do in the future, it is absolutely their prerogative.’
Sadler, who has now overseen two losses since Rodgers was dumped last weekend, felt he couldn’t complain about the fans’ reaction to the loss.
“At the end of the game they made their feelings known, we have to accept that,” he said.
“We haven’t been able to put on a performance they can be happy with and I think that’s a fair point.”
Leicester have collected just eight points since Christmas, their worst total in the league, and despite Rodgers’ admiration for Souttar, the Scottish-born Australia international has failed to bolster a defense that has leaked at least one goal in each of the last 15 games. .