Milan, is a Leicester Fan!

Since the arrival of Milan Mandaric in 2006 Leicester City have certainly had their ups and downs. Who can forget his three year promise to get the club out of the Championship? What he failed to mention though, was that they would be going down instead of up!

There has of course been all the problems with managers as well since his arrival, having had five official managers serve under him and the numerous temporary managers. Then there is the money that some fans would suggest he wasted on signings such as striker DJ Campbell, who in his first season cost the club £800,000 a goal.

It has not been the smoothest ride under Mandaric but now things are finally starting to look up for him and the club as they find some consistency. City now also have a stable manager under Nigel Pearson, and also a manager that is not going to fall out with the chairman.

Mandaric has stayed faithful to the club throughout the good and the bad, as have the fans, and this has not gone unnoticed with the chairman. He said: "I can't thanks the fans enough. Of course I know how loyal Leicester fans are, but the atmosphere on Saturday was great again and they played a huge part in helping the team to that very convincing win."

If Leicester are to ever get back in to the Premiership then the only way to stay up there is with a good financial backing, as teams like Sunderland have shown. The Foxes fans will hope that if that day does come, then Mandaric will be with them every step of the way.

Cardiff Preview

When Cardiff fans here that Leicester are coming to town there is usually a real buzz around the capital, however that is because it usually means that two of the greatest rugby teams in Europe will be playing one another.

This Saturday though Leicester City will be travelling to face Cardiff in a bid to maintain their promotion push as the crucial Christmas period approaches. Leicester will still be without suspended striker Martyn Waghorn, who this week even helped out in the ticket-office with his time off.

City fans may be thinking this would be a particularly bad time to play Cardiff as they have won their last three league matches. However Cardiff did lose three in a row before that, so if they carry on their lose three win three mentality the points will be Leicester's this Saturday.

One of the biggest threats Cardiff boast is there strike force and midfield, as they currently have two of the most prolific attackers in the league. They are Peter Whittingham and Michael Chopra who already have 23 league goals between them. Leicester striker Matty Fryatt currently has 10 goals, but after that their second top scorer is the suspended Waghorn with five.

The last two times Leicester played Cardiff were during their infamous relegation season where they drew 0-0 at home and beat them 1-0 away, thanks to a Darren Purse own goal. That season Cardiff finished 10 places above the foxes but now only two places separate them, and a win for Leicester would see them jump Cardiff in the table.

Leicester have one of the best away records in the league despite that thumping at Forest, having only lost twice all season. Cardiff have a strong home record as well though having only lost three. So the travelling fans will have to hope that the two sides do not cancel one another out this Saturday.

To attend, or not to attend?

Leicester are currently experiencing on average their highest attendance's in the last five seasons. This is on the back of their promotion surge from League One last season, and now the Blue Army are back in force.

The highest attendance this season so far has been against Derby County with 28,875 turning out to one of the most boring matches of all time. The lowest attendance is currently against Bristol City where just under 20,000 spectators turned out, however that was on the back of a thumping away at Nottingham Forest.

Surprisingly the lowest attendances Leicester have experienced in The Walkers stadium were last season during their successful promotion campaign. However the biggest crowd of that season did come on the last home game, where 30,542 fans turned out to see the boys lift the League One trophy.

As good as the support has been this year, it is still nothing when compared to the support given when the ground first opened. In that first season there was an average of just under 30,000 fans turning out for every single home game. Better still, in the 2003/04 season and our last year in the top flight, the average was almost 31,000 every match just 1,500 short of full capacity.

Leicester currently have the fourth highest home attendance in the Championship, which is very good, but we do have the joint fifth biggest stadium in the league as well. The stadium that has exactly the same capacity as The Walkers is the Ricoh Arena, home of Coventry City, which is a carbon copy of The Walkers.

If as many people turn out as they did from 2002-04 then Leicester will have the second highest attendance in the league, only behind Newcastle United. Perhaps that is what the boys will need if they are to ever return back to the dizzy heights or Premierleague football.

We've got our Leicester back!

Third time lucky for The Foxes, as they see off Sheffield Wednesday with ease at the Walkers Stadium.

After conceding eight goals in their last two matches, it was imperative that City kept a clean sheet against The Owls. Not only did they get the clean sheet, but also scoring three goals helped repair some of the recent damage done to their goal difference.

Steve Howard put the home side in front with a towering header off of a Matty Fryatt cross to make the score 1-0, and also gave him his first goal in over 20 hours of football. Andy King then doubled The Blues advantage with a composed finish in to the top corner after a goal-mouth scramble.

Going in to half-time City looked confident again and there was a different vibe around the stadium, with a sense of belief that they could hold out and win. However shortly after half-time Wednesday had their best chance of the match as Sean McAllister came close to pulling one back, only to see Leicester defender Michael Morrison clear it off the line.

Then with just under 20 minutes left on the clock King bagged his second of the match securing all the points on offer, and giving Leicester their first victory of the month.

Everyone involved in the club was delighted for Howard as he got his first goal of the season, but no one more so then Leicester's assistant manager Craig Shakespeare, who said: "All the staff are delighted for Steve Howard, and we hope he can kick on from here."

That victory moves Leicester to fifth in the league and back in the play-offs, with their next match coming up away against fourth place Cardiff City.