Smith: It Wasn’t Good Enough
- Leicester City have been relegated from the Premier League
- Manager Dean Smith has spoken to LCFC TV after the 2-1 win over West Ham
- That result was not enough to prevent the Foxes' return to Sky Bet Championship
The Foxes' nine-year spell in the Premier League came to a close on Sunday despite a 2-1 win over West Ham United at King Power Stadium. Leicester were two points adrift of Everton, in 17th, who beat 1-0 AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park.
Smith, who took over with eight games to play, spoke to LCFC TV after confirmation that City will play in the Sky Bet Championship next season.
"It wasn’t [to be]," he said. "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.
City Beat West Ham But Still Down
The key moments from Leicester City's 2-1 win over West Ham, which wasn't enough to prevent Premier League relegation.
"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."
Goals from Harvey Barnes and Wout Faes helped City do their part on Sunday, but it wasn't enough. They lost 22 games in 2022/23 - so relegation was not an unlikely prospect. They finish 18th in the table.
Smith: It Wasn't To Be
Manager Dean Smith reflects on Leicester City's 2-1 win over West Ham - not enough to prevent 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."