Wheres the atmosphere?

The game against Crystal Palace on Saturday saw Leicester get their highest attendance at the Walkers Stadium for the last two seasons. 28,762 fans turned up to see a tightly fought game between two teams that were determined not to lose.

The high attendance was due to both promotional offers from the club and Leicester`s recent run of good results. Those fans that had lost patience with Leicester had decided to return for a game that also saw the return of Peter Taylor to the club.

Due to the high attendance some Leicester fans might have been expecting a good atmosphere within the stadium. However, even though it was the highest attendance for a long time, there still seemed a lack of atmosphere within the ground.

Admittedly there were a few songs hurling abuse at Peter Taylor and the odd clapping session from the kop, but there was still not the type of atmosphere that might be expected for a game which saw the return of the man, who many Leicester fans hate the most behind Dennis Wise.

A few rash challenges from the players or poor decisions from the referee might have helped raise the atmosphere, but the game was played in a very professional manner and even the referee had a quiet game.

Those 'part time` fans that had turned up for the game were easy to spot due to the majority of them getting up to leave with the game tightly balanced at 1-1 and only a couple of minutes left.

It seems that it was more important for them to get back to their car before the traffic, rather then stay and see if Leicester could snatch it.

Some fans blame the stadium layout for the lack of atmosphere, but there have been odd occasions when the City crowd have managed to create the kind of atmosphere that used to be experienced at Filbert Street.

Leicester are expecting another high attendance on Tuesday for the return of another ex Leicester manager. However, those fans turning up for the game against Aston Villa will give Martin O`Neill a hero`s reception.

Aston Villa are still unbeaten under O`Neill and it would be very sweet for Leicester to end the run and remind O`Neill of the old Leicester spirit. Hopefully the Leicester fans will also remind O`Neill of how loud they can be and create a good cup atmosphere.

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