Former Chelsea and Leicester City man Frank Sinclair has opened up on his time at Filbert Street.
Having just achieved the high of winning the League Cup Final against Middlesbrough, scoring one of the goals in a 2-0 win, Sinclair left Chelsea for £2 million and moved to the Foxes.
While surprising some supporters, it could have been seen as the perfect way to leave, winning and scoring at Wembley. Regardless, Sinclair has no regrets about his departure from Stamford Bridge.
“When I went to Leicester, people would have looked at it and said it was a backward step in my career, but I made that choice purely on a selfish basis of wanting to play football.”
“I could have stayed at Chelsea and been a bit part squad member as Chelsea was becoming the giant they are now. But I didn’t want to do that.”
“I knew that I wouldn’t be happy sitting on the bench, watching and getting games every now and then. I couldn’t be a bit part of something that was going to be a revolution at the football club.”
He went and enjoyed six seasons with Leicester City, playing almost 200 times in the East Midlands. It was an opportunity that Sinclair knew he couldn’t have turned down.
“I decided to go to Leicester to be one of the main men there, going for a club record signing at the time. I knew I was going to be a big part of it going forward. I enjoyed my time there.”
“To reach two cup finals in two seasons, I thought was quite an achievement for a club that wasn’t the biggest club, a mid-table side.”
As Sinclair said, the Foxes made two Wembley appearances, defeated by Tottenham before beating Tranmere to win the League Cup. Much of the success, though, was down to the togetherness of the squad at Filbert Street.
“We were a strong Premier League team; we only spent one season out of the Premier League in the six years that I was at the football club.”
“While not having your household names, we had some top players, the likes of Neil Lennon, Muzzy Izzet, Matt Elliott, and Steve Walsh, who was captain and is a legend at the football club.”
“We had really good pros, a good changing room, and a manager who was brilliant at organising us and giving us that bit between the teeth going into every game. Neil was superb at that, and he had the respect of the players. You always wanted to perform for him.”
The current Leicester side have taken the Championship by storm, sitting top of the division as they look for an immediate return to the top-flight. So, are there any comparisons with the Leicester squad of the late nineties and early noughties?
“Looking at the team now, it’s a more attacking style of play. I always fancied them to be strong in the Championship if they could keep that Premier League core of the squad together.”
“The new managers come in, and they certainly hit the ground running, but they’re going to have a blip at some stage throughout the season.”
Sinclair is speaking to the Real EFL courtesy of Stocklytics.
