I know Stan doesn't rate Ranieri (and fair play, it's all about opinions ) but I was impressed with what he did for us from the outset of his tenure, not just when things started to get famntastical ... Nigel Pearson had been using Vardy as a winger and tended to play Nugent or Ulloa as the striker - Drinkwater, Albrighton and Simpson barely got a game ... We had signed Krameric who looked the best technical forward player on the books and personally I was hoping for us to start the season with Krameric and Ulloa as a front pairing with Mahrez supplying the ammo ... As it was Ranieri started with two midgets up front Vardy / Okazaki and a high press intensive style - he binned Nugent completely and brought Drinkwater into midfield - soon to be paired with the incredible Kante - we never looked back.
Foss as a fox what went wrong with ranieri?? Genuinely never got it I have a lot if time for ranieri, I was living with Chelsea fans when he was appointed there and tbh i attribute their success on his building blocks to a degree
Dunno mate ... even to this day .... rumour that he might have fallen out with some of the players - but all the players denied that ... seemed to me that he was perhaps a bit too loyal to some of the title winners, given what they achieved, and wouldn't drop them when they had dips in form ... they seemed to be able to raise their game for the European campaign - but were distinctly average in the League - felt like "we've done it - so can't be arsed" syndrome from a couple - personally I was gutted and felt he should have been given to the end of the season
Cheers I have heard all the rumours too mate. Just don't buy into some of them The season after winning a title is always hard if you read or listen to some of the multiple title winning managers and players. Even your Chelsea's and man utds have players coming back out of shape and a sense of "we done it" thinking they can relax now. I can imagine foxes players being completely shattered after that season and for some it wasn't going to get any better again so maybe just relaxed
Fulham's defence has been an absolute shambles, but they've got some decent players in there. I expect Ranieri will get them organised and working hard first, then work on the rest of their game. Mitrovic as the lone striker with pacy widemen breaking quickly around him? Sessegnon and Schurrle being fed by Seri? Probably enough to keep them up.
I think what cost you that season was the summer window. Having just won the Prem your stock would've never been higher, yet the signings you made were of the calibre that any mid-to-bottom half side in the Prem could've attracted. I think there and then Leicester had a real chance to try and make themselves a regular top 6 side (or create a top 7) but missed the boat with some poor additions.
I think that they failed to adequately replace Kante, which is fair enough really, as that's a hard task and they also needed greater depth. A really easy Champions League group should have helped them, but the extra fixtures were too much regardless. Mendy wasn't anywhere near good enough and Ndidi was too young and too late to save Ranieri. A good signing, though. Zieler made sense but didn't work out, while Slimani seemed like a bit of an expensive panic buy late on.
Yeah that was a real kick in the bollocks for them, made worse that they thought they could replace him with some unknown quantity in Mendy. I get Kante was unknown prior to that season but you can’t live by the model of signing unknowns to become superstars all the time, it’s unrealistic. Was just a bunch of poor and uninspiring signings at a time where they could’ve gone for just two or three top calibre players to have helped them potentially maintain a top 6/7 status.
I don't know what they could've done to achieve it, honestly. If you look at their previous season, then you'll notice that they started virtually the same XI players every game. Scmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Mahrez, Kante, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Vardy and Okazaki. Minimum of 28 starts in the league and most were around 35 or 36 with a couple of over-presents. That's impossible with the extra games from European football and they weren't the youngest squad to start with. Losing the engine room of the team for a relatively low fee also hamstrung them. They essentially swapped him for Slimani. Ranieri had too much to do and not enough resources to do it with. Fulham spent big in the summer, so let's see what he can get from them.
Yup - our head of recruitment Steve Walsh had the golden touch the previous season but with a bigger cheque was a flop. Did exactly the same at Everton as well.
He'll probably comfortably keep them up this season and crumble next season. Its a refreshing change from Big Sam saves x club from relegation.
... unfortunately for you Quentin ... Pinocchiotina hasn't ... but you do have the cheese room to console you in your title angst ... All hail Claudio ... he bringeth the Holy Grail ... all pity Poch ... he bringeth the annual fail #SpursyIsAsSpursyDoes
That was a **** post Fosse. **** it i'm going to bed, before it fall asleep reading anymore of that boring ****e.
