In recent seasons Leicester were nearest thing to a given at Xmas and they just fell over the line in the end
We could talk about Farkes recruitment? I think it's been excellent given his first summer with all the rats leaving and then this summer with his best players leaving? He's maintained FFP expertly too whilst actually making us a better 'team' this year.
none of us are probably sure who’s had the dominant role in recruitment under Farke (we know he was quick to take credit for tanaka) - but whoever it was, there’s been more hits than misses that’s for sure.
Its probably safe to assume that he has a major say in accepting players put to him. I'd say he was a major player in Gruev and Tanaka. I'm not sure he wanted Kamara but he turned a profit on him and eventually got Tanaka a year late.
Last few comments echo my thoughts, I had a feeling he didn’t have a lot of say on them. I guess we might find out one day. Gruev certainly found game time hard to come by until he was picked due to injuries. If Farke had a say hats off to him, if it was those who replaced Orta who are responsible, equally as appreciated
Given the number who bailed out, I thought we'd have major problems. Is it Farke, others recruiting or luck that has sorted it out? Dunno. We're still missing a Pablo style playmaker.
To be fair to Farke though, he constantly mentioned the need for a 10 all through the window. We didn't get him one.
he's right on that as well - a 'make something happen' 10 (in the Hamer mold is all we're missing). Aaronson does the duracell bunny 10 well, but in a game that needs guile over energy, that playmaker could be a difference maker.
Given we had a permanent manager who came with conditions, and only a temporay recruitment team i suspect you're right. The role of manager/coach in recruitment seems to vary hugely club to club. Personally i think it's ridiculous to force players on a manager and the model where they jointly identify positions, player types/attributes, make suggestions and then leave the recruitment team to short-list and try to make it happen is the only practical model. Think that's what we did in the past. With Marsh you could see his influence and Orta's... and it's most likely the case here too. Some clubs think their players will outlast the manager so like to keep control of recruitment to fit their playing philosophy.
And yet we think we have one of the worst goalkeepers in the division, a raw CF who is not ready, our top scorer is often described as a passenger and the other is barely fit. We have no number 10 with the guile to break down teams that use the “low block” but you still expect Farke to walk this league?
Like I answered to you before, I want a better keeper, I’m not complaining about a 10 or Piroe, or Joseph coming on off the bench so YES I still expect this team to walk it. Just my opinion