Hi Foxes, had dinner with a good friend and his missus last night, both massive Leicester fans, and they were dumbfounded by the lack of consistency this season. They feel that the biggest error made was to reappoint Pearson as manager. They may be right considering Leicester's inability to challenge for promotion. So as is the norm the focus shifted to next season, and they were gloomy about that as well. Reason? They feel there are too many players on good contracts, so the first issue of getting rid of the non-performers may prove very difficult, and this will hamper adding players to the already huge squad. With the amount of money Leicester have spent on fees and wages this is a big worry for them. They are afraid that the club will end up with a huge debt as they chase Prem football. I can understand where they're coming from, and they can't see Leicester going up next season with three strong clubs coming down, and others who miss out on promotion being in the hunt again. I guess the key is the owners - will they roll the dice? And if next season is a failure, will the club be left in the lurch a la Pompey? At Leeds we have been frustrated for the opposite reason - total lack of investment. Warnock at least improves our chances of promotion slightly, but not convinced we can do it unless Bates reinvests in the squad. Are you also worried about your club if succes doesn't come soon, and do you think a new manager is needed? I think Mick McCarthy would be excellent for Leicester, but time will tell as to how your owners are thinking.
NP was a good reappointment imo. It´s taking time for him to get the game played how he wants, but LC are getting there. I would even say IF NP was manager at the start of the season we´d be in the P.O´s easy. There´s abit of 'deadwood' that NP can get rid of come the summer plus maybe 1 or 2 will want to leave. He´s got funds & LC are a rich(ish) club so I can see 4 or 5 coming in, some on a season long loan but still the squad will be better & ready for next season. A top 6 will be a must, maybe even a top 2 ???. We do need to get a good run of results going next season that´s for sure, but we are playing some good footie under NP at the mo so I´m optimistic about 2012/13. Good luck for the rest of the season apart from the game v LEICESTER.
Pearson or Sven? No contest. Pearson was and is loved by the fans here and his appointment is one of the 'better' things to have happened to us in the last 3/4 years. We've got a tiny squad and since Pearson has arrived we've shifted a fair few of the under performers as it was. What 3 'strong' clubs coming down? So far it looks like Wigan, Wolves and Bolton. All relying on their better players to come up with the goods so they'll be off when they get relegated, I can see 'Middlesborough' situations with each of them rather that 'Newcastle' Also, our owners have made it clear that money is no issue here and it can take 15 years to get promoted if that's how long they need. Not being funny, but can you see Bates getting on with Warnock? It spells disaster for me and Ken needs to get out of your club as soon as possible before he ruins what's left of it. Nigel will do what he can next season, he's clearly capable and has a lot of knowledge of this league and has improved squads dramatically. I can't see us being this inconsistent next season and to be honest, that's all we're lacking. We clearly have the quality. Just ask Southampton, Cardiff, Derby, Brighton and Palace. They were all torn apart at least once by us this season but, just ask Reading, Bristol, Posh, Ipswich and Pompey about our inconsistency. The overall concensus from most City fans is this; Wide player, two central midfielders (one backup, unless he can rediscover Andy King), striker, back up fullback. As long as they're of Nigel Pearson (or should I say Steve Walsh) standard, then we'll be fine. Schmeichel Peltier Bamba Morgan Koncheskey *Wide player* Drinkwater *Central midfielder (preferably a goalscorer)* Marshall Beckford Nugent That starting 11, for me, is fine and nothing wrong with it. Nigel is fine and his coaching staff is fine. If we could go to the pharmacy and buy a bottle of 'consistency' then we'd be top of the league with our squad. Unfortunately we can't and we're not.
All quite well put AKCJ, shame about that bottle though... taking of which where´s me beer. It´s 19.15 in germany btw, so it´s not to early to start
I'll admit , whilst 'disappointed' is too strong a word I was realatively underwhelmed by Nigel Pearson's reappointment - I was hoping Martin O'Neil might fancy another stint or, failing that, that Billy Davies would be given a chance to show what he could do with some real funds behind him. Having said that, over recent games, and I include defeat at Watford, the team has shown some real signs of 'coming together' and, for that, Pearson and his coaching team deserve great credit. In dropping Mills and Konchesky for last weekend's cup triumph he has also demonstrated that nobody will get a place in the team by virtue of amounts paid or 'reputation' and his signings of Marshall, Drinkwater and Morgan show early signs of being 'gems'. So I'm now quite optimistic that we will mount a real challenge next season if, and I haven't quite given up hope, we can't launch a very late play-off charge.
Hi BillysStatue Some fans think we shouldn't of had pearson back and some do, at the stat pearson couldn't play the way he wnted to cause for him the squad was unbalanced (to many central midfielders) so it took him a long time to sort out, the inconsistency as to be sorted out ASAP tho. Pearson and his backroom staff are definitly capable of getting the wages to a level where there no risk of doing a Pompey nd i am confident that the owners wouldn't leave cause not made prem, they have invested alot in the stadium nd training facilities, until its mathmaticly certain we cnt get play offs i will always have hope we can make it to play off position. For nxt year if we still in championship their be a better chance of promotion with pearson having a pre season with players nd he can build the squad the way he wnts to, the teams that i think will becoming dwn frm prem r Wigan, Bolton nd Wolves nd i think bth LCFC nd Leeds (if still in championship) will hav chance beating all them i'm mre worried bout teams coming up from league 1 like Chalton( i think they'll be in championship nxt year), they hav the momentum that recent teams (Norwich, Southampton) that cme up will hav Good Look for rest of season nd See you @ your ground on last day of season, Hopefully i can get a ticket
Funnily enough, I meet up with one of my Leeds supporting mates on Saturday and he is desperately worried about Leeds. He told we unless they get rid of Bates and get some one in with a bit of a financial clout, then Leeds are only likely to stay where they are/go back to League One. Also, they think Warnock is a terrible appointment who only got QPR promoted because they had tons of money, something Leeds definitely don't have. My mate also thinks Warnock is a very poor representative of the game who can never admit that the other side were simply better when they lose. He (my Leeds supporting buddy) also thinks the current Leeds squad is average at best, and always will be when the Chairman keeps selling off there best players. He thinks that Snodgrass is a good player, but fears he will be gone come the summer, probably to a club like Leicester. Do you agree with these comments? To be honest, I do. Except maybe for the comment about Snodgrass being a good player. Enjoy the rest of the season.
Firstly, they are spot on about the lack of consistency this season. That has been the one thing that has hampered our progress more than anything this season. Strangely, it seems to be against the sides below us in which we struggle whereas against teams above us, we do quite well. I think that might be because teams above try and take us on in a football match and we can cope with that and we seem to get more space ourselves to play our stuff. However, against the lower teams, they seem to sit back more and we struggle to break them down and they also, rather than taking us on in a football match, turn it into a war of attrition and more often than not they end up out-battling us. That in a way makes it more frustrating because we know we can beat the teams who are doing well this season. The size of the squad isn't as big now as many think. We struggle to fill our subs bench in the FA Cup. Many of the players deemed surplus or those who wanted to leave left in January and now we have a core group of players that Nigel trusts in and a few shrewd additions here and there and a few more departures (players like John Pantsil who are high earners) and I think we can have more of a go next season. The fans you spoke to are probably in the minority in terms of not rating Nigel. To my mind, he hasn't done a bad job anywhere so far and he's proven both here and at Hull that he can build successful teams in this division. I have every faith in him (and his staff because they are a big part of what Nigel does) to get us challenging next season. It was always going to be hard this season once we sacked Sven and brought in Nigel because he needed time to look at the squad etc. and Nigel Pearson especially is a manager who needs to have HIS players in to do really well and ones who buy into his whole squad ethos that he is big on. Also, I don't think the squad built by Sven was as good as many of us (certainly myself) first thought it was. But, as I said, he's proven he's a very capable manager and I'm delighted he's back and so I'm sure are 95% of Leicester fans. I've used this analogy a few times now but if you look at someone like Middlesbrough who spent a lot of money last season and then sacked the manager, hired another manager and it's taken him time to build his squad but when he has it's got them right up there in the league. There are very few managers (such as MON) who can go into an under-performing team and turn it around straight away. I always say that it's hard to judge a manager until they've had at least a summer transfer window to work with to build their own squad and the same applies here. As for off the pitch, the owners have invested a lot in the club aside from the playing staff like revamping the training ground, the stadium, the academy is going to be improved as well I believe and they have brought in a whole new management structure comprising of people who helped turn their King Power business into a success so if you delve a bit deeper, you do start to see signs that they're here for the long term rather than for a quick buck. I would understand completely if Top turned to Nigel (although if this is the case I think the conversation will have happened by now) and said that there will not be the volume of funds that there was for Sven and spending does need to be reigned in a bit. I'm sure Nigel would understand as well and he doesn't need a fortune to build a squad. As any Hull fan will tell you, he has one of the best scouts in the country with him so any future money that is invested is in safe hands. As I eluded to earlier, the mistake we made wasn't spending the money because West Ham spent similar yet, because they're top of the league, no-one mentions it since they obviously spent it well. Sven however didn't spend it well and that is why we are where we are. Much like the manager, ask most LCFC fans about Top and co. you will probably hear positive things. There is this foreign owner's stereotype whereby people assume that clubs spending that are being bankrolled by Eastern Europeans or the Middle/Far East are racking up huge debts against the club but that isn't the case here. It all comes from the owners pocket and if he were to sell-up then we wouldn't be another Pompey. The only thing we would be left with would be a relatively high wage bill but then it would boil down to who they sold to and we might have to bring it down but even if it did come to that, Nigel had to do a similar job at Hull and built a team that is currently a decent bet for the play-offs. It is all if's and but's and I can't sit here and say that Top will definitely stick around like your friends can't say that he'll definitely sell up but, especially with an experienced football man like Andrew Neville on board, I would have thought Top would have been aware that sacking Sven and hiring Nigel might mean a short-term hit but a medium-long term gain and that is why I can say that I remain confident that he will be around for next season. After that, should we fail to go up, it's very hard to say and it might depend on how close we actually come as to whether he carries on. But it is his ambition to get into the Premier League with us and from what we hear and what we can draw from his business career, he's a very driven man. In a similar sense, I'd expect Nigel to be here next season. Mainly for the reason's stated above and he himself has spoken that he was brought in with a long term ambition and goal beyond this season whatever division we find ourselves in and I feel the board share that ambition and given a summer, I still feel he will turn us round. So, in short, I think whilst Top and Nigel remain at the club, I think there is cause to be hopeful for next season. P.S. Congratulations if you managed to make it to the end of this without dropping off!
God, its sounds like you had dinner with the Leicester Ultra's (ultra pessimists that is) I am not expecting promotion this year, but will settle for an FA Cup and then expect us to kick on next year and win the league outright
Hi Foxes, thanks for the excellent, balanced responses. Nice to see all the positivity about NP and the owners, with supporters like you behind your club success will surely follow. Personally I think you have some excellent players, and if NP leaves Beckford in the starting line up for the rest of the season he will score loads. I still think if Leicester went on a sux match winning run right now they'd make the play offs, the teams above are all dropping points. Birmingham have shown some consistency recently and look where they suddenly find themselves. As for Leeds, we have such a good income yet Bates keeps taking money out of the club. Our turnover is well over £27m per annum yet he keeps the wage/transfer budget at 30% of that when it needs to be double. In our last season on Lge One we made a profit of £8m yet that money is gone. Warnock may just get us to the play offs but it will be touch and go. Oh well..... Good luck for rest of season, Leicester belong in the Prem with your passionate support and excellent facilities. Shouldn't be too long before you're back there. Make sure you bring a big following to Elland Rd, we need the money
Cheers mate I reckon we'd probably have to win at least 9 of our last 15 to stand a decent chance and at the minute, we don't have the consistency to put together such a run. I think what helped Brum climb the league was the games in hand that they had. And you're right about Beckford, NPhas certainly got him playing now and that is testament to his man management skills. As for Leeds, in normal circumstances, I'd say that Warnock would be a great appointment and someone who can definitely tale you up. But with Bates there and the distinct lack of funds and the constsant loss of key players, it would be difficult for any manager to get promotion. And with Ken and Warnock, Leeds might be more interesting to watch off the pitch than on it!
There has been almost no change in form under Pearson, but we are performing better. Pearson is a good manager, and has the right approach for championship football.
I have no worries about Pearson, he is not afraid to stand up to our so called big players. If we don't make the play offs this year then I believe we will be the best defensive team next year, a lot of 0-0 and 1-0 scorelines unless we buy a 25-30 goal a season striker(maybe that could be nuge or Becks?) and being the best defensive team maybe in the top six. One thing is for sure, the three coming down are not big clubs and I can see at least on in admin before November if not two. Also who ever goes up this season or next has to spend big as IMO only WHU have a squad anywhere near prem standard and IMO they are half a side short of staying up if they get promoted.
It looks as though we are just spending excess funds from the owners own pockets, we have the stadium name change, which helps us in the bank. Pearson imo is a good appontment, glad hes back, has shuffled the team into a performance giving side and will hopefully get the right players in the summer to get us out of this league imo. Not such big names, but players that will work their socks off next to some of the talent we have atm. p.s. how much for Snodgrass?
