Title not a reference to anyone on here - just to be clear from the outset .. Was down in Wales over the weekend and chatting to my brother-in-law about the prospects for the forthcoming season - he's a Swans fans and constatntly reminds me of the first Xmas and New Year I spent down there when he took me to see the Swans against Barnet at the old Vetch ground .. he's still pinching himself at how far they have come ... anyway to cut to the chase he commented that he couldn't understand why so many pundits were forecasting our likely demise this season and made a reference to Michu as an analogy to Cambiasso leaving us and how many had been predicting a similar fate for the Swans .. as events transpired Michu is fondly remembered but the Swans have moved on and up, having also lost a manager during the process... We do seem to be being tipped by a large number of pundits to be relegated - but why? The three clubs who have come up, Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich - are they really that formidable? Sunderland, Newcastle and Villa - have they all strengthened so much that it is inevitable that they will finish above us? West Brom and Palace - that much better than us last season? So what about the positives? We finished last season on an excellent run of form - is that guaranteed to collapse now that Nigel Pearson and Esteban Cambiasso have moved on? Won't some of our younger (or inexperienced at this level) players improve further for now being more experienced? - didn't Vardy, Schlupp, Mahrez and all get progressively better throughout the season? Kramaric - looks to be a class act and will get a whole season to prove it rather than a relegation battle to address immediately ... Whilst I'll miss the great Esteban Cambiasso wasn't he playing in every game during that very poor run we had? - didn't the turn in form perhaps owe more to the imperious Robert Huth's impact? Which brings me nicely on to the next point - incomings and outgoings Outgoings: Esteban Cambiasso - 35 years old this season - incredible ex-international Argentine - he will be missed Chris Wood - New Zealand International Centre-forward - barely featured last season - unlikely to be missed Paul Konchesky - ex England International full-back - single cap - defensive liability at this level - won't be missed Matt Upson - ex-England international - injury prone - barely featured last season - won't be missed Anthony Knockaert - exciting young talent - but couldn't even get on th bench for the most part - might have developed in time - understanable reason for leaving - will be missed in terms of his potential more than current ability Incomings Robert Huth (permanent) - awesome defensive presence - helped turn us into an in-form team with his defensive strength Shinji Okazaki - Record scoring current Japanese centre-forward - on paper strengthens our attacking options Christian Fuchs - current Austrian International defender and captain - top of their Euro qualifying group - surely adds to our defensive capability - not to mention his impact from set pieces N'Golo Kante - appears to be a much sought after young defensive central midfielder - surely adds strength in a much needed area? Yohan Benalouane - a young French/Tunisian central defender who appears to have been on the verge of an international cap with either? - seems to be a spirited lad ... but do Liverpool fans complain about having had Luis Suarez at the club? ... if he's goodenough I'm not onebit bothered that he's not exactly Mother Theresa ... Now if I weigh up all the above - I'm inclined to think that the club is in a far better place than it was this time last season - despite Nigel Pearon having left. The pundits don't seem to - fair play - but the bookies odds at the weekend for relegation suggest that football fans generally (or punters at least) see it rather differently ...they consider us less likely to be relegated than Bournemouth, Watford, Norwich, Sunderland and Villa ... and on par with west Brom and Newcastle ... pretty much my take too ... by coincidence. Bring it on ....
Theirs no doommongers. Just people who are wary about how the club are operating which as a fan we have every right to be Some of the crap being posted that we want us to struggle so we can say i told you so is absurd We have different ideas on whats best for our club and I havent seen on post to suggest anyone is against Ranieri Me and a few other was against his appointment but now he is here were all fully behind him The season is about to start so the petty arguing will stop
Proud - did you actually read the opening line of the post? ... ... my reference to 'doomongers' (as the first line makes abundantly clear) is solely aimed at so called 'pundits' tipping us for relegation ... even Stan Collymore can only see us escaping by one place ... yet he has his beloved Villa finishing in 13th! ffs... many of these guys now predicting our demise have not (IMHO) actually spent any significant time watching those performances in the last third of the season ... and most predicted us going down last season too ...
I think alot of pundits are seeing Cambiasso going and thinking the rest of the squad had nothing to do with the last 9ish games. I certainly don't think that Eddie Howe is the messiah that alot of pundits think he is and Newcastle have the wally with the brolly who couldn't even get arguably the best Derby side in recent years promoted. None of the 3 promoted teams dominated the league last year, so why aren't they being looked at at going straight back down like the pundits said last year about us QPR and Burnley? They just see Leicester and think "well, they should have gone down last year and were lucky, so they are certs to go down this year"
I am approaching this season with cautious optimism, but as a pessimist by nature, and a Leicester fan, it is difficult for me to be optimistic about anything, as I should know better But I agree, at the very least, we should not be finishing below Bournemouth, Watford, or Norwich. Although I could imagine this time last season, a Hull fan saying "at the very least, we should not be finishing below Leicester, QPR or Burnley"... Now they did manage 2 out of the 3... But let's not take anything for granted, eh!
Perhaps pundits are mis-interpreting the "competitive" nature of the Championship last season as everyone being really good, as opposed to everyone just being really average...
Im hoping we have a comfortable season finishing 10th-14th. Not pulling up any trees but not worried about relegation either
14th again would be fantastic in the grand scheme of things. Have a feeling we may not get to those heights though. 16th I think. Id happily take that right now!!
I haven't seen any doom-mongering. More of a "I'll believe it when I see it" mindset. I don't believe we're going to "do a so-and-so" (hate that way of thinking anyway). But I don't think we'll go down. In fact, I think we'll have a far steadier (by that I mean not absolutely awful for one half and absolutely brilliant for the other) season but I don't think we'll improve on a 14th place finish. Love to be proven wrong, and the signings we're making are doing their best to do it. Kante is a fine acquisition. Inler would add more guile and strength to a midfield that has badly lacked it for years. Benalouane will add experience and can fill in a few positions. Okazaki, well, I think he'll be a fan-favourite (whether he'll produce or not is up for debate). Fuchs is someone I think a lot of. He'll cover for the set piece threat we had with Esteban and, whisper it quietly, but we might actually be solid defensively on the left hand side!! Aranguiz would be the ultimate but I can't see it. Schmeichel Benalouane Huth Morgan Albrighton Kante Inler Schlupp/Fuchs Mahrez Kramaric Vardy Bring it on!
I fear it will take many of our new signings time to adapt to the English game, ala Kramaric, so I don't expect to start well. Unlike last season, I feel we need a good start, as many of our tougher fixtures are later on, so I expect they'll be more compliments in defeat like last season. I think we might be playing catch-up in the second half of the season - but we've been there, done that (albeit under a different manager) so certainly no reason to fear the worse.
That's still a pretty nice looking lineup, I do wonder if Kante and Benalouane will be straight in on Saturday though, but still... A very capable goalkeeper. Solid defensive options. Nice choice of wing backs. Still light in the middle but not without options. An array of striking options. Not too bad, roll on Saturday!
May take time to settle but I don't agree we'll be playing catch-up last season we had everyone adapting to premier league football this year the majority of our players have a years premier league experience under their belt. Huth makes us far steadier at the back don't think it will take Fuchs long to settle as to what I saw he looks very strong and made for English football. We have made a couple of signings but you most of them aren't guaranteed starters and therefore will have time to settle in. Kramaric will benefit from a pre-season with us and looks sharper already. Think he will be a number 10 type player who will play in the hole. Every pundit I've listened to has tipped Leicester to go down, it seems to be on the basis that we lost our manager and our player of the season. We did everything we could to hold on to Cambiasso but if he doesn't want to stay not much you can do about that. We'll miss him but at least we are looking for replacements and strengthening in that department. Watford aren't being tipped to go down and yet correct me if I'm wrong they lost their manager!!! Teams like Watford and Bournemouth are signing a lot of players but they will take time to gel and I don't think any of the three that came up were head and shoulders above the rest. With another midfielder or two I would be confident although would like to see a midfielder that has done well in the premier league or at least been steady for that bit more experience (which is why I was disappointed that we missed out on Nzonzi). Think people like Vardy, Mahrez, Schlupp and Albrighton will be better this year and I hope people like Drinkwater steps up to the plate along. I am much more confident. Looking at other sides I never rated McLaren and don't see Newcastle being better defensively think they have only signed one defender and they were shipping soft goals a lot last season. Not sure about Sunderland either not totally convinced with their signings and Advocaat might not have the same impression as he did at the end of last season (think they had that problem with Poyet last season). West Ham with European committements might need to be wary as well). Don't think the relegation battle is as cut and dried as the pundits are predicting but we shall see.
Hello friendly foxes - drama in peace. Have a lot of time for your club & city - lived there for 10 years (many lost nights in the Helsinki, VQ, Pump & Tap and many others). Married a girl from Leicester so have a brother in law season ticket holder & many mates who are ST holders. Proper club - proper fans. Had a few great days out as both a neutral & Hoop at Filbert St. Hated all of that nonsense on here last season with some banter going way too far. I think you will do OK this year - can't see the 3 promoted teams being any better than you at all & like some of you guys say above West Ham, Newcastle, Sunderland & Villa won't be much better than anybody. I think Palace are the only team that will make big gains with their signings. Good luck for the season - I think you will finish 16th. Not sure about your new manager but you have enough good players to be more than comfortable. Hopefully we can have a couple of seasons rebuilding the identity of our club/style of our football & come back to join you in a few years. We'll do our best to beat your East Mids neighbours....
