Xen

Mavididi stepping up from last week. Not convinced he's fully 'back' yet, but definitely in the right direction.

That's all on Faes there. If he'd stood his ground then Thomas would've been fine closing off the option, instead he went to ground and ****ed it.

FFS

Exactly. People overreacting because we're not starting a 16year old and a player whos only just arrived (who many seemed unsure of when we signed, anyway). Its a bit frustrating not to see Nelson/Page on the bench at least, but the starting XI really isn't that bad for this moment in time. It's still on paper one of the strongest sides in the league.

Clearly must both have talent to be getting first team minutes for Man City (albeit at 2 goals ahead against lower league opposition), but how well are they rated? Are they actually likely to make it at Man City, or are they perhaps a step or two below that - lower prem, maybe championship? In other words - is there a realistic chance that either of them ends up here (loan or permanent) or are they realistically beyond our reach? Would love it if we could, they've clearly been brought up in the NW but I'd like to imagine they'd look at Leicester fondly...

Easy to forget he's only 21 given that its his 3rd season here, and he hit the ground running straight away. You've hit the nail on the head though that it seems like he's overenthusiastic and trying too hard, understandable given the circumstances. I thought his technical ability was brilliant as usual on Saturday, but his decision making and some of his team play was poor at times. Definitely not his best for us, but he still has the talent to positively impact games like at the weekend even when he's a bit off the boil. There'll be matches this season where he runs the show and we wonder how long we've got before he's snapped up by a 'bigger' side.

Luke struggled today, but they were constantly doubled up on him and he had Mavididi and Soumare 'helping' him down that side, which is enough pressure to make anyone look bad. I don't think VK solves that problem, although if we can fix the supporting positions then VK would probably be the better LB. Not much in it though, both decent if unspectacular championship full backs. - - - - - - As for Ayew, I'm not sure where I've got this from as he doesnt come across as arrogant in interviews or anything, but when he plays he always seems like he thinks he has main character energy. A reasonable option in the side/off the bench, sure, but he's one of the most infuriating players to watch. Hopefully when Ramsey is back and Carranza settled, they'll be the AM/ST pairing

I'm woefully inept at anything musical so it'd be nice to change that and actually be able to sing. Quite like going to karaoke as I've got a few friends who are amazing singers, but I've never and would never get up and sing myself. Far too self concious for that, but at least if I could hold a tune I wouldnt shy away so much haha. On a more practical level, I've been trying to learn to code for years on and off. Some of it has stuck, some of it I seem to have a mental block and never get past the basics. A shortcut to success would be welcome I think I'd pick carpentry though (and general handyman stuff really). My dad's great at it and so is my brother but it definitely skipped me, and now I'm a homeowner I'm really wishing I was a bit more self sufficient in that sense

So what you're saying is your goalkeeper has been largely untested, and when he has been called upon he's generally got a poor record? In fact, in terms of expected goals against difference, Coventry are 22nd in the league having conceded 7 from 4.36xG (Leicester are 2nd by the same metric). Will be interesting to see how that goes against a team that has better finishers than most sides you've played, and will probably control the game a lot more than you're used to so far this season. Coventry are overperforming their xG (12.94) by 15% - and as we know a huge amount of that comes from the QPR game, otherwise they're underperforming by 33%). Leicester are overperforming xG (6.46) by 24% Stats don't mean everything - and especially so in a derby - but regardless it's going to be a tough match. That said, if we turn up and play to our potential then I think we could well give Cov a wake-up call. This game will depend massively on who starts in midfield for us; if we see the Skipp-Soumare double-act again then we're basically throwing away the first half.

Stolarczyk Hamza - Okoli - Vestergaard - Thomas Ricardo - JJ - Skipp Fatawu - Carranza - Mavididi I don't expect we'll see much of Winks in starting lineups anymore (although on ability he'd definitely warrant it). I think both Skipp and Soumare are much improved - though still not ideal - with a competent midfield partner alongside them, and whilst Soumare can be the better of the two, I think he's also more prone to howlers and causing us more problems than he solves. If Winks is going to be part of our plans again then him and JJ in the middle could be something pretty special. Carranza... entirely depends on how Marti sees him in training. If he's ready to lead the line then why not. Fatawu and Mavididi can provide the main threat and Carranza can supposedly drop back in that false-9 role and create space around the box. Wouldn't be opposed to seeing Ayew start and a late change for Carranza. Or even 2 up top and put both Daka and Carranza on together to give defenders something new to think about. Ricardo and Hamza being two of our more established players and able to interchange at RB/CDM gives us a very interesting dynamic that's going to be very difficult for Championship sides to deal with. Suddenly feels like we've got much better balance and more depth in options.

6-2. We'd lost 5-2 at Brighton the game before, just before the international break. He'd signed on the 1st but wasn't in the squad for the 4th Sept. He actually helped us turn it around big time after that - 16/24 points and 6/8 clean sheets... until it all went wrong again

Faes vs Spurs was a rough introduction, for sure.

£25m (+?? add-ons) for Jude as a 17y.o. £27m (+£4m add-ons) for Jobe as a 19y.o.

Possibly, but presumably we're hoping that by that point the likes of JJ and Ramsey will have got ahead of Page in that position. He was getting minutes because Bilal was off and possibly Winks as well, but now he's got proper competition in front of him for that position he'll drop to the bench at most. Not at all a slight on him - think he's performed decently - but a gradual introduction to the senior squad will do him good. The same way we're not starting Monga every week, for instance. These lads are still 16/17 after all. Let them enjoy their football as much as possible whilst they develop a more rounded game. Tournament football for Page sounds like an excellent opportunity to test himself.

Newly promoted side thats not even tied to a men's club is capable of spending big (relative to the women's game) and breaking the world record fee. Meanwhile, at Leicester...

Fair enough. I remember reading that Walker's offer was >£1m that 'bc game' supposedly beat, but wasnt sure where that line was drawn. Would still rather us be sponsorless/charity sponsored rathen than yet another betting company, mind, even if the money is good...

Quite happy with the blank shirt to be honest. How much money are we likely to get from a shirt sponsor for this season, anyway? If it's (relatively) small and we can comfortably meet PSR without it, I'd much rather we took the hit and kept the blank shirt (especially given we're this far in and most fans will want sponsorless ones, even after the fact). LOROS or another local charity is a great shout. Particularly for the away/3rd kits. If we do want to take on an actual sponsor, didn't Walkers make a bid before we went with BC? Would happily take them back. Particularly if they'd let us use their old logo like on the 90/92 kit. Think an monochrome white logo would look really smart against the blue and at least there's local ties.

If the new signings live up to potential, then: Stolarcyzk Ricardo - Nelson - Vestergaard - Thomas Soumaré - James Fatawu - Ramsey - Mavididi Carranza I've said it in previous seasons and been woefully wrong, but hopefully a dynamic midfielder like JJ will help Soumare to step up a bit. Monga is technically incredible but I still feel he needs to be phased in a bit as an impact player until he's a bit more developed. Not doubting his potential for a second, but he's still a kid at the end of the day. Not sure on the second centreback alongside Vesty. Nelson potentially but he had a shocker last time I saw him (so did Okoli to be fair), and I'm still not convinced that Faes will be here when all the other windows close. Backup options for each position from the above XI would be: Begovic Choudhury - Faes - Okoli - VK/Aluko Winks - Skipp BDCR - Ayew/Page - Monga Daka/Evans That second XI should be capable of top-half championship at the very least. So as long as we don't have an injury crisis in one particular position, I think we're well covered on the whole.

8/10. For the players that we've shipped out, we've got good value for all of them. We've not brought much in in terms of volume, but if we treat the loan-with-option/obligation as if they were permanent transfers (they essentially are) then what we have brought in is good value on the face of it and has strong potential. Whether or not that is realised, only time will tell, but hopefully we're moving in the right direction again. And we've finally chopped some of the deadwood that's been hanging around like a bad smell. Bye bye Danny, at long last. A perfect window would've seen a few more on their way out (Faes, Winks, Soumare, Daka), a few more in (another striker, DM and CB) and generally business just being done bit earlier in the window. The delay on getting Marti in probably hasnt helped, but better late than never. But the most important thing is that we're making steps to address the financial situation and from the outside it seems as though we're back to being compliant again.

Spare a thought for Jayden Joseph. Second best JJ at the club until James Justin left, only to become the second best JJ at the club (though now out on loan) all over again.

Have we? Summer '25: Begovic Jan '25: Coulibaly Summer '24: Skipp, BEK, Ayew, BDCR, Golding, Edouard, Buonanotte Summer '23: Winks, Coady, Fatawu, Mavididi, Hermansen, Cannon, Doyle, Casadei, Akgun The three in bold are the only ones I'd say have been signed to add leadership, maybe include Ayew/Skipp at a push, but definitely doesn't feel like a targeted approach. Especially when we've now shipped out Coady and Winks seems to be on the way out as well. Begovic is a stretch too given that he's (hopefully) never going to need to play We're missing footballing ability, yes. But in the Championship we're still at the right end of that scale, we've just been majorly lacking in grit and application.

Short shorts

Its physically impossible to eat just one. If I open a pack, they're all gone. One of my close friends works for Mcvities and frequently brings freebies or samples of the new flavours. This is not helping Only the originals are truly addictive, mind. Mixed thoughts on the rest.

Is it? It was open last Sunday when I walked past with the new kits in the window... Odd choice if it was just for one game of the season...

He's definitely got flaws to his game and when he has a bad game its very noticeable, but he's still got ability and is perfectly fine for Championship level - especially as he's 'one of our own' and actually born-and-bred Leicester unlike some of our academy graduates over recent years. Since he came through in the covid season, he's been at the club through 6 different permanent managers, had a loan out, and had inconsistent involvement in numerous different systems. Once he's in a settled side with a clear role - as well as teammates who aren't making mistakes and inviting extra pressure - I think we'll start to see much better output from him. Still only 24 so not done developing yet. Not expecting miracles, but hoping for consistency at this level. Not going to write him off after a cup game where everyone was dire.