nnfox

We nearly scored a goal

I watched PSG v Bayern earlier in the week. This is nit quite the same.

Well Daka will be available on a free next season. Try before you buy?

I was a bit worried about this game. Turns out there was no need. This is exactly the type of progressive, one-eye-on-the-future line up I was hoping for.

As much as bad decisions have harmed the club, I'd argue that periods of indecision, especially around managers have cost us more. I'm genuinely at the point of not particularly caring who the manager is right now, but what I would like to see is some quicker decision making. If Rowett is going, announce it this weekend. If he's staying, announce it this weekend. If he does leave, get on with appointing someone asap. Please don't drag it on as we have done previously, let's get someone in before 1st June so they can have a decent summer of watching the tapes back, understanding what players we have, what we need and then get cracking so that we hit the ground running on the first day of pre-season training. My fear is that after the final whistle this weekend, Top and Rudkin will switch their phones off and put their out of office on until the training ground reopens for pre-season and we'll be starting from the pit lane, instead of being at the front of the grid waiting for lights out.

So if we win we finish 6 points behind Blackburn, with a better goal difference. That adds legitimacy to the claim that we were relegated because of off field issues, and could/would be used to somewhat paper over the cracks. I don't want us humiliated or anything like that, but if there was ever a game I didn't want us to win, it's this one.

I don't think Top has got any money to throw at the club. The King Power brand has to be sustained first before money can be spent on play things. And KP don't appear to be especially flush right now. Didn't the commentator mention last night that we received £100m in TV money last season. Next season it will be £2m. Last season our wage bill was £150m, League One average wage bill is £9m. The finances are dire. Any saleable asset will be gone and Souttar will be close to top of the list.

Souttar won't be here next season. No chance.

Most important thing for me is that regardless of the result, we finish at least 7 points adrift.

No lap of honour?

Great draw. Get in.

He needs a season of first team football. Probably League One level. I have visions of him leaving us in the summer and then being loaned back to us where we'll figure out that actually he's quite good and we should have given him more game time this season. He'll also probably sign a more lucrative deal with his next club and when he's loaned back to us, we'll probably agree to pay his wages.

What on earth was he doing there?

Out of contract? So available on a free? Could be just what we need

One positive is that Daka could fulfil his potential and rip up the league next season. If he gets a run in the team.

The crowd need to be the 12th man tonight (or at least the 3rd or 4th in anticipation to most of the players not bothering to turn up).

No they won't. Top already thinks the squad as it is should/would be good enough for Premier League promotion. There's no way they think we need anyone to get us out of League 1. He will think we'll be winning every game. I'd be super surprised if there are any significant incoming transfers before the season starts, and by the time we land in League 1 with a bump and figure out it isn't as easy as we thought, the transfer window will close. Nope, Top and Rudkin are actually looking forward to a quiet, relaxing summer break.

#Relax

Err hello! This is Leicester City we're talking about!

Comparisons with Cov are a little unfair. We were an established Premier League club, falling from grace and dealing with the financial legacy that brings, whilst hoping (that's hoping, not planning btw) that a swift return to the PL will maintain the wage bill. Crashing into League 1 is a disaster, burdened with a huge wage bill and an underperforming team. Cov on the other hand have been away from the PL for 25 years and have, over the last 3 or 4 years been a Championship team trying to make it to the PL in a sustainable way. They've managed to build an overperforming team on a modest wage bill. It's something that you can do over a 3 or 4 year period. If it takes 5 or 6 years, fine, but there's no rush. Unlike our situation. Now Cov have a new set of problems (good problems to have). If they are serious about anything near a 50k cap for players, then guess what? Their top performers will leave as soon as there a couple of offers on the table that at least double their wage. So they'll need to adopt a new model for a sustainable PL existence: Buy low, sell high and expect star performers to move on after one year. Difficult, but possible (we should know). But making the transition to an established mid-table team will require them to blow that wage structure out of the water.

He needed to go. If he had stayed we'd be about where we are now, but it would have been even more toxic. He would have been the focal point of fan anger, with levels turned up to 11. It's the Top and Rudkin playbook: Let the anger build towards the manager, until the anger spills over and starts being aimed more at Top and Rudkin, then give the fans what they want, sack the manager and bring someone else in for a bit. It gives Top and Rudkin a few weeks/months out of the crosshairs. Rinse and repeat. At some point we really should just stick with a manager. Rowett will be gone at the end of the season and a new guy will carry the can next season.

Let's get real here. Some people will say statistics don't matter and for sure, some can be a little anomalous, but when they are presented here, together, it tells a damning story. These stats are basically "how do the players compare to their peers from other clubs". The really frustrating thing is that pretty much all of those stats can be rectified with some basic effort and application. They can be grouped together and categorised as "The Basics". A multitude of managers that have been through Seagrave in recent seasons must know, as every football fan knows, that you have to get the basics right. That's your platform, that's your foundation. Get the basics right and build from there, but the basics of running (quickly at times) and not giving the ball away, are non-negotiable. This isn't a new thing. Manager after manager has overseen this lack of effort. Do we even have a fitness coach? The problems with this squad run deeper. The culture at the club (set by the senior leadership) must be one of chill out, relax, enjoy yourself and count your money. It isn't one that sets out it is a privilege to be a professional footballer and a privilege to play for Leicester and train at one of the best training grounds around and that 100% effort and attention are required 100% of the time or we will find someone who will deliver that. The whole club is moronic. Getting back to the Premier League could take decades unless someone slams the brakes on immediately and starts fixing everything that's wrong.

Handball.

Be very careful what you wish for.

BDCR having one of those games today.