Hirsty The Blue 94

Seems to be a 2 horse race between continuity of Smith or Parker. Neither of which I'm overly excited by but I think if backed could both get us up. Can't see either of them doing more than 18 months though.

Looks like I'm one of the very few that don't hate this. If he can stay fit for 30 games he will be the best centre half in the league. Obviously that's a big if, but if it's a relatively low wage and has a hefty chunk of it on appearance fees then it's a decent deal all round. It showed the last few games he played his leadership and organisation was missing compared to them headcases Faes/Soyuncu/Amartey. Play him in the middle of a back 3 at that level he will be able to coast through most games. I also like the fact he seems to have some self awareness in that he knows he didn't do enough to keep us up and doesn't want his legacy tarnished by last season so get us back up as a minimum, get Northern Ireland to the Euros and hang his boots up for a job well done. We're definitely going to need a few old heads to hang around as the turnover of players and the likely profile of players are going to need coaching through games and Evans is a very good organiser. Players seem to like him as well so as long as the deal is right struggling to see the negatives.

What pissed me off about Rodgers and continued under Smith up until the Newcastle game was that we showed no pragmatism for the situation we were in. Any half competent manager can organise a side in a 5 at the back to try and play for a point against sides you're likely to lose to, make yourself really difficult to beat. Turn just 2 of the 22 defeats into draws and you stay up. Have a go against the teams you can realistically beat, but don't be so open that the teams in the top half dismantle you like Liverpool, Fulham and City did under his reign. Torn whether to keep him on or not, as mentioned everywhere it's a massive rebuild but altleast he has a 7 week headstart on it, and with the right recruitment him and his team could get us back up.

From what I have heard would have been when the fans had gone an hour after FT, but pulled the plug at the last minute as media were still dotted around so would have obviously picked up on it. As unbelievably as it sounds heard it from a pretty reputable source.

Allegedly they had a bouncy castle and some picnic benches to bring out for the players and their families for after the game lined up, but pulled the plug after we were officially down. Particularly for the lads to celebrate who were going to be on their way in the summer. Just shows how out of touch the club was about the possibility of us going down for the entirety of the season, even up until the final day. Top needs to pull the trigger on Rudkin as a bare minimum, Whelan doesn't seem to do much but to get the fees for some of those average players seems good business. Rudin has drove the club into the ground, 1st team, 21's and 18's all relegated, with all his old mates in the jobs. Get a DOF who can actually run a football club then if Top is willing to fund and be more ruthless he can stay. If its going to be more of the same he can back his bags and all up, he is not his fathers son in the ruthless business sense.

It is the obvious choice with us all but down now. Knows how to rebuild a squad on what might be a limited budget, get rid of all the lads who haven't got a set of bollocks between them and build an actual team with spirit, fight and courage which we have long since lacked. People say his time has gone, hasn't done much since he left us, sometimes just a manager fits at a club. Why do you think Peterborough keep bringing back Darren Ferguson and he keeps getting them promoted. King Power literally owe everything to this bloke, I suspect without his 1st spell we would have been stuck in league one for years like Leeds and Forest and Sheff Wed, and without his 2nd spell we would have had a roll call of big name managers finishing in the middle of the Championship every year. Let him bring his entire staff with him, coaching, scouting, medical the lot. Nobody I would trust more than him to get it right. This is the biggest decision that the board have ever had to make, the wrong one with the wrong players we will be languishing as a Championship club for the foreseeable, and when the money pot runs out we will be royally shagged.

Anyone know of any boozers in Leicester where the game might be shown? Not sure I can bear sitting in front of a laptop with a dodgy stream for this. Criminal that it's been moved to Monday because of the pointless coronation nonsense but not been put on the telly.

Looked completely cooked for the majority of the year, but I think that's been exposed because when he has played he has had to play the lone striker role, which I'm not sure he is up to anymore. But magically link him up with Nacho and he looks like he has something to offer again, was sharp in the game against Wolves winning the pen thanks to Nacho dropping into the space to collect and feed him, and again today space to exploit leads to him scoring, having 1 chalked off and generally looking a nuisance. Think this is yet another Rodgers disasterclass of this season, alongside the Ward/Iversen, Amartey/Cags shambles. If we found a way to get both on the pitch at the same time both would have 10+ goals each and we would be mid table.

Unless you're 16 years old, you would have spent most of your years supporting City as largely average, with some shite, some good and one amazing year sprinkled in. The only thing I expect from us when I head down Filbert Way is to see a team trying hard, giving it their all and playing football in a way that the fans can get behind. There's no sense of entitlement that we should finish in the top 6 or any of that business. What I have seen so far from Dean Smith and his team ticks all of the above for me, and if he kept us up with performance similar to Saturday and even the battling second half away at Man City then he will do for me. Very similar in my mind to Pearson in that he is a straight talker, seems to be a very good man manager from his time at both Brentford and Villa, and more importantly surrounds himself with expertise and people he trusts. I don't see why if he did the job and kept us up and we put in some decent performances along the way why he shouldn't have a crack at it in the long term. He will know who he wants to keep and who he doesn't already, so would be ahead of the game with regards to an important transfer window. Just because he isn't a sexy name with a big reputation shouldn't discount him, and for us to think we're a bigger club than him is absolute nonsense. Who would have thought Eddie Howe would be doing so well at Newcastle, they were chasing big names and ended up with him and its worked a treat.

I'm always hesitant to compeltey write off a team, but Southampton seem done for. West Ham upwards I think will he fine, which leaves 2 from 4 between us, Leeds, Everton and Forest. We play 2 of the 3 other clubs in the mix, beat those and pick up odd points here and there, maybe even 35 points will be enough. It just makes those 2 games back to back in essence cup finals and I'm not sure I trust this group to find a way to win big games, as shown by us bottling the top 4 twice. Whoever escapes the drop can consider themselves lucky that there are 3 worse teams as certainly us, Everton and Forest have been dreadful and any other season would be doomed for the drop.

Accept the inevitable relegation, and get Pearson back in next season, only man I trust to completely rebuild a team full of useless, heartless twats who are paid 4 times their actual worth and turn it into a team who the fans can fall in love with again. Did it with us twice, in the process of doing it at Bristol City. Jesse Marsch is literally the worst appointment imaginable. He won't be able to keep us up and has 0 experience of rebuilding a team or any Championship football. Reading what the Leeds fans say about him, he shouldn't be anywhere near this football club. Sack the board, get someone in as DOF who understands football, and if King Power can't fund the club to the level they need to then they can sell up.

What is baffling (but not surprising considering how shoddily we have been ran for the last 2 years) is that in all the articles on his sacking it states there is nobody lined up. This situation has been brewing for months, surely the board should have sounded our targets. If the plan was to give him the Palace game then during the international break they should have had Benitez or whoever lined up ready to take over this morning, not pontificate for the next week or so. We could lose the next 2, be stone bottom of the league and a bit adrift whilst they dick about finding someone we then have Man City away which will be a loss. If that occurs we would likely need 12 points from 7 games to stay up, which I really cannot see happening. As much as the performances on the pitch have been largely down to Rodgers and the players, the mismanagement by Top, Whelan, Rudkin and whoever else have been involved in this will be the reason we get relegated. You could have hot Dyche 2 months ago, Emery 4 months ago, Lopetegui 4 months ago, even bloody Roy Hodgson 2 weeks ago. But they have waited and waited and now it might be too late.

No brainer really to go all out to get Potter. He plays a similar style to Brendan did albeit with more directness. If you look at his spell at Brighton, they were a goalscorer away from European football. Same as Chelsea if you watch their games under him they have created endless chances but been unable to score. He is also flexible formation wise which couldn't be said for Rodgers. He will likely go the 3-5-2 and get Nacho and Vardy playing well together, get Cags back in the fold as the 3rd centre back. It's just if he wants to jump straight back in to a dogfight when he could put his feet up until the summer and see what offers come his way. If we manage to stay up with the caretakers in charge, all of a sudden we're much less of a gamble for him. But he is the best long term option, and if we can get him in charge for next Saturday then get it done, don't **** about assessing options, we haven't got time for indecision after wasting the international break when we should have binned him.

It will be a short termer surely followed by a proper replacement in the summer. Benitez the obvious one, then depending on division would like Carrick, Jon Dahl Thomasson or someone of that ilk.

Hollywood script writer wouldn't be able to write our decade if we end up going down.. Deeney Day Piss the League with one of the best teams in Championship history Great escape after being doomed, manager sacked after Thai sex scandal 5000/1 win the Premier League Champions League quarter final Beloved owner dies in a helicopter crash 2 5th Place finishes when we have bottled Champions League Clubs 1st FA Cup win in its history European semi final Relegation and potential financial ruin Even just 2 or 3 of the above things happening in the space of 10 years would be unthinkable, let alone all of them.

Rodgers is here for the season now, think people have just got to accept it. This was the last conceivable window we could have sacked him and got someone in with enough time to change course. Say we lose to Palace Saturday and he is sacked, new bloke unlikely to be in place for Villa on Tuesday and maybe even Bournemouth the following Saturday, both of which are massive games and not sure I want Mike Stowell in charge of those. Then you're looking at a 7 game contract for a manager, as you're not going to get your long term desired new man in that scrambled time frame willing to take on the risk of relegation, so you will be shopping in the bin of Benitez, Allardyce and loads of other crap or stick with a caretaker for the one of the most important run ins in our history. Think as fans we just need to create that seige mentality that we had during the great escape season towards the end, just back the team to the hilt from minute 1 to minute 90, try to allow them to play with confidence rather than nervousness and see where it takes us. As mentioned before ideally we manage to just about stay up and Rodgers is wished all the best and moved on amicably from both parties and we can rip it up and start a compelte fresh.

Today, particularly 2nd half we were pretty decent. All in all a decent point against a side in good form and have a terrific home record. If we play like that for the remainder we will be okay, however I have said that a few times this season for it to be followed by false dawns and shite runs. Again though his subs baffle me. Mendy should be ahead of both Ndidi and Soumare currently. Vardy for Daka is pretty unimaginative and not going to change the game, and Praet is so limited I would rather play Tete who has been useless since his debut. I think the point and performance sadly has kept him in a job, I think with the international break upcoming a defeat and us dropping into the bottom 3 would have forced Top into action, give him time to get a replacement in and get some coaching into the players for the run in. Which to my mind means he is here til the end of the season. Sackings with less than 10 games to go almost always result in failure. If we had acted when we should have we could have got Emery/Lopetegui or even Dyche to give us a better chance of survival. If we pull the trigger we're going to shopping in the bargain bin and will likely end up with Benitez. I'm still firmly Rodgers out, but it's not happening so as fans reckon our best chance of survival is to get behind the players and be as positive as possible, whilst almost ignoring Rodgers. Ideal situation is he keeps us in by the skin of our teeth, gets offered another job/mutually agree to part ways and we can have a proper rebuild. Hopefully Boro blow up in the play offs and we can steal Carrick from them as his results and style have play have been fantastic.

Was thinking about this last night, and what annoys me potentially most above all of his bullshit is the lack of match preparation against the opposition. Chelsea play without a centre forward, have done all year, with Havertz, Mudryk, Felix or whoever dropping into midfield to pick up the ball. There seemed to be no plan as to whether the centre backs followed them tight or let them to collect the ball and drop deep. On occasion Faes went tight, others he didn't, Souttar half did the same but was too slow to do it which contributed to their 1st goal which was chalked off. I'm a very average centre back playing at a very average level on a Saturday afternoon, and within 5 minutes I decide whether the forward is likely to drop in or run behind and adjust my game accordingly, so surely the coaching staff who have all week to prepare for a game make that decision for the players. Similarly, Chelsea have looked most vulnerable this season when teams have pressed them high up in the pitch in numbers. Almost the only time we did it, it resulted in a goal, then we hardly do it again for the remainder of the game. One thing that is always said about Rodgers true or otherwise is he is a great coach, but that's not we need right now, we need a manager. Someone who will motivate, inspire and organise rather than doing some fancy drills on the training pitches.

Think it's fairly clear he is going nowhere this season both from his press conferences and the lack of any even rumblings of him being under pressure. Best scenario is we stay up on goal difference but continue to be utter dogshit, and the club and him mutually agree to part ways, hope Boro don't get promoted and get Michael Carrick in.

There was a Rodgers out chant going around back of SK2 after about 88 minutes, some old boy was moaning saying get behind the team or piss off and don't come back, as if this side with 10 men were going to come back from 2 down with 2 minutes to play. People need to seriously wake up and not accept this shite anymore. Players didn't exactly deserve clapping off either, half the blame is at their door as well.

How many left roughly? Hoping can snap up 2 in the 490 bracket at 2pm.

Anyone got the content of this article? Will never pay a penny for a pay wall, particularly of that in the Torygraph.

May have 2 tickets available for this if anyone is interested message me, bought them pissed up then didn't realise it was rail strikes and an early kick off.

Some absolute biased nonsense on here by the way. This is a World Cup not a Mickey Mouse friendly competition handing out token 15 minute caps for fun. He was injured (which was extremely unfortunate for him) for the majority of the group stage and since then rightfully hasn't featured. The subs Southgate made yesterday were the natural back ups in all the positions that were replaced. Whether you agree or not Mount is ahead of Mads in the pecking order in the attacking midfielder role, and Foden, Saka, Rashford, Grealish and Sterling are ahead of him in the wide areas. So it makes sense to give them the last 20 minutes over Maddison, because if say Bellingham pulled up in training day before the game on Saturday it would be Mount starting in that position, so it's more important to keep him fresh rather than dish out sympathy caps. Same with Phillips and Dier coming on yesterday, the natural next men up in their positions so need to keep them ticking over with game time. That's not to say I think Mason Mount is a better player and offers more than Maddison would because I really don't, but that's the current pecking order and isn't going to change midway through the biggest tournament in the world. Also kinda weird that people actively want England to lose on Saturday to be somehow validated for their opinion that Southgate is crap, lucky, boring etc.

Whatever way you slice it this has been a disaster of a window for the club. Losing Fofana and Lookman from last years squad and replacing them with lesser replacements in Faes and Boga when it was clear from both inside and outside the club that a massive overhaul was needed. Added to that losing your #1 and not replacing him means that it's been a cock up of mammoth proportions from the money men. Rodgers has been hung out to dry a bit as the face of it taking all the crap, and the club is sleepwalking towards relegation.