Clever Fox

Football is first and foremost a Community based product as demonstrated by the blocking of the breakaway league. It's time the Government put in place a Reguator to run football and leave the premier league only in charge of Fixtures. It's only since the Premier league breakaway which should have been challenged in the Courts even then that the corruption has got worse.

I think the problem he came as a package with Rogers and Top wanted Rogers in.

What you say makes lots of sense and you're probably right but there's still something missing in the process surely. For instance we develop a home grown team of 11 players, no incomings or outgoings . Yet the cost of those Player Contracts etc increases but we can't Amortize any of it in our accounts. That doesn't seem right either. Surely the league should be striving for a level playing field for all Clubs.

That's 3 things we now have to consider. OH My Brain, My Brain is not able for all this pressure. It was so much easier when we were a little Club.

Where does the increase in Player valuations play a part ? For instance KDH was home grown but is now work say 40 million surely that must offset losses somewhere at least on paper. Surely Squad Value must come into it at some point.

I hear what you're saying, though I think you may be missing my point. I remember reading this somewhere, in Law you cant be forced or instructed, by Contract or otherwise to make your circumstances worse off financially by the actions of others. I'm sure some of the Legal heads on here might be able to throw some light on it.

Because they are the ultimate arbutractors. Certainly Top is. He has the power to make any decision as Chairman of the Club. Top wanted Rogers for a longtime and backed him 100% to our detriment. Rudkin stood by and allowed it to happen. I guess it's a case of the boss is always right. You have to divide it into two sections. There's the Running of the Club and there's the management of the Team. They did'nt back him they let him down by not getting in the players he wanted signed in the Summer. What we got was essentially inexperienced loans and Coady at a modest fee. The rest were Rogers Squad but that's all he had to work with. Think of it another way. If you wanted a nice Cabinet made by a Cabinet maker would you expect him to make it with Blunt Tools. No you would'nt, but thats what Enzo has been asked to do. He's had 2 weeks pre season to work with a squad of roughly 15 players as the rest are surplus to requirements for various reasons. Yet the Team has done remarkably well until recently. Don't you think that's down to Enzo and his staff and the players. He's working with effectively one had tied behind his Back. When injuries came as they lways do in such a long season he's had do by playing inexperienced players out of position. That's not his fault that where the Club have let him down badly. That's what makes our achievement todate so amazing. Tactics and systems play a part but you also need the players to be able to play within that system. We don't really have that. Our lack of pace at the back is just one example. Yes he has to pick the players up and get them performing again that's part of his job. It would be great if he had a squad of 25 talented players to choose from. But he doesn't. So he has to hope that any young players he brings on perform on the day. That's a lot of responsibility to put on a young player who's finding his way. Otherwise he's picking from a squad of 15 that he trusts and some of them are suffering from burnout. I can see it in their performances compared to early season. As I've said earlier I think we'll just about make it, But the winning line cant come quickly enough for us. I've seen many Mangers come and go over the years and I'd put Enzo right up there with Pearson and a few others as the best. If he does get us promoted, That will be a remarkable achievement given the limited resources he's had to work with. With all that's going on off the field with the Club I hope he stays for a few more years. Because with the support and financial backing from the Club I feel he can take us back to the top. Given the chance to sign his own Players and buiild his own team I'm certain he can take us back to the top of the Premier league. From there anything is possible.

Yes, But did we break them knowing they were stupid rules and uninforcable. For instance Forest had a very legitmate reason for defering the sale of a player until the Summer. Legally you're are entitled to protect your Assets and not be forced to under value sell them. The Rules seem like they were written on a Knapkin over a Coffee and not fit for purpose.

I'd say Brendan sold Top a crock of shit that if we made these signings he'd avoid Relegation. Top in his naivity believed him. Then when you couple that with not being able to remove the finge players left us with unsustainable costs and a third of the Squad full of players surplus to requirements. Had we been able to move them on the income would have kept us within FFP rules. We lost out on Champions league because of Brendans refusal to replace Ulloa with someone similar. A proper CF would have got us the few goals we needed to qualify for CL. Just as a proper CF would help get us the few results we now need for promotion guaranteed. That's how small the margin is. Top is inexperienced in Professional Football but he's also been poorly advised by Rudkin as DOF. who's also learning on the job. The smartest thing Top could do now is bring Pearson in as DOF. He's knows the game well, Has the Contacts. Is respected by Players and doesn't suffer Fools. Vichai was clearly a very sussful business man and credit to him, he brought Pearson back recognising he made a mistake in sacking him. I doubt it will happen though. Top will need to learn fast or we could end up in Div two.

No, There's a big difference Rogers proved incompetant, he had the full backing From the Board. Enzo hasn't had that yet and he certainly hasn't proved himself incompetant. Not yet anyway.

Top and Rudkin

No it isn't down to Enzo. He's been badly let down by others.

You can trace all this back to the Accident. That was the worst thing that could ever have happened to the Club. Instead of a single Owner making key decisions we now have a Board calling the shots with Top holding the Reins. Tops support and loyalty to Rogers has cost us dearly. A mistake his Father I doubt would have made.

I think the change of rules is more to align them maybe with a few tweaks so as they can act regardless of what league you are in.

This is exactly it from what I read a while ago. The Prem rules and EFL rules atr not aligned which seems stupid on somebody's behalf. I think if i remember it right the Prem were looking for financial info which we claimed they wer'nt entitled to, As we're not a Prem Club anymore. It went to legal arbitration and we won the case on the grounds I've stated above. I'm sure we rightly pissed off the Premiership and they wan't revenge against us.

Yes the book stops with him with regards to results. But he's had to work with restraints since he came in. Firstly he was appointed late with little time to work with the players, yet he managed to hit the ground running which is to his credit. He's also had to work with someone else's squad and a few loan players due to the missmanagement by Rogers. In short he's having to clean up someone else's mess. We were planning on bribging in a few players in January but due to the finances he was limited to one who we badly needed as has been proven. Yes injuries happen at all Clubs but he's also having to work with a reduced squad due to the number of players who we could'nt move on in the Summer. Good Managers do find a way to adapt that doesn't mean they should change their beliefs. His system has brought us to where we are which proves the system works. What's changed is Key players getting injured and his ability to replace them with someone equally as good. While also having to continue to play certain players when clearly a rest might have served them and us better. You're right I don't expect to see him change the system overall but I would like to see him go a little more direct especially when we're losing by using one of the big guys up top. Something that's proved very effective for us in years gone by with Walsh and Elliott going up top and rescuing games for us. If it does unravel I certainly would'nt blame him for the reasons mentioned above. I would blame Top and Rudkin for failing him badly and I'd bet he was sold a rosy and brighter picture of how things really are at the Club. I'd bet he wasn't told we'd little or no money to spend. To have us top of the League with 9 games to go is a remarkable achievement by Enzo. I don't think we'll fail to get promoted but if we do fail then the blame clearly lies elsewhere.

Even our great Nigel had to admit his sytem wasnt working and changed it to pull off the great escape. It doesn't have to mean abandoning the principle, it just means presently results are more important than the system for now. Ranieri came in and tweaked Nigel's system to great success and we won the league. I just hope we don't unravel during the run in because Enzo will get the blame and he doesn't deserve that.

I think Wes only scored once maybe twice going forward plus he was as slow as the Titanic in turning. But seriously, We need to do something different if things are not going to plan. Instead of just letting time run out with the same Subs coming on and delivering very little.

Someone should show him a few of our famous videos of Walshy and even Elliott going up top and getting results. The only thing that matters is the result, not the How we achieved it.

What we've been doing clearly hasn't been working lately so we need to try something different. As we don't have the options within the squad this to me is the next best thing. With Vardy or Kelechi providing the support role along with KDH capitalizing on winning the knock downs in and around the Box.

They can have 6 Points the same as Everton if that's there wish.

If it's not going to plan first half , I'd get Albrighton on the Wing with Vesty or Soutter up top and just keep hitting him with plenty of crosses. It's bound to cause plenty of panic in defenses and lead to goals, Which is exactly what we need in games to win.

I've every faith in Enzo, Though to play his defensive system with continued success you need players who are quick runners to cover the spaces. That sadly is something we dont have. Putting extra numbers back there usually ends in getting in each others way as well as reducing out attacking threat. There's nothing wrong with going long at times especially if defenders leave space in behind. But you also need someone who can hold the ball up top too. That's been our problem for a few seasons now and why Rodgers also failed by not signing a proper CF. ( old style CF ) If I were Enzo I'd be trying out Coady and Vesty up top in training and see who offers more and the other plays CB. Then I'd play one up top just to win the Ball and create for others. Vardy or Kelechi or Cannon. seem the most suited to playing the support role. That to me is about the only thing different we haven't tried which I understand, but we're at the business end of the league now where results are cructial to have success. I don't care how crude it might look if it works. it's all about points now. Then revert back to the plan in the Summer with more suitable personnel signed who have pace as well as ability.

This is largely a Pearson team we're playing against, They're no mugs, it will be tight enough I expect, I just hope we come out on top.

He was one of our best players when he was here too. Such an intelligent player. Though he must have slowed down a lot with all his injuries.