Detroit Blues

Yeah. I think that is the case. Large portion of the support never took to him, or his style of play even when his team was winning. Disastrous financial situation behind the scenes including an inability to strengthen the squad in January. Now the results are not going his way and he is straight up not having a good time

If you look at our XG since Middlesborough, it has basically been a perfect storm of underperforming and bad luck. We've created an avg xG of 1.5 (down 0.4 xG from the prior 31 league games). This should be the main criticism against Enzo - the team is creating fewer chances. Yet the players do have a lot of blame to share. The team has been brutally bad in front of goal. in the last 10 games, we've only scored 11 goals, when we were expected to score 15. However, we've actually given up fewer chances in the last 10 games with an avg xGA of 0.84 (1.0 from the prior 31 league games). Yet that has not materialized on the pitch either, because we've actually conceded 13 goals when we were expected to concede only 8 or 9. Is that bad goalkeeping? Bad defense? Bad Luck? I don't know, probably a little bit of all 3. Just to wrap it all up - over the last 10 games, stats say we should have been winning on avg by 0.7 goals per game. Instead we've actually lost by 0.2, a total difference of 0.9 goals per game actual vs expected. I agree that the main focus needs to be on finding the right players who will score goals. We cannot rely entirely on a winger and a box to box midfielder to score goals.

I mean, yes we can't change the full starting 11. But if you look at our bench, we have 4-5 guys on any particular match that would start for the opposition. I think that's how much rotation I would expect given the fixture congestion. Anything less and you're just saying you don't trust your squad.

That is fair. I just think there's not a big drop off in some of the key areas we'd rotate. If there's not a sizable difference between the players (for example LB, striker, etc.) then why not just play the fresher guy?

We have the deepest squad in the league. To not rotate some of the squad would be very disappointing. We should take advantage of our depth of quality and be more well rested than our competitors when it comes down to the wire.

If i were him, i would be looking for the exits after this season no matter the outcome. What's the most optimistic outcome? We claw our way to promotion, go into the summer transfer window with dark clouds hanging over our heads financially, have to sell KDH and other key assets, cannot improve the team in any meaningful way and then have to compete with a worse squad in the Premier League? Toxic fan atmosphere even when we were successful in the championship because people haven't bought into his style of play, and then he wont even be able to field a team capable of playing that style against superior competition in the Prem. He'd be the favorite to be sacked by the bookmakers, and that's if Top even has the money to fire him and hire a replacement. If i were him, I would mutually agree to part ways and void the rest of his contract. Look for a new job, hopefully on the back of a successful promotion campaign when his stock is still pretty high.

Luxury Tax is the financial mechanism for this sort of problem in Major League Baseball. In this system, teams spending over a certain limit on player wages pay a marginal tax on every dollar spent over the limit into a pot. In 2023, 8/30 teams qualified to pay luxury tax, in the total sum of $210M. The fund is then split up to pay for player benefits, player retirement funds, and revenue sharing for the poorer/smaller market teams. In the states, it is a controversial practice because it in theory allows teams to overpay for players, creating an unequal playing field where the rich teams (LA Dodgers, NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox, etc.) pay more in luxury tax than some teams pay for their entire squad. Last year, the Dodgers essentially spent $1B on signing two of the best players in the sport. In a way, it is similar to how the Premier League currently operates. The determining factor for how much you are legally allowed to spend on players is dictated on revenue. Unlike all other American Professional sports (NFL, the NBA, etc.) there is no salary cap (maximum teams can spend on players), and there is no salary floor (a minimum investment teams must make on players). Some small market teams take the cash from the TV deal and revenue sharing, and are content fielding terrible teams that do not compete, but net a profit each year. Luckily for the Premier League, relegation would serve to stop this practice. However, at the top level, moving to a luxury tax would allow any team to spend whatever they want on player wages/transfers. In a way, you could argue this is already happening, and teams like Man City and Chelsea just use legal methods to stop any potential punishment. At least with a luxury tax, they will be forced to pay the other 14 clubs they are depriving of a competitive landscape. My personal, totally unbiased opinion, is that this is a step in the right direction. The PSR rules are creating feedback loops where teams that overspend or underachieve end up with points deductions which cause them to fall into a relegation death spiral (see Leicester, Everton, Forest, etc.). This has done nothing to stop big clubs from creating an uncompetitive, entrenched oligarchy where on the basis of higher revenue and better lawyers they can get away with doing whatever they want without fear of reprisal. At least with a luxury tax, the 14 other clubs in the PL will have more parity via revenue sharing.

We've investigated ourselves and determined we did nothing wrong.

Nothing makes more sense than fining a club for being broke

I think we absolutely need to get promoted for 2 reasons: #1 - We are getting a points deduction regardless of which league we are in. We will also have to sell many of our key assets. We are better off getting relegated next year from the premier league than getting relegated from the championship. #2 - We will still make more revenue as a premier league club, finishing dead last, than we will as a mid to low table championship team. We need money to ensure we are in a better position come trying to get out of the championship in 2025-2026.

So take that point to its natural conclusion. This thread is about sacking the manager. You are saying most managers don't make a difference (supporting my argument), so what benefit is there to sacking Enzo? We're not going to going the rare, truly impactful manager with 8 matches to go in the championship season. Even if we could, for them to have an impact we would have had to line it up at the beginning of the international break so they could change the tactics. Or would you bring someone else in to just coach Enzo's system better than Enzo? It doesn't make any sense. At the end of the day, we are stuck with the players we have. They are the ones that are going to decide whether or not we get promoted. If you want to pull the sack the manager and pray for the dead cat bounce, so be it, but I don't think that's the way to run a large organization that desperately needs to succeed. If you thought Enzo was the guy last week, what from the Bristol game changed your mind?

I'm not saying managers have no effect. I'm saying the effect they have is greatly exaggerated for the media's sake. It makes for a better narrative to be argued about by fans and pundits. The strongest correlation to league finishing position is player wages. Teams with higher wages generally have better players, and having better players translates into having more on field success. 5 of the top 6 teams in the championship are in the top 5 of player wages (because of parachute payments). I don't think that's coincidental. I know it's silly but I think the people kicking the ball should probably be the first ones we praise or criticize. I don't think we lost because Enzo was out managed by Liam Manning. I think we lost because we created 4 big chances and converted 0 of them into goals.

My thinking is - if the team really was unmotivated or lacking in belief then we wouldn't have created the chances. We did that, but we lacked the quality to put the chances away. I think that's on the players. I generally think managers get too much credit for winning or losing, when 9 times out of ten, the team with the better players generally win. I think not often enough are we willing to just place the blame firmly at the players feet. So perhaps I am just biased. I don't see this as a Rodgers situation. My preference is to keep Enzo and pray that he plays Coady over Faes. I think letting him go sends the wrong message and does not benefit us in the long term. If we were going to sack Enzo and try another system, we should have done it before the international break.

Y'all are crazy. Enzo's system has created chances and in the games we've lost, we just haven't finished them. Think about that Leeds game. Today we have 2 expected goals and score 0. That Enzo's fault? We're one win from our game in hand from being first in the league and there's actual calls for him to be sacked, ridiculous. It just shows how little fans have bought into this system and how little chance it ever had of succeeding.

Congrats my dude. From like 0-12 months, they're basically a temperamental potato. The big difference in travel is how much stuff you need to bring everywhere. Think of all the stuff you and your partner take on vacation, now double that. That is about how much stuff you'll be traveling with. For that reason, and others, we found traveling in a car to be much easier than flying. So your options are more limited on where to go, but the plus side is they are actually easier to manage than when they get older. You can very easily take them into a restaurant, a brewery, a beach, etc. and just chill. Sure, the baby will have an occasional meltdown, but they'd be having that at home too. Once they start crawling, walking and voicing an opinion, your vacation becomes their vacation. You plan everything around when they need to eat and when they need to slept. Most of the stuff you will be doing is related to their interests. Staying at Airbnb type places is vastly preferred to hotels because after they go to bed in one room, you and the missus have the rest of the house. Bring back some beer/wine, sit out on the patio or in the garden, and enjoy yourselves. They are still going to wake you up at the ass crack of dawn, but you can definitely have more fun then being trapped in a hotel room from 7pm-6am. Being a parent is hard, but my son is about to turn 4 and he's an absolute blast to be around... most of the time

What a horrible tragedy. Imagine driving on a bridge at night that suddenly collapses, plunging your vehicle hundreds of feet into icy black water. I can't imagine there's any survivors.

I don't think they've been good of late, but i would rather have Vesty despite his glacial pace because of his skill on the ball. You either need him or Nelson to break the press and split lines, and Coady or Faes to organize defensively and mop up. My personal preference would be Vesty and Coady, but i fully expect it to be Vesty and Faes.

Exactly. What is the point of entering the competition if you're not going to go for it in the quarterfinals? It's not like we are going up against Man City or Liverpool. It's a mid table PL team, barely better than the Bournemouth team we've already beaten. Why not go for it? This is a chance to do something special. Push the chips all in.

I mean, that's clearly what the richest clubs want. They don't want competition from upstart clubs. They don't want revenue sharing with the other premier league teams or the lower divisions. They want to entrench themselves into a position where they hold all the money and power. Unfortunately, FFP has played right into their hands. We have made it impossible for teams like Leicester, Brighton, etc. to upset the old money clubs because we can't invest in players (via transfers or wages) on a long term, consistent basis to get to a place where we have consistent access to UEFA revenue streams which would then help offset the cost of those investments. The second you have a bad season, you make less revenue which means you have to cut player wages and sell players at below market prices to comply with FFP. Sometimes you can do that and still end up with a points deduction. Either way, the reduction in player talent and/or points will cause you to finish lower in the table the following season and make less money, which then makes it harder to comply with FFP the following season. You get stuck in a cycle of downsizing to the point where you are battling relegation. If you do get relegated, your wage structure is completely out whack with EFL guidelines, and the cycle continues. The FFP death spiral. Even if Leicester makes it back to the premier league, we won't have money to spend to ensure our survival, and we might even start the season with negative points. Almost ensuring that we go back down, and make less money in the process.

I am not sure if Leicester specifically do this, but many other leagues/clubs have let AI auto-generate the highlights packages to save on the cost of putting it together, and maximize ad revenue generated on youtube.

How would that be any different than it has been all season?

We also would have accepted:

Yeah, a lot of overreaction. All we need to do is to start finish our chances slightly better, and these games will start to be won comfortably, again. We're going to be fine.

We need to keep the pressure up and get 2-3 more goals. We've completely dominated this game.

Isn't this Leicester in a nutshell. Immaculate play and many good chances created, but it takes perfection to score. On the other end, our opposition get like 2 half chances and they inevitably take the odd bounce and end up finding its way into the net.