Claudio Fannieri

We have looked so much better last couple of games, we have a decent manager / coach just hope we can back him to rebuild with some clever recruitment and progression of our academy talents. Man City are a shadow of the team they were but we outplayed them for large parts and could / should have got at least a point if not all 3. This is not on the manager, this is on the dog muck recruitment or lack of buying decent defenders. That is pretty much a championship level defence, with little or no other viable options/alternatives. Shockingly poor.

What the hell was VK doing with that goal flying in and allowing himself to be turned by McAtee, basic schoolboy error for everyone vilifying JJ for the goaps we concede, VK is as equally poor. How we can spend over £70m this summer and not look to strengthen at Full back beggars belief.

In possession we have looked pretty accomplished and have played through Man City with ease, however out of possession we are weak, Bilal has been unreal what a talent, so composed and clever in possession, how Cooper thought he should be a bench warmer is absolutely baffling. Facundo is quite frustrating, regularly makes the wrong decision which causes us to lose possession, I too would like to see Alves in his role. We are desperate for a RB, LB as we are so exposed in both full back positions. Soumare is an absolute enigma, brilliant in one moment and horrifically lax the very next.

Stolrcyrk could have pushed it wider but lack of challenge on Foden who was allowed a free hit of a shot from distance and then the lack of following in from our defence was criminal. We have been so poor out of possession this season.

Couldn’t agree more, we cry and moan about PSR and how it stunted our ability to compete, yes of course it places some manners around what we can spend but when you spunk the best part of £80m on Daka, Soumare, Praet and Ward, and shell out over £250k per week in wages on the likes of Daka, Soumare, Ward and Choudhury then we as a club have to look ourselves squarely in the eyes and stop trying to play the victim and accept it isn’t PSR that fecked us over it is piss poor decision making and have we learned our lesson, no have we frig as this summer we have thrown multi year contracts and big wages to players like Ayew, BDCR and shelled out big money for Skipp.

That opportunity in the 2nd half summed up his time here, a chance to score and he somehow managed to barely connect and somehow hit it behind him as some sort of scuffed clearance. We need to cut our losses, I really cannot see him coming good and being consistent, he will have the odd game or moments where he shows what he is capable of but sadly it’s too little and too often and for an outlay of +£20m and £70-80k a week in wages it’s just not value for money. oh and if IIRC he was on £7k a week at Salzburg and Rudkin offered a long term contract of circa 10 times that to secure his services when we could have probably got him for less than half that amount, if that isn’t negligent then what is

I would welcome Cags back with open arms to replace Faes and we would be stronger straight away.

Spot on, Jakub showed last night he is more than capable of stepping up and it not hurting us, so if there is an opportunity to cash in for ridiculous money then we should take it in January especially as in the summer following relegation it will knock a hefty wedge off the potential transfer fee as we saw with Madders and Barnes.

We need a RB, LB, CB, CM, a versatile wide player who can cover both sides and a striker ………. absolutely no way we address all those issues in one winter transfer window and also shows what a shitshow of a summer window we had, spending £70m and failing to address so many issues. We will also need to shift on 3 or 4 as well, can’t see it happening, however would not be shocked in the slightest if we sell Mads to generate PSR wriggle room especially now Jakub is back.

Superb post and absolutely nails the abject decision making of the last 5 or so seasons.

I have said before and will say it again, don’t boo players like Ward, Thomas, Soumare, Daka et al but direct it at Rudkin and crew who have made decisions that have seen us fall from FA Cup winners and just missing out on champions league football with a great squad of players, lots of potential and a number of saleable assets to relegation within 2 years and to now a club that has no recognisable strategy or direction, a scattergun approach to both managerial and player recruitment whilst throwing large wages and lengthy contracts to mediocre squad fillers, effectively stifling the development of any talented academy prospects and therefore restricting the pathway to the first team. We have gone from being the envy of every club outside the big 6 to now looking on in envy at the likes of Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham etc who have continued to be progressive and innovative and as a consequence have moved light years ahead of us whilst we have just refused to accept that you have to move with the times. We have people in charge who are more interested in self preservation than the best interests of the club, afraid to step out of their comfort zones or challenge the ways and methods as it might expose their limitations. It is with a mix of sadness, anger and frustration that we continue to watch on and witness the dismantling and destruction of what was our golden era and the opportunity to put in place long term foundations that could have delivered long term financial and football stability, instead we are now heading back to join the Middlesbrough’s, Stoke, Derby, Sheffield Wednesdays, Norwich, West Brom’s of this world bumbling around the championship bemoaning what could and should have been, what makes it harder is we were in such a great position and absolute shambolic decision making has made what seemed highly unlikely to happen into reality and in such a short space of time, it’s absolutely criminal and yet no one has been held to account.

I think if we could retain the right senior pros then we could have more than a decent enough squad to compete and start a new era, a handful of reasonable additions and a young hungry coach happy to work with young players and we could still be a force in the championship. But would also mean our DoF would have to work overtime to move on the deadwood such as Ayew, BDCR, Hamza, VK & Daka, Faes, Soumare, Souttar and cut our losses with players such as Wilf and Ricardo where injuries have taken their toll. However most if not all will have relatively low PSR book values so should be in a position where we can move them on for sensible prices and be able to show a small profit or at least mitigate the need to show a loss. I have assumed that Mads, Bilal and Abdul would go as premier league clubs would see these as attractive options and would hopefully mitigate any PSR breach risk. The basis of my squad would be Goalkeepers Stolarcryk New Signing (back up) Bausor as 3rd choice Right Back James Justin Brandon Cover or Jayden Jospeh Defenders Vestergaard or Coady Nelson Okoli New Signing promote Godsmark-Ford or Wilson- Brown from academy Left Back New Signing New Signing Midfielders Winks Skipp Cartwright Braybrooke Ewing Briggs New signing Wingers Mavididi McAteer Alves Monga Wanya Strikers Vardy Cannon New Signing I am not saying we would win the championship but that squad should have enough to be competitive especially if we can bring in 4/5 really promising players with high ceilings and another one or two astute signings to supplement the more experienced players.

Sums up everything that is wrong with the club and the mentality/culture that has developed by rewarding squad fillers extortionate long term contracts, literally making multi millionaires out of rank average players who barely play a minute in anger but also don’t want to move away from the Leicester City bosom where it’s far too comfortable . Just a few who have hung around unwilling or unable to shift over last 2/3 years, despite barely playing. Ward Iversen Thomas Choudhury Soumare Daka Praet To a degree you could also add Coady, Kelechi & Souttar to the list given last season they were bit part players at best. 10 players who have picked up massive wages over the last 2/3 seasons and contributed very little over the time. Criminal mismanagement.

Reality is they may want to destroy us but there are restrictions and caps as to the punishment they can impose. If we aren’t in administration then they can’t hurt us that much, that it would lead to an inevitable relegation however it could seriously derail our chances of going straight back up. if we are in the proverbial doo doo then it just casts more shade on the decision makers at the club who thought it was a good idea to hire an absolute duffer in Cooper to undo all the coaching of the last 12 months and spaff £70m on muck like Skipp, Ayew, BDCR and pals, all of which barring Fatawu and Facu have done little to improve the starting XI. The decision making over the last 4/5 years for the majority of the time has been incompetence of the highest order and whilst each and everyone of them lapped up the successes they also have to accept responsibility for our demise, the collapse and mismanagement is something to truly behold and yet not one of them has paid the price for their ineptitude, our football and non football operations are appalling. We need a massive clear out and start again, retain a handful of existing squad to provide experience and guidance and build a new squad harnessing the talents of the academy and whilst it may be a long journey ahead, we need to create a new generation, identity and culture.

Could have been a lot lot worse, reality is our recruitment has been horrible and the squad options are heinous, we are hideous in both full back positions with a lack of viable options, we have 2 goalkeepers hanging around who should have left the club, last summer when deemed surplus to requirements, we have 4 central defenders all of which are in and around similar levels and arguably all not of the required quality to be 1st choice. move into midfield, and it’s a similar story, Soumare a player we have been trying to shift for 3 summers, £20m + spent on a player who is nothing more than a bench warmer, Choudhury who again has been nothing more than a squad filler for 3/4 years and is nowhere near championship level starting midfielder let alone a bench option for a premier league side. Out wide again our options are Mavididi and McAteer who are inconsistent at this level, with an aging Ayew and BDCR as alternatives. Then look at our striking options Daka a player we have been waiting to come good for 3 seasons and Edouard a panic deadline day signing who has barely broke a sweat since joining the club. Our inability to recruit effectively and efficiently is killing us, we keep stockpiling mediocrity and not being able to shift deadwood is absolutely killing us, make no mistake the club needs a massive revamp. No point having champagne aspirations on how you want to play, hiring a manager to play that way but then purchase/retain lemonade players.

Sorry pal but Choudhury is a liability in his natural position let alone playing at right back against the best team in Europe. We desperately need Ricardo back or a new right back but the sad indictment of our club and squad his he is our best and only viable option at Right back.

Body blow to concede right on half time but we have been pretty good and that is a decent performance where we have looked dangerous. Going to be a really tough 45 minutes to but if we can regroup and hit them again on the counter then we could take something out of this game. All in all impressed by that 45 minutes.

Who do you pick instead?

I do wonder if Brighton are recalling Facundo

Merry Christmas everyone have a wonderful day with family and friends

Funny thing is rather than focusing the boos and vitriol towards players like Ward and Justin, perhaps direct them at the person/people responsible for creating a culture where players are rewarded with long term contracts and extortionate wages which do not reflect their achievements, in the case of Ward and Hamza, both of whom are clearly a mile off the required standard they were offered new long term contract extensions, in Hamza’s case on ridiculous money. We need to be ruthless, if player is not performing inside 2 years we cut our losses and move them on, that goes for the former academy prospects like Hamza, Iversen and Thomas instead of stockpiling average players with little hunger or desire. We have allowed players to get too comfortable there is zero ambition to get out playing, they are millionaires happy to drift along at what can only be deemed a glorified holiday camp to some and our board don’t have the ruthlessness to move people on, instead they facilitate it and have destroyed the fearless culture and ambition to disrupt the big six. We need to rip it up and start again, our blue print has to be looking for young ambitious managers, innovative in our recruitment of players and be courageous with our academy prospects, give them a pathway if they are good enough use them or get them out on loan, if they are not then move them on. Let’s get back to recruiting players with a high ceiling and opportunity to sell on to elite clubs, make a major sale each summer and reinvest, we showed glimpses of this under Enzo last year but sadly this is no longer the norm and at the moment we are an absolute basket case. For me it starts with Rudkin, get rid and bring in an experienced ambitious DoF who can create the culture and blueprint and is a skilled operator in moving on our deadwood.

Brilliant article and really does capture how badly run we are as a club. Got to be honest I have been holding back on going all in on the club but too be honest the final straw for me was when i completed one of my runs for Prostate Cancer at the KP at the end of October. Firstly I just want to praise Jay the fan engagement executive who was first class and made it all happen, absolutely great guy and brilliant representative of the club, however after that it was pretty disappointing, initially the club had drawn up a social media post to help draw attention and additional support which was due to be run a couple of days later (Halloween) I even had to confirm back I was happy with the content, only to be notified on the day that it had been dropped by someone above, given the cause, the opportunity to raise awareness of a disease that can impact 75% of our Matchday support and that it was a football related fundraising event with one of their supporters top of the fundraising table was a massive own goal and also a right old kick in the nuts. The truth is there are some great people at the club real salt of the earth, however the decision makers continue to disconnect the club from its fanbase with moronic decision after moronic decision, whether in my case the above or the sponsorship fiasco, membership and season tickets, or appointing Cooper there is no end to the utter distain the seniors of the club hold us fans.

A lot of managers and coaches meet whilst doing coaching qualifications, there is a good chance they could have ended up on the same course and hit it off.

Absolutely spot on the reality is at best we will probably bring in 2/3 players so he can ill afford to go wading in on a group of players publicly and run the risk of alienating himself from the squad. That doesn’t necessarily mean behind closed doors he is not having honest and frank conversations about expectations and what he wants from the players but perhaps in a more constructive approach.

Very highly thought of, this is actually a very good appointment, has been linked with a few Championship and League one managers jobs over the past year or so.