JJD_LCFC

Reports pretty much say we will get 9-10 million for Maresca and his technical staff. Personally I think it is good business. I think the way Enzo plays requires a high level of technical ability and tactical understanding from all players. We will not have that in the premier league. I thought we would be similar to Burnley and play possession football but ultimately get relegated. For now, we need a manager who can keep us in the premier league and set us up to do so. Does not have to be an exciting name but someone who will get the best out of the players that we have. We still have a reasonable squad who are more than capable of finishing outside of the relegation places. We saw the consequences of keeping Rodgers for so long when he clearly did not want to be here, Enzo seemed to feel different post January transfer window, and ultimately we will be in a better position because of this. Frustrating now, but in the long run arguably better off.

His composure in front of goal was excellent this season. But is he a 1 season wonder like a Michu (Swansea) or is he into his peak years as a player. Anything around 10 million I would be ok with as I think he has something our team need. If closer to 20 million I would hope we use our scouts to source alternative options.

Fatawu on a permeant contract. For 14.5million, personally I think that is a bargain. Priority we sign him. I would be working on this now. Gus Hamer from Sheffield United. One of the best midfielders whilst at Coventry and I think he will be ideal as a CM for us, in a team who have a bit more possession than Sheffield United Hackney at Middlesborough, I also think impressed and has potential to play DM + CM. I think we will need options in CM this season. Ronnie Edwards from Peterborough at CB. He may be playing in League one but has vast potential. Trust the scouting department to find a number 9 and a winger to provide rotation / competition for Mavididi and Fatawu. My only goess would be Smozdics at Blackburn, if he plays Striker he will be worth a look. Looks very composed in front of goal and I think he could be the finisher that we need. But I hope the scouts have far better knowledge than my own limited viewpoint. Retain Ndidi, Vardy and dare I say Vestegaard if wages can be agreeable. I think all will play a huge part next season. Vestegaard was a different player this season and I have to admit my mistake in writing him off so soon in the premier league.

Fully agreed and no surprise at all it is Hamza. Technically extremely limited. May be quick and likes to tackle but that is it. He has had more issues than positives in the club. - Caught at a party during Covid which cost us 4th in the league. Maddison, Perez and Hamza dropped from the West Ham away game. Lost the game and 4th place - As of February police quite rightly involved in a drink driving incident when he was caught driving on the wrong side of the road Continually sets a dreadful example and what does Enzo do to set a precedent of indiscipline is make him captain numerous times, and then the board offer him a new deal. Forgetting 18 months ago only Watford were interested to take him on loan at a loss on his wages.

Certainly agree the football has been good when all players are fit and what we get with Enzo is this, Enzoball. But this is my issue with the modern day coaches. Why do they persist to play a certain way even though they have not got the players? Surely the job of the coach is to get the best out of the players available. We were relegated as Rodgers refused to play any other style as his own philosophy is to play out. In theory sounds great but with Ward, Thomas, Amartey, Ndidi etc we were our own worst enemy. Look at Burnley, they have to play out but have not got the players to do so. Dyche gets a lot of criticism but he kept Burnley up for years spending less than Kompany did in one transfer window. It seems that modern day coaches can only coach 1 style of play. When Ricardo and Ndidi are injured, there has to be a better option than just replace with 2 other players and expect them to do the same job. I would expect a decent coach to be able to recognise this and put our strongest team out playing in a way that benefits and not hinders them. We have lost an 8-13 point lead in 1 month due to injuries and persisting with this style of play. Enzo mentioned he plays this style as it is supposed to tire the opposition, yet we are the ones who look shattered after 75 minutes and is why we concede so many late goals. But nothing changes. We have dropped 13 points in the last 15 minutes and there has not been any indication to address this. It was the same with Rodgers defending corners. It got so bad that as fans we would cheer when we did not concede a goal from a corner.

That is correct and I certainly agree with you that fans have been misled. The premier league have attempted to maintain the monopoly of the top 6. Ever since the proposed Super League every decision has been to benefit those, If we look at the following rule changes I fail to see where any of them benefit clubs outside of the top 6: - - VAR - We were told only for clear and obvious error. Referees always favour the big sides but VAR proves this. Most incorrect decisions are always against the lesser reputable club in games. Wolves, Brighton, Nottingham Forest and ourselves last year all had numerous terrible calls against us. Pundits will say it evens itself out but it doesn't help the lower positioned teams. - 5 subs per game (Only helps the teams with the larger and more talented squads) - Additional stoppage time (Can be up to 10 minutes. more time for the sides to score) - No tackling / more red cards (I agree with player safety but stops the lesser positioned teams tackling / defending against the better players in fear of sent off) - FFP (Look at Newcastle, clubs can not even spend money to compete. Newcastle have 1 good year now need to sell prized assets to balance the books. They have no chance to overtake current top 4) - 5th place is going to be champions league shortly. Where will this stop. This will be up to 6 teams in the next decade as they bring in more money.

Yes, I have lived here for 3 and a half years now. This was our training session Friday morning. Coach for a team called Mount Pleasant Academy. Hope all is well,

Thank you for your comment and never an issue to disagree. That is why we are on a forum so we can discuss differing opinions. (I hope we see this more ) My personal opinion, due to FFP being introduced is that all clubs have to make sure they stay within the set parameters. If you spend above that then there should be a consequence. Otherwise bringing FFP is pointless. The 115 charges for Man City are not all related to losses, but Everton and Forest both were due to breaking the rules of FFP. According to reports, Forest would have stayed within the limits if they sold Brennan Johnson by the deadline. However they got 15 million more to sell on deadline day. It's not easy for the clubs as everyone would have taken the extra 15 million. But then they broke the rules and deadline set by FFP. We have apparently overspent and will be the next club to be charged. If we broke the rules we should get the same punishment. All I will say it that as FFP is brought in they need to set clear parameters and consequences. I certainly agree it is not easy. They need to be specific on the losses and have clarity - do they relate solely to on the field losses (ie new players, wages, staff etc) Or does the loss include the cost of a new stadium or training ground as well. Either way it is difficult.

Fully agreed. Points deduction should have been set at the start when FFP came in with clarity for all clubs. - If a team overspends by a certain amount then 3 points - If spends exceedingly over then 10 points (as examples) The point deductions are made up at a time to suit the offending clubs. Forest are 3 points clear so we make it that they are now only 1 point off relegation zone. Everton hit with 10 points when they were doing well. As soon as looked in danger we will drop this to 6 points on a technicality. Everton had any points deduction last year when they broke the rules, then we stay up and they go down. So they delayed deductions until a time when they were doing well. It looks like a punishment but it is not really.

I do not think your post deserves any stick. Fairly accurate reflection on the current state of our team. The only area I slightly disagree is where you mentioned Leeds and Ipswich play far better football than us. Maybe they are more entertaining, and definitely we can be rather boring. Personally, I think we were better than Leeds certainly in the away game for 75 minutes. And in both Ipswich games I thought we did well, again until the latter stages of the game. At the moment we do have the best goal difference in the league, which looks a lot closer than it did at the start of February. I think Enzo is a good coach, but not the same level as a manager during games. His subs are really poor and pretty much planned pre game, decisions are always like for like. We have lost so many points from winning positions. I was sure Enzo said he plays this style of football so the opposition tire at the end of the game and that is when we take advantage. The season started that way but we have got worse and actually we are the ones who are tired at the end of games. He is a modern coach who has a philosophy of how he wants to play and he will not change from that. I personally think philosophy is another way to describe failure but that is just my opinion. I really worry that in a majority of our games we concede clear chances, look jaded last 20 minutes and as you correctly mentioned his subs are very questionable. I do agree that this current set up would not survive in the premier league. There is never a plan B, or even know how of how to see games out. Once or twice I accept a late goal against, but this has happened so often that it implies nothing changes in game to improve our chances of getting a result.

Enzo has a modern mindset of coaching about him. I have to be mindful that the game has changed a lot over the last 35 years since I have been watching. But modern day coaches now seem to only have a plan A and stick to this. All is great when plan A works but when it is not successful there are clear areas for concern. The Subs - Why are the subs always like for like? Why do we always have to play out from the back to invite pressure when winning? This invites more pressure and we have conceded late goals in 7 matches this season. What has happened to playing with 2 strikers, or giving the opposition something to think about. Why can't we play a channel ball anymore and possibly win a throw in just to relieve pressure for a few moments. Defenders and even goal keepers are not primarily defenders or goal keepers any more. They are thought of as the first line of attack to build up the play. Which in theory is great but the ultimate role is to defend and keep a clean sheet. A good block, dominant defensive header, tackling, all seems to be secondary to the ability to passing the ball. We are still in a great position but Enzo has a lot to learn, Pep can get away with these things because every player is worth 50 million in his team, we will not have that luxury.

I do give Brendan a lot of credit for his first 18 months of performances. Some of the best football I have seen Leicester play. Admittedly I only started watching during the Brian Little era. But for me some of the best football I have seen us play. Brendan was a skilled coach / tactician as you said. Unfortunately something changed in his approach, same for Mourinho I think. Mourinho was apparently told by Sergio Ramos a few failings and he has never been the same manager since. I can not give Brendan the accolade of a skilled coach / tactician for his last 18 months here. We watched every game during the relegation season and surely we could see we do not have the players to play out from the back. Amartey, Ndidi, Thomas are not players to play this style. A skilled tactician should have seen this. Set plays, horrendous record. And then Danny Ward, for 25+ games he started him when everyone was saying he is not a number 1. Brendan constantly speaks on "character" yet when any player has any they are removed from the team. It is so hard finding the right people to be around you in life and in work. Nigel Pearson was never spoken about badly here, maybe Matt Mills and Jermaine Beckford but he was removing the wrong egos in the squad for the benefit of the team. But as a man and person he had complete control, surrounded himself with the right staff and everything worked. Nigel only goes down as a success with us, if we speak to Derby, Bristol City fans I do not think they will be as positive. Same manager, different circumstances and results changed massively. It is incredibly difficult to get everyone on the same page and feeling valued. Enzo does seem to be doing this and I really think Enzo has a very difficult job. He has to change the culture of the club, put his own style on the team, get the fans back on side and start to support the club from the malaise we have been in for so long. Remove players who do not fit his system, coach players who have been unmotivated, and bring in his own players, then create everyone into a team. All of this whilst being under immense pressure to have to win every week. We are top, 10+ points inside the promotion spaces and still some negativity.

There can possibly be similarities with Postecoglu at Spurs in this. Brendan came in from Puel who was playing a dull bland of football and never really had the fans on his side. Brendan came in, added a bit of attacking play, allowed more freedom to create and we looked a very good team. Then he wanted to change things too much and issues started. Falling out with key players Kasper + Soyuncu, for us, Dembele at Celtic, I think he benched Gerrard away at Madrid as well. I get there has to be an element of showing who the boss is, but there are superior ways of doing so. If anyone looks at Brendan's history of signing players it is alarming. At Liverpool he wasted so much money and only really signed Coutinho and Sturridge who did well. A host of flops, Celtic fans warned us the same, and his signings were largely poor here. Then the treatment of players he recruited. Personally Recruited Vestegaard and then removed him to train on his own. Now, exactly how much involvement Brendan had choosing and signing players can be questionable, but surely when his record in transfer market is poor at 3 previous clubs there must be something in it.

Our board really neglected (for the lack of a better term) the team last season. I will always give praise where it is due and Brendans first 18 months were excellent. And he deserves a lot of credit for that. Yet his last 18 months were dire. He is never accountable, ever! Blamed everyone else, fell out with a host of players, and the complete opposite for what a manager should be in terms of bringing a team together. Something changed in his approach to matches and he is not the same manager who first joined us. Gerrard and Rodgers were in charge at the same time, Villa removed Gerrard and employed Emery and we prolonged with Rodgers. I do fault our board with a lack of vision and understanding of the predicament we were in. At the time, we were possibly a more attractive proposition than Villa. And Emery possibly could have been a great appointment.

Whatever opinion that we have on `Vestegaard, as a team we have only conceded 14 goals in 21 games. Jannik has played every game and a huge part of our successful defence. Contrast to last season this is another huge turnaround that Maresca has provided for our team. Although, personally I am not Jannik's biggest fan, I would rather see Souttar in this position, just my opinion. I think we have more of an upside with Souttar playing, give him time to develop this season, threat in both penalty boxes, has a longer contract + resale value in the future, and I think he has done well when he plays for us. Jannik's passing is either great or poor. and I just think he is personally caught out too often. For example the Sheff Wed goal Jannik missed Hendrick's run across him, and any 1v1 situations he struggles with. Jannik was marginalised last year at the club, and deserves a lot of credit for turning his form around.

You are very correct, and I do fully agree with your statement. Right now though our club is very separated all the way from board - players - fans. It is a tough situation for Maresca and this is no indication on him at all. He just happens to come to our club at this moment in time. This is just my opinion and of course I can be very wrong. The last 18 months of Brendan, drained the life out of our fanbase. We have gone from one of the loudest fan bases to what we currently see/ hear now. Whenever we conceded a goal there was always a unified "come on Leicester" from the stadium. Now though we are almost resigned to this before games. Brendan constantly in the press lowered our expectations and even blamed the fans, told the players are not good enough (the majority he signed) then went from a very attractive style of play (which he brilliantly coached his first 18 months) to one of possession with a very slow build up. Repeatedly playing Ward / Amartey / Thomas / Ndidi and expecting to play out from the back when we could all see we do not have the players for that. Gone are the days of a manager getting the best out of the team he has. There has to be a philopshy and style of play which the players have to adapt too. We lost 30 or so games last season with a style of play which helped our opposition. Culminating with relegation, there is bound to be a decrease in stadium atmosphere. In previous years under O'Neil / Pearson / Ranieri we had a team who were giving it there all, playing as a team, whether it was blocking shots or quick attacking play. And this was exciting and the crowd would always support. Now the modern game is about having possession and our version the previous year or so has been very slow and hard to watch. Again the noise will be lowered due to this. We are have been so lucky to see our city, champions of League 1 to Premier League, both domestic cups and great European runs, we have a lot to be cheerful for. The noise around the stadium will soon return.

I do understand your point that he is young and learning. I would say though look at the tackle again. He had clear intent to hit Alves and take him down, shouted at his teammates after for not taking Alves down earlier. And the outcome was he has massively hindered a career of a promising young player. These injuries are so hard to come back from, Alves will always in the back of his mind have the impact of the tackle and it will change his game. My personal opinion is if you cause injury to another player via a horrible tackle, you are out for the same amount of time. Toney got banned from betting for months, yet his own club Shirt endorses betting. These kind of tackles are supposed to be stamped out of the game, yet the Wolves player gets a 3 game ban and England called up. Yet the player he intended to make contact with is out for 9 months.

The issue, only from my small perspective is that whenever Vestergaard has played he has largely been poor. I do not think it helps that Brendan wanted him a lot and then dropped him after a few months, plus the fact that Vestergaard had offers to leave last year to good clubs but chose not do so. Maguire is having a similar situation at United and it is far from positive, fans will turn on own players when they see the club they support being hamstrung by their own players. Personally I would prefer to see Souttar play over Vestegaard at the start of the season. Vestegaard has only 1 year left on his deal and Souttar was signed for a decent fee, played well in the world cup and has potential to do well for us. I would at least give him a chance as he has more of a long term future with us, and I do not want to see us waste millions on 2 players signed in January, yet they are not even considered for the championship. But that is the result of our poor recruitment again, that's for another topic. Admittedly we have had great results so far, and my only fear is that in the Coventry game we could have conceded 3 goals, and in Cardiff they missed a 1-1 chance. We are still conceding lots of chances and only the fact opposing strikers have been poor is the reason we did not concede. Yes Vestegaard can make some good passes but the clear chances we concede is alarming. I do not think we will get away with this defensive set up against top 6 sides in this league. However as you correctly mentioned the need for balance discussions, the results have been very good and Vestegaard must be part of that.

I do get your point, it is part of the team to defend corner. I really struggle to see why we can not put players on both posts when we have been so poor at defending corners.

I certainly agree he made quite a few mistakes last season. I just think he showed some glimpses of quality where there is something to work with this season. I think that if we can put a consistent back 4 together, Whether is is Kristensen, Faes, Souttar + Justin or whoever is chosen. But give them 20 games together to form a parternship, we will see a better version of both Kristensen and Faes. I just think there is something worth trying this season. Maybe Naive of me, but I do think they were all brought into a squad where there was no cohesion at all, even to the point that the majority of the starting 11 were not good enough / or didn't try. If we look at Fofana at Chelsea for example, most Leicester fans will say he is a brilliant CB. Yet Chelsea forums say he is awful. He moved into a team which is all over the place, same for Faes.

I can see your point regarding casual and too rash at times, but I would not say the worst by a long shot. Personally, I would look into our club a bit more and that will provide a clearer answer, as I think Kristensen and Faes are not bad signings. - Chairman - attended a handful of games all season and no investment all year. Incredibly hard for him to visit the place of his fathers passing. Passed on a lot of responsibly to people who his dad trusted. - Rudkin - From all accounts is only a 'Yes' man, he has made an incredible career by never really having an opinion. He would always ask what do you think and in meetings use the same answer. It is a skill, one I certainly can not do, but it works to a level when you actually have to do something. - Brendan - Didn't get what he wanted and gave up long before he should have been sacked. Constantly told players they were not good enough and fell out with most of the squad. - Ward - Played 28 games or so in goal, everyone could see he was miles below the level required and imagine coming in to a new back 4 with 0 confidence in the GK - Full backs changed weekly, our best 2 were injured all season and the others seemed to be rotated every week. Bertrand picking up 75k per week as a pension for 2 years. - CBs - Evans was injured all season yet fit for every NI game, Soyuncu was dropped, Amartey as your cb partner as much as he is liked personally as a CB he is miles away from the level required. Vestergaard, the manager personally was on record for wanting to sign him. Demoted to train on his own. - Ndidi is one of the best ball winning midfield players in the league. He is not technically good enough to pass the ball, but our tactics were to play out from the back with Ndidi, Amartey, Ward, Thomas. Any person could see these players are not good for this. - Tielemans - Did not try all season and could not wait to depart the club. -Maddison - Tried excellently before the World Cup and then decided to be more active on twitter than on the field. - Strikers- Again rotated every week, Daka starts, Kelechi, Vardy, no chance to build a connection or confidence in the strikers. There are so many factors in the whole team, imagine being a young player, with your big chance to move to the premier league and you are faced with all of these issues. I certainly agree Faes made errors, but to say worst signings I think this is harsh. With an organised team I think we will see a lot more from Faes and Kristensen this season.

Thank you very much for your help! I found a few other YouTube videos but they were about rebuilding and not so much how to set the game up. Thank you,

Hello, Just wondering if someone can possibly help me with Football Manager. I am looking to start a new career with Leicester in the Championship and play with this set up. Does anyone know the best way to facilitate this at all? Do I need to Buy FM2023 and get the game editor? Probably a silly question, just wondering how to start this. I have not played the game for a few seasons and want to see if someone knows how to organise this game instead of buying the wrong version. Thanks for any help.

Iversen Djed Spence (loan) Souttar + Faes Kristiansen KDH Mendy (If he wants to stay, underrated player in my opinion and will do well this season) Alex Scott (Bristol City) Diallo (Loan with view to permanent if promoted) Daka Borges (Man City Loan) I do not think we are too far away from having a strong squad who are capable of returning to the premier league this season. Couple of smart loans with Diallo and Borges. Good game time for both and chance to develop here. Alex Scott from Bristol City to replace Maddison and add a bit of creativity in midfield. He will likely have premier league offers, but if not could be worth an option. James Justin and Ricardo were excellent a few seasons ago, unfortunately both injuries are so hard to return from. There is a lot of potential with Daka, or maybe wishful thinking from my part. But I do see with a run of games in the championship he can come back a very good striker for us. Pace, strength, finishing. Solanke at Bournemouth returned a much better player. Daka can do the same I feel. I would like to think this is a realistic option for our team. Barnes, Maddison, Ndidi, Praet, Vestegaard will all be sold. There is 80-100 million depending how well the board negotiate. Scott will be around 20million+. Give the defenders and Gk 40+ games to play together and build form and confidence. They are not bad players. Yes all had poor moments but came in at a very difficult time with the club + squad that not united. Getting the managerial appointment will be key. We are still a big club, a lot of people will be interested in the job. Huge decision for the board. This gives us the ideal time to move on the deadwood, for a lack of a better term, and bring in players who want to be here and build a capable team to challenge for promotion and then stay in the league.