Chelmofox

I'm going to put my hand up here and open myself up to ridicule, but before i do, this is just my opinion based on what I see and how i read the stats. I think the overall play has been better under Ruud. I also think it's taken some bottle for him to try and create that identity mid season, especially when there have been some key injuries during a very busy winter period. The situation around goalkeepers is something i wouldn't have wished on any incoming manager. I felt we outplayed Palace in the 1st half and they didn't 'batter' us in the 2nd, and if you look at the stats for the Fulham game, we did a very good job on containing them in the 1st half whilst having some good chances ourselves. The stats show me Fulham had 0 big chances in the 1st half and we had 2 shots on target - work has clearly been done here. I felt we gave a very good account of ourselves against Man City and Liverpool. He's also got the best out of BEK and realised that Facundo is a bit of a liability when he gives the ball away all the time. If Ruud had been given pre season and the summer transfer window, I would put money on us playing ok and the fans not panicking. But football is a results oriented business, and he has come into a team that clearly has issues from board level done to the squad. I'm convinced Ruud isn't the reason why Vardy started 3 games in 1 week, and i'm also convinced that in the last week or so the realisation about what we can actually do in the transfer has really hit home. Maybe an experienced 'bastard' coming in was the answer. The biggest problem with have now is the part of our game that was getting Cooper out of jail has deserted us. I think most of us looked at the first half of the season and felt it wasn't sustainable for us to be as clinical as we were. We are now creating more chances but not converting anything, we don't have Mads getting us out of jail.

Not if Vards is using his own influence and power with the board to ensure he plays. He might believe that the only way out of our predicament is for him to play/score to lift the team and the board may well be in agreement with that and putting the pressure on the manager. If (and it's an if, but i have my suspicions) thats the case, then it's the boards fault.

Daka offered something different against Palace that could have worked, especially as they sat back and flooded the midfield in the first half. As you can see from the game, the difference between the 2 teams was Vardy not converting chances. Starting Daka and bringing Vardy on (even if it was still only 0-1 at the time) offered something more compelling than we we actually did.

He's a lead by example captain. So, when he scores early against West Ham or relatively late on against Brighton, it lifts him, the team and the crowd. However, when things aren't working it has the opposite effect. He's clearly running his socks off and gives a shit. But in our predicament that isn't good enough when leading by example no longer works. You will notice that no one in the team questions him, and yesterday i saw very little interaction between Vardy and the squad beyond Vardy pointing for BEK to press. Its why heads drop so fast when we go 1-0 down. There is no one there to guide them.

Yes - you start Daka against Palace. First half Palace were sitting back and offered very little, and Vardy missed several golden chances. Vardy offered no more than Daka could have done in that half. You then bring Vards on about 65 mins as an impact. At 65 mins against Palace he was completely gassed.

What sort of issue?

Look at how Enzo handled him last year. No way would Enzo have been starting him 3 times in a week. You need him at his best, start him when he's fresh or use him as impact. I doubt anyone in the KP thinks he shouldn't be near the pitch. But starting 3 times in a week, especially after a honking performance against Palance - its wrong to the point where the must be something else going on.

Dare i say it, but is it likely he is wielding too much dressing room power? Playing him 3 times in one week is almost scandalous, and i struggle to believe the manager wants to do this. Last 2 games he has looked absolutely knackered at about 70 mins, and its hardly surprising. I felt one of the last 2 he should have started as sub, and am surprised Vardy himself hasn't even requested being rested. Can only assume that he has become so desperate to play and is able to put the pressure on to do so, that is clouding what is actually right. Performance against Palace was evidence enough that he needed rotating.

Oh fu*k its matchday.

We can beat anyone outside of the top 6. It just depends if we can score goals tomorrow or not

I thought Vardy's link up play was really good on Weds. This is obviously something that's been worked on with him, Facundo and BEK. Unfortunately, the shooting bit let him down. Daka won't have the ability to link up like Vardy did. I do wonder if Ruud is really hamstrung by the types of players that can do what he wants, and the time spent focusing on anything new obviously eats in to training the basics.

Would you start Vardy? Because arguably he was the difference on Wednesday and not putting chances away in several games is really hurting us now.

How much game time did Sammy get at Dundee? They play if they are good enough of the situation warrants it. We are in a relegation scrap with a manager who is working to try and get the first team winning.

We’ve overrated Facundo. He’s had good moments under Ruud as well but he’s struggling for form and giving the ball away. I also think BEK getting better has shown him up a bit. There is a reason he’s on loan and not starting for Brighton.

Please how your workings!!! After yesterday’s results we are no worse off. Win gets us (temporarily) out of relegation zone. Got to go for it.

Soumare isn't dogshit. He is one of a few that can progress the ball but (like many players in the bottom tier of this league) there are frailties to his game. Winks isn't a Wilf so doesn't offer the same protection. When Wilf is back the 2 first choices will be Soumare and Ndidi (presuming Wilf hasn't gone straight back to being rubbish again). I think Skipp currently offers less protection than Winks!

No. He’s moving to a different country. Presume lots of stuff to sort out.

If only we could pay for 3 new quality players.

Buonanotte. Can't keep giving the ball away.

Players get better the less you see them play. Whoever isn't being picked at the moment (i.e Okoli) is the solution to the problem.

Deflated. Felt a bit like the Forest game where i thought we were well in it then all of a sudden it was gone. Once gone, heads dropped and its horrible seeing no fight to get back into the game A lot of pelters being thrown around. For me, Vards is responsible for not taking his chances. He's the captain and the one responsible to take those chances. If Daka had been as wasteful as him ..... (you know the rest). Also, i know he has a lot of fanboys, but Facundo showed me yesterday why he might not make it at Brighton. He gives the ball away so often, and yesterday when he was out of ideas he would dribble into trouble and lose the ball. He's got to work out how to stamp that out of his game.

Don’t mind and joined in with ‘we want Rudkin out’, but being there with my boy I didn’t like the Rudkin’s a c**t chant. Other chants are fine and I think more people are on board.

Disagree. We had lots of shots (over 20) and 3 missed big chances. Vardy had a few very good opportunities that he should have taken. Daka came close, Soumare hit the bar and Mavadidi had a header that went just wide. We created enough. We were just not clinical at the moment.

Today isn't the first game this season he's missed big chances. He's clearly working his socks off, but its not going right for him at the moment. My issue is we are playing him too much. Its as if when its not working we play him more. If he bagged 2 in the first half, like he should have, i imagine he comes off about about 70 mins. But when he can't score, we keep him on no matter what. I think we should start Daka on saturday and bring Vards on as impact sub. Cant see that happening and he will play the full 90 mins as part of the loss.