Chelmofox

He hasn't used him yet. The vast majority of players you can't criticise for their effort, but Praet is someone who constantly has shown he doesn't give a ***k. Unless Enzo has been able to tap into his mentality and fundamentally change that, i don't see more than bit part appearances and a chap winding that contract down. And if he does become remotely effective, expect another 3 month injury.

Bloody heck. Winks is a top drawer player, and ex international, who arguably shouldn't be in the league. Hamza is not as good, but each time he has been brought in this season he has done a good job and not let anyone down. Even with Winks, we've lost the last 2. Lets get behind Hamza today. There maybe mistakes and it won't be like watching Winks play, but maybe a change will actually do us good and spur everyone on a little more.

I definitely can't see him.

Big game for the bloke. He's been decent - lets support him.

What an amazing person he is. He’s not a kid anymore. I was at the KP when he came on vs Watford and I thought I had seen the start of a special journey. That journey was almost completely ruined by a complete thug. But Alves has knuckled down and I don’t think he will let this define him. He will go on to great things. I can’t wait to be at the KP to see his first appearance since this injury. I will be shouting as much as I can. Brilliant. Brilliant.

Family just discovered ghosts. No idea why it passed us by. Bloody epic.

I mean, really? I've certainly not been bored when we've been controlling games, but for sure its not exhilarating counter attacking football, but it can't be if a team will largely sit back. I would say we haven't controlled the last 3 games in the same way and these are teams who have come and had a go (apart from Middlesbroughs' smash and grab in the 2nd half). I strongly disagree we've been lucky.

Brendan started throwing toys out of the pram straight after the forest fa cup game. He wanted a rebuild project, told the world he was going to get it, but it never materialised. At the time we were still in Europe. Should have been removed long before he made it toxic.

Yeah, but my Mrs and Mate don't get paid 80k a week.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314959698922?hash=item49550f9bea:g:g84AAOSwr~VlUj8V&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4F7bXo0HU2iQL8el9p7JX2qNcpcwWFR1GyXCYYD3whHVNIURaNin06kNE6RtDy1bwgk4lhc2IrHFJmLZ84sz9gsO8vfvocexXKBviAsqtVNMZhttnJdGWyeklu%2BjQ%2BmQqSPJEhNZ5xA4IUQZkXUlFsL7jWwba3ahSj55fZfQzk0oXEACZNwW6PIXTuM0BcCJPnwGfFHT%2F8heN%2BRVKk30k5u2xC6Mo96W4scjKHCKGu8bU0SkQEK%2Bg61%2BFHF2uu6ukRJRQZDBI303gUrL2NZXVKl2Vuwo1870tZ8SEigjBnrM|tkp%3ABk9SR9rT54X7Yg

Perfect.

Has everyone forgotten that Doyle was crap at defending? Great at transitioning ball quickly, but had some terrible moments defending half decent wingers.

I think Vards and Nacho played together for about 10 minutes on Saturday. Did that leave you with a thirst for more (appreciate it wasn't 2 up top!)

We had a lot of activity in the summer. There was talk of Piroe and talk of both Daka and Nacho going. I think what the manager wanted didn't really materialise, or Canon was one of a few changes they managed to make work. Maybe the compromise was to work with Nacho to see if development was possible, but its clear they wanted Daka out but couldn't make it happen. IMO we keep Vardy who i think will leave at the end of the season. A massive priority needs to be offloading Daka and Nacho, and recruiting someone who is suited to the system.

In this system the strikers aren't the predominant scoring outlet and you expect the striker to play a different role. The striker needs to be a quick thinker, have pace, be skillful, being able to doth drop deep and get back towards the box at speed. To play this role i think the striker needs to be really thick skinned. If something doesn't work, dust yourself down and get on with it. If your head drops you are doomed. Nacho was very much a problem against Borough. He didn't play the role well at all and looked lethargic and struggled with the complexities of what he's been asked to do. Good decision making has never been his forte. The system works, but our strikers aren't consistent enough in it. Both Vardy and Nacho have showed glimpses of it working (I think it was against Preston where Nacho seemed to click) but on the whole its not been great. We should NOT be building any system around Nacho (who has largely been dreadful for some time) and Vardy (who edges towards retirement). The striker position is very much a work in progress and be interesting to see how Canon develops and who we replace Nacho with when we sell him in January.

I've read people saying the 'wheels have fallen off' or call Enzo 'poundland pep'. Lots wanting to jump on the bandwagon quickly with doom and gloom, and loving the 'this won't work in the PL' when we don't really know how Enzo and club will deal with promotion if it happens. Seems quite a few people couldn't wait for a few defeats - fair enough. The team have to prove them wrong by getting back to winning ways. I've not enjoyed losing 2 games, and the Middlesborough one was very annoying as the 2nd half was a smash and grab. Borough executed a game plan that ended up working because our wingers aren't elite (they are very good, have great promise and will improve), the lone striker role isn't working, and we therefore rely on KDH as the main central creative outlet. KDH is inconsistent - he has some great stats when its working for him, but he snatches at shots and gets very frustrated when its not. If we were clinical in the last 2 games, we get 1 draw and 1 win. This is where the improvement needs to come, either through coaching, recruitment, or players coming back from injury (Cannon, Yunus, Wilf, Alves). We've played some dross in this league, and then come unstuck against 2 of the better teams. Anyone who gets promoted drops points, and some have lost up to 10 games. There are going to be frustrating losses, and then there are going to be successive wins against some of the dross. Lets get the bullsh*t international break over with and get back to business. STRAIGHT BACK UP, STRAIGHT BACK UP LEICESTER CITY.

Please elaborate.

I agree on the whole, but do you think this is being done in the context of coaching the system to the players as they implement different strategies etc around the system? I still think Enzo would rather drop points sticking to the system rather than just 'having a go' (this won't change unless we or he gets into trouble), and currently players do seem a little rigid in the system. Some of those (like KDH and Fatawu) have definitely toned down their play, and i think this is intentional to ensure players stick in their zones and don't try and do too much or take over another role. Madders would have hated this!! It's not lost on me that Man City hit the ground running in the 2nd half of the season. I don't want to keep making parallels with them but do wonder as the process gets more and more ingrained, and we potentially re-enforce in January, that Enzo will look to 'release the beast' a little more as he knows players will more instinctively behave better in the system. The cliche is that its a Marathon, not a sprint. The goal is promotion but to also set the foundations in place for long term success. We still have a good buffer and head start on 3rd place. I still don't think we can overly judge the system on what we see now as its still a work in process. The problem for Enzo is the football gods don't always play nicely, and a few more poor results and there will be pressure to change things up.

That's not a plan b. And agree, it's all about working out how to be more clinical and opportunist with the current plan.

It's a harsh assessment, but i stand by it for a few reasons. We play with a (inverted) back 5 and Winks plays (brilliantly) a recycling role. Winks isn't a goals and assist machine. It's a defensive system that has left us with the best goal difference in the league. Our attacking threat is the issue, and KDH isn't skillful enough to be a consistent threat. His energy is his best asset, and 1 in x chances to lead to opportunities, but he's not consistent enough to be a significant threat, and I think teams are now banking on him not being productive enough so they can double up on the wingers easier.

Agree with the first line. I think we need to move forward on the assumption we likely won't sign Doyle. We need to get rid of both Daka and Nacho and find another Striker (though this could be expensive). We have to get rid of those 2 and reset. I don't think we need another winger. Because our threat through the center of the pitch is poor, we make it easier to double up the wingers. Dare i say it, if we are able to find attacking midfielders i would be happy to let KDH go for a half decent fee. His energy is his best attribute, but i don't think we need that anymore. We would be much better served by someone a bit more skillful and direct.

After a small purple patch (of goals at least), both strikers have been poor. They just aren't creating enough trouble in the final 3rd and have proved pretty easy to defend again. Doesn't help that KDH has been poor as well and snatches at chances and that movement from the middle isn't remotely fluid. We can only presume Canon isn't ready yet (kid coming back from Injury - they will have to manage that well). But we need a different option to KDH/Vardy/Nacho right now.

I think people are misjudging 'going direct' with us not being 'clinical'. In the last 2 defeats we've not been battered, and were a Meslier fingertip away (and a Fatawu shot) from a draw, and we were all over Middlesbrough in the second half. Against borough in particular, the issue was our 2 central offensive players were way off it, and i don't really think we had anything on the bench that was going to change that (assuming Cannon just isn't ready to come on yet). If we were on the receiving ends of batterings and completely out of games I would understand why a plan b should be mooted. But it's a million miles away from that. 16 games in, if the team haven't trained extensively in a completely different formation, then i don't see any sense in chucking 2 up top and 'giving it a go' just for the sake of it. Enzo will work at this and tweak what he thinks is needed. Work needs to done with the strikers, and the KDH/Cassadei role. If we are clinical and a bit more direct there then it changes a huge amount without ripping up the formation. Defenders will be less inclined to double on the wingers because the threat centrally is too great, which in turns releases the wingers more. Lastly, i think we all forget that Enzo likely didn't get everything he wanted in the summer window. We know Daka should have been on the way out and it was very likely a more creative attacking player was coming in. I expect reinforcements to enforce the plan in the winter, now the whole management team have a clearer vision on what's needed.

What should a plan b be?

Sorry, but that’s nonsense.