Chelmofox

Merry Christmas! Even to Wout Faes.

Suppose you've missed all the rumours hes off to Man City?

I think this comes up time and again. Surely, (if) Emery meets our board then realises we are skint and have no ambition because we are financially messed up? Villa was the right choice at the right time.

Im all for it - he would have to change the system. Okoli is a good defender but my dog can pass better than him. Cant play out the back for Okoli / Nelson. Which makes my think Faes comes in for one of them. uhh.

I wrote this a year ago and i was not in a good place back then. Whilst 2024 was the year that could fo f**k itself, 2025 was the year coming to terms with a lot of things. My head is certainly in a better place but everything that put me there is still the same. I suppose i've just learnt to accept it, crack on - work hard - do what's 'needed' of me. I still have no Christmas spirit (im not sure there is such a thing anymore) and will be spending the next few days putting on a brave face. Boxing Day football will ironically give me some respite. I must admit i don't like compartmentalising things into years, but 2026 is the year I want to get myself back on track. Going to be some tough decisions, but it has to be different. I fear that doing that might make things worse before they get better. Hats off to anyone who has provided support to anyone in this thread - there have been some incredible acts of kindness. For those of you struggling - stay safe and believe in yourself.

Holey Moley - we might see what life is like without Vestergaard.

See you at the game......

Planning to. Could be a stupid idea.

I presume that the future for him isn't on the wing. He sees himself as a 10, but he too young to play there right now. The whole Man City thing bothers me. If there is a club that is going to coach the best we see out of him, its going to be Man City.

All talk of a TD has gone quiet. Would put money on it not happening this season. And you know, when appointing an interim, our regimes first question is going to be 'Can you make us play like Man City'.

I once had the misfortune of being lectured by a bloke once who said that Gazza is so good he should be able to beat up any woman he wants. I find people are oddly selective of who they chose to like. I'd take a Louis Vuitton bag over a wife beater.

Mads was outstanding at the start (that Arsenal game was outstanding) - but it didnt last long. Following his injury he wasnt as good as Jakub.

Mads came with an aura about it him. Supposedly someone that Man City were keeping an eye on that Enzo tapped up immediately. At the time most of us thought that Iversen was the way forward and were a little surprised the GK position was prioritised, but you could see quite quickly how Mads slotted into what Enzo wanted. Mads massively benefited from all that and played that 'additional' defender role very well, and many here thought we had a 40 million + keeper on our hands. But Mads was peppered nowhere near as much as Jakub is, and i remember in the early days Mads struggling to keep clean sheets (ironically Jakub kept more when he got a short run due to Mads injury). When things got tougher, Mads started to make lots of mistakes too. Appears there is no aura coming through the academy - just expectation. Our side is proper sh1t right now. Mads benefitted from an era where we were dominating possession all over the pitch and an era where a reborn Ndidi was able to protect the defence further up the pitch. I think Vestergaard is worse with the ball now as well - where he plays many awkward balls back to the keeper. For Mads though, how times change. I was at St Pancras station one evening when he started for West Ham and chatted to some fans (he got hammered at the game). They all couldn't believe they had bought a 'relegated' keeper. There was no aura, no benefits from playing an 'additional' defender. Just a signing that they didnt think was good enough, and certainly not a potential 40m+ keeper. Someone likened Jakub to Ward which is infuriating, especially when you can see the improvements we made when Jakub came back from injury last season. He doesnt need dropping right now - we need to stick by him and help him develop.

Result not his fault. If hes happy with some of his play then he's entitled to say so.

You can't make players do things they are not capable of. Vestergaard cant be transformed into a dynamic, fast matching winning CB. He plays how he plays. Same with Bobby and Ayew. Younger players however, have the opportunity to develop by it takes time. I think Marti isn't good enough, but I feel he had to be pragmatic with what hes got. I imagine he gets as frustrated as i do watching Ayew hold up the play then fall over (and get nothing) and we watch our opposition counter attack. I bet he would love the version of Ricardo Rodgers had. I bet he would love a functioning Striker. He is limited with what he has.

Were you expecting faultless displays that also masked over all the other player deficiencies week in and week out? Don't bother mate. For some inexplicable reason that i cannot work out, Vestergaard is completely untouchable on this forum.

Not with the defence he doesnt.

We said that last summer. If this manager is not it then he should go.

Is there any evidence we are anywhere near getting a technical director in? We should still be aspiring to do the best we can right now. This isnt it.

He wanted to communicate better. After 2 rough days - might be a good chance to do just that?

Win this and we are right in the mix with those in the Playoffs again. Lot to play for.

Likely this is above Tops head at KP group. I feel his interview came across a little desperate to make it look like he was in control. KP won't care about the PR. Everyone will get paid end of the year and this will get forgotten about. Any employees really pissed off about it will leave and be replaceable in their eyes.

Read my post. Big Business does not give a sh1t.

Following Whelan leaving, are there any other indicators that King Power are taking a closer look at the day to day running of the the club? I've slept on this one a bit, other than to reply to breach of contract claims. But i've worked for a few business who have large parent companies. Ultimately, business owners don't give a ***k about Subsidiary companies unless they are bringing something substantial to them, and they certainly don't care about Subsidiary employees. This is even worse from foreign owned business (my main dealings are with Americans). From what i have heard, I genuinely think Top has tried to look after staff over the years and certainly since the first relegation. I presume with Whelan going, Top's grip on how to run things might well be largely losened. It's very possible that a decision like this has been made and he (and Monica?) have had to accept it. I would also presume the Whelan was someone who would fight passionately for what she thought was right, but that person is no longer there. Maybe (and i mean maybe) we are starting to see part of the process of the group taking control of the costs of the business. Sadly, players are largely untouchable due to their contracts, so its the little people who come first. A gesture like this is a bit like Amazon demanding all employees back to the office 5 days a week out of the blue with little notice (this happened this year - i know a lot of people in the industry), even though they had previously been told their existing agreements with flexibility was safe. The 'gesture' is to remind you who is in control, and that your well being isn't the top priority - the welfare of the business is the no 1 priority. The parent company (like Amazon) will be thinking that only those who really care about the business will stay, and most others who may be disgruntled are replaceable. With Amazon, the 5 days back to office Gesture was followed up with mass mandatory redundancies when not enough people left of their own accord. King Power isnt Amazon - its a company with no links to the UK fighting for its own survival. Big business is harsh and i've sat in enough board rooms to know that 'family values' aren't top if their list of priorities. A decision like this will be made with an outcome in mind. Big, big losses being made at the club dont give the little people much wriggle room. I have a friend who worked at Southampton and her (along with many others) were laid off immediately following their relegation a few seasons ago. I was surprised when we didnt see the same at Leicester.

Agree, and actually as this all sounds like its from decent sources, im not really fussed if i see him play again really. We bemoan when the senior players dont want to be here, so im not going to celebrate a youth player who has no interest. Would have hoped for a bit more class from him than being seduced by Man City at a young age. Goes there and there is a strong risk we never hear much from him again.