Death by Football

Love it... Just change the third line to "And when he plays for England" Would love to hear that at the stadium while Southgate is sat in the stands watching all the Man City players Phil Foden.

That's so poor. I try to take my daughter to as many games as possible but evening midweeks during schooltime just don't work. If they're going to move games to mid-week they should broadcast them somewhere at least. Christ knows there's enough different options with SKY/BT?Amazon etc. It's not like Leicester v Fulham is going to detract from viewing figures for the rich six.

James Maddison is English, He wears an English hat, He doesn't play for England, Cos Southgate is a ...

Neither will I. If we get smashed, that's OK as long as we go down fighting and have some positives we can hold onto. I'm not expecting anything here but if it's going to be a defeat, it's the manner of the defeat that matters. We've seen how brittle the players' confidence can be and I am less certain than you that they won't be affected. I don't want to see us playing a game that doesn't suit us and plays to all of their strengths. I'm hoping for a sh!thouse 1-0 with Vardy scoring right at the death but it's the hope that kills you.

It's much better to watch your team play attacking football rather than trying to nullify the opposition threat and bore them into submission. One of the most enjoyable games (bar the result) in our league winning season was the Arsenal 2-5 which was just non-stop attacking from both sides. My only concern with this game is if we try to match up in attack and let in a bunch of stupid goals from misplaced back-passes then we reopen all the wounds from the start of the season and the team loses the confidence its beginning to build.

The possession stats drop as we don’t fanny around as much passing between our defenders. By moving the ball forward quicker we effectively cede possession to the opposition sooner by losing the ball higher up the pitch or putting it out for throw ins goal kicks etc. But it means we’re playing the game in their half of the pitch with our midfielders rather than on the edge of our box with our defenders. You're right though that we are executing better on existing tactics - that was kind of my point too. It’s attitude not tactical.

I would like to agree that a lot of thought goes into each game plan but in fairness our tactics aren't clever or adapted week to week. We've seen the same slow, backward movement, allowing teams to press us on the edge of our area for a couple of seasons now. There is a difference in the last couple of games in our aggression and attitude rather than our tactics. I agree that Brendan has not told them to attack more but he appears to be less insistent on just trying to control possession and is letting them be more adventurous. We had 39% possession against Wolves and 47% against Leeds. Normally Brendan would be fuming with this but it's clear that what we are doing with that possession is more effective and he is letting them play. I agree that confidence returning is a huge part of the recent upturn in form and a willingness to make quicker forward passes than previously. Whether that's on the manager or just the players, I don't know. What's clear is that when we win the ball back we're straight on the attack before the opposition can reset themselves whereas previously we had to play through their entire team.

I agree with most of what you say there. I'm no fan of xG or any of the other metrics that are useful for coaching staff but essentially meaningless to the watching public. We have been on an amazing wave for the last few years and most fans have enjoyed it and wouldn't argue. The problem that ignites the Brendan debate is not the poor start to this season, it is the continuation of an ineffectual playing style that is unsuited to the personnel we have available and leaves us ludicrously fragile and easy to play against. My beef with Rodgers has been his dogmatic insistence on playing the same way when it clearly hasn't been working for a long time. That said, the last couple of games have shown some loosening of the handbrake on the players, allowing them to be more direct and not focusing solely on the amount of possession we can keep. Possession stats being even worse than xG in analysing a game. If we can continue to be stronger at the back and allow our undoubted attacking talent to flourish, then maybe he can turn this around. I'm not convinced but I live in hope.

And every corner and free kick for two years...

I'm certainly not "Rodgers In" after a couple of good results but I'm willing to give credit where it's due. Yesterday was much more like what we know this team is capable. The noticeable difference in the last two games is our lack of possession and willingness to press as a team. We're also moving the ball forward far faster than in the Rodgersball we've become accustomed to which is allowing us to make use of the space we create when we bring the opposition on to us. If this mini-run of form is down to Rodgers adapting his outlook then fair enough but I'll reserve judgement for a while yet. Great to see Vardy on the scoresheet.

I totally agree - let’s not see 3 at the back to see out a 1-0 again. It was Praet’s slide challenge/pass to Vardy that started the second goal as well. I thought we pressed better as a team last night and Praet was integral to that. I don’t advocate starting him ahead of Maddison but he needs to be involved in more games.

That’s exactly it. He leads by example and his aggression and passion gets the crowd up and pushes the other players on. We’ve been so soft for so long it’s great to see a defender this keen to win his challenges. Saw him at the end of this match and Forest and he was clearly so pumped to have won. Hopefully it’s beginning to rub off on some of the others as well.

Amartey would be fine if we didn’t try and play Rodgers ball on the edge of our penalty area. He looks like a rabbit in the headlights every time he is passed the ball. Off the ball he’s ok. He’s also not helped by being on the right of the two when Castagne is tasked with playing virtually as a winger. If Tielemans drops in and covers when the full back goes forward then he’s ok. But if/when Youri misplaces his pass forward Dan is left completely isolated.

Looks like the aeroplane banner is going to be the way forward after all. Mind you, there’s enough of us sizeable supporters that could each hide a decent sized protest banner wrapped around our middle age spread!

We’re not even sleepwalking. We’re sprinting towards the championship with our eyes wide open. When we sacked Claudio it was clear he’d lost the plot and was flailing around trying any formation to try and make a difference. With Rodgers he’s not even trying to find an alternative system or solution. His stubbornness will relegate us and everyone can see it except the owners.

I agree removing Rudkin is necessary for the long term improvement of fortunes but sacking him wouldn’t prevent us being relegated with barely a whimper. Pulling the trigger on Rodgers arguably does. Get rid of him and we survive and can turn our attentions to the behind the scenes improvements required going forwards.

To be fair I would credit that atmosphere to the derby effect. What i saw in the stadium was the whole crowd trying to lift the players and support the team regardless of feelings about the league position/manager/finances etc. The two games before that the atmosphere was completely flat and I expect it’ll be the same level of apathy against Palace.

If there had been one single change the club could have made which would most likely have transformed us from being sh!t to being average to good would you have wanted the club to make it? The position we’re in now could be drastically improved by removing the one person responsible for our predicament.

This for me is the worst part of our situation. So many fans are losing their passion for the club due to the uninspiring drudgery we have to watch each week allied to the certain knowledge that we will lose. I could accept boring football if it was executed successfully but we’re not even any good at what we’re trying to do. Walking down to the Forest game on Monday was the quietest I’ve ever seen town ahead of a match. No expectation of entertainment or a result at all. Only picked up a bit once the banter with their fans began outside the ground. We’ve been in worse league positions plenty of times in the years I’ve followed Leicester but there was always hope. As things stand Rodgers has extinguished that and that is unacceptable. I have no animosity towards him personally. I’m just disappointed it’s come to this and I guess that sums it up - I should be absolutely raging but I’m not.