ClaphamFox

One more sleep before I can (hopefully) begin the long process of putting last week’s debacle behind me 🙏

I’m convinced of it. The way Maresca spoke on Thursday suggested he’d be ready.

In the stands and in regular communication with the bench.

No they wouldn’t.

Before we appointed Maresca last summer, some on here somehow convinced themselves that we were about to embark on a Red Bull-type model whereby Rudkin and the scouting team would have near-full control over transfers and the manager would just be expected to coach the squad he’s given. It was never going to happen and in the end we appointed a manager who demands a major say in transfers. If the club attempted to bypass Enzo on transfers he’d be off to another club at the first opportunity.

Hermansen was also apparently Enzo’s choice.

Yes.

It seems highly likely to me - a lot more plausible than Chelsea spontaneously recalling him.

It’s very cold this time of year

I'm not convinced the UK government would want to deny an referendum on Irish reunification. Once there is a clear evidence that a majority in Northern Ireland wants to rejoin the Republic, this should be done quickly and with minimal fuss. Some in loyalist community won't like it and there will likely be a surge in civil unrest/violence, but that's just something the Irish and UK governments will have to work through. It may take several generations for things to settle down, but it will be worth it.

The East Midlands becoming a world-renowned vineyard region.

I admire your generosity of spirit.

You’re probably right. But that doesn’t explain how Lee Mack keeps getting on the telly.

Ha - right on cue… https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/enzo-maresca-wants-pep-guardiola-9042361?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Take care out there folks…

I said 'probably'. There's nothing in the loan agreement - I'm just not convinced he's going to trouble Man City's first team any time soon and they might be willing to sell at the right price.

Exactly. If the player himself is minded to stick around for six months so he can get more money in the summer, there's not much we can do.

Doyle will probably be available if we go up and we want him. I doubt we'd be interested in Casadei even if Chelsea wanted to get rid this summer, which they might given their bloated squad. Our sole objective this year is to get out of the division, not to give playing time to youth players who aren't as good as those we've loaned in. It's a shame about the injuries to Alves and Braybrooke as they may have seen some game time based on actual merit if they'd been fit. Hopefully they both will before the end of the season, but only if they're ready.

We're midway through the window and there haven't even been any credible rumours of another club being interested in Praet. This is not exactly surprising given his recent injury record, but it makes the prospect of Sensi appearing in a Leicester shirt this season seem very distant.

How many times have we looked 'off it' in the first halves of games this season? Quite a few times, I'd say. Our first half performance on Saturday was a typical Maresca first half - we weathered the early storm then started to dominate by keeping the ball. We've seen it so many times. In the second half we invariably get stronger as the opposition tire and we score lots of late goals. With eleven men we'd have created more opportunities in the second half as Coventry chased the game. There's no guarantee we'd have won, but that is the most likely outcome. It's a shame that Maresca responded to the red card by parking the bus - if we'd have shown just a bit more attacking intent, that game was winnable even with ten men.

Indeed. Utterly gut-wrenching. I don't even want to imagine what that poor boy went through in his last days.

Fair enough. However, I worry that his ability to annoy people might ultimately work against him when it comes to the election. I really hope I'm wrong.

They do. The point is that Biden is such a weak candidate for the Democrats to put forward that they've given Trump a massive opportunity that he should not get. It's not the fact that Biden is 81 (which isn't necessarily a problem in itself), it's that he comes across as a senile, clueless, insincere glad hander who can scarcely grasp what day it is, let alone the intricacies of complex policy decisions. His popularity has significantly declined in the swing states since he became president. If the Democrats put forward a decent candidate, they should have no trouble seeing Trump off; with Biden as their candidate, they've made Trump strong favourite. That's the problem.

That about sums it up. Trump is the worst possible human being to be US president, but if Biden is the best candidate the Democrats can come up (in a country, let's not forget, of 330 million) then they need to be investigated for match fixing.