smudgerfox

the wingers , whoever they are, essentially play walking football…

Can anyone explain why Ndidi is playing on the left and kdh on the right? Is it some sort of experiment?

I think the Pearson/Stringer episode will have left deep scars. Football and sport more generally, is one of the few reasons to listen to BBC local radio and anything which sabotages their coverage is a real problem. And the club holds all the cards. I just wish they would allow more critical voices on to the Forum. When some fans were expressing dissatisfaction at the style of play under Enzo - you'd have Pipes, Owynn and all the rest in disbelief at the discontent, given our results and lead at the top of the table. Well fine, so get a critic on and ask them what their problem is. But it's easier to just dismiss them as eccentric cranks or as too old to understand modern football or too young an d spoilt by recent club success, without allowing them to speak for themselves. As for the punditry, to me Pipes is a diamond. He understands football, he understands the club and he takes his job very seriously -more seriously than I suspect his fee deserves. He tells you when he's changed his mind and when he's got things wrong and that's a very rare thing indeed. And he's so eloquent and clear. Not constantly "umming and erring" or resorting to cliche. Fryatt is terrible. I don't even listen when he's on. He states the blindingly obvious - "a win is a win", "a draw is better than defeat" etc etc and beyond that can't say anything without saying the opposite could be true. Howard is slightly better, Liam Moore was better than I thought he would be but if Pipes walks they have a real problem.

Whittaker, Chaplin and Davis (Ipswich left back) all in strong contention

I think theres tv money from Europe as well as competition money

I think it's no European football - apparently Europa/Conference season was worth £30- odd million

A football club like ours is permanently on a cliff edge. And the financial set-up of English football has made the cliff higher, steeper and the damage of falling much much more serious. When we finished fifth two seasons on the trot, many fans were intensely relaxed. They thought we should be grateful for finishing in an historically high position. That we won the FA Cup. When we failed miserably in the Europa League, the same fans threw themselves into the Conference campaign. Some of us were concerned by these events. Yes to win the FA Cup was great. More than great. Yes the Conference produced some memorable matches. But the fact remains that we were in the top 4 for the best part of two seasons but missed Champions League qualification in the last days of the season. Twice. That is two seasons which would have transformed our financial situation for at least a decade. Missed by just one place. Twice. Many of us concluded that the club simply isn't ruthless enough. Not financially savvy. Watch Chelsea in the Cup Final. And watch them in the league match a few days later when Champions League status was at stake. Two different teams. We live with that failure today. Players on salaries for European competition who couldn't even keep us up in the Premier League. Half a squad out on loan with little prospect of selling any of them. Players running down their contracts, depriving us of any chance of a transfer fee. We have a new manager, new players (mainly) and a new philosophy. But as the season nears its climax, and the results dry up, inevitably we fear that all the things that haven't changed, are haunting us once again.

Matty Fryatt zzzzzzzzz

On the question of Ryan Bennett https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ryan-bennett-signing-eight-years-3807137?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Not when you consider Kels and Daka were both at Afcon.

He needed surgery. Therefore not fully fit. Therefore liable to injury breakdown. End of.

I see Enzo is again talking about the failure to sign Sensi - who shortly after the deal collapsed had ankle surgery.Imagine the justifiable furore if we had signed him and that had happened. Not so much "come and play for us" as "come and enjoy our first class medical facilities.."

Id like one if anyone has a spare

Of course we have to sell first. We have far too many players. The summer was a start but really we needed to lose two or three more at least. The keeper overload was exacerbated with the arrival of Mad Mats and has only been temporarily and partially relieved by the Iversen loan now.The Praet farce rolls to its utterly mundane conclusion (running down his contract before finally moving to Torino for free.)Thanks for the memories Dennis. We could manage without one of Nacho/Daka. Souttar is completely surplus to requirements - even more so now when Ben Nelson is finally trusted to start - and of course we now have the return of Luke Chambers to deal with. Soumare and Viktor are still on our books. Loans don’t really solve anything long term. We (King Power) will have to accept the huge financial losses from the Brendan signings and just accept any offer we get for Praet, Ward, Nacho/Daka, Souttar, Soumare, Kristiansen, if we are to make any progress with squad building for the future.

Im looking for one aduit ticket

Wingers are the problem for me. They’re exciting, skilful, fast, dangerous but not ruthless. In this system a lot of your chances fall to the wide players and ours are simply not clinical finishers - except perhaps McAteer. Neither are they prolific assisters. And that’s untenable. Add in the fact that the system tends to isolate the striker and you end up with a team that dominates possession but doesn’t translate that domination into the scoreline.Win or lose , that’s been the story of nearly every game this season - Southampton, Blackburn, Preston , Swansea might be exceptions.

The wingers were crossing it to one another - true. But to the back post? Not so much. Usually to a position roughly ten yards beyond the back post. Which means the cross needs to be nigh on perfect (it usually wasn’t) and the strike at the other end of the cross likewise (which it wasn’t). In fact I can only remember one instance when the cross was good enough to allow a first time strike at all and Fatawu screwed the volley. At times what really happened was that one winger would get into a dangerous position say eight to ten yards out, then put a slow cross out to their opposite number, ten to twelve yards out on the other side, giving the Leeds defence time to reset. Why? There were just too few options in and around the six yard box where a cross is more likely to create a goal.

Id like one, could take two, if anyone has any going…

Pub flying a city flag in Bideford in Devon last year

Also benefitting from using a whole squad - Justin in for Faes and no decline in team performance - makes a huge difference whena third of the squad isn’t being frozen out…young players like McAteer are being trusted and supported …more players in contention means the workload can be shared

While you’re not watching the Tranmere game tonight - why not look up Kelechi’s goal and assist per minute record ? I find the lack of appreciation for him among the fanbase utterly baffling. The data analysts and the whiteboard professors of the game are always telling us how imperfect he is - he scores and assists ffs His goals got us to the FA Cup Final ffs - they’re the stats that count .. And who do you think is coming in to replace him if he goes? Some guy who’s scored a few in the Championship or for Man City U-:23….who could be great and who might not be ..

Okay he made his own space and hit a shot from 20 yards which the keeper could only stand and admire …almost a goal from literally nothing ..happy now?

Evidence of what exactly?

What exactly is the evidence that Kelechi doesn’t fit the system? So far he improved the team when he came on as sub v Cov Scored and assisted v burton hit the post with a screamer v cardiff Beautifully assisted mcateers first v Rotherham He’s a proven scorer and assister and one who’d be mad to join a basket case like the current Wolves set up. And we’d be just as mad to let him go….whoever you got to replace him would be some sort of risk. He’s an important player in the dressing room too. Led the celebrations for McAteer on Saturday apparently.

I would like to hear from those saying Soumare was played out of position - what is his position? He s not strong enough and doesn’t read the game well enough to be a 6. He lacks the engine to be an 8 and is too clumsy to be a 10. So what midfield position is the one that suits him?