Underrated

[Fez of Mahrez]

We seem to be getting tipped for relegation by the vast majority of the national media season previews.

Some of them (ESPN being the main offenders) come across as clueless morons and don't seem to mind putting that across, but looking past that...

I can sort of understand purely on the basis that there's been upheaval at our place, Bournemouth are the new darlings and they're assuming the likes of Newcastle, Villa and Sunderland all sort themselves out.

It seems to me that we're being underrated given that we haven't changed that much in terms of our overall squad and all the pundits suddenly decided during our "great escape" that we'd been playing well all along and simply been unlucky for most of the season.

I bet if our points tally had been more consistent throughout rather than coming in peaks and troughs, and we'd still ended up in 14th, we wouldn't be viewed with such negativity at the moment.

Just wondering whether people think the main factor is Pearson's departure, Ranieri as the choice to replace him, the departure of Cambiasso, failure to replace him, lack of many signings in general, the concept of the end-of-season form as more of a fluke than reality, a combination of several of these things or something else entirely?

[ScouseFox]

crikey this thread is straight outta 2k14 

 

tbh i think you've got your newly promoted sides, who we know could go either way and are a bit of an unknown, especially with the amount of signings and untried at this level players (and managers) they have. 

 

then above them i think you could throw a blanket over about 8 teams all the way up to stoke/swansea/southampton. we're all as shit as each other. us, sunderland, newcastle, villa, west brom, palace, west ham etc. loads of gash in there. we're just being picked out cos they think the only reason we survived last season was because of the team spirit in the last few games + cambiasso. now we have no cambiasso & supposedly the exit of pearson has seen our fighting spirit disappear too. 

 

not really concerned, as a few others have pointed out we were nailed on to go down last year and 90% of the world had qpr and burnley fighting out 12th and 13th or something equally as mental. we know more than most journalists as fans. we just dont get paid for it. 

[Mark_w]

We seem to be getting tipped for relegation by the vast majority of the national media season previews.

 

...

Just wondering whether people think the main factor is Pearson's departure, Ranieri as the choice to replace him, the departure of Cambiasso, failure to replace him, lack of many signings in general, the concept of the end-of-season form as more of a fluke than reality, a combination of several of these things or something else entirely?

 

I imagine it is a combination of replacing the manager who kept us up with a manager who has little experience of relegation battles, the gaping hole in our midfield and that we haven't replaced Cambiasso yet. That a lot of the sides around us last year have strengthened considerably (both in terms of management and players), the fact that we struggled last year and that we really got by on the squads togetherness which could plausibly have been damaged by the managerial change. It only takes one of those things to go badly wrong (poor job replacing Cambiasso/weak midfield, Ranieri struggling to cope with the relegation battle, just not strengthening as effectively as other sides etc.) and we're in real trouble. I hope it doesn't but with that in mind it's easy to see why some people think we're a good bet to go down. I don't think it's necessarily underrating us, because I think everyone is aware that we could get it right and it could go well, but there's probably a greater chance of it going wrong for us than most clubs at the moment. Add to that the second season myth that most pundits seem to buy into and it's easy to see why some don't rate our chances.

[Fox92]

At the end of the day, the league table never lies. A season is played over 40+ games so the most consistent team always wins the league. The worse three get relegated. It's not difficult to understand. Regardless of our end of season form and everything that went on last season, we finished 14th. That's it. Just like Chelsea won the league because they were the best side in the division. So our end of form season wasn't a fluke. Huth became influential, as did Cambiasso. Pearson changed set up and we went for games. I can remember being at WBA away and we came out for the second half what seemed to be 343 and, at that time, I couldn't believe it. 

 

Not getting on at you there, it's just people keep saying this and I'm not having it.

 

I agree though, Fez, in terms of predictions and it's annoying. Tbf I'm not to bothered because I enjoy it when we're written off but there is no indication that Bournemouth, Watford, Norwich and even the likes of Newcastle are better than us. I think people look at what has gone off in the close season. And although I'm slightly pessimistic this season, as always I'll wait to see what we're like in the first few games before making a proper assumption. 

[davieG]

We've always been underrated even under MON influenced perhaps by never having won the League or FA Cup, think Derby & Forest  so any excuse to justify the underrating is used enthusiastically and smugly. 

[Corky]

It's the Ranieri factor. He's not liked by the media, several of whom I've heard from that he will take us to the abyss.

 

If we'd have appointed a good old British coach we'd be talked about much more favourably.

[ScouseFox]

if you dont think it'll be us who will the three going down be then? 

 

from an outsider looking in point of view you literally see;

 

- loss of influential manager, replaced by the "tinkerman" 

- loss of best player (perhaps ever), replaced by, so far, tom lawrence 

- spent 90% of last season rock bottom and looking clueless

 

that says going down to any outsider imo. if that was let's say aston villa's season preperations then there's no chance we'd be arguing their case to stay up, simply laughing at how badly they're going to finish bottom. 

[justfoxes]

Couldn't give a flying FOOK what they say as long as I'm concerned we will be just fine thankyou very much I recon no lower than 12th this season and it wasn't just cambiasso who made a difference it was also when we bought Huth in any tidied up the defence I don't think we will miss cambiasso too much one of the new midfielders will give us that needed calmness is midfield!

Sod the negative Nellies !!

My prediction for bottom three

Bournemouth

Watford

And hopefully the Vile will be going Down this season !!

[TMELcfc]

Looking from the outside, what do you expect? We sacked the man that kept us up and Cambiasso has left with no replacements coming in... At the moment I don't fancy our chances!!

But we SHOULD be signing some decent players but they can't judge us on possible signings.

[kingcarr21]

its all down to Ranieri's recent stint at Greece. Everyone looks at their most recent job to gauge how well someone will do in their new role. If he had done a decent job their we wouldnt be tipped for relegation imo.

 

Most people who actually watched some of our games know that Huth had more of an influence in our survival than Cambiasso. Our defence was solid which allowed our midfielders to work on their own game including Cambiasso.

 

If you said to me we would only sign one or the other i would have chose Huth without doubt.

[Guest ttfn]

It's the Ranieri factor. He's not liked by the media, several of whom I've heard from that he will take us to the abyss.

If we'd have appointed a good old British coach we'd be talked about much more favourably.

I think he is quite liked by the written media (ie proper journalists, well some of them are anyway...) as he is an affable chap who gives them funny little tidbits.

It's the talking heads (typically British ex-pros and managers) who don't like him, partly because they have absolutely no interest in anything outside of The Greatest League In The World and more importantly Jonny Foreigner has stopped them or one of their mates getting the job

[Guest ttfn]

if you dont think it'll be us who will the three going down be then?

from an outsider looking in point of view you literally see;

- loss of influential manager, replaced by the "tinkerman"

- loss of best player (perhaps ever), replaced by, so far, tom lawrence

- spent 90% of last season rock bottom and looking clueless

that says going down to any outsider imo. if that was let's say aston villa's season preperations then there's no chance we'd be arguing their case to stay up, simply laughing at how badly they're going to finish bottom.

Equally an outsider could point to 7 wins out of the last 9 and a Proven Premier League Goalscorer .

[ScouseFox]

Equally an outsider could point to 7 wins out of the last 9 and a Proven Premier League Goalscorer .

 

then we would be #overrated 

[Guest ttfn]

then we would be #overrated

Agreed. People are idiots

[sdb]

Even with blue tinted specs i'd say we're definitely heading for bottom 3 at the moment. 

 

Sign 3 quality players in the positions we need and i'd be very confident, but we have major weaknesses in our side at the moment.

[ScouseFox]

Even with blue tinted specs i'd say we're definitely heading for bottom 3 at the moment. 

 

Sign 3 quality players in the positions we need and i'd be very confident, but we have major weaknesses in our side at the moment.

 

as lemar told us, it's not that easy, no it's not that easy 

[Guest ttfn]

Has anybody read or heard a good reason why Bournemouth will stay up?

It seems like the same people tipping us to go down last year are tipping the next year's promoted Champions to stay up as a matter of course, despite them being significantly less impressive the previous season.

No premier league experience (something I assumed was balls last season but actually in the end Huth and Albrighton really stood up for us) and one of the worst defences ever to get promoted out of the second tier. Genuinely wouldn't surprise me to see them lose 3 or 4 games by 4 goals plus.

They'll probably be relatively competitive to start with but then if it takes Callum Wilson as long to deal with the step up to the top flight as it took Vardy then they're totally fvcked.

[ScouseFox]

Has anybody read or heard a good reason why Bournemouth will stay up?

It seems like the same people tipping us to go down last year are tipping the next year's promoted Champions to stay up as a matter of course, despite them being significantly less impressive the previous season.

No premier league experience (something I assumed was balls last season but actually in the end Huth and Albrighton really stood up for us) and one of the worst defences ever to get promoted out of the second tier. Genuinely wouldn't surprise me to see them lose 3 or 4 games by 4 goals plus.

They'll probably be relatively competitive to start with but then if it takes Callum Wilson as long to deal with the step up to the top flight as it took Vardy then they're totally fvcked.

 

they'll be down by march 

[Thracian]

How likely we are to be relegated depends on when the question was asked. At the point when Pearson was sacked and, later, when Cambiasso declined to return, we seemed to be gasping for air in a rip tide.

 

Now, seemingly on the verge of signing Kante, the position looks more optimistic but it will still take time to blend whatever signings arrive in a different set-up, and that in what looks to be a stronger Premier League this season.

 

I'd just like us to go through a close season without self-inflicted hiccups and to make the most of our club's status and opportunities rather than having to deal with internal asides that create so much uncertainty. Instead we constantly devalue ourselves for all that we have massive potential.

 

For a club so conscious of its marketability and corporate image, our PR seems appalling. Clearly we attend to so many details in terms of medical/training/dietary requirements yet we turn ourselves into a laughing stock with our public own goals. Strikes me we need to attend to this aspect as keenly as others. That means every member of staff understanding its importance and the consequences of falling short. Especially the manager.

[Fox Ulike]

I don't think we will get relegated. However the managerial change over the summer does make it very difficult to predict what will happen next season. So I can understand the pessimistic predictions from the media.

With Pearson in charge I could have seen us stepping up to compete with the likes of Southampton, swansea and stoke, and being outsiders for the europa league. Hopefully Ranieri will be able to continue the good work, and it's positive that he hasn't simply parachuted his own backroom staff and players into the club. However, if he doesn't quickly bond with the players in the way that Pearson did we could be in for a struggle.

[sphericalfox]

I like we're underrated. Fook em. Hopefully that relieves the players of any unnecessary pressure, and the fans can actually get behind the team without immediately lambasting the team for errors or lost points.

 

We are having to transition again, and hopefully with the types of characters who have joined/joining it won't damage the spirit but strengthen it.

 

If we pull off one of Inler/Aranguiz (or dreamland - both of them) and another CB, I feel positive (not confident - that's impossible at this stage) that we can be free of the relegation fight shackles and do what Swansea have done in the last few seasons.

[Hungry Hungry Fox]

We we're clear favourites at the start of last season

When has it ever stopped us from proving them wrong?

[Hungry Hungry Fox]

Even with blue tinted specs i'd say we're definitely heading for bottom 3 at the moment.

Sign 3 quality players in the positions we need and i'd be very confident, but we have major weaknesses in our side at the moment.

We've lost one player and signed three

And it looks like we've all but signed Kante

[Corky]

Has anybody read or heard a good reason why Bournemouth will stay up?

It seems like the same people tipping us to go down last year are tipping the next year's promoted Champions to stay up as a matter of course, despite them being significantly less impressive the previous season.

No premier league experience (something I assumed was balls last season but actually in the end Huth and Albrighton really stood up for us) and one of the worst defences ever to get promoted out of the second tier. Genuinely wouldn't surprise me to see them lose 3 or 4 games by 4 goals plus.

They'll probably be relatively competitive to start with but then if it takes Callum Wilson as long to deal with the step up to the top flight as it took Vardy then they're totally fvcked.

 

I think they could be similar to Blackpool, start very well before the defence concedes more and more and teams get the measure of them and they fall away. Although Howe won't have a Holloway meltdown and begin ranting at anything and everything and will remain focused but, like Burnley, will probably fall short in the quality stakes.

[MC Prussian]

Better to be underrated than overrated. Leicester City FC usually thrive on the underdog label.