McClaren sacked.. bad timing for us.. C'mon Leicester!

[Leicesterpool]

Should have gone sooner and maybe never even should have got the job in the first place, i mean how can you give the job to someone who has failed in his previous job in the championship to manage a team in the premier league   

 

For a long term I can see Benitez building something there. I know what I said yesterday but thinking about it now I do see being a good fit, but timing wise is questionable?

[johnny the fox]

What a load of shight I have read on here..............Rafa will not be on there mother fookin pitch. our normal games.............he can shout from the touchline as much as he likes,,,,,,,,,,,,we are @@lcfc...........

[hackneyfox]

I wondered where you've been, Hackney.

 

 I remember a few times in he 80s attendances at the amazing St James Park circa 14 k if memory serves me right and everyone of the fvckers were moaning

Thought it was just me, I've mentioned this to a few people who have looked at me as if I was mad.

They've had big crowds since football started with the advent of the PL though, and that's all that counts.

[Bluetintedspecs]

Thought it was just me, I've mentioned this to a few people who have looked at me as if I was mad.

They've had big crowds since football started with the advent of the PL though, and that's all that counts.

At that period in the second flight when they were mediocre the support was shocking!

[Vlad the Fox]

Rome wasn't built in a day.

In fact it was. The workman had sat around for six days drinking beer and eating otters noses, God finally lost his patience and on the seventh day he appointed Claudio Ranieri as his foreman, by sunset that day Rome was built. In an interview with Ranieri he told the local herald that it was 'nothing special as it was the height of summer and the longest day' he went on to say that 'Florence was still favourite to be built first' as he hadn't yet procured the lions for the colosseum or filled the baths, asked when it would be finished he simply replied 'zlowly, zlowly' as he dropped his toga, rubbed olive oil over himself and jumped into a steaming bath.

[Guest]

Everyone is going on about the bounce factor, but shit doesn't bounce no matter how hard you throw it.

i'm sure somewhere on the web there's a video that proves otherwise...

[biggs]

Let's get some perspective here folks.

We are top.....they are 2nd bottom

We have Claudio who has managed us brilliantly all year

They have just hired some motivational hype....a pick me up on 4 days notice

We are home

Their big match is v Sunderland next week

We both have so much to fight for but only one team appears to have the ability to fight

Again we have Claudio and I'd bet on him by a mile over what Rafa can do in 4 days with the right mess he has at his peril

For those that are lucky enough to go....enjoy the game

[Leicester_Numan]

Apparently the Newcastle players were impressed that Benitez had them in training on their day off. I doubt very much that he'll have had time to implement anything, it'll probably have been more of an assessment session.

Long term, it's a good appointment, if they manage to stay up although giving him a relegation release clause does send an I'm not committed to the club message to a bunch of players who have shown no commitment all season.

I don't really see what he can improve on in such a short space of time before our game and we should still beat them comfortably but maybe more of a Watford away than a Man City away in terms of performance and dominance.

[mozartfox]

In reality if we cannot beat Newcastle we should shelve aspirations of winning the EPL. I know there are no easy games but if we turn up and play with the right attitude then we should win. Anything less and points will be dropped.

[promised land]

Biggs makes a good point, their big match is Sunderland next week, you need to beat the teams around you to stay up.

[Ric Flair]

In reality if we cannot beat Newcastle we should shelve aspirations of winning the EPL. I know there are no easy games but if we turn up and play with the right attitude then we should win. Anything less and points will be dropped.

Agreed but you get frustrating circumstances where you just know points are going to be dropped. Newcastle have some great individual players but as a team they are a farce, similar in some ways to Villa who have taken points off us this season.

[HighPeakFox]

He's NOT the Messiah, he's managing a lot of very naughty boys..............

[TMELcfc]

Think there's a lot of naive people on here... Any manager would get a reaction out of Newcastle because Mclaren was performing so poorly, not a manager, he's a coach. Benitez will give them a lift even if he doesn't get the tactical side how he wants it. It'll be very difficult now Monday night.

I didn't realise just how arrogant our fans had become until I read through this post...

I hope, really hope, I'm wrong and we stuff them, but now, I can't see it.

[Jimothy]

I'm not sure Benitez is the right man for Newcastle right now. If he keeps them up, and has chance to rip that squad apart then he's a great long term appointment, but right now they need a motivator, and he's not that. He's a tactical genius, but not a motivator, Carragher confirmed that yesterday. Newcastle don't have a shit team, they have some very good players, they're just lazy. Wijnaldum, Sissoko, Janmaat, Tiote, Mitrovic etc are all good players, but there just seems to be attitude throughout the squad to not give a ****. If Benitez can get them trying he'll keep them up.

[Richmondfox]

Think there's a lot of naive people on here... Any manager would get a reaction out of Newcastle because Mclaren was performing so poorly, not a manager, he's a coach. Benitez will give them a lift even if he doesn't get the tactical side how he wants it. It'll be very difficult now Monday night.

I didn't realise just how arrogant our fans had become until I read through this post...

I hope, really hope, I'm wrong and we stuff them, but now, I can't see it.

I don't think it's naive or arrogant, they have been terrible all season and we haven't, even when we haven't been at our best we've done the job. Benitez will give them a boost but it won't make the defence run faster or stop making stupid decisions.

Shelvey will make a difference in this game but we have Kante who will shut their midfield down. I believe Townsend is out? I think they will try too hard to try and impress the boss and play for themselves rather than as a team, this will fall into our hands as we know our roles.

[Captain...]

I'm not sure Benitez is the right man for Newcastle right now. If he keeps them up, and has chance to rip that squad apart then he's a great long term appointment, but right now they need a motivator, and he's not that. He's a tactical genius, but not a motivator, Carragher confirmed that yesterday. Newcastle don't have a shit team, they have some very good players, they're just lazy. Wijnaldum, Sissoko, Janmaat, Tiote, Mitrovic etc are all good players, but there just seems to be attitude throughout the squad to not give a ****. If Benitez can get them trying he'll keep them up.

So you're saying they should have appointed Sherwood?

[Jimothy]

So you're saying they should have appointed Sherwood?

No, I'm saying the should have appointed Pearson or Moyes.

[Haydos]

Think there's a lot of naive people on here... Any manager would get a reaction out of Newcastle because Mclaren was performing so poorly, not a manager, he's a coach. Benitez will give them a lift even if he doesn't get the tactical side how he wants it. It'll be very difficult now Monday night.

I didn't realise just how arrogant our fans had become until I read through this post...

I hope, really hope, I'm wrong and we stuff them, but now, I can't see it.

 

I think a lot of people are underestimating the challenge. I read that he's got them in for extra training already so he's going to have a good few days with them. A very experienced manager with high expectations. Yes they have a lot of dross but they've also got some match winners in the likes of Shelvey and Wijnaldum, he'll have the rest of the team fired up.

 

Our quality should shine through but I'm expecting a close game. We'll get chances but we need to be clinical I feel.

[MC Prussian]

In reality if we cannot beat Newcastle we should shelve aspirations of winning the EPL. I know there are no easy games but if we turn up and play with the right attitude then we should win. Anything less and points will be dropped.

 

I refer you to the Aston Villa away game.

 

I can see where you're coming from, but teams at the other end of the table will be ready to put up a fight in order to remain in this league at all costs, especially given the fact that the big Premier League money flow should be kicking in soon.

 

Remember that bottom-of-the-league club last season that only lost once in their last nine games?

[desertfox2]

Has anyone got the stats of results after 1st game from a sacking? Sure seen it somewhere before and it's a bit of a myth that teams tend to win next game.

[bluesbrothers]

My tuppence on the Reddit circlejerk - since everybody there is spaffing over Benitez' appointment and has already decided he's keeping them up and taking them to the top 4 next year:
 

The way people are talking on here, you'd think Rafa had already turned it around and won the 9 remaining games.

 

Since everybody both within NUFC and outside it seems to have decided already that Rafa is going to do the business based on name alone, and many seem to be suggesting (perhaps tongue-in-cheek, but I wouldn't count on it) that this is the start of a rise for the Magpies of the sorts we Foxes have seen since last March, I feel compelled to comment. Since all these predictions are being made before Rafa has even seen his team play competetively, let me cast your minds back to July when we hired Ranieri.

 

Ranieri's stock was at an all-time low, and before a ball was kicked, everybody wrote us off. I don't remember a single pundit having us higher than 17th. Well, we all know what happened afterwards. Poultry farms everywhere have reported a shortage of eggs since August. Even I will admit that I was one of those who questioned the appointment. It's very easy to get caught up in a hivemind and judge somebody on their recent record.

 

The reason Claudio succeeded was that A) he inherited a squad which had already built a winning mentality during the "Great Escape" under Pearson, B) the squad developed by Pearson had always had a high work ethic which had been drilled into it ever since he took charge and C) he was able to strengthen in the summer with the final pieces of the jigsaw, in the form of Kante, Fuchs and Okazaki, buying players that fit the mentality already present.

 

Rafa has none of those benefits coming in. He's A) inheriting a squad used to losing at least every other week, B) inheriting what, from what NUFC fans seem to think, is one of the laziest squads of primadonnas in professional football, and C) is going into this crucial run with no opportunities to strengthen, and facing the prospect of having to change the squad mentality itself before he can bring in committed individuals who will fit a team with a proper work ethic.

 

This scenario strikes me as the polar opposite of what happened to us, but also a very similar one - a big appointment which everybody makes an instant judgement on, without considering the background factors.

NUFC fans - do you genuinely believe that Rafa is going to turn the form and, of course, the attitude of a squad which you have berated the attitude and work ethic of for multiple seasons in 9 games? Forgive me for being slightly sceptical, because I know what it's like to expect one thing from an incoming manager and end up seeing quite another.

 

I will hold my hands up and congratulate Newcastle if you do avoid the drop and go on to compete in the top half - it wouldn't be the first time. But I just don't see how one man could steady a ship that has been leaking water for years in 9 games.

 

TL;DR) Rafa's NUFC haven't kicked a ball yet and people think they'll be safe and winning cups / making top 4 next year. As an LCFC fan I know what it's like to completely misjudge an appointment, follow a hivemind and be left with egg on my face. Don't count your chickens just yet.

[foxfanazer]

Just because Rafa is going in it isn't going to turn people like Steven Taylor and Coloccini into footballers

[MC Prussian]

 

My tuppence on the Reddit circlejerk - since everybody there is spaffing over Benitez' appointment and has already decided he's keeping them up and taking them to the top 4 next year:

...

 

Could you provide a link for that reddit thread?

[mikael2]

I'm a bit in fear that wie won't win the match. But that has nothing to do with Rafa Benítez. He is a good Coach, no doubt. But I'm so nervous concerning the last matches and everything begins two or three days before the match day.

[Vulpecula]

I take the biggest comfort in that we've destroyed them the last couple of times we've played them (and it's a very big positive imho) The timing of the change at Newcastle is a negative for us though, make no mistake.