On the subject of Levein being unsettled.....

[The People's Hero]

Point taken.

[Gené and Tonic]

If Levein did step down, we would be in a right mess! There is no good manager to replace him with (bar good young coaches like the likes of Pearce and Boothroyd, but finding one would be very difficult) and most of the team and academy would be completely clueless. We have got to stick with him, and ride it out through thick and thin.

At the end of the day, it's what we do in 2 or 3 seasons from now that will matter, because the team is not good enough at the moment to get promoted I feel, nearly all of the players haven't reached their peak yet. A place around 7-11 would satisfy me. Although of course I'd be delighted if we were to get into the play-off, or even automatic promotion.

[Libertine]

So what is 'doing the business' by your terms? If we're not the playoffs by Christmas then he should be sacked? If we're not in the top 10?

Sacking Levein, or the fans forcing him out this season, is the worst thing that could happen to our club. What do we do then? Get in another manager from the lower leagues, although this time we won't have as much choice as we did before because we'll have the reputation of being a sacking club, having difficult fans and we'll be in a worse financial position than we were before. If we manage to get someone in he'll be unfamiliar with the set-up again, he'll want his own players in, he'll have to cope with reducing the wage budget at the end of the season again. After a year because he's not doing well we'll sack him, and our choice of next manager will again be significantly reduced and so it will continue until we're forced into getting in managers like Bassett or Kinnear because they're the only ones who will take us and we'll get relegated into League One and the fans will be saying, now why didn't we just keep Levein when we were in a good position to build for the future and we weren't under the threat of relegation, rather than calling for his head after 14 months in the job (if sacked at Christmas as you suggest) and watching our club slowly decline.

Now you might say that sounds like an extreme scenario, but it is what has happened to many clubs in this division (most recently Forest) when they continuously sack managers after a season or less because of impatience.

Best. Post. Ever.

It would be a mistake to sack him yeah... but how about a kick up the backside and a few stern words?

I agree with that totally.

[The People's Hero]

I agree with that totally.

Someone agreeing with em!?

It's all a bit new, shiney and interesting...

[BenFilbert]

If Levein did step down, we would be in a right mess! There is no good manager to replace him with (bar good young coaches like the likes of Pearce and Boothroyd, but finding one would be very difficult) and most of the team and academy would be completely clueless. We have got to stick with him, and ride it out through thick and thin.

At the end of the day, it's what we do in 2 or 3 seasons from now that will matter, because the team is not good enough at the moment to get promoted I feel, nearly all of the players haven't reached their peak yet. A place around 7-11 would satisfy me. Although of course I'd be delighted if we were to get into the play-off, or even automatic promotion. Message: keep the faith!

Brilliant post until the last three words. I've binned the flag and took out the car sticker. I think we give Levein until Christmas at the earliest- next Christmas, not this Christmas. He needs all of this season and up to Christmas 2006. Then if things aren't looking good we can try and get someone else in and they can have the rest of that season to get used to the place etc and then get us promoted the year after. I was being serious there but this is getting silly really. Let's just enjoy it and stop talking about 3 years away!

[The People's Hero]

Supporting City is a rollercoaster.

You certainly do get your share of thrills and spills and although we pretend otherwise, we wouldn't have it any other way.

[Gené and Tonic]

Brilliant post until the last three words.

I'll edit them out then

[BenFilbert]

I'll edit them out then

Thanks

[Nationwider]

It would be a mistake to sack him yeah... but how about a kick up the backside and a few stern words?

I don't see the point in that. You either back him or you don't.

If it's a mistake to sack him, then you (the board) don't make veiled threats like "Top 6 by Christmas - or else!!!" if you're not going to act on that threat if things don't go well.

Levein is a professional, not a school boy. He knows the pressure he's under - pressure that's probably exacerbated by all the gossiping about his private affairs.

Sir Alex Ferguson is a prime example (on a different scale, granted) of a manager who endured huge pressure for several seasons before really delivering (the Cup Winners Cup doesn't count). But the board backed him, the kids came through and the rest is history.

Neil Warnock is an example at our level. He's been flogging a "nearly" side for a few seasons now at Bramall Lane, wheeling and dealing, and lo and behold, it looks like he may have finally cracked it this year. The point is, love him or hate him, SUFC knew they had a good manager and have continued to back him.

Enough things have happened over the last 12 months to give us some hope that things are pointed in the right direction - Levein's appointment, the reduction in the age of the squad and of our ludicrous wage bill, the emergence (slowly) of some academy players, the club's efforts (however small, initially) to bridge the divide between themselves and the fans.

I started to watch Leicester in the mid-80's, and following our relegation from Division 1, Brian Hamilton and David Pleat (the Shipman years?) dragged us through several years of awful football against the backdrop of a half-empty Filbert Street filled with a poisonous atmosphere.

This is 100 times better than 20 years ago. I didn't mind watching all that shit 20 years ago as 1) I thought all football was like that, and 2) the Little and O'Neill years tasted so much sweeter as a result.

Thracian's done similar posts about 50 times already this year, so I'll shut up now.

[Royston.]

You cant expect players not to make mistakes and miss goalscoring chances but its happening too often and its unacceptable whether you play Sunday league or if you're in the Championship.

[Harpenden Fox]

The point is are we making progress.? Take Watford. I saw us at their place in March. Both teams were truly awful. What has happened since? They've appointed a new, unheard of manager and are now third. They've also changed their team significantly, and I gather they're playing really good football.

On paper we have a good team. What we have to look for is hunger and passion. If we're not displaying those qualities we have a management problem. I'd take mid table with lots of passion this season. Then the players can blend and challenge next time round.

If we don't see any passion, then we do have problems.

[Thracian]

Get real. Premiership players make mistakes and Championship players make more mistakes...by definition.

Why not look at some positives for a minute and starting feeling some pride in your club.

a) This team and these players have been together weeks yet are no further down the League than they were before the major transformation began. There is no logical reason to believe they will get worse rather than better as a unit.

b) In a short time, Richard Stearman, Alan Sheehan and young Wesolowski (cruelly injured) have emerged from the Academy to be valuable players... along, surely with Ashley Chambers, who is being brought forward as fast as the rules allow. When did that sort of thing last happen at City?. Apart from their worth to the team these are major financial assets which will ensure the long term viability of the club.

c) Valuable money has been raised from the sale of Connolly, easing our considerable financial difficulties without noticably weakening the side. The potential £3m from that was outstanding business in the current climate

d) Decent mainly young players like Hume, Maybury, Hammond, Hamill, Kisnorbo and McCarthy have arrived on mainly long contracts which suggest the new team will have a chance to properly evolve. And, should it be necessary to sell any of these players on it is likely they will fetch more money than they were purchased for.

Levein's approach reminds me of that taken by Dario Grady at Crewe - and that's a compliment cos he's been one of the top five managerial successes in the UK over recent years in my view.

Grady's taken AGES to gradually lift his club from the depths of the Football League into the Championship while all the time developing and selling young stars but retaining the rest to keep his team's playing strength respectable.

Sometimes it's been hard at Crewe to accept good players going (like Ashton for instance, and Lennon) but Grady is so highly regarded that he has a 10-year rolling contract and a directorship as I recall.

Believe me, at Crewe, they'd rather have the financially lifesaving sell-ons than a bankrupt club languishing near the trapdoor of obscurity at the bottom of Division Two.

Levein has, in his brief stay, shown he can write the same revivalist chapters into Leicester's history, given the chance. We fans should understand what he's trying to do and back the man. We're a lucky club just now if we did but know it.

Criticising particular details regarding team selection and tactics is one thing but it is the big picture that really counts in the end and the canvas on the big picture is starting to look interesting ... as Levein might himself have seen when the club's kids took on and beat a much bigger, stronger Watford in the Reserves match this week.

And one thing he'll have seen was Sheehan and Chambers putting another few 10's of thousands on their asset values - and the early twinkle of one or two other potential starlets.

[Babylon]

The point is are we making progress.?

As I said before.....

"Have we not already had an improvement this season??

Maybe not points wise, but in age of squad, value of squad, youth teamers making progress, style of play, entertainment value. Everything that people wanted Micky Adams out for has been transformed for the better.

You can't have your cake and eat it."

[Thracian]

Have we not already had an improvement this season??

Maybe not points wise, but in age of squad, value of squad, youth teamers making progress, style of play, entertainment value. Everything that people wanted Micky Adams out for has been transformed for the better.

You can't have your cake and eat it.

Unless we end up in the bottom three, Levein needs two full years before we start calling for changes.

Well said - and for the second time you said it.

[Suffolk_fox]

I hope that CL isn't unsettled - it would be a crying shame.

It has all been said by different people - CL is not the finished article, and neither is our team.

Compared to where we were last year - results aside - we had an ageing side, were recovering from near financial collapse, and had no future, no direction. MA had gambled and decided to play for the 'now' and paid the consequences. He himself had a tough job taking over the shambles left behind by Peter Taylor.

So from the brink of bankruptcy, we are slowly laying the foundations of a resurgence. I don't want an instant return to the Premiership with a team that won't survive there - all the work will be undone instantly.

We are doing better financially, we have more promising YOUNG players, a manager who doesn't continually hang onto really bad players (remember Akinbiyi and Jordan Stewart) and a better board than we have had in the past (anyone who remembers the Shipman years like me would understand)

CL needs time to build. I agree that if no progress is made then things should be looked at, but I would leave that until next season OR it it looks like we will be relegated/bankrupted - I don't think either of these will happen though.

Our slide from a possible European Place to the doldrums was very quick, and yes there are some managers who can turn a club around in a season (Brian Little took us from near relegation to what is now Div 1 to promotion in one season) but the Top Division is totally different now - it is harder to stay there in the first season.

I don't mind being in the Championship for another season or so - when we get promoted to the Premiership, we want to be a top 10 side, like we were under MoN. Not a yo-yo side like Ipswich!

The best is yet to come, when all the improvements start showing on the pitch and in results. The players have not had enough time to gel yet, but rest assured better things are yet to come. Don't mess it up by putting too much pressure on CL for instant results, cos it won't help anyone!

[Chrysalis]

I disagree with the OP simply because stability breeds success, this is craig's transitional season and the aim is just to finish higher then last season, next season is when I expect us to be pushing for playoff's. Warnock has been with sheff utd for a number of years and has also had a boost in playing funds this year to strengthen a already strong squad, the circumstances are far different for craig and many people need to realise this.