The Apologies Topic.

[Captain...]

I didn't understand the negativity at the time, I assumed it was mostly down to being upset about Pearson going, memories of Sven and one disastrous spell in Greece. Ignoring Greece, international football isn't for everyone, and forgetting about Sven, 2 very different characters, he has had a positive impact at some of the biggest clubs in the world, Juventus, Inter, Roma, Valencia, Chelsea (these are all much bigger clubs than Leicester but a level we aspire to be). He had also saved clubs from relegation and been willing to fight, but most impressive was his last club job before us, taking Monaco up as champions of ligue 2 and then to second behind an all conquering PSG in ligue 1. 

 

We had 3 options when Pearson was sacked, a tried and trusted premier league manager, Sam Allardyce for example who would probably have kept us up, a complete unknown/young up and coming manager maybe a Jimmy Floyd Hasslebank or Preki, which could have been a success, like Watford or Bournemouth or not, like Villa or Norwich. instead the owners dared to dream going for a manager with experience of challenging for titles in England, Spain, Italy and France as well as numerous European exploits.

 

I didn't think we would be anywhere near the top of the table, but the disappointment and disparaging comments from many was weird.

[kingcarr21]

I was delighted Ranieri got the job simply because it meant Lennon/Preki didn't get it. I saw him as the best of a bad bunch. Wow what a job he has done though. Ranieri will always be loved here.

[Rincewind]

From what I read he was one of the first to be interviewed and the owners were that impressed that the other interviewees were just a formality. He never promised great things for this season just a gradual improvement which is what the owners wanted.Also he comes across as a likeable person and friendly which is good for the club's and owners reputation. He must have done his research as he did not immediately change the team around or bring in his own coaching staff. Something that may have come up at the interview. At the time I knew little about him but still thought City could finish half way because of the way the season ended.

I thought it best to wait and see. There were a view managers available but they mostly had been at clubs previous and not exactly won titles themselves. They mostly were typical English managers. At a club, maybe have a decent run followed by a bad run then sacked. Our team would have been dismantled.

[Webbo]

Perhaps an apology to the owners wouldn't go amiss either, considering the abuse they got on here after Pearson's sacking.

[Sionnach gorm]

I'm not impressed at all. His initial article criticizing Ranieri was blatantly ignorant, yet he claims in his apologetics that somehow he knew Serie A football. If he did he would have never written what he wrote. Ranieri has been a great success in serie A. Saved teams from relegation and brought teams up to serie A. I find his apology a bit of a cover. He was just the Classic English journalist that doesn't know squat outside of English football...and even that...badly.

[fuchsntf]

I'm not impressed at all. His initial article criticizing Ranieri was blatantly ignorant, yet he claims in his apologetics that somehow he knew Serie A football. If he did he would have never written what he wrote. Ranieri has been a great success in serie A. Saved teams from relegation and brought teams up to serie A. I find his apology a bit of a cover. He was just the Classic English journalist that doesn't know squat outside of English football...and even that...badly.

We all have various opinions, but all Brit journalist claim that they go often abroad to watch, not

only English teams in europe, but the small and massive local games.

Like all British journalists (on all issues)they went blinkered, and come back blind..

Their european peers, are far more informed.British journalist travel but , they stay rather insular.

This doesnt mean there arent some dipstick foreign journalists, its just many have decided

to learn another language and culture thereof, part being the footballing media, fan and club

fraternity of that given country. Mind you that can depend also on their bias..

[MrSpaM]

From what I read he was one of the first to be interviewed and the owners were that impressed that the other interviewees were just a formality. He never promised great things for this season just a gradual improvement which is what the owners wanted.Also he comes across as a likeable person and friendly which is good for the club's and owners reputation. He must have done his research as he did not immediately change the team around or bring in his own coaching staff. Something that may have come up at the interview. At the time I knew little about him but still thought City could finish half way because of the way the season ended.

I thought it best to wait and see. There were a view managers available but they mostly had been at clubs previous and not exactly won titles themselves. They mostly were typical English managers. At a club, maybe have a decent run followed by a bad run then sacked. Our team would have been dismantled.

 

It's also been said since that Ranieri submitted his application for the job and wasn't actually approached by the club to begin with. Makes you wonder what the clubs first choice actually was after we got rid of Pearson.

[Guest Manini]

It's also been said since that Ranieri submitted his application for the job and wasn't actually approached by the club to begin with. Makes you wonder what the clubs first choice actually was after we got rid of Pearson.

I don't think they had a first choice, I don't think they had a clue who to bring in, hence the snapping of Ranieri's hand. It turned out to be magical though didn't it. Was clearly just meant to be.

I was a bit baffled when it was announced, I thought he'd sign all his mates a la Redknapp, but was aware of his pedigree.

I was sat with my Liverpool supporting housemate when it was announced. He was pissing himself laughing...

[davieG]

Team talk

 

Have a laugh at our 2015/16 pre-season predictions

Date published: Wednesday 18th May 2016 8:18

Leicester: Surprised our team

 

A look back at our Premier League predictions from August 2015 and we all tipped up Leicester…to get relegated!

Our TEAMtalk pre-season predictions are well worth a look/laugh at. Who saw Leicester’s title coming? We certainly didn’t, but did anyone outside of Leicester predict that the 5000/1 shots would do the unthinkable?

In fact our writers all had the Foxes down as relegation fodder. Have a chuckle at these remarks.

“Watford and Norwich look dead certs for me. And I think they might be joined by Leicester, who could rue the dismissal of Nigel Pearson,” wrote James Marshment.

Ian Watson claimed: “I think Leicester will drop, a few months after Claudio Ranieri gets the bullet around Christmas.”

Mark Holmes thought: “I’ll get off the fence and go for Norwich, Leicester and, just, Bournemouth.”

While Matt Briggs added: “Watford and Bournemouth will obviously also struggle, but I fancy one of them to survive at the expense of either Leicester or Sunderland.”

With regards to who we thought would win the title, the general consensus was that Chelsea would retain their crown. Little did we know they would start awfully, sack Jose Mourinho before Christmas and finish as the worst ever performing Premier League champions finishing down in 10th spot.

Matt, James and Ian all went for the Blues, although Matt did claim “this season will be the most competitive ever” it’s just a shame he stuck his hat on the men from the Bridge. Mark did oppose Chelsea and claimed they were “poor in pre-season”, but unfortunately he plumped for Man City to trump them.

TEAMtalk’s quartet all picked Arsenal for a top-four finish, with Matt, James and Ian all placing the Gunners second. Three of our men had Liverpool in fifth or sixth; only Matt did not see that outcome, but he had them to finish fourth.

Matt did recover some integrity though by picking Southampton as his ‘best of the rest’ side; the rest of the boys going for Swansea and Everton.

Aston Villa were correctly earmarked for relegation by Matt and Ian, but Mark fancied them to stay up: “I actually think Villa will do OK. They’ll be a bit of a car crash at times, I expect, but they’ll also shock a few bigger teams playing the way Tim Sherwood likes.”

READ: TEAMtalk’s 2015/16 Season Predictions

And there’s a brilliant sound byte from James: “I also think Spurs might endure an indifferent campaign and could finish as low as eighth this season.” The less said the better…

Three of our men fancied the Manager of the Year Claudio Ranieri to get the tick-tack first; Mark thought Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores would be the first managerial casualty.

Matt and Ian expected Memphis Depay t

[davieG]

Did you predict this unpredictable Premier League season? Probably not

A commendable 0.53% of our readers predicted that Leicester would win the league ... but not nearly as many as the 51% who thought they would be relegated

 

 You thought Claudio Ranieri would be sacked and his team would be relegated. How wrong you were. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Guardian sport

 

Friday 20 May 2016 10.19 BST Last modified on Friday 20 May 201610.23 BST

•  

All hail the 43 Guardian readers who predicted that Leicester City would win the Premier League! Sure, a whopping 99.47% of you were wrong and more of your votes went to Watford (57), Bournemouth (87), Tottenham (94), Liverpool (512), Manchester City (690), Manchester United (1,558), Chelsea (1,997) and Arsenal (2,685), but, for those 43 soothsayers out there, that is quite a result.

Leicester’s title win: when our writers realised they had got it wrong

 

 

Read more

The magnificent 43 (but not the Liverpool fans with fat fingers) deserve our eternal respect but, as is now customary in our annual retread over our readers’ predictions, it is only fair to point out that the majority of you deserve no praise at all. Our esteemed football editor and his team of writers have already admitted underestimating Leicester, so we respectfully suggest that the 51% of readers who predicted that they would be relegated should follow their lead in the comments section below. The more contrite the better please. 

Of course, it would be unfair to pick on you if your only mistake was missing Leicester’s title win. But you were wrong about loads of things! Two thirds of you predicted that Watford would be relegated; Wayne Rooney and Christian Bentekewere tipped to score more goals than Harry Kane; and Memphis Depay came second in the signing of the season category – the same place he finished in theflop of the season category nine months later. All in all, your predictions do not make for great reading:

Who will win the Premier League in 2015-16?

Arsenal 34%
Chelsea 25%
Manchester United 20%
Manchester City 9%
Liverpool 6%

Which clubs will be relegated?

Watford 66%
Leicester City 51%
Norwich City 48%
Bournemouth 34%
Sunderland 32%

Who will be the top goalscorer?

Sergio Agüero 38%
Wayne Rooney 14%
Christian Benteke 12%
Alexis Sánchez 12%
Harry Kane 7%

Who will be the best signing?

Petr Cech 43%
Memphis Depay 12%
Christian Benteke 8%
Yohan Cabaye 6%
Roberto Firmino 5%

Who will be the first manager sacked?

Brendan Rodgers 21%
Claudio Ranieri 18%
Quique Sánchez Flores 19%
Slaven Bilic 10%
Dick Advocaat 5%

[Stan]

From what I read he was one of the first to be interviewed and the owners were that impressed that the other interviewees were just a formality. He never promised great things for this season just a gradual improvement which is what the owners wanted.Also he comes across as a likeable person and friendly which is good for the club's and owners reputation. He must have done his research as he did not immediately change the team around or bring in his own coaching staff. Something that may have come up at the interview. At the time I knew little about him but still thought City could finish half way because of the way the season ended.

I thought it best to wait and see. There were a view managers available but they mostly had been at clubs previous and not exactly won titles themselves. They mostly were typical English managers. At a club, maybe have a decent run followed by a bad run then sacked. Our team would have been dismantled.

 

Clearly, on that basis, the man should be sacked!!

[Rincewind]

Clearly, on that basis, the man should be sacked!!

Perhaps I worded that wrong.

He never said there would be instant success or we would win the league (maybe he did) he just said he was aiming to maintain a PL top six to ten position for the foreseeable future.

Also I think it was that he never referred to the owners as Mr Ostrich.

[RonnieTodger]

I got it wrong, I was expecting Sven 2.0. I was in love with Nigel tbf, it made me angry when he left. 

[midland_red]

I wasn't hugely keen I guess. My fear was that the owners had sacked NP without an obvious successor lined up and none of the possible names inspired any enthusiasm really, with the exception of Klopp who made it clear he wanted to go to Liverpool.

That said I never though we were going to be in a relegation dogfight - my prediction (on here somewhere) was for us to finish twelfth

[Unabomber]

I got it wrong, I was expecting Sven 2.0. I was in love with Nigel tbf, it made me angry when he left. 

same pal, I met Claudio in July n the first thing I said was gotta say man i'm pretty mad Nigel got sacked. He said don't worry man dilly ding man champions league man, I said ok enjoy your tapas now get out of my sight.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

I was happy to see him come, now I'm ecstatic! 

[Unabomber]

I was happy to see him come

[Kendal Fox]

Remember being gutted that Pearson got sacked, but could understand it from the perspective of the Srivaddhanaprabha's.

However, though I didn't think we would even challenge for the title let alone win it, I was strangely intrigued by the appointment of Claudio as I had always liked his demeanour. Scratching out Greece, I thought we would have a good chance of staying up, possibly finishing just inside the top 10, just based on the consistency of his resume, especially as he'd proved he could keep things stable at every club (both 1st and 2nd tier - included promotion) he'd managed prior.

The weird feeling things might become magical came after we beat Stoke. Man.... I am gushing thinking about this incredible man and team....

[RonnieTodger]

same pal, I met Claudio in July n the first thing I said was gotta say man i'm pretty mad Nigel got sacked. He said don't worry man dilly ding man champions league man, I said ok enjoy your tapas now get out of my sight.

Hahaha he loves the Barceloneta sangria deal

[Blue ROI]

I had fears about the loss of Pearson more so than Ranieris arrival. That said I wasnt exactly in favour of Claudio as manager.

 

I was annoyed at what happened with Pearson leaving as he brought us from such our lowest ebb and reversed a 7 to 8 year downward spiral plus 2 years after he left the first time.Its easy for those that know of 2015/16 to laugh about it but it took a lot of effort to get to where leicester were in May 2015.

 

Leicester fans have taken a lot of flak for getting it badly wrong but considering that a good manager was followed by a major disappoitment (O'Neill, Pearson, and Little or Adams even) I had a sense that history was about to repeat itself again.

 

I wouldnt agree with getting rid of pearson now though I cant thank everyone including claudio enough for 2015/16 but I'd admire the owners for changing their mind in february 2015. the club owed pearson till the end of the season at the very least.

 

My lasting memory of Ranieri was the Chelsea team going over to greet him in highbury when they beat arseal in the 2004 champions league quarter final stage knowing that he was on borrowed time. The Greece record filled me with horror, I dismissed him as yesterdays man and I had no confidence in the season ahead.

 

The first win had me responding with thats relegation avoided but still not fully convinced. The arsenal game was where I expected the tinkerman to get found out but I had to hold my hands up after the norwich win that I was way off.I still thought champions league was the realistic target even when the great run started until Liverpool away.

 

It was only the man city win that had me dreaming the unthinkable could happen but still wary of Ranieri being a nearly man in previous managerial stints.

 

Then Swansea when our backs were to the wall. Lucky to attend the game and walking out of the stadium after as close to perfection as you could wish for it dawned on me 'it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen'

 

And it did.

 

I'll hear all about my spectacular blunder for a while yet but it's a small price to pay for immortality!

[Koke]

This is what I don't get.

Ranieri might not have been an elite manager when we appointed him but he was still far better than half the managers in the league. On what basis were we gonna finish bottom of the league below all 3 promoted teams and the other shite down there? It's one thing to say Leicester will struggle and finish 14th again, it's another thing to say we will finish bottom.

Not only did they get if wrong, they got it spectacularly wrong.

Plus, they showed so much disdain and disrespect to Ranieri. The utter derision by the pundits and journalists was a ****ing disgrace. Luckily for them Ranieri is a nice guy, but if I was Ranieri I'd put my balls on the table after the Everton game and walk out of the press conference like Vince McMahon.

[Koke]

I was never that bothered about his apparent failure to win anything which seemed to be most paramount in most critics minds because I never felt like we were destined to win anything any way. all we wanted as far as I was concerned was someone to keep us in the PL. playing moderately attractive football.

Bang on.

The critics of CR was he never won anything. Quite what's that got to do with us finishing mid table I will never k ow. Their reasoning and logic was pretty bizarre.

"Ranieri has never own anything therefore Leicester will get relegated."

[HighPeakFox]

I don't really like forced apologies - they don't indicate a change of process or pattern. The same goons who made these gross errors will make the same type of gross errors again..........the real error is in paying any attention to what they say.

[Bluetintedspecs]

I don't really like forced apologies - they don't indicate a change of process or pattern. The same goons who made these gross errors will make the same type of gross errors again..........the real error is in paying any attention to what they say.

Totally, it's great watching the egg sliding down their collective faces

[Countryfox]

Nothing for me to apologise for I'm afraid. When NP was booted out I was over the moon .... I mean what a nut job ! Great escape ? ... Total fluke more like ! Once that bad apple had finally been removed people were clammering for all sorts of up and coming managers and some slightly older but very successful ones to be appointed. Even the owners were getting a bit confused and spoke initially to MON but luckily that two bit Irishman turned us down ... I mean ... What an almighty step backwards that would have been ffs !!! No ... Using my expansive football knowledge and incisive forethought I spotted an elderly out of work Italian who had done a fantastic job with the Greek national team and was currently available. A quick call to Top and the rest as they say is history.