A view from a non-supporter

[Shrews fan steps in]

Apols, this is not meant to be a post that rubs salt into the wounds of your current predicament which appears to be one of the most divisive things I've seen in football regarding a single person. However, some of you may be interested in the views of a non-Leicester supporter. If not, then probably best not to read on!

 

Firstly, once again, congratulations on on your Premiership victory last year. The greatest footballing, if not sporting, achievement of all time. A victory that the wider sporting world on a truly global scale wanted to happen and were genuinely happy, if not ecstatic, for the fans, management and connections of Leicester City. The magnitude of the victory, in a division dominated by money since its creation, is just staggering. A club who (with respect), have traditionally been a level 1/level 2 yo-yo club (in my 50 years on the planet) and who in its previous season had battled relegation.  I repeat, the magnitude was staggering. A once in a lifetime occurrence, perhaps only eclipsed by a Champions League victory at the first attempt.

 

Nigel Pearson was the manager who formed the basis of a team who proved they could fight themselves out of relegation. Whether he would have gone on to scale the same heights with the team that Claudio Ranieri did is debatable. Maybe, but personally under Pearson I think you'd have stayed in the division last year and quite likely with some further improvement. However, I doubt you'd have won the league. To do that, it needed something special.

 

Step forward Claudio Ranieri, the Tinkerman who at Leicester didn't have a great deal to tinker with. He managed to achieve the unthinkable. The greatest achievement in your club's 133 years history and quite likely the greatest your club will ever achieve. I doubt whether many (any?) manager's in the game could have moulded, motivated and focused a team of players to keep going, game-by-game, to its ultimate end. So many managers would have buckled under the strain, lost the plot, chewed their nails and ultimately made the wrong decisions. Ranieri didn't and for that he has been labelled, quite rightly, a footballing management genius.

 

Geniuses do not lose their genius overnight. It is always there. 

 

Nine months later, he is back to where Pearson was. But the fans, club and whole footballing world are expecting something better. Nobody is expecting another Premiership victory, but somewhere at the top is surely realistic. Outside of the top ten is surely a disappointment. The genius is sacked by the board.

 

What went wrong I have no idea, but what I do know is this.  Claudio Ranieri gave the current Leicester fans the greatest memories a Leicester fan will probably ever have. He wove a tale that will become legend and if football continues as a sport, even in a 1000 years this will never be forgotten. One day, it may be done again and the tale of Ranieri's Leicester will be resurrected. All fans of football in the future will wonder in awe of how great it must have been to be a Leicester fan in 2016/17.

 

Unfortunately, the ending to the story sullies those memories somewhat. When people of the future talk about this achievement, the sacking, no doubt, will also be included. I believe that's a massive shame. And all for what?  Staying in The Premiership? Becoming a top ten side for a decade? In the history of your club those two achievements will mean very little compared to your victory in 2016. The future generations of supporter won't be too fussed about that.

 

I believe Ranieri would have kept you up. I believe the fighting spirit of the players would have eventually kicked in, even if right at the death. You have much better players than your relegation rivals. I don't know who is going to galvanise these players now. It's a much harder task for a new manager who doesn't know the players or the playing style and there really isn't that much longer left. I also think it's more difficult for you to progress in the CL now Ranieri is gone. I believe you may well have got a result at the King Power against Seville and this success may have kick-started the fighting mentality of the players. But now, under a new manager, I am less confident.

 

Even if relegated, the memory of last year would not have been sullied and the victory would've be there for future generations to enjoy and wonder over. But the sacking, for me, leaves a dirty stain on what should have been the greatest memories. And for that I feel genuinely sorry for the fans of the club who saw that Ranieri should've meant more to Leicester City and its future other than just big business and staying in the top flight.

 

For one, I hope that you don't go down like some other ffans do. I hope you stay up, and more than anything I hope you shock the world again by winning the Champions League. I believe by doing so, you will keep the great memories of last year alive and the sacking will become just part of the tale, rather than the thing that accompanies the greatest achievement in your history.

 

Sadly, however I believe the sacking of Ranieri has been a massive mistake.

[Charl91]

There's a common denominator in most of the people who think sacking Ranieri was a huge mistake.

 

They haven't watched most of our games this season.

[Brainy]

Not meaning to be rude but out of the seven words I read properly

 

"Ranieri is back to where Pearson was"

 

Position wise yes. Performances though are absolutely dire under Ranieri in this position than it ever was with Pearson

[Sol thewall Bamba]

10 minutes ago, Charl91 said:

There's a common denominator in most of the people who think sacking Ranieri was a huge mistake.

 

They haven't watched most of our games this season.

Basically this. 

[Footballwipe]

Didn't read anything but the last line, which shows the rest was banal opinion. You haven't watched or seen us anywhere near enough and you're living on pure sentiment. Please focus on your own club rather than attempting to offer insightful opinions on something you get from the hysterical media. Thanks

[Shrews fan steps in]

Every club has poor spells, in fact, many have long spells of playing football badly.  But what's important is the memories of what you've achieved and how great that was. Not the downs of playing badly or even relegation, which we all quickly forget!

 

Leicester fans have never been glory hunters. otherwise they would never have chosen Leicester. Like most football clubs it's always been about enjoying the rollercoaster ride that it is football.

 

Poor football is a real downer but your basing that on what you achieved last year. It was always going to be difficult for the players and management to keep it going and to find the same momentum. But, given your players have shown they can fight over the last two seasons, I feel there was a good chance that eventually the players and management would've turned it around. I'm not sure the sacking is going to provide a positive outcome for you in the league or in the CL and the stain on the memory (alone) just means that, for me, it's a mistake. 

[Babylon]

3 minutes ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

Every club has poor spells, in fact, many have long spells of playing football badly.  But what's important is the memories of what you've achieved and how great that was. Not the downs of playing badly or even relegation, which we all quickly forget!

 

Leicester fans have never been glory hunters. otherwise they would never have chosen Leicester. Like most football clubs it's always been about enjoying the rollercoaster ride that it is football.

 

Poor football is a real downer but your basing that on what you achieved last year. It was always going to be difficult for the players and management to keep it going and to find the same momentum. But, given your players have shown they can fight over the last two seasons, I feel there was a good chance that eventually the players and management would've turned it around. I'm not sure the sacking is going to provide a positive outcome for you in the league or in the CL and the stain on the memory (alone) just means that, for me, it's a mistake. 

We're basing poor football on what we see on the pitch, nobody expects last season but we do expect to not play worse than when Gary Taylor Fletcher and Dean Hammond played for us.

 

We were going down without a whimper, playing the worst football in years after investing a lot of money. 

[Charl91]

2 minutes ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

Every club has poor spells, in fact, many have long spells of playing football badly.  But what's important is the memories of what you've achieved and how great that was. Not the downs of playing badly or even relegation, which we all quickly forget!

 

Leicester fans have never been glory hunters. otherwise they would never have chosen Leicester. Like most football clubs it's always been about enjoying the rollercoaster ride that it is football.

 

Poor football is a real downer but your basing that on what you achieved last year. It was always going to be difficult for the players and management to keep it going and to find the same momentum. But, given your players have shown they can fight over the last two seasons, I feel there was a good chance that eventually the players and management would've turned it around. I'm not sure the sacking is going to provide a positive outcome for you in the league or in the CL and the stain on the memory (alone) just means that, for me, it's a mistake. 

I think it's clear that the manager had lost the support of the players and the coaching staff, and they'd all but downed tools. Ranieri wasn't going to turn it around, anyone who has watched us play regularly this season could have told you that. The problem is, most outsiders only care about the "Leicester Story" - it's not their club, and they don't really care what actually happens to us, only that it has a "nice ending".That's different to the feelings of the fans, who've had to watch this horror show, as our club falls to pieces, week in and week out. 

 

You're right in that we can always reminisce about the "glory days" of 2015/2016. I'd much rather do that from the comfort of the Premier League, than in League One though. We may still get relegated, but this might at least give the players a kick up the backside and give us a fighting chance. Otherwise we'd be down without a whimper, and the financial implications of that would be horrific. Last time we got relegated, it took 10 years to get back the premier league, and the championship is only getting more competitive.

[Shrews fan steps in]

13 minutes ago, Footballwipe said:

Didn't read anything but the last line, which shows the rest was banal opinion. You haven't watched or seen us anywhere near enough and you're living on pure sentiment. Please focus on your own club rather than attempting to offer insightful opinions on something you get from the hysterical media. Thanks

Probably, but the problem with living on pure sentiment is what exactly? 

 

So what that you're watching rubbish football at the moment? Like all football clubs it's not going to be for the first time in your history. It's football! Last year you were watching the greatest football that any Leicester fan will ever have. 

 

As a fan of football, as well as my own club, I am perfectly entitled to comment on it and it's your own opinion that I get this from hysterical media. I don't, I hardly read newspapers, I hardly watch the TV or even football on the tellybox. I'd much rather watch it live and no fully well that when you pay your money you expect to watch good performance.  But I've also been watching it live long enough to know that you should cherish the good times because the bad times will always come with it. 

[Shrews fan steps in]

5 minutes ago, Charl91 said:

. Last time we got relegated, it took 10 years to get back the premier league, and the championship is only getting more competitive.

And it might take you another 10 years to get back again, but surely the memory of last year is much more important than that? You achieved the unthinkable, probably the greatest sporting achievement of all time!

[Trav Le Bleu]

What is your opinion of Chic Bates?

[Brainy]

5 minutes ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

Probably, but the problem with living on pure sentiment is what exactly? 

 

 

 

 

Speaking from the owners point of view, that you leave the club vulnerable to drifting off down to the 2nd tier. Right now that is the problem.

[tom27111]

2 minutes ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

Probably, but the problem with living on pure sentiment is what exactly? 

 

So what that you're watching rubbish football at the moment? Like all football clubs it's not going to be for the first time in your history. It's football! Last year you were watching the greatest football that any Leicester fan will ever have. 

 

As a fan of football, as well as my own club, I am perfectly entitled to comment on it and it's your own opinion that I get this from hysterical media. I don't, I hardly read newspapers, I hardly watch the TV or even football on the tellybox. I'd much rather watch it live and no fully well that when you pay your money you expect to watch good performance.  But I've also been watching it live long enough to know that you should cherish the good times because the bad times will always come with it. 

 

Last year was last year.

 

This is now.

 

The supporters, owners and anyone with any affiliation to Leicester City, do not want to be relegated.

 

Where would it stop? Should we see where we are in 5 years? Maybe in League 2 with Pompey. It's cool though, because 2016 was amazing.

 

You're argument is pathetic.

[Charl91]

4 minutes ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

And it might take you another 10 years to get back again, but surely the memory of last year is much more important than that? You achieved the unthinkable, probably the greatest sporting achievement of all time!

 

And I refer you back to what I said previously. Why should we keep Ranieri, just so that your story as a "happy ending"? We should get relegated out of pure sentimentality?  Ranieri or no Ranieri, we always have the memory of last season. That doesn't mean we have to get relegated (and be happy about it) because of it. 

 

I'm sorry that it ruins your story. But it's not your club, it doesn't really effect you. For most fans, this was the right decision. We care about Leicester City, not just Ranieri, as big a part as he played. 

 

Ranieri is a legend in everyone's eyes, and will never have to buy a drink in the city again. But it was the right decision. Nottingham Forest also had a great story, but I bet they'd all kill to be back in the Premier League now.

[tom27111]

3 minutes ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

And it might take you another 10 years to get back again, but surely the memory of last year is much more important than that? You achieved the unthinkable, probably the greatest sporting achievement of all time!

 

Yes, we ACHIEVED it. Changing manager to attempt to avoid relegation will NEVER take that away.

 

 

[Stadt]

It's getting tiresome seeing fans of other clubs and the pundits telling us the actual fans of our team what to think. Everybody congratulated us for breaking the mould, we smashed the glass ceiling and now we should just meekly accept relegation because of sentiment and the overriding opinion is 'well that's your level'. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past when currently we're a completely dysfunctional football team, we can't defend and we definitely can't score - most of our fans could deal with relegation if were putting up a fight in close run games but instead we lose without troubling the opposition to the tune of two or three goals.

[Finnegan]

Obvious troll is obvious.

[Shrews fan steps in]

3 minutes ago, Walkers said:

 

 

Speaking from the owners point of view, that you leave the club vulnerable to drifting off down to the 2nd tier. Right now that is the problem.

 

Owners come and go. Their memories won't be the same as yours. They are rarely massive fans of the club, just the big business it provides. Sure, everyone wants their club to be successful but it's also important not to be so transfixed on success to the point where we forget what the game is really about, and that's about providing great memories. Success is never a continuous thing that should be expected, it's just something that should be enjoyed when we get it.

 

I fail to see that the stain on the memory of the Ranieri sacking is overidden by the finances of the club or staying in the division.

[Finnegan]

So I assume it's Moosebreath?

[Kendal Fox]

1 hour ago, Footballwipe said:

Didn't read anything but the last line, which shows the rest was banal opinion. You haven't watched or seen us anywhere near enough and you're living on pure sentiment. Please focus on your own club rather than attempting to offer insightful opinions on something you get from the hysterical media. Thanks

It's a shame because he made some very good, balanced points to be fair. He echoed what I was thinking with regard to us grinding out that away goal vs Seville - That very well could have set us up to get the win over them at home which in turn might have kick started the fight back in the league. Now, should we get battered by Liverpool, there's a good chance Hull get something from us and then we get dumped out by Seville in the CL. Even Schmeichel said in the post-match interview that he was strangely heartened and empowered by the fight they showed to battle back and clinch the away goal...

Surely we should have given Ranieri the chance to see out these 3 games, see if the momentum from that away goal vs one of the most savvy European sides at their home ground, might have kick started a revival in the league. We 'll never know now.

[Shrews fan steps in]

15 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

 

Last year was last year.

 

This is now.

 

The supporters, owners and anyone with any affiliation to Leicester City, do not want to be relegated.

 

Where would it stop? Should we see where we are in 5 years? Maybe in League 2 with Pompey. It's cool though, because 2016 was amazing.

 

You're argument is pathetic.

Nobody wants to be relegated. But that's football, it happens, and as you've experienced it can take a long time to get back. But fans of the club and football in general will keep going and support their team through thick and thin. Memories of successful times are all important.

 

Quite frankly I don't care whether you think my argument is pathetic, so not sure why you wrote it really?  Many of your own fans feel you shouldn't have sacked the greatest manager you've ever had, that you were all calling a genius just nine months ago. I suppose their views are all pathetic too?   

[Shrews fan steps in]

29 minutes ago, Charl91 said:

 

And I refer you back to what I said previously. Why should we keep Ranieri, just so that your story as a "happy ending"? We should get relegated out of pure sentimentality?  Ranieri or no Ranieri, we always have the memory of last season. That doesn't mean we have to get relegated (and be happy about it) because of it. 

 

I'm sorry that it ruins your story. But it's not your club, it doesn't really effect you. For most fans, this was the right decision. We care about Leicester City, not just Ranieri, as big a part as he played. 

 

Ranieri is a legend in everyone's eyes, and will never have to buy a drink in the city again. But it was the right decision. Nottingham Forest also had a great story, but I bet they'd all kill to be back in the Premier League now.

I bet they wouldn't trade their Brian Clough years and two European Cups for anything would they?

[Kendal Fox]

1 hour ago, Shrews fan steps in said:

Apols, this is not meant to be a post that rubs salt into the wounds of your current predicament which appears to be one of the most divisive things I've seen in football regarding a single person. However, some of you may be interested in the views of a non-Leicester supporter. If not, then probably best not to read on!

 

Firstly, once again, congratulations on on your Premiership victory last year. The greatest footballing, if not sporting, achievement of all time. A victory that the wider sporting world on a truly global scale wanted to happen and were genuinely happy, if not ecstatic, for the fans, management and connections of Leicester City. The magnitude of the victory, in a division dominated by money since its creation, is just staggering. A club who (with respect), have traditionally been a level 1/level 2 yo-yo club (in my 50 years on the planet) and who in its previous season had battled relegation.  I repeat, the magnitude was staggering. A once in a lifetime occurrence, perhaps only eclipsed by a Champions League victory at the first attempt.

 

Nigel Pearson was the manager who formed the basis of a team who proved they could fight themselves out of relegation. Whether he would have gone on to scale the same heights with the team that Claudio Ranieri did is debatable. Maybe, but personally under Pearson I think you'd have stayed in the division last year and quite likely with some further improvement. However, I doubt you'd have won the league. To do that, it needed something special.

 

Step forward Claudio Ranieri, the Tinkerman who at Leicester didn't have a great deal to tinker with. He managed to achieve the unthinkable. The greatest achievement in your club's 133 years history and quite likely the greatest your club will ever achieve. I doubt whether many (any?) manager's in the game could have moulded, motivated and focused a team of players to keep going, game-by-game, to its ultimate end. So many managers would have buckled under the strain, lost the plot, chewed their nails and ultimately made the wrong decisions. Ranieri didn't and for that he has been labelled, quite rightly, a footballing management genius.

 

Geniuses do not lose their genius overnight. It is always there. 

 

Nine months later, he is back to where Pearson was. But the fans, club and whole footballing world are expecting something better. Nobody is expecting another Premiership victory, but somewhere at the top is surely realistic. Outside of the top ten is surely a disappointment. The genius is sacked by the board.

 

What went wrong I have no idea, but what I do know is this.  Claudio Ranieri gave the current Leicester fans the greatest memories a Leicester fan will probably ever have. He wove a tale that will become legend and if football continues as a sport, even in a 1000 years this will never be forgotten. One day, it may be done again and the tale of Ranieri's Leicester will be resurrected. All fans of football in the future will wonder in awe of how great it must have been to be a Leicester fan in 2016/17.

 

Unfortunately, the ending to the story sullies those memories somewhat. When people of the future talk about this achievement, the sacking, no doubt, will also be included. I believe that's a massive shame. And all for what?  Staying in The Premiership? Becoming a top ten side for a decade? In the history of your club those two achievements will mean very little compared to your victory in 2016. The future generations of supporter won't be too fussed about that.

 

I believe Ranieri would have kept you up. I believe the fighting spirit of the players would have eventually kicked in, even if right at the death. You have much better players than your relegation rivals. I don't know who is going to galvanise these players now. It's a much harder task for a new manager who doesn't know the players or the playing style and there really isn't that much longer left. I also think it's more difficult for you to progress in the CL now Ranieri is gone. I believe you may well have got a result at the King Power against Seville and this success may have kick-started the fighting mentality of the players. But now, under a new manager, I am less confident.

 

Even if relegated, the memory of last year would not have been sullied and the victory would've be there for future generations to enjoy and wonder over. But the sacking, for me, leaves a dirty stain on what should have been the greatest memories. And for that I feel genuinely sorry for the fans of the club who saw that Ranieri should've meant more to Leicester City and its future other than just big business and staying in the top flight.

 

For one, I hope that you don't go down like some other ffans do. I hope you stay up, and more than anything I hope you shock the world again by winning the Champions League. I believe by doing so, you will keep the great memories of last year alive and the sacking will become just part of the tale, rather than the thing that accompanies the greatest achievement in your history.

 

Sadly, however I believe the sacking of Ranieri has been a massive mistake.

Thanks mate. I appreciate it and I am inclined to agree with much of what you say. I feel we should have given Ranieri longer and I've been prepared that we might go down for a while now. As you say, football fans support their teams through thick and thin, highs and lows and we at City have been going through more lows than highs for the majority of our existence.. I'm not convinced the entire situation isn't the fault of the board and "insiders"... Sad it's come to this, even though I admit we have been poor.

[Shrews fan steps in]

24 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Obvious troll is obvious.

I doubt whether any 'troll' would take the time to type a post like my original one on here. I'm just a fan of football mate, offering an opinion on why I don't think the sacking was a good decision. And quite frankly I've got better things to do than be a troll on a football messageboard. The bloody dog's been waiting for his walk for an hour!

 

[Finnegan]

Just now, Shrews fan steps in said:

I doubt whether any 'troll' would take the time to type a post like my original one on here. I'm just a fan of football mate, offering an opinion on why I don't think the sacking was a good decision. And quite frankly I've got better things to do than be a troll on a football messageboard. The bloody dog's been waiting for his walk for an hour!

 

 

Taking the time to register an account specifically to wind up a forum of football fans is exactly what a troll would do, yes.