Louise Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 Boss Remains Relaxed Craig Levein says he won't be hitting the panic button despite his side's indifferent start to the campaign. The Foxes have 12 points to their name following the opening 12 games of the season - and currently lie in 19th position in the Championship table. But the City boss says he has seen it all before and remains confident in the fact that regardless of recent setbacks his side are very much moving in the right direction. He said: "I am fairly relaxed during this period when things aren't going as well as they should be for us. "I need to be relaxed to make good decisions and I can assure everybody that we are doing our utmost on the training ground to try and turn things round. I have been here before and I understand how it works. If we can get a little bit of confidence from a couple of wins then things can change very quickly. "But I am also frustrated. We have played very well in a lot of matches and I see improvement in a lot of things, but the most important thing is picking up points. We haven't managed to pick up as many of those as we would have liked. We are very much aware of that." And Levein pinpointed his midfield as the area he is most concerned with at this given time. He added: "We haven't quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season in that area. There might be a number of different reasons for that, but the first thing is to get everybody fit and available to play. "I hope then to put of a midfield which I think will have the players to score and to prevent other teams from scoring. That for me is the area that we haven't quite got right just yet." City have no fixture this weekend due to the international break, but will be back in action on Saturday, October 15 when they take on Watford at Vicarage Road. The Foxes then face two home games in quick succession against Burnley and Coventry. Tickets for all three matches are currently on sale. http://www.lcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/...~723749,00.html I think I'd agree with Levein that midfield has been our problem, mostly on the wings and with Williams's indifferent performances in my opinion. Hopefully some of that will be solved with the inclusion of Smith and the eventual return of Wesolowski.
Libertine Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 If Hughes was played in the centre instead of Williams it would be a whole different story. Sylla Hughes Joey Smith That'll do nicely.
frenchy_lcfc Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 If Hughes was played in the centre instead of Williams it would be a whole different story. Sylla Hughes Joey Smith That'll do nicely. That sounds pretty good LIBERTINE!
Gené and Tonic Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 It's good to see he's relaxed, and is identifying where the problems lie. Hopefully, this break will rejuvinate the players and we will see some results coming our way
supedaj Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 yep - starting with Watford I think we'll win that one - even though we're still 2 weeks away!
shen Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 So he doesn't think the ever-changing backline is our major problem? Surely the fact that it's ever-changing must be because he isn't happy with it
FNQ Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 What is Levein talking about. "The first thing is to get everyone fit and available" - Surely the first thing is to get everyone that is fit playing well!
breadandcheese Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 The midfield is definitely the problem. Unable to break-up opposing attacks, unable to weigh in with a few goals. Think its time to drop Williams & Joey. Strangely, I'm prepared to give Sylla another chance. I think with a better central midfield, he could be useful. A midfield of either Sylla - Hughes - Kisnorbo - Smith or Sylla - Hughes - Tiatto - Smith for me
Hullfox Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 Think its time to drop Williams & Joey. Drop Joey?????????????
willy37 Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 is the new lad smith left footed? if not then surely he would be the ideal replacement for sylla? who i believe doesnt really seem to have to much about him
Libertine Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 is the new lad smith left footed? if not then surely he would be the ideal replacement for sylla? who i believe doesnt really seem to have to much about him He is naturally a left winger but can play on the right too.
Scow Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 To be fair, if you're a winger under Levein, you must play both flanks.
lookwhaticando Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 To be fair, if you're a winger under Levein, you must play both flanks. ... at the same time
cisono Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 ... at the same time That might be why we are having trouble covering some positions ...
Anish Posted 6 October 2005 Posted 6 October 2005 To be fair, if you're a winger under Levein, you must play both flanks.
Ric Flair Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 Although Gudjonsson has been playing well this season we still haven't been winning the midfield battles on a regular basis. For me there isn't a better defensive midfielder in our squad other than Weso and he's a good 3 months away from being ready. The problem is that we need another midfielder to compliment Joey and it's got to be Hughes at the minute. Williams needs to re-assess his game and Levein needs to sit down with him and tell him exactly what he expects from him otherwise he'll be shown the door. I rate Williams, he's one of our best players technically but he's got to get involved more but at the same time Leicester need to play to his strengths when we play him. Hughes is wasted on the wing and i'm astonished Levein plays him out there as it's quite well known that Levein absolutely loves Hughesy. He's a central midfielder who's got a great pedigree and has put in some outstanding performances for Rangers in the centre, it's an embarassment to make the lad play on the wing all the while. Hughes and Wesolowski in the centre in 2006 will give us a great platform to achieve what this club is capable of. If Smudger is still here by then, then we could well damage a few teams and rightly so.
breadandcheese Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 Drop Joey????????????? Ludicrous suggestion. I think Joey has been showing a lot of effort and giving 100%, however, I am concerned at his ability to organise a midfield and boss it. It is no surprise that without a true leader in the centre of the park, we have been struggling. Joey is unable to organise the players around him so that the midfield doesn't dig in, shut out opponents or stop them playing. Think of any good defensive midfielder and their main strength is the ability to organise a midfield and ensure it knows what it is doing, with people tucking in, etc. The main time a defensive midfielder like Keane or Viera makes a great tackle is when they are saving the blushes of fellow midfielders who have lost their man. Then they get up and bark orders out, because they should not have had to make that tackle in the first place.
davieG Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 Although Gudjonsson has been playing well this season we still haven't been winning the midfield battles on a regular basis. For me there isn't a better defensive midfielder in our squad other than Weso and he's a good 3 months away from being ready. The problem is that we need another midfielder to compliment Joey and it's got to be Hughes at the minute.Williams needs to re-assess his game and Levein needs to sit down with him and tell him exactly what he expects from him otherwise he'll be shown the door. I rate Williams, he's one of our best players technically but he's got to get involved more but at the same time Leicester need to play to his strengths when we play him. Hughes is wasted on the wing and i'm astonished Levein plays him out there as it's quite well known that Levein absolutely loves Hughesy. He's a central midfielder who's got a great pedigree and has put in some outstanding performances for Rangers in the centre, it's an embarassment to make the lad play on the wing all the while. Hughes and Wesolowski in the centre in 2006 will give us a great platform to achieve what this club is capable of. If Smudger is still here by then, then we could well damage a few teams and rightly so. You have to be very, very fit to play central midfield especially with the season well under way. I would like to think that it's only a matter of time before Hughes is consider fit enough to move to the middle, I believe CL has been using him on the wing to get him fit, he's still struggling to finish games even from there. In fact my one big doubt over Hughes is whether he has the stamina within him to make that his postion longer term. Of course the better his partner the less it will matter - Cue Weso
Ric Flair Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 You have to be very, very fit to play central midfield especially with the season well under way. I would like to think that it's only a matter of time before Hughes is consider fit enough to move to the middle, I believe CL has been using him on the wing to get him fit, he's still struggling to finish games even from there. In fact my one big doubt over Hughes is whether he has the stamina within him to make that his postion longer term. Of course the better his partner the less it will matter - Cue Weso I'd rather see him play for 65 mins in the centre and be replaced than 70/80 mins on the wing. His fitness can be worked on, his natural talent is what makes him better than alot of the footballers in this league and we need him in there. I'd hope these two weeks will be used wisely on Shuggie.
lush Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 He said: "I need to be relaxed to make good decisions and I can assure everybody that we are doing our utmost on the training ground to try and turn things round. I have been here before and I understand how it works. If we can get a little bit of confidence from a couple of wins then things can change very quickly. "But I am also frustrated. We have played very well in a lot of matches and I see improvement in a lot of things, but the most important thing is picking up points. We haven't managed to pick up as many of those as we would have liked. We are very much aware of that." He added: "We haven't quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season in that area. There might be a number of different reasons for that, but the first thing is to get everybody fit and available to play. "I hope then to put of a midfield which I think will have the players to score and to prevent other teams from scoring. That for me is the area that we haven't quite got right just yet." Ok, so there working hard on the training ground. The he says "if" we can get a little bit of confidence from a couple of wins...HELLO, you`ve been working hard for 6 months, and we have TWO wins in 12 games. He thinks weve played very well in alot of matches...is he the manager of Leicester or Hearts? Then he says "We haven't quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season in that area" (meaning in midfield) Isnt that a contradiction? Are you listening Ric Flair? (joey) His last paragraph suggests joey will be dropped
Ric Flair Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 He said: "I need to be relaxed to make good decisions and I can assure everybody that we are doing our utmost on the training ground to try and turn things round. I have been here before and I understand how it works. If we can get a little bit of confidence from a couple of wins then things can change very quickly. "But I am also frustrated. We have played very well in a lot of matches and I see improvement in a lot of things, but the most important thing is picking up points. We haven't managed to pick up as many of those as we would have liked. We are very much aware of that." He added: "We haven't quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season in that area. There might be a number of different reasons for that, but the first thing is to get everybody fit and available to play. "I hope then to put of a midfield which I think will have the players to score and to prevent other teams from scoring. That for me is the area that we haven't quite got right just yet." Ok, so there working hard on the training ground. The he says "if" we can get a little bit of confidence from a couple of wins...HELLO, you`ve been working hard for 6 months, and we have TWO wins in 12 games. He thinks weve played very well in alot of matches...is he the manager of Leicester or Hearts? Then he says "We haven't quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season in that area" (meaning in midfield) Isnt that a contradiction? Are you listening Ric Flair? (joey) His last paragraph suggests joey will be dropped Are you American, Lush? That would perhaps suggest why you don't know alot about football!
lush Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 Are you American, Lush? That would perhaps suggest why you don't know alot about football! if i dont know alot, your talking too much about the game Craig thinks our midfield hasnt quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season. So joey has done well has he
Hullfox Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 if i dont know alot, your talking too much about the game Craig thinks our midfield hasnt quite fired on all cylinders as yet this season. So joey has done well has he Exactly, not firing on all cylinders, ie some have been firing. Joey has fired more consistently than anyone else in there.
lush Posted 7 October 2005 Posted 7 October 2005 Exactly, not firing on all cylinders, ie some have been firing. Joey has fired more consistently than anyone else in there. Trust me, joey has not been fireing on all cylinders, not even 3. he cost us TWO vital points at derby, his last game, hardly a player on form. I`d imaging craig was hinting at that with his comment.
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