Are our owners ambitious?

[the messenger]

We will just have to see on Friday and wait for the dust to settle.

 

Some fans are in a state of denial there are valid points to be concerned about.

 

The Vardy to Everton talk has been around for sometime now.

[yorkie1999]

2 hours ago, Monsell1976 said:

Quite a few commentators touched on the idea that after a title win, a few players should have gone, to freshen up, etc, to prevent a hangover, tend to agree, these players were mediocre before the title win, and in hindsight, we should have cashed in.

Lets be honest, Morgan, drinkwater, and other were slated on here in the great escape season, as not being good enough, and after a fluke season, people say their performance's have dropped off, I think they have just returned to what they are, the title season the stars aligned, they all peak at the same time, fate was in our side, whatever it was, most will not find them levels again.

The likes of Morgan, should have been moved to the bench last season, he is coming to the end of his career, and a replacement should be in place, to take over, maguire is in now, but then you have huth, same senario.

No matter who has stayed or came in, the amount the club have spent, we should have a team who can play a bit, and be able to retain a ball, and not just hoof it, can't hide from it, some need moving on, including those who were around the tittle year, and better footballers bringing in.

And that's where the ambitions of the owners and the management come in. If they have ambitions of being a quality top 6 side they need to sell the older players to make way for new blood. Decent players aren't going to come here unless they are first team starters, in supprised the likes of gray came here because unless we got rid of mahrez or albrighton, which ain't going to happen, his career is at a standstill.

[davieG]

If the current team are so bad then surely new players don't  need to be guaranteed a start if they believe in their own ability.

You can't just get rid of players besides you need potential replacements in before you move people on.

As I said above we're  not as attractive a club as many seem to think certainly not to get players to take us to the next level.

I'm fairly confident that those within the club responsible for identifying and recruiting are working hard to do so. Just like we don't want to sell our best players other clubs will think the same.

It's not as easy as being "loadsamoney"

 

[murphy]

Yeah, they're rubbish.

 

Bring back Len Shipman I say.  

[Blue ROI]

1 hour ago, Mr Weller said:

We are only where we are because of the owners. We can survive losing any player but not the owners.

 

We have witnessed by far the best team in our history and spent more than all but a handful of clubs.

 

It is silly to complain about their lack of ambition 

 

 

I dont agree with that.

 

The improvements began when Pearson took over in 2008.

 

I like the owners but we were going in the right direction when they arrived. They've helped but it hasn't been solely down to them.

[Monsell1976]

39 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

And that's where the ambitions of the owners and the management come in. If they have ambitions of being a quality top 6 side they need to sell the older players to make way for new blood. Decent players aren't going to come here unless they are first team starters, in supprised the likes of gray came here because unless we got rid of mahrez or albrighton, which ain't going to happen, his career is at a standstill.

I agree, we need to get rid of the deadwood, and bring in realistic competition for places, not just cover for the first 11

[Blue ROI]

1 hour ago, Koke said:

The recruitment has been shoddy.

 

2016 signings 

 

Mendy

Musa 

Slimani

Hernandez 

Amartey (January)

Gray (January)

Kapustka 

Zieler

 

Thats £78m right there. None of them are starters. Some are already gone, some are rumoured to go, and some can't get into the starting eleven. £78m right down the drain. 

 

Really hope we do the right things this week but the fans and the recruitment team are seemingly not on the same wavelength.

Last summer looks to be having the same effect as introducing Poochie to the Itchy and Scratchy show.

 

In fairness N'didi and Maguire has gone a long way to addressing where it went wrong and I'd have hoped that Iborra and Nachoman will do likewise.

 

I believe as fans we underestimate what we had with the squad and how long it took to get to our moments of glory. I'm hopeful that the new players will prove their worth but it could take a bit of time to get the perfect blend.

 

 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Ridiculous questioning our owners, they have been fantastic. People forget the years of dross we've put up with before.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, The Doctor said:

Rumours mean nothing. Seem to remember posters on here a few years ago picking some random johnny in Bulgaria and getting us linked to him. Doesn't matter if Vardy has been linked to Everton; he's going nowhere.

 

Paying stupid amounts for ok players isn't ambition, it's stupidity. Who cares if we didn't pay up for Gibson, we got the better of the two (Maguire) for cheaper. And far as I know Slimani is still here.

 

In short, you're a tool.

Brilliant! that's got to become a regular feature for all transfer windows.

[foxinsocks]

3 minutes ago, winchesterton said:

Brilliant! that's got to become a regular feature for all transfer windows.

may be there is time before Thursday if we all start tweeting... lets pick some Romanian... any ideas

[Filberts Treat]

3 hours ago, Babylon said:

We're going to expand, it doesn't happen over night.

Needs to be soon before we miss the boat. Don't profess to be itk but I heard from a steward who has links we're expanding last May. Although what he was telling me seemed to far fetched to be the truth. He did say back then we'd go for Smalling. 

[RumbleFox]

Yes. X

[CosbehFox]

3 hours ago, the messenger said:

We will just have to see on Friday and wait for the dust to settle.

 

Some fans are in a state of denial there are valid points to be concerned about.

 

The Vardy to Everton talk has been around for sometime now.

Yes and for all you and I know, the owners and club have worked pretty hard to avoid at this moment selling any star players and trying to get quality in. 

 

We dont see or hear of failed attempts and we are not party to what's going on behind the scenes 

[CosbehFox]

4 hours ago, Koke said:

The recruitment has been shoddy.

 

2016 signings 

 

Mendy

Musa 

Slimani

Hernandez 

Amartey (January)

Gray (January)

Kapustka 

Zieler

 

Thats £78m right there. None of them are starters. Some are already gone, some are rumoured to go, and some can't get into the starting eleven. £78m right down the drain. 

 

Really hope we do the right things this week but the fans and the recruitment team are seemingly not on the same wavelength.

Hence there's a recultance to sign anyone or a gamble particularly with the wage bill that last summer left behind. 

 

Personally I like the way we've done business...slowly, slowly making changes. We are unaware of who we've targeted but it's been a very difficult summer for signing players outside the teams playing in Europe. 

[SystonFox]

9 hours ago, theessexfox said:

? vardy being linked with another club (totally unsubstantiated) definitely means they lack ambition.

My Sunday league club held talks with Vardy, owners lack ambition tbqfh

[Mr Weller]

The idea that Pearson and not the owners started our recent success is to misunderstand what's made the difference.

 

Their money has made the difference. Without it neither Pearson, Ranieri or the best manager of all time could get us to win the league.

 

 

[fleckneymike]

Is a self made billionaire ambitious?

[inckley fox]

1 hour ago, Mr Weller said:

The idea that Pearson and not the owners started our recent success is to misunderstand what's made the difference.

 

Their money has made the difference. Without it neither Pearson, Ranieri or the best manager of all time could get us to win the league.

 

 

Yes their money has made the difference. But so have those two managers you mentioned. Our success depended on all three.

 

The owners wouldn't have had the success they have had with Eriksson in charge of assembling the squad, or Sousa, or even Ranieri. They needed Pearson for that. 

 

In fact, they probably wouldn't have wanted to buy us when they did had Pearson not already lifted us out the third tier and into the Play-offs of the second. A lot of big clubs have failed to make a quick return from where we were back in 2008, but thanks to Pearson we became a far more attractive proposition for ambitious investors than we had been before, and in a very short period of time.

 

Lots of chairmen have pumped money into clubs with precious little return because they made poor decisions. Think of Derby, Wolves, Boro in the 90s, and a whole host of modern day PL sides. The bulk of our owners' net spend in the period before promotion came under Sven, and was misspent. Pearson spent far more modestly over the next two and a half years, so his success really wasn't a consequence of an open cheque book.

 

Equally, Pearson probably wouldn't have made some of the braver decisions (e.g. 79 point target) which drove us to win the league. And had Walsh never pushed the signings of Vardy, Mahrez or Kante we'd never have got anywhere near a title.

 

But before we go screaming 'but the owners footed the bill!' you have to remember that the combined investment of £7,000,000 in Vardy, Mahrez and Kante - three players who are worth north of £130m in the modern market - was nowhere near as impressive an achievement as the ability of a scouting network to find three players as good as that, and available for that amount. That was an unbelievable achievement.

 

The owners' decisions, in having the right people do the right job at the right time, have been as important as their money. They've had a key role in our success, but so have lots of other people - and in some cases their contribution has been even more extraordinary than the board's investment.

[Dan]

I maintain what I've said all along, I don't think there's issues with the owners' ambition or their willingness to back up what they say, but I think there's a lack of real know-how about us now and it's been gone ever since Pearson/Walsh went.

 

I know people get bored of it being brought up but it was a great combination and it worked brilliantly. There's no way on earth a player as good as Kante would've gone unreplaced (if Mendy was the replacement then it kind of backs up my point that the know-how is gone) for example. Last years window really was calamitous. Beyond me how you can spend that much and not even sign a single guaranteed starter.

 

I think things have improved from twelve months ago but I still think they could be better.

 

It's hard to know what to be happy with. There was a great point in one thread about how the title win has made defeats at Man Utd and Arsenal really hurt us a lot more than it probably should, yet at the same time I feel like it's an acceptance of mediocrity to just brush defeats under the carpet. I don't mind us finishing midtable if I can be sure we'll continuously improve, and I'm not sure I can be.

 

I do worry about us if Shakespeare ever did go and the problem is now he's in a position where it isn't implausible. I felt like he was a big part of the successful era and that's why I wanted him kept on because I'm not really convinced we've got a lot of know-how beyond him.

[Leeds Fox]

16 hours ago, stevelcfc said:

I thought this level of implosive over-reaction was reserved only for pre-season, so credit where it is due. 

 

No mate they've extended the over reaction window because we've had one of the toughest starts to the season on record. 

[Carl the Llama]

Fvck me if this isn't one of the most successful attempts at trolling the board that I've seen.  And the guy isn't even 50 posts into his FT career.  Bravo.

[mozartfox]

10 hours ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Hence there's a recultance to sign anyone or a gamble particularly with the wage bill that last summer left behind. 

 

Personally I like the way we've done business...slowly, slowly making changes. We are unaware of who we've targeted but it's been a very difficult summer for signing players outside the teams playing in Europe. 

As a Company you cannot stop trying to improve due to previous and numerous errors of judgement..  Yes, if I was the Owner I would be miffed at our failings last Summer.

 

Would anyone on FT object if part of the current war chest was spent up-grading the Recruitment and Scouting personnel?

[Mr Weller]

I agree Shakespeare is vital.

 

However, you can attribute too much to individuals and lose sight of the big picture.

 

Without the money we couldn't have afforded the wages needed to attract the players we acquired and we'd have had to sell some of those we had. The owners created that virtuous cycle.

[st albans fox]

There is a potential issue with paying the staff rather than the players. I've posted before about the rationale in se asia whereby staff are seen as always replaceable due to the massive pool of available labour and rarely overpaid as a consequence. 

 

We lost a few from the scouting team and I know for certain that Steve Walsh was unhappy that not enough effort was made by the club to try and keep them here.

[HighPeakFox]

4 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

There is a potential issue with paying the staff rather than the players. I've posted before about the rationale in se asia whereby staff are seen as always replaceable due to the massive pool of available labour and rarely overpaid as a consequence. 

 

We lost a few from the scouting team and I know for certain that Steve Walsh was unhappy that not enough effort was made by the club to try and keep them here.

I hope you're wrong but I very much doubt that you are...