So what's wrong?

[smudgerfox]

The new manager , whoever he is , has to have the stature to tackle two fundamental problems at the club. A manager who doesn't have top flight experience of substance will be eaten alive as both Ranieri and Shakespeare have been. 

 

The first is the clear divide between the recruitment and the playing side of the club. We seem to be pretty much repeatedly signing players who the managers don't  want to play. Jakupovic, Dragovic, follow Kaputska, Inler. This creates a bad atmosphere as , presumably these players must have been persuaded to come by the promise of helping build on the progress of the club and thereby extending their own reputations. However they have quickly been consigned to a kind of footballing wildernesss. Another similar aspect is the signing of players who either aren't good enough or who can't be easily accommodated in Leicester's style of play. Into this category you would have to place the likes of Slimani, Musa, Hernandez, Ziegler, Mendy. It's early days but already  Iborra and Ieanacho look as though they may be quality players with no natural position in the side.  Finally, the award of new contracts to a player such as Ulloa seems to bear no resemblance to the playing needs of the manager. The squad is overloaded with strikers with too little defensive and midfield back up. A new manager is going to have to insist that he picks the transfer targets and the recruitment side are going to have to learn to act under instruction. Only a strong character is going to be able to make that happen.

 

Secondly, there are the players themselves.  The unshakeable dressing room spirit has gone - it became seriously ill at Hull in the season opener last August and died in Porto a few months later. The infamous togetherness is no more and has likely been replaced by a series of factions. Various books on the Premiership "miracle" describe a squad given a high level of autonomy, deciding when we train, what we eat and dispensing fines on fellow members for training lateness. Enforcing this tight knit discipline seems to be Huth, Scmeichel and crucially Morgan. Vardy was clearly influential, Drinkwarer too, in a more low key way. Mahrez and Slimani are among those most regularly disciplined. 

 

It's a system which to many will smack of a small club mentality - a few privileged first teamers whose place in the team is rarely in doubt, given power over players who are struggling to replace them in the side. It clearly isn't to everyone's taste - some players clearly couldn't get out of the door quickly enough - Kante, Mendy, Hernandez, Zieler , Kaputska and now even Drinkwater. Tom Lawrence preferred to stay in the Championship than push for a place in our Premiership side. All of which suggests to me that the dressing room is a comfortable place for the strong and established but a hostile place for the less confident and less well established. Troy Deeney said as much in turning us down. In two seasons, only Harry Maguire, Ben Chilwell and Wilfred N'Didi could claim to have broken through at the club.

 

The difficulty any new manager will have in dealing with an over powerful set of players puffed up on their Premiership win is perhaps most clearly embodied in Mahrez. This wonderful talent has been over-indulged first by Ranieri and now by Shakespeare. Perhaps there really is only one player at the club capable of providing a Premiership creative spark on a regular basis but the level of forgiveness extended to him can only be guessed at by players like Gray, Kaputska and many others. His recklessly listless performances have cost us many points - his loss of the ball in the final seconds in the first half at Arsenal being a primary example - but he continues to be treated with kid gloves. His behaviour on transfer deadline day was not just embarrassing but also unprofessional - leaving his team mates in the middle of a crucial World Cup qualification process. Interesting that he has paid the price at international level and that he and Slimani have been dropped for lack of commitment.  

 

Any my new manager will have to tackle a toxic dressing room and the over-inflated egos who dominate the squad. There aren't too many around who will have the character to do that.

[StriderHiryu]

What’s wrong? We got drunk on our own success and are still hungover. Rather than using the win to catapult ourselves into a top 5 club we basked in our own glory and have gone backwards. 

 

Lots of great points in the opening post but for me for the club to go forwards we need a new identity and style. Someone that will stamp their authority on the club and players and freshen things up. 

 

I’d expect to see more of our legends depart the club if we bring in the right person but long term that’s probably what is needed anyway. It’s literally time for a new era. 

[foxfanazer]

4 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

What’s wrong? We got drunk on our own success and are still hungover. Rather than using the win to catapult ourselves into a top 5 club we basked in our own glory and gone backwards. 

 

Lots of great points in the opening post but for me for the club to go forwards we need a new identity and style. Someone that will stamp their authority on the club and players and freshen things up. 

 

I’d expect to see more of our legends depart the club if we bring in the right person but long term that’s probably what is needed anyway. It’s literally time for a new era. 

You may be right but I hate the thought of losing Vardy!

[StriderHiryu]

1 minute ago, foxfanazer said:

You may be right but I hate the thought of losing Vardy!

We all would, he’s the closest we have to a club icon. 

 

I don’t think he’d be in too much trouble though, if anything Kasper and Wes would be the ones who might get moved on as they are the dressing room leaders. 

 

It really does depend on who comes in. A big name manager would likely motivate the players in a positive way. 

[Ric Flair]

What is wrong is the off the field staff are a disgrace. We've torn apart the unique bond we created with pretty much all the footballing staff both on and off the field. It was liquid gold, we were brothers in arms. That's gone now. We've still some serious talent in the squad but there's disillusion, a lot of players being carried who have deteorated since the title win and some new faces that need a new regime to integrate them.

 

We are very unlikely to get long term success or at least progression whilst we continue to allow this jobs for the boys culture. Rudkin, Whelan, Macia and the dinosaur in the academy need binning immediately. Throw the kitchen sink at a proven chief executive, DOF, head of recruitment and academy director. Don't waste a single penny on any new players until this happens.

 

Obviously get a dynamic thinking new manager and coaching staff but I fear even if we got that they'd be hindered by the horse shit that's above them at this club. 

 

Stop wasting countless dough and invest in people who can help build something here. Our academy might be having a renaissance in terms of results but don't be fooled, its bang average and we need to create a culture where we're recruiting and producing some of the best young players in the country and giving them a chance.

 

I think the fans need to intervene and make our feelings known, otherwise we're going back to obscurity again in the lower leagues and everyone will laugh and be relieved after the mockery we made of them 2 years ago.

[RODNEY FERNIO]

IMO Got to deal with the senior players getting too big for their boots

and trying to influence decisions .... dangerous precedent.

Does not help, as has been well  documented , the owners talking to the players on a regular basis.

[Guest Col city fan]

7 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

What is wrong is the off the field staff are a disgrace. We've torn apart the unique bond we created with pretty much all the footballing staff both on and off the field. It was liquid gold, we were brothers in arms. That's gone now. We've still some serious talent in the squad but there's disillusion, a lot of players being carried who have deteorated since the title win and some new faces that need a new regime to integrate them.

 

We are very unlikely to get long term success or at least progression whilst we continue to allow this jobs for the boys culture. Rudkin, Whelan, Macia and the dinosaur in the academy need binning immediately. Throw the kitchen sink at a proven chief executive, DOF, head of recruitment and academy director. Don't waste a single penny on any new players until this happens.

 

Obviously get a dynamic thinking new manager and coaching staff but I fear even if we got that they'd be hindered by the horse shit that's above them at this club. 

 

Stop wasting countless dough and invest in people who can help build something here. Our academy might be having a renaissance in terms of results but don't be fooled, its bang average and we need to create a culture where we're recruiting and producing some of the best young players in the country and giving them a chance.

 

I think the fans need to intervene and make our feelings known, otherwise we're going back to obscurity again in the lower leagues and everyone will laugh and be relieved after the mockery we made of them 2 years ago.

You keep saying this, and I'm inclined to believe you....but do you KNOW this? Do you know that the 'off field staff are a disgrace'? Who are a disgrace? Who are they?

[David Hankey]

It's pretty obvious what is wrong. We have owners who know very little about football and, in particular, the EPL. We have a person or people who are seriously lacking in ability to recruit players to take this Club to the next level and we have a group of players, few, who still have fire in their players and opt for an easy life. There is and should not be any hiding place.

 

All I can say to the owners is; if you want Championship football continue as you are.

[M0901]

2 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

You keep saying this, and I'm inclined to believe you....but do you KNOW this? Do you know that the 'off field staff are a disgrace'? Who are a disgrace? Who are they?

This. It appears anyone would throw any old name in the hat as to who's to blame, but we'll never know for absolute certainty. Crisis talks are needed with every member of staff at the football club, players included, to see how we're going to manage this going forward. First and foremost it's getting the right manager in to get our identity back from 2 seasons ago...

[RowlattsFox]

Failure to accept that the title win was a complete one off, and we can't play like that anymore. 

 

A lot has been said about our recruitment but I do think some of our signings have tried to move away from the style but manager has been reluctant to use them. 

[Crinklyfox]

It's over.  The team spirit built by Pearson, maintained by Ranieri and inherited by Shakespeare has gone.  The players don't deliver the intensity and togetherness they once did.  The departure of Shakespeare draws a line under this era though he may not be gone forever - I noted with interest the clubs statement that he would be welcome back professionally as well as a friend of the club.

 

We need to build again.  A new broom can sweep clean.  Some of the established players may not like it and I'm expecting a few more transfer requests but it's the best way forward.  We do have talent within the club and if a new manager can get the best out of the players and attract some real class then we'll be well placed to survive this season and build for the future.

[yorkie1999]

Why were we successful?  Nigel Pearson built a club from the ground up that went on to win 3 leagues, when did the decline start? when we got rid of him. All of the bits in between  i.e. Sousa, Sven and Ranieri were a consequence of the owners not trusting Pearson. All of the infighting and blame games going off behind the scenes are to do with too many indians wanting to be chiefs and sucking up to a pair of uber rich playboys.

 

[Buce]

5 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

Why were we successful?  Nigel Pearson built a club from the ground up that went on to win 3 leagues, when did the decline start? when we got rid of him. All of the bits in between  i.e. Sousa, Sven and Ranieri were a consequence of the owners not trusting Pearson. All of the infighting and blame games going off behind the scenes are to do with too many indians wanting to be chiefs and sucking up to a pair of uber rich playboys.

 

 

What a dreadful consequence that was...

 

 

 

[weller54]

8 minutes ago, Crinklyfox said:

It's over.  The team spirit built by Pearson, maintained by Ranieri and inherited by Shakespeare has gone.  The players don't deliver the intensity and togetherness they once did.  The departure of Shakespeare draws a line under this era though he may not be gone forever - I noted with interest the clubs statement that he would be welcome back professionally as well as a friend of the club.

 

We need to build again.  A new broom can sweep clean.  Some of the established players may not like it and I'm expecting a few more transfer requests but it's the best way forward.  We do have talent within the club and if a new manager can get the best out of the players and attract some real class then we'll be well placed to survive this season and build for the future.

Perhaps we could ask Trigger to lend us his broom? 

[yorkie1999]

36 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

What a dreadful consequence that was...

 

 

 

I'm not knocking Ranieri, it was great, but you can't deny his success was due to the actions and how the club was set up by Pearson. 

[Gazza M]

For me some players in this squad need to be told in no uncertain terms "your time has come to an end as the club is no longer benefitting." That needs a strong character, but I really do feel we need to start with a blank piece of paper so to speak and start afresh, with some changes in Jan especially. 

 

In that list for me: 

 

Morgan

Fuchs

Mahrez

Huth

James

Musa

Ulloa

Amartey

Benny

Hamer

 

All for different reasons. Mahrez needs to move as he is stale, going backwards and needs to grow beyond us now. Morgan, Fuchs and Huth are past it. James isn't fit enough. The others aren't good enough. 

 

Moving forward we need to build a team around Kasper,Maguire, Chilwell, Ndidi, Gray and Iheanacho as they have the talent to take us forward in my opinion. I know Nacho was poor the other night, but I think he will come good.

 

I would make Kasper our captain with immediate effect. 

 

Vardy for me has another year left in him, however we need to become less dependant as the current tactics are based around him. Pick for now but phase out for Nacho gradually.Maybe let him go next summer as one of our all time greats.

 

Initially I would go along the lines of:

 

GK: Kasper (Captain)

 

DC: Maguire

DC: Dragovic

DC: Simpson

 

DMC: Iborra (just sit and mop up)

 

MR: Albrighton

MC: Ndidi

ML: Chilwell

 

AMC: Gray

 

ST: Vardy

ST: Slimani

 

Off the pitch someone needs to be accountable for the awful transfer dealings. Goodbye Rudkin and head of recruitment and I would let the new manager decide if we replace or restructure so the two sides can merge again as in the current system, left doesn't appear to be talking to right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wdywd]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

I'm not knocking Ranieri, it was great, but you can't deny his success was due to the actions and how the club was set up by Pearson. 

I can and I will deny that

 

Although now that Shakespeare has done a shit job at least we can move on to giving someone else credit for the job Ranieri did. At this rate it'll all be thanks to big Ian Holloway by next Christmas

[brucey]

11 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Throw the kitchen sink at a proven chief executive, DOF, head of recruitment and academy director. Don't waste a single penny on any new players until this happens.

 

Obviously get a dynamic thinking new manager and coaching staff but I fear even if we got that they'd be hindered by the horse shit that's above them at this club. 

 

Stop wasting countless dough and invest in people who can help build something here.

Like Everton?

[desertfox2]

11 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Failure to accept that the title win was a complete one off, and we can't play like that anymore. 

 

A lot has been said about our recruitment but I do think some of our signings have tried to move away from the style but manager has been reluctant to use them. 

Not sure about that. I don't think anyone thought we would be challenging for the title again. Just that we would build on it to cement ourselves as a top half side, pushing for a europa spot, a good go in the cups and make the most of the opportunity to buy some really decent players.

[Chrysalis]

A authoritative manager would fix this, someone who makes it clear they wont work with rudkin from the start as part of their terms and freedom to put players aside for whatever reason they see fit.

[RowlattsFox]

16 minutes ago, desertfox2 said:

Not sure about that. I don't think anyone thought we would be challenging for the title again. Just that we would build on it to cement ourselves as a top half side, pushing for a europa spot, a good go in the cups and make the most of the opportunity to buy some really decent players.

I was talking more about failing to accept we couldn't play in the style we won the league, I think you're  right regarding expectation but we had to change our style in order to continue to be successful. 

 

I think ranieri realised this but he got it completely wrong in trying to change. 

[Farrington fox]

Good opening post that,  l just can’t get my head around the prevailing situation of some person or persons signing players, for them to rarely, or as in the case of Jakupovic never get a lookin. 

 

It would be credible were it 1 or 2 players, but there must be at least 6 who will never be anything more than a squad number here. Madness!

[desertfox2]

Just now, RowlattsFox said:

I was talking more about failing to accept we couldn't play in the style we won the league, I think you're  right regarding expectation but we had to change our style in order to continue to be successful. 

 

I think ranieri realised this but he got it completely wrong in trying to change. 

Ah I get what you mean now, miss read your point. I agree with you about Ranieri the problem again though was recruitment, perhaps he was too loyal to the title winners which is understandable. He seemed to realize we had to change the way we were playing as we had become to predictable. It just looked like it was going to be a long season when we started the community shield with the same 11/formation but with King in for Kante. I remember reading Fergusons book and he said if they won the title it meant they needed to bring in at least 2 new players to keep everyone on edge and basically not allow it to stagnate. Sounds mercenary but it's football and perhaps that's where Ranners went wrong unfortunately.

[Ric Flair]

33 minutes ago, brucey said:

Like Everton?

What are you inferring to here? 

[Guest Col city fan]

I bet Adrien Silva is really happy at the moment! No competitive football until Jan, at a club with no boss AND watching Sporting playing away at Juve in the Champs League.