How can we get a message to Claude?

[Captain...]

How do we tell Claude Puel that we the fans want to take the FA Cup seriously?
 

Can we get a banner for the Fleetwood replay?

 

Anyone up for chants, phoning in to radio Leicester, writing to the mercury?

 

Anyone want to write an open letter ?

 

Can we hire a plane?

 

@UpTheLeagueFox do you ever have contact with him, or those at the club?

 

I'm still annoyed that we didn't go full tilt against Man City, we could be lining up to face Bristol City tonight for a shot at a cup final.

 

The FA Cup has given us a favourable draw, Fleetwood then Peterborough, with Arsenal out, along with Everton, Burnley, Stoke and Palace. That leaves 14 PL teams and us.

 

The next round draw guarantees at least 4 more PL casualties before the last 16:

Liverpool vs West Bromwich Albion

Southampton vs Watford

AFC Bournemouth or Wigan Athletic vs Shrewsbury Town or West Ham United

Norwich City or Chelsea vs Newcastle United

 

Of the non all PL ties, only Huddersfield have a home draw, I  expect Swansea, Brighton and Huddersfield to be given a tough test, with Champions League commitments kicking in again for the 5 remaining teams that are above us in the table, there is a path to the final that we should be looking to take advantage of.

 

So how do we tell Claude we want to give this competition everything?

[Duncan_K]

Are the owners the key? If they can picture themselves carrying the cup around Wembley maybe they can incentivise Claude to go for it? 

[Kitchandro]

He shouldn't need telling. I'm sure he's aware, actually.

 

In fact it shouldn't make any difference what we want, as a professional he should be ambitious enough to want to win trophies and not just 'survive'.

[Captain...]

1 minute ago, Kitchandro said:

He shouldn't need telling. I'm sure he's aware, actually.

 

In fact it shouldn't make any difference what we want, as a professional he should be ambitious enough to want to win trophies and not just 'survive'.

Did you not see the team he put out for the Fleetwood game and Man City game?

Edited 9 January 2018 by Captain...

[Redouane]

The FA cup isn't going to save his job ^^

[FLAN]

Banner at the game will be too late... the only way I can suggest is bombard Stringer on social media so he has to raise it with the Club. Doesn’t mean anyone will listen but it’s the only real option. 

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

19 minutes ago, Redouane said:

The FA cup isn't going to save his job ^^

 

We are comfortably staying up, though. I like Puel and I'm not arsed he's a quiet bloke but there is and always will be a section of our fanbase that pine for media monkeys and soundbites, he isn't the man to provide that but a good cup run could get them engaging with him a bit more and endear Claude to them. This is our best chance in nearly 20 years to have a proper bloody crack, not embroiled in a relegation battle, not fighting to win the league.

When was the last time we even made the semis of a cup competition?

[lgfualol]

Wasn't someone here saying the club really want a trophy this season? I think Puel expected that team we put out on Saturday to get a result. Hopefully now it has showed him certain players need binning.

[Donut]

This depends on how much credit the board will give him for a cup run.

 

Whether its right or wrong, most clubs dont place an emphasis on the cups

[KrefelderFox666]

Who says a full strength team would have done any better? All we were missing really was Schmeichel (no extra impact, we got a clean sheet), Ndidi (who knows what he would have been like on that pitch), Mahrez (again capable of something special but that pitch was terrible for a footballer) and Maguire (defender, not sure how much impact he could have had, set pieces maybe, bringing the ball forward).

 

Also, we have a squad with fringe players that need game time when possible, for this Fleetwood game we put a side out that should have won with plenty of players getting minutes in the team. Man City I must agree is probably a different story but again, not sure Man City are beatable unless it's a special day (Leicester playing superb and Man City slightly off).

 

If we play a full strength team and pick up some more injuries we may completely drop out of the PL race for 7th which is our best chance of European football. The cup is too much about luck and on the day performance. It's always easy to judge in hindsight and you never know the consequence of your actions until afterwards. I am sure he has best intentions to balance success with keeping a large squad happy and match fit.

 

Either way, the manager will put out a team capable of winning a match. It could be worse, look at Arsenal, that team lineup (including subs) just took the complete pi55.

[AjcW]

I'd imagine only having one stand open for the replay and that being nowhere near selling out won't help his perception  

[glenny_fox]

I don't think Puel, aside from leaving subs to late, can be criticised for his team selection against Fleetwood. Apart from Benalouane it was the team you would expect to see and should of (on paper at least) absolutely destroyed Fleetwood.

 

when you've got a team made up of Slimani (30m) Silva (25m) Gray (rejected 25m bid) Chilwell (1st team starter) we should be seeing the match out no problem.

 

The main thing I'm hoping Puel learned (which we all knew anyway) is that Matty James and Andy King must never play in the same team again.

[Captain...]

2 minutes ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Who says a full strength team would have done any better? All we were missing really was Schmeichel (no extra impact, we got a clean sheet), Ndidi (who knows what he would have been like on that pitch), Mahrez (again capable of something special but that pitch was terrible for a footballer) and Maguire (defender, not sure how much impact he could have had, set pieces maybe, bringing the ball forward).

 

Also, we have a squad with fringe players that need game time when possible, for this Fleetwood game we put a side out that should have won with plenty of players getting minutes in the team. Man City I must agree is probably a different story but again, not sure Man City are beatable unless it's a special day (Leicester playing superb and Man City slightly off).

 

If we play a full strength team and pick up some more injuries we may completely drop out of the PL race for 7th which is our best chance of European football. The cup is too much about luck and on the day performance. It's always easy to judge in hindsight and you never know the consequence of your actions until afterwards. I am sure he has best intentions to balance success with keeping a large squad happy and match fit.

 

Either way, the manager will put out a team capable of winning a match. It could be worse, look at Arsenal, that team lineup (including subs) just took the complete pi55.

Of course it could be worse, we are still in the draw, but the team against Fleetwood had 3 people making their first ever start for the club, a formation we had never played before. 2 players desperately short of match fitness (James, Silva), Benalouane who must be thoroughly fed up by now.  We have a week off now, we could have played 2 or 3 from Albrighton, Ndidi, Maguire, Fuchs, Mahrez, Iborra, Okazaki, just to give us that edge and familiarity and not treated the game like a meaningless friendly.

[foxfanazer]

The team he put out should’ve easily managed to win that game. Really don’t see the problem being team selection. The players that don’t get many chances that played against Fleetwood have proven why players like Vardy and co are preferred

[Duncan_K]

19 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I'd imagine only having one stand open for the replay and that being nowhere near selling out won't help his perception  

Good point. The best way to get a message to Claude is to buy a ticket for the game. Whatever team he picks should be able to win, but the atmosphere being like and under 23s game isn't going to help. 

[Guest MattP]

Like the original poster I'm still upset at the team we put out for Man City at home, no guarantees of course but had we started a full strength eleven we would probably now be playing Bristol City (and I'd be buzzing for tonight) for a place in a major final and a spot in the Europa League.

 

Unfortunately I don't think this is a high priority inside the club, just look at the ticket situation for the replay, they seem seem intent on turning it into a non-event.

 

There are times when I can understand us not wanting the distraction, I totally understood Claudio putting out his reserves against Spurs when we were top of the league in Feb as that was a situation so different to anything we had seen, but now we are safe from relegation and with little to play for in the league there is no reason why we should be going all out for the cups.

[Richard]

Board could well have said play the 2nd team, if we happen to reach 5th/6th round then take it seriously but obviously the league is our main objective. Unless we qualify for Europe through the cups then the difference between 9th and 8th is worth more to the club/owners (unfortunately but that's the way it is)

[walkerleeds]

That was a strong enough team to beat Fleetwood, so in my view he did take it seriously. Wasn't like he threw 11 u23's in there was it (even though that might have been less painful)?

 

Absolutely none of the fringe players took their chance. Simple as that. We will win the replay at a canter and hopefully a couple more first teamers start against Peterborough and the ressies improve

Edited 9 January 2018 by walkerleeds

[notnow john]

Going into the game would anyone have preferred one of Fleetwoods team to any of ours.

Im guessing not.

it was about attitude and commitment,ours was dreadful, the players have to take responsibility.

Or is that Puel's fault?

[Captain...]

Just now, notnow john said:

Going into the game would anyone have preferred one of Fleetwoods team to any of ours.

Im guessing not.

it was about attitude and commitment,ours was dreadful, the players have to take responsibility.

Or is that Puel's fault?

It's also about organisation and familiarity, we played 433, I think, a formation unfamiliar to anyone around the first team, maybe the u23s play 433, or it has been tried in training, but the way we played was like we had never played that formation before. A mishmash of a back 4 in front of a goalkeeper who isn't even second  choice and can't kick the ball to Leicester player. It's not about individuals, if it football was purely about having the best individuals we never would have won the league. You need understanding organisation and team work. All of that was massively lacking on Saturday.

[desertfox2]

1 hour ago, Redouane said:

The FA cup isn't going to save his job ^^

Losing to Millwall didn't do Ranieri any favours. The league form was clearly his biggest problem though.

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

We are comfortably staying up, though. I like Puel and I'm not arsed he's a quiet bloke but there is and always will be a section of our fanbase that pine for media monkeys and soundbites, he isn't the man to provide that but a good cup run could get them engaging with him a bit more and endear Claude to them. This is our best chance in nearly 20 years to have a proper bloody crack, not embroiled in a relegation battle, not fighting to win the league.

When was the last time we even made the semis of a cup competition?

I've noticed this too, we never ever get past the quarters. I can recall six different times in recent years we lost in a quarter final.

[Guest MattP]

1 minute ago, Dan LCFC said:

I've noticed this too, we never ever get past the quarters. I can recall six different times in recent years we lost in a quarter final.

Which is awful because Semi-Finals are pretty amazing events for supporters, two legged cup ties always produce a superb atmosphere whether it's the play offs or the League Cup.

 

Although the FA did there best to ruin the FA Cup ones by playign them at Wembley instead of all meeting up a neutral club ground.

[Dan]

54 minutes ago, Captain... said:

Of course it could be worse, we are still in the draw, but the team against Fleetwood had 3 people making their first ever start for the club, a formation we had never played before. 2 players desperately short of match fitness (James, Silva), Benalouane who must be thoroughly fed up by now.  We have a week off now, we could have played 2 or 3 from Albrighton, Ndidi, Maguire, Fuchs, Mahrez, Iborra, Okazaki, just to give us that edge and familiarity and not treated the game like a meaningless friendly.

You know what is ironic? We rested players against Man City and Fleetwood to 'keep them fresh'. What did we get? An extra half hour and penalties against Man City, and an extra game, potentially 120 minutes and penalties against Fleetwood.

 

I'm convinced we got it the wrong way round. Get the game comfortably sorted out and then bring on the squad fillers to get them their game time. They've proven themselves, by and large to be unreliable. 

[Dan]

8 minutes ago, MattP said:

Which is awful because Semi-Finals are pretty amazing events for supporters, two legged cup ties always produce a superb atmosphere whether it's the play offs or the League Cup.

 

Although the FA did there best to ruin the FA Cup ones by playign them at Wembley instead of all meeting up a neutral club ground.

I'm a bit sick we missed out on this Bristol City tie. That'd be two fantastic atmospheres and a game you'd honestly fancy us to progress through as well. What a huge chance blown.

 

They've completely butchered the FA Cup latter rounds too. Gloss totally taken off the final. Isn't it ridiculous that the FA Cup winners play at Wembley three times in three months.

Edited 9 January 2018 by Dan LCFC