Grow up and get behind Riyad, or: stop listening to the press and wait and see how he reacts on the pitch

[Monsell1976]

1 hour ago, AjcW said:

Not actually sure this will get the rep you expect mate, this is the third time now, and it always goes down the same way. He'll suddenly turn up and play for a couple of months before a window, then be up and down for the rest of the season.

 

If this started on Jan 1st i'd have a world of sympathy for him... but yet again his reps (and himself) have tried to make it as awkwardly late as possible to try and force our hand.

 

We're going to have to get used to playing without him so why not start now?

I have defended mahrez, but have to totally agree with you.

 

 They had a month to sort a deal out, what club is going to allow their best player go with hours of the window left.

 From the way it reads Man City spoke about him with Leicester, got told a price early in the month, and decided not to bid in this window until sane got injured, and bid mid afternoon on the last day.

 

 Mahrez needs to accept he couldn’t be replaced at that short notice, play as he has, and get out in the summer.

 

 Like I say big fan of his ability, but I for one don’t want a player that doesn’t want to be here as much as he’s saying, so will be glad to see him go in the summer, and I still hope he gets a top club, as his ability deserves to play champions league football 

[Bluetintedspecs]

I agree with the sentiment of your post @Finnegan, however I think the fans, fellow players and management team have every right to be pissed off with Riyad.

Once again he has made a petulant, misguided and childish show of himself with total disregard for his team mates, management and the club.

His talent is unquestionable yet his maturity, intelligence, decision making and apparent choice of advisors are extremely poor!

I personally, like most, understand the ambition and desire to better himself yet he signed a 4 year deal with no buy out clause on a reported 100K per week, whose fault is that?

The way the market is our owners have every right and hold all the cards in saying 'Riyad is worth ?'.

Finally, as much as we all know what a genius Riyad is, he has to face the harsh reality if Man City really really wanted him ala Barca with Courtinho they would have stumped up the extra to get their man.

[sylofox]

3 minutes ago, ZeGuy said:

Lol, this false sense of outraged dignity.

 

As long as he performs on the pitch, which he did, none of this matters. He's a professional footballer, paid to perform on the pitch not to be everyone's pal. If there is a better opportunity surely he'll want to go. You'd do exactly the same.

Read my post again then come back to. Ffs

[Redouane]

Just now, Monsell1976 said:

I have defended mahrez, but have to totally agree with you.

 

 They had a month to sort a deal out, what club is going to allow their best player go with hours of the window left.

 From the way it reads Man City spoke about him with Leicester, got told a price early in the month, and decided not to bid in this window until sane got injured, and bid mid afternoon on the last day.

 

 Mahrez needs to accept he couldn’t be replaced at that short notice, play as he has, and get out in the summer.

 

 Like I say big fan of his ability, but I for one don’t want a player that doesn’t want to be here as much as he’s saying, so will be glad to see him go in the summer, and I still hope he gets a top club, as his ability deserves to play champions league football 

Show me a quote of Mahrez saying he doesnt want to be here. 

[Munshi]

10 minutes ago, LittlethorpeFox said:

He let everybody down by not turning up to last nights game, which we then went on to lose. He should be given the maximum fine. Then given the chance to integrate himself back into the squad, but the onus should be on him, not on the fans or the players to bend over backwards and roll out the red carpet for him. I agree with the OP that football fans do get a bit too emotional about the transfer request, but there is a way to behave and continue to respect the club and fans that pay and support you so generously. He was on the right side of that behavior following his unsuccessful attempts to get a transfer in the summer. But this week he took the other tactic and he needs to win our respect back, going AWOL for an important game is almost unforgivable. 

 

This narrative in the media that we are somehow the bad guys for holding out for our valuation is also an absolute joke. Why should we sell him at a discount just to appease Man City's 6 week injury crisis, for a player who when not in our squad, makes a huge difference to our chances or winning as shown last night. If they came in on the 1st of Jan with a bid, we could have maybe taken £65m plus a player and had time to re-invest wisely, but on the 30th January what chance did we have of that? I think our club have acted professionally and fairly during this whole saga, in particular this week. Man City made two bids apparently on the 29th, which remained private, and on the 30th, in a bid to push the move - colluded with the player and the manager to coincide the public knowledge of their 3rd bid with RM transfer request. Look we go into clubs and buy players, so we can't get too upset about our position in the food chain - its how to system works, but Pep spouts off about not being a  cheque book manager, and not talking about other teams players and having to work within a budget, then his club use such cheap tactics which could well destabilise our return to form and have lasting effects in our dressing room. 

 

Read the post above yours 

Edited 1 February 2018 by Foxin hell

[Costock_Fox]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Got offered the opportunity to get a free Premier League medal, play in one of the most highly acclaimed squads in the history of the Premier League for a manager that's somehow made Raheem ****ing Sterling look world class. Imagine what he'd do with Riyad. 

 

Forgive me a bit of shameless rep-point grandstanding but he's helped us get promoted, helped us win the league, helped us get to the quarter finals of the champions league. Just like Drinkwater, he had every right to look to progress his career and do so with our support and gratitude. That's football, folks. 

 

All he did was request a transfer. There's been no downing of tools, no flouncing off, no refusing to play, no kicking up a fuss. He was a consummate pro after the summer, got his head down and got back to his very best. 

 

Nothing to suggest he isn't going to do so again now. 

 

He's probably leaving in the summer and when he does, cest la vie. Until he does, he's one of ours and he's a big part of our push to get back to our European tour. I for one can't wait to see the bright lights of Tallinn, Kharkiv, Warsaw and Tirana in the tin pot cup. 

 

So please, stow the childish bitterness, stop buying in to the pathetic Sky Sports narrative that he's causing disruption in the squad, don't believe the melodrama and just ****ing support him and the rest of the lads. 

Spot on.

 

Ps I went to Kharkiv in Euro 2012 and hopefully we don't end up there. Absolute dive, I saw a bloke asleep on a bench who had pissed himself and while sleeping in the train station I heard numerous groups of people speak about how they wanted to find and beat up English people  

 

Prefer a trip back to Kiev.

[jayfox26]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Got offered the opportunity to get a free Premier League medal, play in one of the most highly acclaimed squads in the history of the Premier League for a manager that's somehow made Raheem ****ing Sterling look world class. Imagine what he'd do with Riyad. 

 

Forgive me a bit of shameless rep-point grandstanding but he's helped us get promoted, helped us win the league, helped us get to the quarter finals of the champions league. Just like Drinkwater, he had every right to look to progress his career and do so with our support and gratitude. That's football, folks. 

 

All he did was request a transfer. There's been no downing of tools, no flouncing off, no refusing to play, no kicking up a fuss. He was a consummate pro after the summer, got his head down and got back to his very best. 

 

Nothing to suggest he isn't going to do so again now. 

 

He's probably leaving in the summer and when he does, cest la vie. Until he does, he's one of ours and he's a big part of our push to get back to our European tour. I for one can't wait to see the bright lights of Tallinn, Kharkiv, Warsaw and Tirana in the tin pot cup. 

 

So please, stow the childish bitterness, stop buying in to the pathetic Sky Sports narrative that he's causing disruption in the squad, don't believe the melodrama and just ****ing support him and the rest of the lads. 

I agree with this to an extent and I for one have wanted him to get a move to a big club. I also believe the club doesn't owe him anything and he doesn't owe us anything. The only thing I feel he owes us is respect. And handing a transfer request in and not reporting for training shows a huge lack of respect. We don't know the full details of what has happened and I feel man city have been massively underhand (as the big clubs always are) with the way they have gone about this. You're right though that after he didn't get his move last summer he's got on with it and worked hard and played well for the most part this season and he needs to do that again now. And any transfer for him will be done on our terms at the right time for the club at the right price for the club. W shouldn't be bullied into selling him cheap (roma last summer) and we shouldn't be bullied into selling him on deadline day. 

[LittlethorpeFox]

4 minutes ago, Foxin hell said:

Read the post above yours 

fair point

[sylofox]

2 minutes ago, Redouane said:

Show me a quote of Mahrez saying he doesnt want to be here. 

is this for real? 

 

Who needs to see a quote to know Mahrez doesn't want to be here. The clue is in the fact he's put in two transfer requests ffs  

[Munshi]

OP is spot on with this. Crying over the fact he wanted to leave to go to Man City isn't going to help us now. We need to make a real push for Europe and try and win the FA cup, we arent doing that without Riyad. Fact.

[chapero82]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

 

He downs tools and refuses to play? I'm with you. 

 

Until that point people need to stop believing the shit they read in the press.

 

Journalists have an interest in creating a story to sell to you. They have motive to create this shit so you'll click their websites and buy their rags. 

 

Rob Dorsett reports as much sensational crap as the rest of them, that's his career. 

 

Riyad has never behaved in any way other than completely professional. 

He downed tools Tuesday? It’s already begun! 

[suffolk fox]

Sorry get rid.  He clearly doesn't want to be here, he has requested a transfer the second time in six months, all this don't believe the press bollox is nonsense.  It is

not good to have a player who doesn't want to be here.  They were even talking about him buying out his own contract last night and then making himself a free agent.

 

An exceptional talent on his day and I will always  remember the good times but I still don't think he is good enough to lace Keith Wellers boots.

[Finnegan]

17 minutes ago, MrSpaM said:

 

I don't blame him for wanting a move to Man City, far from it, but it was pretty obvious 'tools were downed' otherwise he would have been playing yesterday

 

18 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

glad someone is talking sense regarding the missing last night’s match. when the squad will have been picked/named/travelled we were bang in the middle of supposed “negotiations” with man city. of course mahrez wasn’t gonna be in the squad.

 

what if they’d met our valuation at 7.45? we just have 6 subs for the night? what if they’d met our valuation at 10 past 8? just sub him off to finish his medical? it will have been a club decision to not take him last night, it’s nothing but extra drama and a more exciting story for jarg news outlets to twist it as GOING AWOL or REFUSING TO PLAY. 

 

[Blue ROI]

Theres one man we need to talk sense into Riyad now.

 

 

[Munshi]

1 minute ago, suffolk fox said:

Sorry get rid.  He clearly doesn't want to be here, he has requested a transfer the second time in six months, all this don't believe the press bollox is nonsense.  It is

not good to have a player who doesn't want to be here.  They were even talking about him buying out his own contract last night and then making himself a free agent.

 

An exceptional talent on his day and I will always  remember the good times but I still don't think he is good enough to lace Keith Wellers boots.

Would you not want to leave if Man City came in for you even if it was the last day of the window? 

 

Buying out his own contract? Believe that and you'll believe anything.

[Manwell Pablo]

 

 

I respect what he's done here, I respect the way he has played this season despite wanting to move, however, There's certain ways you conduct yourself in situations like that and the difference was Kante and Drinkwater remained professional, Riyads deadline day antics of going missing, turning up in airports, handing transfer requests, and as I have heard apparently going nuts at not being allowed to move (backed up by Puel admitting to the press he had difficulty controlling his emotions)  is laughable, quite literally laughable, I find it hilarious.

 

I can however see why it would wind certain section of the fan base up though so while I personally will be hoping he knuckles down an helps us finish off a very good season and am very much looking forward to the next episode of Leicester City Prison Break. I can see why people would be severely fcked off. So no sorry I'm not going to take a holier than thou everyone should  get behind him attitude if people want to be annoyed I think they are well within their rights. He will go when a fee is agreed, if anyone needs to grow up it's him. 

Edited 1 February 2018 by Manwell Pablo

[Mark]

5 minutes ago, Manwell Pablo said:

There's certain ways you conduct yourself in situations like that and the difference was Kante and Drinkwater remained professional

Didn't Drinkwater have a fake injury for the whole of August?

[ScouseFox]

1 minute ago, Manwell Pablo said:

 

 

I respect what he's done here, I respect the way he has played this season despite wanting to move, however, There's certain ways you conduct yourself in situations like that and the difference was Kante and Drinkwater remained professional, Riyads deadline day antics of going missing, turning up in airports, handing transfer requests, and as I have heard apparently going nuts at not being allowed to move (backed up by Puel admitting to the press he had difficulty controlling his emotions)  is laughable, quite literally laughable, I find it hilarious.

 

I can however see why it would wind certain section of the fan base up though so while I personally will be hoping he knuckles down an helps us finish of a very good season and am very much looking forward to the next episode of Leicester City Prison Break, I can see why people would be severely fcked off. So no sorry I'm not going to take a holier than thou everyone should  get behind him attitude if people want to be annoyed I think they are well within their rights. He will go when a fee is agreed, if anyone needs to grow up it's him. 

drinkwater handed in a transfer request and left it so late that we had to spend 6 months without a midfielder we tried to sign to replace him. 

 

kante had a release clause, someone matched it and he left. he’d have done the same as riyad and drinkwater if he didn’t. 

 

and if you think any of them would’ve been playing in a match on deadline day you’re an idiot, basically. mahrez missed an algeria match (i think) cos it was on the last deadline day. because they, like those in charge at our club, realised how retarded it would’ve been to play him in case he was then needed to complete a move mid way through the match. 

 

nobody who is still negatioting with clubs on deadline day will ever play in a match on deadline day. that’s what prompted even big sam to say he felt sorry for us last night because they schedule is stupid. that’s what conte is blaming chelsea’s defeat on, they planned their match with batsuyai (or however you spell it) in their team and at lunchtime had to make new plans because he was going to leave. we prepared for 24 hours without him and told him not to come in case we sold him. 

 

we haven’t sold him so he’ll be back in the team, with open arms and a smile, when we need him. which is asap. cos we are shit all without him. 

[HankMarvin]

11 minutes ago, sylofox said:

is this for real? 

 

Who needs to see a quote to know Mahrez doesn't want to be here. The clue is in the fact he's put in two transfer requests ffs  

Also a public statement may 2017

stating his desire to leave 

[Finnegan]

5 minutes ago, Manwell Pablo said:

 

 

I respect what he's done here, I respect the way he has played this season despite wanting to move, however, There's certain ways you conduct yourself in situations like that and the difference was Kante and Drinkwater remained professional, Riyads deadline day antics of going missing, turning up in airports, handing transfer requests, and as I have heard apparently going nuts at not being allowed to move (backed up by Puel admitting to the press he had difficulty controlling his emotions)  is laughable, quite literally laughable, I find it hilarious.

 

I can however see why it would wind certain section of the fan base up though so while I personally will be hoping he knuckles down an helps us finish off a very good season and am very much looking forward to the next episode of Leicester City Prison Break. I can see why people would be severely fcked off. So no sorry I'm not going to take a holier than thou everyone should  get behind him attitude if people want to be annoyed I think they are well within their rights. He will go when a fee is agreed, if anyone needs to grow up it's him. 

 

Drinkwater got his move immediately, Kante got his release clause met. 

 

Mahrez has wanted to go for three or four windows, we've told him he can go for at least two of those and it's fallen through in both instances because he feels our value is unrealistic. 

 

Now don't get me wrong, are value isn't unrealistic and WE shouldn't he held ransom. 

 

But equally, I can forgive him being frustrated and complaining as long as he cracks on on Saturday and puts a shift in. 

[Strokes]

1 hour ago, BirminghamFox said:

it's been said before...

 

it'll be said again....

 

and I'll say it now...

 

NO player is bigger than OUR club

Gary Taylor fletcher made an impressive attempt though.

[ZeGuy]

18 minutes ago, Bluetintedspecs said:

I agree with the sentiment of your post @Finnegan, however I think the fans, fellow players and management team have every right to be pissed off with Riyad.

Once again he has made a petulant, misguided and childish show of himself with total disregard for his team mates, management and the club.

His talent is unquestionable yet his maturity, intelligence, decision making and apparent choice of advisors are extremely poor!

I personally, like most, understand the ambition and desire to better himself yet he signed a 4 year deal with no buy out clause on a reported 100K per week, whose fault is that?

The way the market is our owners have every right and hold all the cards in saying 'Riyad is worth ?'.

Finally, as much as we all know what a genius Riyad is, he has to face the harsh reality if Man City really really wanted him ala Barca with Courtinho they would have stumped up the extra to get their man.

They'd have bid more if they didn't buy Laporte. Fairly certain they'll come for him again in the summer if he performs well.

[the fox]

1 hour ago, AjcW said:

Not actually sure this will get the rep you expect mate, this is the third time now, and it always goes down the same way. He'll suddenly turn up and play for a couple of months before a window, then be up and down for the rest of the season.

 

If this started on Jan 1st i'd have a world of sympathy for him... but yet again his reps (and himself) have tried to make it as awkwardly late as possible to try and force our hand.

 

We're going to have to get used to playing without him so why not start now?

for the last time, man city are the ones who bid late, can't people understand this?

 

there were 3-4 offers in the last few days, riyad wasn't in the right state of mind and didn't play with the team incase there was a deal done!

 

if what the press is true, riyad was told "you have to go to war if you want to get out', the owners aren't so lovable anymore, huh?

 

like i said before, loyalty is a myth, everyone is looking for their best ineterst, the owners just told him that they will make his life a living hell, i don't wanna hear the loyalty talks ever again. each is in for his own

[JamesWelshFox]

I rather think we should have taken the money last night.

In these ridiculous times is he worth more than £60m - Yes.

Is the club within its rights to dig its heels in - Yes.

The problem is that Riyad's heart lies elsewhere. He should and I hope he will come back and put in a shift, it is the best way after all for him to get the move he craves in the summer.

The trouble with this is that as we have seen before Riyad tends to down tools.

Unless we are going to spend the £100m on replacing him then we cannot replace him like for like in that way, and we are not in that sort of league when it comes to spending.

We would be better to take a handsome profit and look to develop what we have and keep scouting to uncover the next Mahrez. Diabate is a raw talent, but pace, confidence, plays off both feet - best way for him to develop is to play him now.

The danger with us now keeping an unhappy Riyad is the effect it has on the group, I know I'd be pretty mad at him, again !

The shame of it all is that Riyad clearly doesn't buy in to what the owners are trying to build and achieve. Why not, who really knows, but he has a Premier League winners medal, which proves it is possible.

Bottom line is he wants to go, and whilst the Club shouldn't be held to ransom by a player it is in all our best interests he moves on.

[RonnieTodger]

I just hope he sees the last few months of the season as an incentive to "earn" his move to a bigger club in the summer, rather than giving up and thinking he's stuck here so he might as well be shit. It hurts everybody if he goes all van Dijk and refuses to play. 

 

What annoyed me most about yesterday was the failure to see it from both sides. The situation arose because Man City placed a derisory bid with no time for us to get a replacement. In the same window that Virgil van Dijk left (after not playing for months and being crap when he came back) for £75M, on the January the 1st. If he costs that much despite his refusal to play, bad performances after coming back and with a whole month to find a replacement, how much should our Riyad cost? Also, the reports of £65M were misleading because it was a deal believed to be "worth" £65m. If that was £35m + Mangala or £50m + Zinchenko then they can bollocks. We didn't need those players and if your mate owes you a tenner but says I'll give £5 and 4 cans of Carling when you think they're shit, of course you're gonna say no.

 

Anyway, even if it was £65m cash - it's still derisory. 

 

However, we've known for months that he wants to leave and he will have seen it as a free PL winners medal and a crack at the Champions League. Those feelings from the summer won't have disappeared because we're  now 7th. He sees his future above Leicester and that's fine. It's how he goes about these next few months that's important. 

 

It's neither Leicester's or Riyad's fault that the only teams to make bids have been Roma and Man City and they've all been shit. Hopefully, for all parties, someone comes in with a proper bid in the summer and everybody wins. 

Edited 1 February 2018 by RonnieTodger