Puel

[NotTheMarketLeader]

11 hours ago, Tuna said:

Why Leicester City would desperately regret letting Claude Puel go

 

http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2018/feature-why-leicester-city-would-desperately-regret-letting-claude-puel-go/

Once again, and without good reason, Claude Puel seems to be on the verge of being unfairly dismissed from a position in the Premier League, the Frenchman once more a symbol of the lack of patience currently on display at the vast majority of clubs in the English top flight. Various members of the English media have tried to pin his so-called failings on his “quiet demeanour,” his “chopping and changing” or a “lack of intensity in taking training,” but could it be that, despite his manifest success in a variety of situations, his real undoing is simply a combination of boardroom impatience and the well-moneyed player and his attendant power? To wit, Puel, now with his sixth club, and second outside of his native France, has inarguably succeeded at each turn, but despite this, has more often been forced out, save his departures from Lille and Nice.

That said, there have been, by and large extenuating circumstances for each of these situations. At Southampton, Puel achieved nearly the same placement as his predecessor, Ronald Koeman, but in a much more exacting situation. It may be that his football was far from exciting, but pragmatism was needed to solidify the Saints’ position in the Premier League, and this, as well as a run to the League Cup final, was handily achieved despite having to reconstruct a defence left threadbare by the sale of Jose Fonte and Virgil Van Dijk’s lengthy absence due to injury.

In attack, again, Southampton under Puel were often stagnant, but the sales of Sadio Mané, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama, coupled with Charlie Austin’s injury record, left him with few options; a top half finish with that set of players, especially in light of their current plight, now seems near-miraculous.

Puel was also pushed out at Lyon, but not before leading Les Gones to a Champions’ League semi-final, even as the club struggled financially, hamstrung by the twin disappointments of injuries to Yoann Gourcuff and the poor form of Aly Cissokho. So, too, at Monaco, where despite Puel winning a league title and doing well to develop the likes of Rafa Marquez and Marcelo Gallardo, the team, not yet the moneyed entity of the present, were also forced to sell their most talented players, including David Trezeguet, Willy Sagnol and Fabien Barthez. Thus, while Puel has been shown the door more than once in his career, it can be also argued that when he has been given time and support within a club’s means, he has not only succeeded, but also overseen his sides playing some rather exciting football.

At Nice and Lille, where he spent four and six seasons respectively, Puel was given time and patience was duly rewarded, with Lille becoming a Champions’ League regular. Not only did Les Dogues of this era play attractive football, they were also a young squad, with Mathieu Debuchy, Yohan Cabaye and Kévin Mirallas all playing important roles while also handing debuts to the likes of Eden Hazard and Adil Rami.

So, too, at Nice, where even as Lucien Favre has moved the club on from Puel’s turn at the helm, the Swiss has not only benefitted from a considerably higher level of investment but also Puel’s improvement of youngsters like Ricardo Pereira and Alassane Pléa. Too, Puel has shown a good touch with veteran players as well, getting the best out of Hatem Ben Arfa during their lone season together.

While it is inarguably true that a manager must take the blame for his side’s recent tepid performances, that the Foxes have so comfortably achieved safety given their situation when Puel took over is more than a counterweight to any rumoured friction within the squad. Too, there is the matter of Leicester’s player transfer policy. The club have done well in recent years, spotting bargains with the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, N’Golo Kanté, Wes Morgan and Jamie Vardy, but since returning to the Premier League, there have also been no small number of missteps, including the Adrien Silva fiasco and Islam Slimani and Kelechi Iheanacho failing to impress.

Add to this how unsettled Riyad Mahrez seemed to be after Manchester City’s aborted pursuit in the January window, and the personnel situation at Leicester has hardly ideal, forcing Puel to make do with a poorly assembled squad in which he had no hand in building.

At Leicester, then, it may be near-impossible to undervalue Puel’s eye for bringing in young players and improving them. Leicester are likely to undergo significant turnover this summer, with Mahrez expected to be sold and a raft of older players (Christian Fuchs, Shinji Okazaki, Wes Morgan, Jamie Vardy) also in the running to seek greener pastures. Pereira, Jean Michaël Seri and Pléa stand out as recent examples, but Puel has also plucked the likes of Éric Abidal, Michel Bastos and Stephan Lichsteiner from relative obscurity. If Leicester do want to invest this summer, do the club’s ownership want to trust a manager with good contacts in talent-rich France, or the leadership that brought in Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy?

In addition to his impressive track record in the transfer market, as he had in his previous tenures, including Southampton, he has also improved the play of the likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Ben Chilwell and Harry Maguire. Thus, given Puel’s combination of acumen in the transfer market and his ability to get the best out of young players, succeeding even whilst on a tight budget, he would seem an ideal manager for any ambitious side.

That rumblings over his future continue, though, point to the power of the player. Managers are certainly well-compensated, but players, given the tens of millions of pounds clubs are forced to bandy about in wages and transfer fees in the current environment, have come to represent the new apex of power in today’s game.

That well-compensated professionals, so obsessed by their own self-interest, would be unhappy given a perceived lack of clarity in certain aspects of Puel’s approach is certainly understandable, but these players, and the club’s owners would do well to take a more holistic approach to his career, recognising him for the successful manager he has been throughout it.

If not, the worry here is that rather than scrapping at the fringes of the Europa League places, Leicester, with that mooted mass exodus and another potentially poor transfer window, could quite easily find themselves in a similar position to where Southampton are at present, hamstrung by unrealistic expectations and short-sightedness and more worried about survival than a top-half finish.

 

 

Yeah...that’s all well and good.

 

However, we know CR had to go to avoid us getting relegated, we knew that Shakespeare was not a manager at this level.

 

We also know that if Puel stays on we risk losing our better players in the summer, and he will fail.

[foxinsocks]

In sentence 1 it says "without good reason"... i differ.  I bet the french journo hasnt sat thru the last 6 home games like i have

[Ricey]

I'm shocked he hasn't gone yet. A lot of fans will be ready to pounce at the first sign of negative play or a bad pass on Saturday. It's going to be a toxic atmosphere that is unlikely to end well.

[Donut]

9 minutes ago, Ricey said:

I'm shocked he hasn't gone yet. A lot of fans will be ready to pounce at the first sign of negative play or a bad pass on Saturday. It's going to be a toxic atmosphere that is unlikely to end well.

What it is, is that you are disappointed your desperate ambition for him to be gone hasn't been fulfilled yet.

 

Itll just be a malaise rather than a "toxic" atmosphere.

 

If we do sack Puel which could very well happen, he would have been sacked without chance to really make any moves to change things in the summer.

 

But we all know the next manager will be given more time. He has to be, because all of those calling for Puel out will by default have to defend the new manager to the hilt if things start going wrong.

[StanSP]

43 minutes ago, Donut said:

 

But we all know the next manager will be given more time. He has to be, because all of those calling for Puel out will by default have to defend the new manager to the hilt if things start going wrong.

Not a chance that happens. If we're not winning every game, that manager is not getting more time in our fans' eyes. 

[STUHILL]

49 minutes ago, Donut said:

What it is, is that you are disappointed your desperate ambition for him to be gone hasn't been fulfilled yet.

 

Itll just be a malaise rather than a "toxic" atmosphere.

 

If we do sack Puel which could very well happen, he would have been sacked without chance to really make any moves to change things in the summer.

 

But we all know the next manager will be given more time. He has to be, because all of those calling for Puel out will by default have to defend the new manager to the hilt if things start going wrong.

He had the chance to change/add things in the January window. He signed one player, a young winger, when we were crying out for a RB at the very least.

 

He's also had chances to change things each week, with Drago for Wes being an obvious one to make. 

 

He's also had chances to change things during games, but mostly seems to wait too long and then make baffling decisions when he does.

 

Another problem he has, momentum! We have lost all of it and are our players really going to be that excited going into the new season with him in charge? 

 

No one can know if a change of manager will be better than sticking with Puel, but at least it will be a fresh start with new enthusiasm from the fans and players, something that I fear will be severely lacking if we continue on this path with Puel. 

[Donut]

1 minute ago, STUHILL said:

He had the chance to change/add things in the January window. He signed one player, a young winger, when we were crying out for a RB at the very least.

 

He's also had chances to change things each week, with Drago for Wes being an obvious one to make. 

 

He's also had chances to change things during games, but mostly seems to wait too long and then make baffling decisions when he does.

 

Another problem he has, momentum! We have lost all of it and are our players really going to be that excited going into the new season with him in charge? 

 

No one can know if a change of manager will be better than sticking with Puel, but at least it will be a fresh start with new enthusiasm from the fans and players, something that I fear will be severely lacking if we continue on this path with Puel. 

He might not have been able to get his first choice right back in January. They may not have been available. Or the selling club needed a replacement for the player they were selling to us and that didn't materialise, lots of possible scenarios there.

 

I have absolutely no argument that the football has been underwhelming and poor. I don't know whether to believe the likes of Maguire and Vardy when they say they are behind Puel when performances by the team as a whole reflect that players clearly aren't on the same page with him.

 

But I think that's an issue more with our players than Puel. I cant explain why they liked Puel initially, and became more confused and demotivated by him. That suggests to me its more problems with the group than with the manager and his ideas.

 

But at what point do you give a manager time?

 

We all know the next manager will do brilliantly initially. The vast majority of managers have a great record when they first come into a job. When that wears off, what happens then?

 

I personally don't see the logic in sacking Puel, then suggesting managers who outwardly share similar beliefs to Puel to succeed him, or suggesting managers that are doing reasonably well but playing with styles we know we don't like and will become bored of.

 

So I don't just want a manager who can get a bit more out of people NOW, I want someone who has a vision to transform the club. Puel has talked about this about merging styles and about developing youngsters which is all positive, but if there was someone who could come in and implement his vision more successfully, Id be more than happy for someone to do that.

 

I think the problem is though we are all searching for something that's simply not there. Its gone. We don't have an effective style of any kind anymore

[Matt]

I don’t know where this idea of ‘If a managers not winning every game he’ll not get time’ comes from.

 

We’ve won 4 in 19, we’ve not won at home in the league since January, it’s not even as if we can be positive about performance, we’ve been disgraceful. 

 

People have been questioning even even when we have won - for good reason.

 

He keeps playing the same poor players and not rewarding players who have come in and done a job.

 

If we could see improvement, had something to be positive about there wouldn’t be so much vitriol towards him, there would be some and I’m not going to say there wouldn’t because it goes without saying people simply dislike him but he isn’t exactly helping himself in that way but to say it’s as simple as people saying ‘if a managers not winning every game he’ll not get time’ is just wrong.

[STUHILL]

5 minutes ago, Donut said:

He might not have been able to get his first choice right back in January. They may not have been available. Or the selling club needed a replacement for the player they were selling to us and that didn't materialise, lots of possible scenarios there.

 

I have absolutely no argument that the football has been underwhelming and poor. I don't know whether to believe the likes of Maguire and Vardy when they say they are behind Puel when performances by the team as a whole reflect that players clearly aren't on the same page with him.

 

But I think that's an issue more with our players than Puel. I cant explain why they liked Puel initially, and became more confused and demotivated by him. That suggests to me its more problems with the group than with the manager and his ideas.

 

But at what point do you give a manager time?

 

We all know the next manager will do brilliantly initially. The vast majority of managers have a great record when they first come into a job. When that wears off, what happens then?

 

I personally don't see the logic in sacking Puel, then suggesting managers who outwardly share similar beliefs to Puel to succeed him, or suggesting managers that are doing reasonably well but playing with styles we know we don't like and will become bored of.

 

So I don't just want a manager who can get a bit more out of people NOW, I want someone who has a vision to transform the club. Puel has talked about this about merging styles and about developing youngsters which is all positive, but if there was someone who could come in and implement his vision more successfully, Id be more than happy for someone to do that.

 

I think the problem is though we are all searching for something that's simply not there. Its gone. We don't have an effective style of any kind anymore

All decent points. If he does stay then I will force some renewed hope that he can turn our form around. He will need to have a very good transfer window and most likely have to make some tough decisions on captaincy and shifting some deadwood who don't believe they are such! 

 

The main problem I have, is that the man himself just has no aura about him. Pearson, Claudio and I just read an article about Silva having an a certain aura that players fed off. Puel really is dull and yes that shouldn't matter, but I do wonder if he is able to get the team fired up or command respect that is needed. His record in France was good and so I wonder whether it could be down to a language barrier perhaps.

 

There's also the Southampton thing. You couldn't have written a more like for like season and he seems to have not learnt from his errors at all. Slow pedestrian football, lack of goals, confused players and disinterested fans! 

 

I'm not one for chopping and changing managers but I do have to have some belief in what they are trying to do and if they are capable of doing it. He's made too many poor decisions, whether in the window, week to week team selection/formations or in game ones. 

 

I want to feel excited about next season and I just can't with him in charge and the way we are finishing this season. 

[walkerleeds]

31 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

He had the chance to change/add things in the January window. He signed one player, a young winger, when we were crying out for a RB at the very least.

 

He's also had chances to change things each week, with Drago for Wes being an obvious one to make. 

 

He's also had chances to change things during games, but mostly seems to wait too long and then make baffling decisions when he does.

 

Another problem he has, momentum! We have lost all of it and are our players really going to be that excited going into the new season with him in charge? 

 

No one can know if a change of manager will be better than sticking with Puel, but at least it will be a fresh start with new enthusiasm from the fans and players, something that I fear will be severely lacking if we continue on this path with Puel. 

 

Sorry but for me it's time for the players to start taking responsibility. I would like a few fresh faces this summer prompting a change in the waters within the squad, because i'm sick to death of trying to get behind the new manager, only for the players to down tools if they don't get their own way. 

 

I am right behind Puel (I was at Palace on Saturday, by the way) and hope he gets the summer to sort this squad out.

[fuchsntf]

2 hours ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

Yeah...that’s all well and good.

 

However, we know CR had to go to avoid us getting relegated, we knew that Shakespeare was not a manager at this level.

 

We also know that if Puel stays on we risk losing our better players in the summer, and he will fail.

If he does stay Will it not  depend,then on who he brings in , how the Team,then performs in the

early 3 months..6-10 games of PL and league cup.

Losing our so called better players.....so fking what!!!  They havent stood up for 2 seasons,

yes! 2 seasons their appalling Individual attitude and performances,have brought US to

this Situation.Running away,not to, the ball ,ball skills of sunday league players,commitment and attitude,

of any Pub team,ball basics and holding,as though they were handling a bomb.

 

No ,no unlike some on this forum,I wont allow or forget,this group of players have let the Fans and

the Club down...How convenient,that its Puel coming under fire,and not these sweeties.

Effort and attitude,spite individual mistakes that all make,Vardy Maguire,Drago,are the only 3,

I would want to share a trench with...nobody on that pitch this season went that extra mile.

We and Puel needs New gameday Chefs,better players who can hold the ball,New better

Players,because this bunch,had their down season,but this current one,was for those

thought of stalwarts to deliver on the pitch. Puels selections gave all,and I mean all, that

Chance,they through lack of attitude couldnt grab that belief and translate it.

Some had strops,youth Were not supported, enouraged from either the bbone experienced

Players,or from the terraces ,on matchdays,others arrogantly acted AS though they deserved

to be elsewhere.....Puel..IN. If need be, better players out!!! They have proved they cant cut it.

2 seasons 3 managers,poor player attitude and effort in 70% of our games.

 

Too many on this forum still overating,our  players qualities,More than Puel,they the players as a whole

have history, they have let the Club down. This forum has Like the weaker players,have looked

to defend their so called own,and look for the easy cop out!!!

Again. 2 seasons, 3 managers,plus the good coaching additions!!!  This group has no Better players!!

Just wimps!

 

 

 

 

[StriderHiryu]

10 minutes ago, Matt said:

I don’t know where this idea of ‘If a managers not winning every game he’ll not get time’ comes from.

 

We’ve won 4 in 19, we’ve not won at home in the league since January, it’s not even as if we can be positive about performance, we’ve been disgraceful. 

 

People have been questioning even even when we have won - for good reason.

 

He keeps playing the same poor players and not rewarding players who have come in and done a job.

 

If we could see improvement, had something to be positive about there wouldn’t be so much vitriol towards him, there would be some and I’m not going to say there wouldn’t because it goes without saying people simply dislike him but he isn’t exactly helping himself in that way but to say it’s as simple as people saying ‘if a managers not winning every game he’ll not get time’ is just wrong.

Good post.

 

I was very pro-Puel when we started winning games and playing well but all of the above is true. The 5-0 for me made it clear he's lost the dressing room, which is why I feel it's inevitable he will go.

 

I personally don't dislike him and can see what he's trying to do. I think his vision is actually admirable and it's the first time in a while we've seen someone in charge of the club with a long-term view on things. But he has not connected with players and fans, hence poor performances and fan backlash.

[UPinCarolina]

3 hours ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

We also know that if Puel stays on we risk losing our better players in the summer, and he will fail.

What else can you tell us about the future? 

[STUHILL]

2 minutes ago, walkerleeds said:

 

Sorry but for me it's time for the players to start taking responsibility. I would like a few fresh faces this summer prompting a change in the waters within the squad, because i'm sick to death of trying to get behind the new manager, only for the players to down tools if they don't get their own way. 

 

I am right behind Puel (I was at Palace on Saturday, by the way) and hope he gets the summer to sort this squad out.

Puel has shown no real evidence that he will be the man to make the changes we need this summer. 

 

He already had the chance in the January window and he is still starting the likes of Simpson and Wes and was dropping a well in form Iborra for James not that long ago. I see no reason to believe he won't continue with that next season, stubbornly trying to force his brand of football on them, which they simply aren't capable of. 

 

I agree we need a change in the waters within the squad, but show me some evidence he is attempting and will do that? No signs at all during his time so far here in terms of the January window, team selections, substitutes. 

 

If Puel stays I believe it will be much of the same. No player has improved under Puel. Not one. That itself must be a huge concern to you. 

 

[STUHILL]

I'm not sure why an argument that keeps surfacing, is that it seems to be a choice between Puel or the current players?

 

I want a new manager and STILL get rid of the deadwood and "old guard"!

 

In actual fact, I don't see any evidence that Puel is going to be the guy to do this.

 

I want a manager willing to come straight in and drop Wes and give the captaincy to someone else, to sell James, King and co. and finally sign us a bloody RB!! 

 

Other than forcing his slow and dull football on players incapable of it, what has he done to show he is bold enough to make the big changes we need? 

 

Dragovic should not have been dropped. We should have signed a RB in January. James selected over an inform Iborra early on?! Subs that are often too late and make no sense! 

 

Tell me other than switching us from an ineffective direct team, to a ineffective possession team, what has he done to show any progression for next season? 

 

 

[sylofox]

13 hours ago, Steve_Walsh5 said:

“Without good reason”

 

They obviously haven’t watched us since the turn of the year, no home win since January, points dropped at home to Crystal Palace, Stoke, Swansea, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Southampton. Two humiliating hammering against Crystal Palace, biazarre team selections, boring sideways passing for the sake of passing. 

 

And your point is  

[NotTheMarketLeader]

25 minutes ago, fuchsntf said:

If he does stay Will it not  depend,then on who he brings in , how the Team,then performs in the

early 3 months..6-10 games of PL and league cup.

Losing our so called better players.....so fking what!!!  They havent stood up for 2 seasons,

yes! 2 seasons their appalling Individual attitude and performances,have brought US to

this Situation.Running away,not to, the ball ,ball skills of sunday league players,commitment and attitude,

of any Pub team,ball basics and holding,as though they were handling a bomb.

 

No ,no unlike some on this forum,I wont allow or forget,this group of players have let the Fans and

the Club down...How convenient,that its Puel coming under fire,and not these sweeties.

Effort and attitude,spite individual mistakes that all make,Vardy Maguire,Drago,are the only 3,

I would want to share a trench with...nobody on that pitch this season went that extra mile.

We and Puel needs New gameday Chefs,better players who can hold the ball,New better

Players,because this bunch,had their down season,but this current one,was for those

thought of stalwarts to deliver on the pitch. Puels selections gave all,and I mean all, that

Chance,they through lack of attitude couldnt grab that belief and translate it.

Some had strops,youth Were not supported, enouraged from either the bbone experienced

Players,or from the terraces ,on matchdays,others arrogantly acted AS though they deserved

to be elsewhere.....Puel..IN. If need be, better players out!!! They have proved they cant cut it.

2 seasons 3 managers,poor player attitude and effort in 70% of our games.

 

Too many on this forum still overating,our  players qualities,More than Puel,they the players as a whole

have history, they have let the Club down. This forum has Like the weaker players,have looked

to defend their so called own,and look for the easy cop out!!!

Again. 2 seasons, 3 managers,plus the good coaching additions!!!  This group has no Better players!!

Just wimps!

 

 

 

 

Okay ?

[NotTheMarketLeader]

21 minutes ago, UPinCarolina said:

What else can you tell us about the future? 

Virtually nothing unless LCFC related; so nothing of any use in the real world. 

 

You? 

 

By all means trawl through my posts since Christmas predicting that matters would turn out over the last 4 months as they have done for our Claude and his results. 

[Papasmurf]

2 hours ago, Ricey said:

I'm shocked he hasn't gone yet. A lot of fans will be ready to pounce at the first sign of negative play or a bad pass on Saturday. It's going to be a toxic atmosphere that is unlikely to end well.

Well I for one will be getting behind my team.

[NotTheMarketLeader]

13 hours ago, HKFox said:

Since christmas it was clear we would finish 7th - 9th no matter how we did. And Puel has put no plans in place at all for the following season. He seems to be going from game to game with no idea in mind of how to play. Mahrez rejoins and starts every game since admitting he wants to leave. Terrible message to the team and players. Clearly not planning for the following season. Gray and Diabate both could be good players, but are constantly subbed off or get limited get time. Why have they not played 10-15 games each constantly. Gray we have had for few seasons now and we are still deciding if he will be good for us. So he should have played every game since christmas in his favourite position to see if he would be a good replacement for Riyad and to see if he is good enough. 

 

Chilwell has played often which I do think is a good choice from Puel. However changing the back 4 pretty much every game does not help familiarity amongst the defence. Who is our best RB for next season? Who will start cm, lm, rm or even alongside Vardy. There are so many decisions that need to be made which should have been tested since christmas, and this to me is more alarming. If Puel is a "builder not a fire fighter " ( I think he said ) what has he built. He has not gave players time or a chance to impress with a consistent run and any thought process for next season.  

 

His constant picking of Morgan, even though the best run we had under Puel was down to a formidable defence of Dragovic and maguire for a few games on the run. 

 

Loans out both of our target men, and then the team decide to cross the ball to Vardy every game as, quite correctly, teams drop of and stop any through balls for Vardy. 

 

There is no plan B, I feel quite harsh saying this but I have no idea what Puel does for a plan A either. 

 

We have very decent players in my opinion, and they clearly are not motivated by the manager. Let alone I am bored from even a 1 minute post match interview of his. I do get he wants to pass the ball more. Problem is one of our best passers of the ball is Iborra, and he dropped him for half the games as well. I would release him from his contract this weekend, Appleton in charge until end of season. And go for a new gaffer for next season. Silva my choice, but we will all have our own opinions on who we want. 

 

 

You are not at being harsh; more ‘telling it how it is’. 

[UPinCarolina]

9 minutes ago, NotTheMarketLeader said:

Virtually nothing unless LCFC related; so nothing of any use in the real world. 

 

You? 

 

By all means trawl through my posts since Christmas predicting that matters would turn out over the last 4 months as they have done for our Claude and his results. 

We can debate the causes of that turnover, endlessly.

[FLAN]

15 hours ago, Tuna said:

Why Leicester City would desperately regret letting Claude Puel go

 

http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2018/feature-why-leicester-city-would-desperately-regret-letting-claude-puel-go/

Once again, and without good reason, Claude Puel seems to be on the verge of being unfairly dismissed from a position in the Premier League, the Frenchman once more a symbol of the lack of patience currently on display at the vast majority of clubs in the English top flight. Various members of the English media have tried to pin his so-called failings on his “quiet demeanour,” his “chopping and changing” or a “lack of intensity in taking training,” but could it be that, despite his manifest success in a variety of situations, his real undoing is simply a combination of boardroom impatience and the well-moneyed player and his attendant power? To wit, Puel, now with his sixth club, and second outside of his native France, has inarguably succeeded at each turn, but despite this, has more often been forced out, save his departures from Lille and Nice.

That said, there have been, by and large extenuating circumstances for each of these situations. At Southampton, Puel achieved nearly the same placement as his predecessor, Ronald Koeman, but in a much more exacting situation. It may be that his football was far from exciting, but pragmatism was needed to solidify the Saints’ position in the Premier League, and this, as well as a run to the League Cup final, was handily achieved despite having to reconstruct a defence left threadbare by the sale of Jose Fonte and Virgil Van Dijk’s lengthy absence due to injury.

In attack, again, Southampton under Puel were often stagnant, but the sales of Sadio Mané, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama, coupled with Charlie Austin’s injury record, left him with few options; a top half finish with that set of players, especially in light of their current plight, now seems near-miraculous.

Puel was also pushed out at Lyon, but not before leading Les Gones to a Champions’ League semi-final, even as the club struggled financially, hamstrung by the twin disappointments of injuries to Yoann Gourcuff and the poor form of Aly Cissokho. So, too, at Monaco, where despite Puel winning a league title and doing well to develop the likes of Rafa Marquez and Marcelo Gallardo, the team, not yet the moneyed entity of the present, were also forced to sell their most talented players, including David Trezeguet, Willy Sagnol and Fabien Barthez. Thus, while Puel has been shown the door more than once in his career, it can be also argued that when he has been given time and support within a club’s means, he has not only succeeded, but also overseen his sides playing some rather exciting football.

At Nice and Lille, where he spent four and six seasons respectively, Puel was given time and patience was duly rewarded, with Lille becoming a Champions’ League regular. Not only did Les Dogues of this era play attractive football, they were also a young squad, with Mathieu Debuchy, Yohan Cabaye and Kévin Mirallas all playing important roles while also handing debuts to the likes of Eden Hazard and Adil Rami.

So, too, at Nice, where even as Lucien Favre has moved the club on from Puel’s turn at the helm, the Swiss has not only benefitted from a considerably higher level of investment but also Puel’s improvement of youngsters like Ricardo Pereira and Alassane Pléa. Too, Puel has shown a good touch with veteran players as well, getting the best out of Hatem Ben Arfa during their lone season together.

While it is inarguably true that a manager must take the blame for his side’s recent tepid performances, that the Foxes have so comfortably achieved safety given their situation when Puel took over is more than a counterweight to any rumoured friction within the squad. Too, there is the matter of Leicester’s player transfer policy. The club have done well in recent years, spotting bargains with the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, N’Golo Kanté, Wes Morgan and Jamie Vardy, but since returning to the Premier League, there have also been no small number of missteps, including the Adrien Silva fiasco and Islam Slimani and Kelechi Iheanacho failing to impress.

Add to this how unsettled Riyad Mahrez seemed to be after Manchester City’s aborted pursuit in the January window, and the personnel situation at Leicester has hardly ideal, forcing Puel to make do with a poorly assembled squad in which he had no hand in building.

At Leicester, then, it may be near-impossible to undervalue Puel’s eye for bringing in young players and improving them. Leicester are likely to undergo significant turnover this summer, with Mahrez expected to be sold and a raft of older players (Christian Fuchs, Shinji Okazaki, Wes Morgan, Jamie Vardy) also in the running to seek greener pastures. Pereira, Jean Michaël Seri and Pléa stand out as recent examples, but Puel has also plucked the likes of Éric Abidal, Michel Bastos and Stephan Lichsteiner from relative obscurity. If Leicester do want to invest this summer, do the club’s ownership want to trust a manager with good contacts in talent-rich France, or the leadership that brought in Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy?

In addition to his impressive track record in the transfer market, as he had in his previous tenures, including Southampton, he has also improved the play of the likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Ben Chilwell and Harry Maguire. Thus, given Puel’s combination of acumen in the transfer market and his ability to get the best out of young players, succeeding even whilst on a tight budget, he would seem an ideal manager for any ambitious side.

That rumblings over his future continue, though, point to the power of the player. Managers are certainly well-compensated, but players, given the tens of millions of pounds clubs are forced to bandy about in wages and transfer fees in the current environment, have come to represent the new apex of power in today’s game.

That well-compensated professionals, so obsessed by their own self-interest, would be unhappy given a perceived lack of clarity in certain aspects of Puel’s approach is certainly understandable, but these players, and the club’s owners would do well to take a more holistic approach to his career, recognising him for the successful manager he has been throughout it.

If not, the worry here is that rather than scrapping at the fringes of the Europa League places, Leicester, with that mooted mass exodus and another potentially poor transfer window, could quite easily find themselves in a similar position to where Southampton are at present, hamstrung by unrealistic expectations and short-sightedness and more worried about survival than a top-half finish.

 

 

I stopped when he indicated improvement of Wilf and Chilwell. Wilf is Wilf and Chilwell looks progressively more ineffective game to game 

[Chairman of the Bored]

3 hours ago, Ricey said:

I'm shocked he hasn't gone yet. A lot of fans will be ready to pounce at the first sign of negative play or a bad pass on Saturday. It's going to be a toxic atmosphere that is unlikely to end well.

Don't think we've quite reached the levels of hatred (if that's the right word) during the 'Pleat Out' protest versus Blackburn Rovers, but two more home defeats and I could see something kicking off outside of the stadium. It's going to ruin the summer if he's still in place post-Spurs.

[Donut]

1 hour ago, STUHILL said:

All decent points. If he does stay then I will force some renewed hope that he can turn our form around. He will need to have a very good transfer window and most likely have to make some tough decisions on captaincy and shifting some deadwood who don't believe they are such! 

 

The main problem I have, is that the man himself just has no aura about him. Pearson, Claudio and I just read an article about Silva having an a certain aura that players fed off. Puel really is dull and yes that shouldn't matter, but I do wonder if he is able to get the team fired up or command respect that is needed. His record in France was good and so I wonder whether it could be down to a language barrier perhaps.

 

There's also the Southampton thing. You couldn't have written a more like for like season and he seems to have not learnt from his errors at all. Slow pedestrian football, lack of goals, confused players and disinterested fans! 

 

I'm not one for chopping and changing managers but I do have to have some belief in what they are trying to do and if they are capable of doing it. He's made too many poor decisions, whether in the window, week to week team selection/formations or in game ones. 

 

I want to feel excited about next season and I just can't with him in charge and the way we are finishing this season. 

I don't disagree with a lot of what you say. However I would say another similarity between what we are seeing here, and what Southampton saw, is that Southampton binned him before he could start to address the weaknesses in their squad, like the loss of Fonte, and to gradually look for players to replace the stars like Wanyama, Mane etc, which is a very difficult task for a club of Southamptons size, not dissimilar to ours.

 

The getting fired up thing is interesting to me. Ive played sports before. Not to a super high level, but ive played. You fire yourself up, you have pride. You don't want to let your opponent get the better of you. If you've got players who think issuing a half hearted apology after losing 5-0 in a game makes things ok, Theres a big problem. That's not really the manager. He has to bear the brunt of what happened but theres no way even the wrong tactics will lose a game 5-0, that really is people giving up.

 

But the other side to the problem is, Puel takes the vast, vast majority of the criticism. So its easy for players to hide behind this. Im not saying we should start slagging all the players off constantly, but in all this they are getting far, far, far to easy a ride they really are. We really should be questioning some of these players, particularly in my opinion the likes of Morgan, Albrighton, Chilwell, Okazaki much more.

 

I also find it disappointing how the players seemed initially fired up and enjoying their football under Puel, for it now to look so bad. What prompted the change? I cant imagine training can be THAT different, you cant reinvent the wheel.

 

It leaves a sour taste for me. Im not saying Puel is the messiah, or perhaps hes not even the right man, but hes had a rough deal I think here.

 

 

[walkerleeds]

1 hour ago, STUHILL said:

Puel has shown no real evidence that he will be the man to make the changes we need this summer. 

 

He already had the chance in the January window and he is still starting the likes of Simpson and Wes and was dropping a well in form Iborra for James not that long ago. I see no reason to believe he won't continue with that next season, stubbornly trying to force his brand of football on them, which they simply aren't capable of. 

 

I agree we need a change in the waters within the squad, but show me some evidence he is attempting and will do that? No signs at all during his time so far here in terms of the January window, team selections, substitutes. 

 

If Puel stays I believe it will be much of the same. No player has improved under Puel. Not one. That itself must be a huge concern to you. 

 

 

It's notoriously extremely difficult to make signings in the January window, let alone signings to try and change the entire complexion of the squad. I also think it's similarly difficult to drop established, influential and senior players such as Morgan and Simpson if they are available for selection. Morgan was actually very good at the start of Puel's reign remember, so not picking (before injury) an in form fully fit club captain really would have a rocked the boat in what is by all accounts a volatile group of players, don't you think?

 

I would 100% share your concern if in the new season we continue to play Morgan and Simpson etc whilst trying to play this passing style, but i'm happy to start the season with him at the helm and really hope our recruitment team (it isn't Puel's job to get deals over the line, merely to recommend signings remember) do their job this summer to support him. Sadly, he is a dead man walking and all of the above is all fairly futile, but that's my take on it.