Are you Happy with the Club's New(ish) Identity and Goals

[StriderHiryu]

Since the Thai's came into our club we have been on the most monumental of roller coasters having far exceeded expectations. "Our aim to is to bring European football to Leicester" they said and despite many of us having a sly chuckle, we've not only seen that happen, but it was in the Champions League as Champions of England to boot in the most romantic story in all of football.

 

But since we shocked the footballing world, the world has adapted. Our title win surely signaled that big money wasn't the be all and end all for football but thanks in part to a bumper Premier League deal, it's gone the other way and now all Premier League clubs (including ourselves) are spending more than ever. This means that there is even less space for the "little guy" than ever before and the gap last season between the top six teams and below looked larger than ever. If anything Financial Fair Play is working counter-intuitive to what it's supposed to achieve because bigger clubs can spend more money, meaning they are likely to get even bigger over time. So if you aren't owned by an Oligrach, Tycoon or Middle Eastern country, then what do you do? We want regular European football after all.

 

This is where it's interesting to compare our setup compared to some of our rivals. Obviously I am not privy to the exact language and internal goals of huge companies, but comparing us to a few other teams is quite interesting:

 

Leicester

- Trying to change their style to more of a possession based one.

- Announced plans to create the most state of the art training complex in Europe.

- Announced stadium capacity increases.

- Have recently started to sign a mixture of young up and coming talent in combination with veteran players with strong leadership characteristics.

- Have a coach who is reckoned for developing youth prospects and sorting out the transition from youth team to first team at French clubs.

- Biggest signing this summer is an English U21 player.

- Took 31 players to preseason camp including multiple players from their youth setup.

- Made a club record sale but decided to promote from within rather than replace.

- Have a very large squad with players they are looking to shift.

 

Everton

- Announced a new stadium with 50-55K capacity.

- Spent a ton of money last year on expensive players.

- Brought in a DoF from PSV.

- Changed manager multiple times but now have one installed for a long period.

- Have talked about trying to break into the Champions League places.

 

West Ham United

- Appointed a Premier League winning manager.

- Backed said manager with a host of expensive signings.

- Have purchased "proven" players between 25-29 years of age for large amounts of money.

- Have an expensive large capacity London stadium.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

- About to complete the biggest club stadium in London.

- Have a young core of English players.

- Play an attractive brand of football.

- Make a handful of signings each year, who tend to be young players with high sell-on potential.

 

Wolves

- Use connections with a super agent to act as a shop-window for top players allowing them good deals and first dibs on talented players they may otherwise not be able to get.

- Easily got promoted from the Championship.

- Hard to see a long-term plan in place, though their plan has paid short term dividends.

 

Burnley

- Very thrifty with their money. Have made no signings yet and are interested in "value" options from the Championship.

- Have a very good team spirit and discipline.

- About to play in Europe albeit with a small squad.

Southampton

- Have a great youth academy that has over the years generated players like Lallana, Walcott, Bale, Oxlaide Chamberlain and Ward-Prowse.

- Scour the continent for young up and coming players who can be sold on for profit. Mane, Pelle, Loveren, Van Dijk.

- Regularly sell their best players, usually to Liverpool.

- Almost got relegated last season.

- Their record buy has failed to score a goal and is likely to be sent on loan this season despite only being signed in January.

 

The point of this topic is to ask if you are happy with the way the club is going, especially compared to other teams in the league. Personally though performances and results last season were often disappointing, I am quite happy with what the club is trying to do. I like that we are trying to become a club that develops talent internally but also glad that for the most part we don't seem to sell our best players, or at least not as often as Southampton. We still seem to be ambitious but pragmatic in what we can and can't do and rather than trying to spend our way to the top (Everton, West Ham) we are trying to do it in a more sustainable way that also gives back to the city of Leicester itself. Chilwell, Hamza, Gray and Maddison are midlanders and two of those players came through our academy.

 

I think not replacing Mahrez is probably the ballsiest thing we are doing and it could be something that we live to regret. But at the same time, I think the decision is in line with the goals of the club and at some point if we want to avoid big money flops then we need to start producing young talent that can make it, and that talent needs a run in the team to take their chance. If anything I feel like we are closest to Tottenham's model than anyone else and despite not liking that club, I can respect their strategy for being one that has been both effective and low risk for the club itself.

 

What do you think?

[urban.spaceman]

The Thais came in with lofty ambitions - mainly to get us out of a hellhole of a league. Yes they've made mistakes. But these guys learn from their mistakes.

 

Sven was a big name with very little domestic success in the preceding decade. They'd given him a shitload of money and it left us in a worse situation - dreadful football, stuck in mid-table with a huge wage bill. He was a huge mistake. They fixed that by bringing back Nigel.

 

And then they gave Nigel time. Even though some of it wasn't fun and we struggled for a bit. They had a great relationship with him and allowed him to build a team rather than buy names, and to ship out the deadwood on high wages. For me they deserve a huge amount of credit for keeping Nigel after Deeney Day. We'd snuck into the play-offs after a dreadful run, and it would have been so easy to pull the trigger. But Nige had a plan, and they trusted him enough to keep that squad together, revolutionise the club's training facility, backroom practices and the technology behind it. And we walked the Championship the next season.

 

When we got promoted they outlined their ambition to turn us into a top 5 club. Ranieri said at the start of his reign that he and Vichai shared the ambition to help the club "grow up". The thing is, winning the league sort of took us by surprise. We'd been planning for surviving relegation again, and maybe top 10. Not winning the actual Premier League. 2016 was one of our worst summer windows ever. Our head of recruitment had left, and we had a bucketload of money to spend on long-term targets who had been targets while we were aiming to just stay up. A truly dreadful window, that we're still reeling from.

 

BUT, the recruitment since has been good IMO. Ndidi, Maguire are the backbone of our team and will not be allowed to leave for less that £100m each. Iborra has been great, Silva needs more time after our **** up last year, Iheanacho started to show some real promise at the end of the season. This summer so far - I'm very pleased. Highly rated young right back, a position we've needed for ages. Quality, Premier League winning centre-back. Highly rated young creative midfielder with some of the best stats in Europe. Mahrez gone for a club record fee and a £60m profit.

 

Last season they made the mistake of sticking with Shakey. He deserved the job after his long service and exploits as a caretaker. But full-time was a stretch too far and it was a shame to lose him completely. Puel started off very well, but the second half of the season was appalling. But people forget we had a squad with suspensions, injuries and Mahrez's mardies. Not to mention 9 players with one eye on the World Cup. The squad simply wasn't good enough to implement Puel's system and he should take some of the blame for that. People also complained about missing out on the Europa League but personally, I'm fine without Europe this season. We don't need the distraction, travel or disruption to the season when we're not ready for it. There's no rush.

 

I'm confident that we could qualify for Europe this season. Though we do need another quality creative player. The main thing Puel needs now is time and trust, just like the Thais gave to Nigel. Off the field - the training ground looks amazing and will without a doubt push us forward as a club. The stadium expansion sounds amazing too.

 

In short, we're in the best position we've ever been and the future looks brighter than ever. I think we should all be a bit patient though and trust in our owners.

Edited 26 July 2018 by urban.spaceman

[urban.spaceman]

TL; DR

 

Puel Out.

[foxinsocks]

European football. .. regular top 7

That is a viable goal

 

To do this we must never ever sell our best players to top 6 clubs. .. man city. Utd   chelski spuds arse liverpool 

 

If we allow them to cherry pick our best players then they are keep6ibg is in a sub league.

 

It starts now with harry.

 

Utd wont sell martial to a uk club ..we shiuld tefuse to sell any player to a top six COMPETITOR

[ajthefox]

We've been through a fair few managers but it's obvious to see the owners are thinking long term, strategic ways of making the club better.

 

Everton crashed and burned last season with Koeman and are doing the exact same thing this year spending 50m on Richarlison. Our recruitment hasn't been great in the last few years but we are predominantly going for young players on long deals.

 

There is plenty to moan about if you want to focus on the negative, but long term we have made huge strides since NP was re-instated, and lets face it we were never going to hit the same levels we hit in 15/16 even if we bought well. 

 

In May 2013, anyone who wouldn't have snapped your hand off for the last 5 years would've been bat shit cray cray.

[Jacnah]

18 minutes ago, foxinsocks said:

European football. .. regular top 7

That is a viable goal

 

To do this we must never ever sell our best players to top 6 clubs. .. man city. Utd   chelski spuds arse liverpool 

 

If we allow them to cherry pick our best players then they are keep6ibg is in a sub league.

 

It starts now with harry.

 

Utd wont sell martial to a uk club ..we shiuld tefuse to sell any player to a top six COMPETITOR

I like the intention, but the truth is we are not a viable competitor to the top 6. Who knows what the future will bring but, for now, I agree with your goal of best of the rest and European football.

[Babylon]

21 minutes ago, foxinsocks said:

European football. .. regular top 7

That is a viable goal

 

To do this we must never ever sell our best players to top 6 clubs. .. man city. Utd   chelski spuds arse liverpool 

 

If we allow them to cherry pick our best players then they are keep6ibg is in a sub league.

 

It starts now with harry.

 

Utd wont sell martial to a uk club ..we shiuld tefuse to sell any player to a top six COMPETITOR

In which case we'll get half the price from abroad and still have to pay the premier league prices when shopping for a replacement.

[foxinsocks]

Fine... that is the price we pay 

Edited 26 July 2018 by foxinsocks

[foxinsocks]

8 minutes ago, Jacnah said:

I like the intention, but the truth is we are not a viable competitor to the top 6. Who knows what the future will bring but, for now, I agree with your goal of best of the rest and European football.

I coykd aim higher.. but this is realistic. ... but we hopefully have owners who can give us the fiscal support to avoude feeding out pl competitors

[Fox92]

Just need to let Puel do his stuff. Don't panic if we're not 7th by October because the last thing we need is yet another manager.

[Ian Nacho]

To be honest I'm really annoyed. Was hoping we'd win the Champions League and World Cup last year. 

[urban.spaceman]

3 minutes ago, Ian Nacho said:

To be honest I'm really annoyed. Was hoping we'd win the Champions League and World Cup last year. 

Would have been happy with Eurovision personally. 

[volpeazzurro]

I'm happy the way things are though to sell Maguire this season would be a huge mistake. If given a pay rise and the captaincy, with consistent performances and leadership skill development, Harry in 1-2yrs time may be subject of an auction between Spanish and English clubs. He should think slightly longer term.

 

We can't replace Marhez type for type. However, lest we forget, there's still loads of transfer time left! Things have badly needed to change for a while. They're trying to do it with Puel, let's back them. There are so many different views usually from people just like me ... non experts. I'm sure there's far more to it than we know and things behind the scenes that we are unaware of. People at the club are best positioned to make decisions. 

 

Club infastructure re training and ground sound brilliant. It really isn't all doom and gloom as some people would have you believe, it's all part of an exciting journey. Patience is key.

[Captain...]

It’s An interesting question, one of the barriers to properly discussing it is a lack of insight into what the club and manager are actually thinking.

 

I think our purchases this window have been pretty good, the downside is we now have a bloated squad and we need to ship out. The preseason friendliest have given little indication as to what we’re trying to achieve with so many players missing. 

 

I did lose faith with Puel after that Palace game, but I am prepared to give him a second chance, he now has a team that he has had time to shape and mould in his style. I look at West Ham and think that they are just throwing money at a problem that goes deeper than a few expensive signings.

 

Within a few weeks of the season we could be laughing at the likes West Ham and Everton and Newcastle, or they could be laughing at us. We could end up sacking the manager mid season, again, ripping up everything and starting again.

 

 

Who knows? But that’s part of the fun, bring on the new season let’s see where the next stage on this roller coaster ride takes us. 

Edited 26 July 2018 by Captain...

[Izzy]

5 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

So if you aren't owned by an Oligrach, Tycoon or Middle Eastern country, then what do you do? We want regular European football after all.

 

The point of this topic is to ask if you are happy with the way the club is going, especially compared to other teams in the league. 

 

What do you think?

Of course we want regular European football - but so does everybody else. We're no more entitled to it than any other club.

 

We keep doing what we're doing IMO. We've never had it so good and these are glory years. If/when our owners sell up and it all goes to rat shit again, we'll look back on these times and realise how lucky we were. We're in an amazing position right now compared to other clubs our size.

 

If we can establish ourselves as a mid table PL side for years to come then I'd say that's a big success for a club our size. After years and years of 'yo-yoing' between the top two divisions, it would be great if we could just continue to dine at the top table for years to come. Our PL win was a complete freak and one off but we did it and most of us can die happy.

 

We'll never be a 'big' club compared to the top 6 and I doubt we'll ever get into the CL again in my lifetime. If we could get Europa League football occasionally or win the FA Cup then happy days.

 

I'd say our job is to continue to maintain our position, develop young talent, play attractive football, entertain the fans, and give the big boys a bloody nose once in a while.  

[Shane]

I’m really excited about the young talent coming through. Having Puel in charge means these lads will get a fair chance. We might not have to spend 100s of millions to sign players as they could be on our own doorstep.

 

However if they’re not going to feature for us yet then these lads need to be out on loan in the championship for the season.

 

For the 19/20 season we could potentially have these 4 in the first team squad: 

 

Elder (Fuchs replacement)

Hughes (Morgan replacement) 

Barnes (Okazaki replacement) 

Thomas 

 

Then the next batch of players will be Knight, Johnson, Dewsbury-Hall & Tee.

 

Very excited about the future .

[themightyfin]

36 minutes ago, Shane said:

I’m really excited about the young talent coming through. Having Puel in charge means these lads will get a fair chance. We might not have to spend 100s of millions to sign players as they could be on our own doorstep.

 

However if they’re not going to feature for us yet then these lads need to be out on loan in the championship for the season.

 

For the 19/20 season we could potentially have these 4 in the first team squad: 

 

Elder (Fuchs replacement)

Hughes (Morgan replacement) 

Barnes (Okazaki replacement) 

Thomas 

 

Then the next batch of players will be Knight, Johnson, Dewsbury-Hall & Tee.

 

Very excited about the future .

I would put Wright and Eppiah above most of those.

Tee is the one to watch I'm expecting him to breakthrough this season 

[Fox seen in Norwich]

You don’t win anything with kids ?

[themightyfin]

2 minutes ago, Fox seen in Norwich said:

You don’t win anything with kids ?

Man Utd?With the  Class of 99 kids?

That team was quite young.

And they won a few things I seem to remember.

Edited 26 July 2018 by themightyfin

[urban.spaceman]

2 minutes ago, themightyfin said:

Man Utd?With the  Class of 99 kids?

That team was quite young.

And they won a few things I seem to remember.

 

I think that was his point...

[Golden Fox]

I for one am very happy with where we are.

 

When I joined my workplace - 7 1/2 years ago, (not in Leicester), I wasn't really included in any football talk, which was all Premier League - and it didn;t even register when I told people who I supported - other than a couple of other here or there that supported Championship clubs.

 

As soon as we got in the Premier League everyone started taking an interest & it was just great to walk in on a Monday morning and have people asking me about the result and whether I'd been to the game - even though we were marooned at the bottom for most the year.

 

The next couple of years (walking in with my shirt on after winning the league, the European run) were incredible with pretty much everyone savouring the incredible story vicariously through me.

 

The last year hasn't hit those heights (and having a direct report who's a Palace fan was pretty grim)...

...but after the years in the wilderness, I just enjoy being part of the National conversation, and finishing in the top 10 and getting a few results against the top teams and people wanting to talk to me about Leicester is what supporting a team in exile is all about.

 

I'd agree with the OP that the movement towards youth and training grounds is a preferable approach to the approach from the other clubs mentioned, but actually, I don;t care that much how we do it - its just great to be out of the wilderness and in the headlines!

[StriderHiryu]

16 minutes ago, Fox seen in Norwich said:

You don’t win anything with kids ?

[420Hashish]

Leicester is actually the only team capable of beating every single top 6 club on their day. You have to believe it. Our matches with top 6 teams are always really close and thrilling to watch, with the odd exception of the occasional thrashing. Everton usually lose by a +2 goal margin to these clubs. None of the other teams can really beat the top 6 unless the top 6 team is having a really bad day.

 

The difference between Leicester and any other PL club outside top 6 is that Leicester set out to try to win the game while the others set out trying not to lose the game, aiming for a draw mostly.

 

Leicester attack in games while the other teams try to sit back and zone defense really hard, which is why they barely even score. We usually take the game to them. We don't wait for them to attack us and sit back.

[Foxxed]

The stars will likely never align again: our league winning season and the seasons running up to it will likely punctuate an incredible premier league history. But if we can produce premier league talent from our academy that occasionally take us into Europe I'll be happy. Our transition into possession football will be the most painful. Ranieri tried to change our tactics and was turfed out. Shakespeare tried to revert back to our previous tactics and nearly got us relegated. Puel tried new tactics with players who weren't suited to them yet kept us in the premier league. It seems highly likely only Kasper, Albrighton and Vardy will remain from 15/16: Puel'll have new players, new more dynamic players and whether we can play with a new style with young English players coming through our ranks challenging for Europe remains to be seen. Personally though, it seems like progression from Ranieri and Shakespeare and I'm excited to see how our new creative outlet works with Vardy, Iheanacho and Gray.

[Foxxed]

6 hours ago, DrezZone said:

Leicester is actually the only team capable of beating every single top 6 club on their day. You have to believe it. Our matches with top 6 teams are always really close and thrilling to watch, with the odd exception of the occasional thrashing. Everton usually lose by a +2 goal margin to these clubs. None of the other teams can really beat the top 6 unless the top 6 team is having a really bad day.

 

The difference between Leicester and any other PL club outside top 6 is that Leicester set out to try to win the game while the others set out trying not to lose the game, aiming for a draw mostly.

 

Leicester attack in games while the other teams try to sit back and zone defense really hard, which is why they barely even score. We usually take the game to them. We don't wait for them to attack us and sit back.

When we had one of the world's best right wingers. This season will be undoubtedly more difficult.