Time for a Puel in thread.

[OhYesNdidi]

21 minutes ago, Swan Lesta said:

You are perhaps right but I think the day will come when the owners realise the fans are not happy with this. I would honestly imagine they will do it at the end of this season in a Southamptonesque manner. 

Unlikely, most match going fans are happy with puel. It’s only the loud minority on here who dislike puel and make it seem like it’s half the fan base. Not true. The players also seem to really like playing for him and the spirit in the dressing room looks as positive as it’s ever been. 

Edited 1 October 2018 by OhYesNdidi

[Simoken]

6 minutes ago, Swan Lesta said:

I’ll be in touch soon for another instalment of what fans need to learn and I need to enjoy!

 

I’ve supported England all my life despite the drab style of play seen through the last couple of decades especially and I’ll continue to do so with Leicester too. But seriously don’t tell me I have to learn to enjoy a more sedate style of football full of out of position footballers only ever going to be competitive with the best of the rest?

 

Heres my big willy of mediocrity, now swallow it?

 

No thanks mate.

Then tell me on behalf of the majority of the fans who think this style of play isnt good enough for LCFC. You want to go back to the tried and failed style of play? and quoting the comment earlier of 'bipolar football', for the first time since we were promoted i feel a sense of security and the club being in a comfortable state of mind and a position to grow. You can bitch and complain all you like about Puel, but he has created something great for the future of the club.

[Babylon]

32 minutes ago, somebum said:

We will see an equal ratio of WDL until the day he gets sacked. It's when the majority realize his project isn't actually going anywhere when that day will come. 

Where do you expect us to go exactly? Why is somewhere in the region is 7th - 10th no longer good enough for a team like Leicester in the top division. We simply don't spend enough to crack the top 7 on a regular basis, so other than the odd season we're going to be bumbling about the middle of the table. It's fine to hope for more, but some on here seem to expect it.

 

The only chance we have to crack that top 7 strangle hold is to take the whole club forward off the pitch and grow us until we realistically have a chance of cracking into it more than the odd season everything goes right. That stuff happens over decades and will still take significant investment on the pitch.

[Finnegan]

33 minutes ago, Lionator said:

We can't compete with the top 6 though and if Claude is being judged on that then he might as well leave now because he's not going to be able to achieve it, christ I think Pep wouldn't be able to get us in the top 6 given how much power those top 6 have, there's a reason why we were 5000-1. I don't know if it's an effect of the title win however I always feel like Claude literally cannot win. We're going to run into poor results because it's the nature of a competitive league, you cant win em all. But so much is better than it's probably ever been in terms of structure of the club, we have clear pathway from the youth team to the senior squad with Claude at the helm, something I've never seen as a Leicester supporter (bar the odd one or two who graduated). Fans need to learn how to enjoy a more sedate style because our last few years have been utterly chaotic in terms of high's and low's, a Bipolar football club. We're watching the greatest period in our club's history, you need to enjoy it while it lasts because Football is a funny old game and it can turn very quickly. 

 

I'm personally not asking for or expecting a top six finish but I do think we should demand to be best of the rest. 

 

We've beaten Huddersfield, Newcastle and Southampton who all look like they could go down. Wolves are the only real direct competition we've played so far that we've beaten. That's fine, it's positive. I'm not strictly complaining but we need to be patient with both our criticism AND praise. 

 

I won't be particularly satisfied until we've put Everton, West Ham, Burnley, Palace and Watford to bed. These teams will be the yard stick for our success. Right now we're still a bit of an unknown and I'm not going to completely warm to Puel until goals from open play are coming more naturally. 

 

I don't want him sacked (I did prior to the Arsenal game at the end of last year) but I wouldn't be handing him any contract extensions right now either. 

Edited 1 October 2018 by Finnegan

[Nick]

2 minutes ago, Simoken said:

Then tell me on behalf of the majority of the fans who think this style of play isnt good enough for LCFC. You want to go back to the tried and failed style of play? and quoting the comment earlier of 'bipolar football', for the first time since we were promoted i feel a sense of security and the club being in a comfortable state of mind and a position to grow. You can bitch and complain all you like about Puel, but he has created something great for the future of the club.

I don’t speak on behalf of anybody mate, just myself. I’ve always said i’ll give the bloke a window and an entire season. We’ve beaten some relegation fodder let’s see how we hold up against the best of the rest. Very averagely I would imagine. As for the style of play, I want to see a plan B formation and players playing in positions that suit their skill sets and transfer activity to ensure that can happen.

[Nick]

4 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

I'm personally not asking for or expecting a top six finish but I do think we should demand to be best of the rest. 

 

We've beaten Huddersfield, Newcastle and Southampton who all look like they could go down. Wolves are the only real direct competition we've played so far that we've beaten. That's fine, it's positive. I'm not strictly complaining but we need to be patient with both our criticism AND praise. 

 

I won't be particularly satisfied until we've put Everton, West Ham, Burnley, Palace and Watford to bed. These teams will be the yard stick for our success. Right now we're still a bit of an unknown and I'm not going to completely warm to Puel until goes from open play are coming more naturally. 

 

I don't want him sacked (I did prior to the Arsenal game at the end of last year) but I wouldn't be handing him any contract extensions right now either. 

Pretty much, this.

[Simoken]

13 minutes ago, Swan Lesta said:

I don’t speak on behalf of anybody mate, just myself. I’ve always said i’ll give the bloke a window and an entire season. We’ve beaten some relegation fodder let’s see how we hold up against the best of the rest. Very averagely I would imagine. As for the style of play, I want to see a plan B formation and players playing in positions that suit their skill sets and transfer activity to ensure that can happen.

When we played Man Utd away i  was impressed with how we composed ourselves even when we were down a goal, theres fight, resiilience and overall strength within the core of the squad. Maquire/Maddison/Chilwell are playing some great football under him and the after the whistle reactions on Sat, the players show respect and seem to enjoy themselves/ (Amartey) - which i didnt rate highly until i saw him on Saturday.. im beginning to change my opinion on him and i  believe Puel has a big part in this. Little improvements behind the scenes are showing more and more after each game. Try to think less about the games right now and look at it in a different direction, To me when these sort of mechanics and improvements are made, the results will come on the pitch.. results are already here but yes i do agree that we need to beat a top6 team comfortably still. I believe that day will come soon.

Edited 1 October 2018 by Simoken

[ThaiFox]

13 minutes ago, Simoken said:

When we played Man Utd away i  was impressed with how we composed ourselves even when we were down a goal, theres fight, resiilience and overall strength within the core of the squad. Maquire/Maddison/Chilwell are playing some great football under him and the after the whistle reactions on Sat, the players show respect and seem to enjoy themselves/ (Amartey) - which i didnt rate highly until i saw him on Saturday.. im beginning to change my opinion on him and i  believe Puel has a big part in this. Little improvements behind the scenes are showing more and more after each game. Try to think less about the games right now and look at it in a different direction, To me when these sort of mechanics and improvements are made, the results will come on the pitch.. results are already here but yes i do agree that we need to beat a top6 team comfortably still. I believe that day will come soon.

Spot on. Against Huddersfield I noticed Vardy having and Puel having a real laugh together. And I very much doubt Kasper, Maguire, Ndidi, Vardy and Maddison would have signed such long contracts if they were unhappy with either Puel, or the way the club is heading. And I'll bet we have a greater chance of signing bright young players now than at any other time, because they know Puel will bring them on and give them game time. I'm looking at the bigger picture of the coming seasons and I'm glad our owners are too. 

[Gwyn]

Exactly what you said. Ever since we won the league because all bets were off people expect us to be a big 6 club.

We will never be that, we are a mid table yo yo club owing to the size of the city and Leicester tigers, who are like man utd compared to us.

If you cannot understand that we are a small team then I think you should switch clubs immediately so you can enjoy top6 and ecl. Maybe Liverpool would be a better option for you.. 

[TJB-fox]

At the end of the day the owners clearly have a long term project in mind which involves bringing on young players and adjusting our previous counter-attacking style of play. If Puel goes then the next manager to come in will continue the same project. Personally I’m enjoying the progress from game to game and apart from the Bournemouth shambles, we’ve been ok to good this year. Trust the process, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

[deep blue]

4 hours ago, That_Dude said:

People should forget about the top 6, we're miles away from them quality and depth wise.

Take this, Lionater's comment "we can't compete with the top 6", and other pessimistic opinions. I can't agree.

 

I wouldn't, for example, swap our squad, manager or owners for those of Man U at the moment.

 

Puel is still not convincing us all yet, but there are good signs of progression, and it is a long term project with an exciting young squad so it may be a year or two yet for it to bear full fruit.

 

The thing is, it's very easy to accept the status quo and assume things will always be that way, but over the long term football is a cyclical process with amazing ups and downs. Many will have forgotten that Man U were relegated a few decades ago. Go back 20 years and Chelsea were a steady Prem side, no more, and Man C were yet to be relegated down to the 3rd level. Spurs have only elevated themselves into the current top 6 by sustained development over the last 10 years, something we are looking to copy but hopefully over a shorter timescale.

 

OK, the financial leapfrog managed by Chelsea and Man C, and the sustained success of the other 4, have made it a bigger gap than ever before, and undoubtedly hard to close that gap, but no way do I think it impossible.

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

What frustrates me is I don't see it improving, by that I mean literally not pessimisticly. As in, it hasn't improved. 

 

The whole time he's been here it's the same, turgid, slow dire build up with no movement. 

 

We're great still when we turn the ball over and can make a few passes through someone on the break as we always have. The two goals from open play against Huddersfield were a joy to watch, classic Leicester. 

 

But I can't think of many goals we've scored that have come from some patient, tiki taka passing move. We've had a few near misses that spring to mind, Maddison almost had one second half against Liverpool, Iheanacho flashed one across the face of goal against United in the first half from a Maddison pass. 

 

By and large though we score set pieces, counter attack goals or individual efforts still. 

Genuine question, do you think that's an issue with coaching/tactics or the players just not having the intelligence and vision to make the runs off the ball? You're right that it's been an issue for a while and needs to improve, but I think it predates Puel. Obviously at the height of our powers in 15/16 we looked very fluid at times but prior to and since then, we've had the same problem with breaking teams down.

 

Either way it's going to take time to rectify. It could be that as the team continues to adapt to Puel's tactics and methods and the likes of Maddison and Iheanacho gel together, we see an improvement. Alternatively, it might just be that we need to recruit more intelligent and dynamic players. I've no idea.

[CosbehFox]

As someone who spent hours defending Puel two weeks ago, the next month is big for him.

 

I was fairly convinced we’d beat Huddersfield and get something from Newcastle. We’ve worked ourselves into a great position after five years of PL football where we have the core of a talented squad. Those players have the ability of creating a chance or scoring a great goal whereas the bottom half of the PL doesn’t. 

 

The next three games are a true indicator. Even Arsenal who are the weakest of the top six (barring Man U’s current woes), you’d like to think we can challenge them over 90 minutes. 

 

If the results aren’t great, I won’t be calling for his head but we’d be more likely to finish 10th rather than 7th. 

Edited 1 October 2018 by Cardiff_Fox

[Simoken]

1 minute ago, Guest said:

Alternatively, it might just be that we need to recruit more intelligent and dynamic players. I've no idea

This is a little retarded no offence, Should the recruiters look into GCSE grades then? Honestly changes are clearly being seen in the style department and its working, they are listening and learning while making results in this difficult process. think about this for a second.. Right now, we all know this style is new to our club and its still 'revel' work in progress, no doubt but the fact we are in 7th position, winning games in this state says a whole lot about the future, we havent even peaked potential with this or have a finished product of play.. imagine the positbility when the style has been perfected and the players are on top form? European football is a strong possibility.

[CosbehFox]

I also think the point is slightly missed about being a possession heavy team is that if used correctly it’s your defensive tactic.

 

They were periods of Shakespeare and the latter days of Claudio, where even playing Huddersfield or Bournemouth we’d stick eleven behind the ball and constantly boot it long. The defence simply couldn’t cope at the constant recycling of the ball. 

 

I loved our moves before the goals on saturday. Quick play in tight spaces. 

[Babylon]

34 minutes ago, Guest said:

Genuine question, do you think that's an issue with coaching/tactics or the players just not having the intelligence and vision to make the runs off the ball? You're right that it's been an issue for a while and needs to improve, but I think it predates Puel. Obviously at the height of our powers in 15/16 we looked very fluid at times but prior to and since then, we've had the same problem with breaking teams down.

 

Either way it's going to take time to rectify. It could be that as the team continues to adapt to Puel's tactics and methods and the likes of Maddison and Iheanacho gel together, we see an improvement. Alternatively, it might just be that we need to recruit more intelligent and dynamic players. I've no idea.

I'd imagine it's a combination of coaching, the level of the players ability and us still learning a new style. We are often so fixated on keeping the ball, that we forget to play facing the opponents goal, the front 4 or 5 are all stood around facing the play. Against Huddersfield, the few occasions they made forward movement we carved them open.

 

Puel seems to have alluded as much that we're not taking the risks we should, he seems aware to the issues. But if you drum into people they need to keep the ball for 7 months, they can go too far that was and forget we actually need to do something with it. Hopefully we're now reaching the point where we are far more comfortable on the ball, that we can start looking forwards a bit more and have more players taking risks.

Edited 1 October 2018 by Babylon
NOW rather than NOT!

[OhYesNdidi]

We’ve got the 9th or 10th best team in the league & that’s where we will likely finish. 

[Clever Fox]

1 hour ago, Babylon said:

Where do you expect us to go exactly? Why is somewhere in the region is 7th - 10th no longer good enough for a team like Leicester in the top division. We simply don't spend enough to crack the top 7 on a regular basis, so other than the odd season we're going to be bumbling about the middle of the table. It's fine to hope for more, but some on here seem to expect it.

 

The only chance we have to crack that top 7 strangle hold is to take the whole club forward off the pitch and grow us until we realistically have a chance of cracking into it more than the odd season everything goes right. That stuff happens over decades and will still take significant investment on the pitch.

There is another way. That's build a Team over a couple of seasons using young talented players who.

They just need the support and guidance to show them to help and encourage them along the way.

As the understandings develop between players and their movements so will the success rate.

That's the path it appears the Owners have chosen to follow with Puel leading them. With the right person in charge it's a fairly proven method, but it does take time.

We were better on Saturday than the start of Season and the start of season was better than end of last season.

That's just how it works, with slow steps of improvement.

 

Don't think this is the finished squad either, there will be additions in the key area's when the fringe players are moved out.

 

The ride will be bumpy along the way while it all starts to come together.  Just support and enjoy the good days. 

 

[The Doctor]

12 hours ago, Blue ROI said:

Getting at the top 6 is going to be beyond us right now

Long term perhaps but with the state of Man Utd there's an opportunity, as there was in 15/16 when Jose had his Chelsea meltdown

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Simoken said:

This is a little retarded no offence, Should the recruiters look into GCSE grades then? Honestly changes are clearly being seen in the style department and its working, they are listening and learning while making results in this difficult process. think about this for a second.. Right now, we all know this style is new to our club and its still 'revel' work in progress, no doubt but the fact we are in 7th position, winning games in this state says a whole lot about the future, we havent even peaked potential with this or have a finished product of play.. imagine the positbility when the style has been perfected and the players are on top form? European football is a strong possibility.

Mate I've not said anything about the style. I like Puel and what he's trying to do. We are steadily improving but off the ball movement is still an issue and the reason why we sometimes look so ponderous in possession. 

 

By intelligence I quite obviously meant in a footballing sense, as in knowing which runs to make and anticipating where your teammates will be. Why you think that's retarded I'm not sure, feel free not to clarify because I don't care

[deep blue]

27 minutes ago, Babylon said:

I'd imagine it's a combination of coaching, the level of the players ability and us still learning a new style. We are often so fixated on keeping the ball, that we forget to play facing the opponents goal, the front 4 or 5 are all stood around facing the play. Against Huddersfield, the few occasions they made forward movement we carved them open.

 

Puel seems to have alluded as much that we're not taking the risks we should, he seems aware to the issues. But if you drum into people they need to keep the ball for 7 months, they can go too far that was and forget we actually need to do something with it. Hopefully we're not reaching the point where we are far more comfortable on the ball, that we can start looking forwards a bit more and have more players taking risks.

Good post. Our movement off the ball was great in 15-16 was great, and part of that was because the players could anticipate - knew what to expect when a player was on the ball. Best example was Mahrez to Vardy where there seemed telepathic communication between them, and also the Fuchs to Vardy pass for his record goal v Man U. That comes with the team gelling over a fair period of time and that's how I expect most of the improvement, in running off the ball, to come with the current squad.

[Guest MattP]

2 hours ago, OhYesNdidi said:

Unlikely, most match going fans are happy with puel. It’s only the loud minority on here who dislike puel and make it seem like it’s half the fan base.  

Some truth in this I think.

 

I did a straw poll around me before the Huddersfield game and only 1 out of about 12 people wanted him gone - couple that with extremely high manager confidence on here and the Puel out crowd do seem like a very vocal but very small minority.

[Lovejoy]

Bit of a double edged sword this. To those who aren't convinced, I'd ask what their expectation is? If 7th isn't good enough, can you justify why we should be in the top six?

 

If it's all about the style, what are you looking for? A return to kick and run, or heavy metal football Jurgen Klopp style? Not having a go with this question, just curious.

 

If you break down our squad, compared to both the top six and our competitors in and around the top half, I can't see where the justification comes from that we should be higher. Apparently we've put out the youngest starting eleven on average in the Prem this season and they are obviously improving. You've got Fulham coming up and spending £100m+ with loan players on top of that, Everton who have spent huge cash over the past 4 windows, West Ham just blew £100m+, Wolves who are a real threat.

 

Sometimes it's better the devil you know.

[Babylon]

1 hour ago, MattP said:

Some truth in this I think.

 

I did a straw poll around me before the Huddersfield game and only 1 out of about 12 people wanted him gone - couple that with extremely high manager confidence on here and the Puel out crowd do seem like a very vocal but very small minority.

Most don't seem to fall into the category of happy or unhappy, I agree with what he's trying to do. But I'm left a bit none the wiser as to why the progress is so slow and we're so inconsistent. Whether that's his coaching or just having so many young players and a new style. I'm more than happy to give him the time though as long as we aren't in danger of the drop.

 

 

[1972 Fox]

On 30/09/2018 at 11:35, BenTheFox said:

Leicester in the Premier League under Claude Puel:

Played: 36
Won: 14
Drawn: 8
Lost: 14
 

Points: 50

 

 

 

4 hours ago, somebum said:

We will see an equal ratio of WDL until the day he gets sacked. It's when the majority realize his project isn't actually going anywhere when that day will come. 

6 draws on the trot are very unlikely at this point in time, which would make it 14, 14, 14.

 

I do take the point though that we currently seem to be a team that is likely to lose a similar amount of games to the amount that we win. I'm sure we would all like to see an improvement on this and it would go a long way to placing us where we want to be.

 

Edited 1 October 2018 by Blue Fox 72