Stoke (a) pre-match thread

[jerry]

On 07/01/2021 at 00:34, weller54 said:

20/30 years ago it was a fantastic competition but over the years it's been more and more devalued. Started with the semi finals being played at Wembley and went on a slippery slope ever since. Most pl teams play very weak teams in the early rounds, devaluing it even more, key players rested for the league games!

Arsenal want to win it because they have a great history of winning the competition.

Tottenham want to win it because they're desperate for any kind of silverware.

Manchester City want to win it because they can! And play a second string who are easily capable of getting through to the latter stages.

The rest of the PL teams will field sides who might get them through, but if they don't..so what type of attitude.

Sad to see it evolve as it has..

And if we get knocked out by Stoke it's no big deal is it.

Yes it is !😥

[walkerleeds]

People are going to be very disappointed when they see the team sheet tomorrow. It will be mainly the first team with a couple of ressies at the most.

[The People's Hero]

2 minutes ago, walkerleeds said:

People are going to be very disappointed when they see the team sheet tomorrow. It will be mainly the first team with a couple of ressies at the most.

BR has said so himself; unless it was a bluff.

 

I'd expect to maybe see Ward, Thomas, Praet and Nacho get a start. Probably Under as well if he was fit; but I don't think he is.

 

Good opportunity for Castagne to get some more game time; so maybe JJ finally misses out, despite the fact he looks absolutely 100% every game!

 

 

[RowlattsFox]

If we do make a lot of changes I can see us going back to a 3 at the back with a more conventional 352 with Perez and Iheanacho. Back 3 of Amartey, Soyuncu and Fuchs, midfield 3 of Mendy, Choudhury and Praet. Only question is who plays right wing back, I'd play Castagne to give him some more minutes. Obviously not our greatest line up, but we are allowed 5 subs if isn't working. 

[weller54]

9 minutes ago, jerry said:

Yes it is !😥

O no it isn't!

[Ric Flair]

Please for the love of God play Perez up front and not Iheanacho on his own.

[The People's Hero]

Just now, Ric Flair said:

Please for the love of God play Perez up front and not Iheanacho on his own.

Has BR ever done this? I think you're more likely to see Barnes or even Gray up top.

Gray might even be wearing a large 'for sale' sign.

 

#shackled.

[Ric Flair]

16 minutes ago, The People's Hero said:

Has BR ever done this? I think you're more likely to see Barnes or even Gray up top.

Gray might even be wearing a large 'for sale' sign.

 

#shackled.

He took Iheanacho off vs AEK and played Barnes Perez Ünder for the last 25 mins and it was liquid. I would be happy with Perez just off Iheanacho though with both of them alternating the support role whilst the other plays off the shoulder.

[Ecdysiast]

Give him a discount code instead of a shirt number - GRAY2180.

80% off if used this week.

[The People's Hero]

Just now, Ecdysiast said:

Give him a discount code instead of a shirt number - GRAY2180.

80% off if used this week.

Live auction. If it hits the buy it now price of £16mn, we will immediately sub him and you can collect him from outside the ground.

 

 

[Always Next Year]

3 hours ago, Jobyfox said:

I think some people are forgetting the 2nd reason players state for moving to one of the ‘big’ clubs. The first is to play in Europe. The 2nd is to win trophies.

 

We all speculated how we could break into the monopoly of the rich six last year but, ultimately, we achieved no more than any of them. Arsenal had a better season than us as they qualified for the Europa League AND won a trophy. 

 

The best clubs pick up trophies when they miss out on CL qualification and target both. 2015/16 will always go down as a glorious, once in a lifetime, freak unless we follow it up with something more sustainable.

 

Regular qualification for Europe is one thing but, without any silverware, we will still be the poor relations to the rich six and, in the eyes of many, to a whole list of failing clubs who had a history of winning trophies. 

It’s all about the money that a top 6 finish and European football brings in to many clubs in the prem don’t give a toss about the FA Cup.

[murphy]

9 minutes ago, Always Next Year said:

It’s all about the money that a top 6 finish and European football brings in to many clubs in the prem don’t give a toss about the FA Cup.

What a sad state of affairs if it has come to this.  

 

Football has lost (or sold) it's soul.

[weller54]

10 minutes ago, murphy said:

What a sad state of affairs if it has come to this.  

 

Football has lost (or sold) it's soul.

It 'came to this' years ago!

Surely you're not surprised?

The F A Cup competition was important and an exciting thing to look forward to about 30 years ago ...

We could make 100% sure of getting through against Stoke tomorrow by playing our strongest 11, but the team will be minus about 9 of them. 

That's how important the competition is.

[Genesis1]

On 03/01/2021 at 17:50, Leicester_Loyal said:

Yeah I didn't mean in terms of just this one game, but the overall season. If we win this we'll be through to the 4th round and then we'll have 5 games in a 15 day period at the end of the month. I'd still go in with the mentality of winning it, but play the second string and if we lose just accept it and concentrate on the league and EL. However there's no reason our second string can't beat a team in the Championship.

I vaguely remember thinking this against Newport a few years a go from league 2. 🙄🙄🙄

[murphy]

2 minutes ago, weller54 said:

It 'came to this' years ago!

Surely you're not surprised?

The F A Cup competition was important and an exciting thing to look forward to about 30 years ago ...

We could make 100% sure of getting through against Stoke tomorrow by playing our strongest 11, but the team will be minus about 9 of them. 

That's how important the competition is.

..Well I've always had my finger on the pulse...

 

Anyway, I.m gonna leave this thread now.  You've all upset me with your dour, beige, prosaic, humdrum, pragmatism.  

 

I'm gonna find some dreamers and idealists and hang out with them.  

[sacreblueits442]

11 hours ago, Gamble92 said:

The fact you are even directly comparing us to Spurs shows how far we have come.

 

Forest haven't even played in the Premier League this millennium. 

 

I think a covid hit FA Cup pales in comparison to more nights in the Champions League.

...I was absolutely livid we failed to get pass Villa to get to the Final!!!

We need to pick up every trophy we can now, we have no right to sneer at the trophies available and if we maintain our progression for another 5 years we will make Champions League in all of the seasons if not most of them. Why can't we pick up trophies at the same time, 

[KingsX]

Just checked and all 32 third round matches are on ESPN+.  Our stream comes on at 0950 EST.

 

I’m sure they will be the UK broadcasts, re-transmitted -- hopefully no delay.

 

I’m tempted to look at ten minutes of Cheltenham/Mansfield Town Sunday just to see what “FA Player” coverage looks like.  One camera, one announcer?

[Alan Frost]

2 hours ago, murphy said:

I agree that the owners have done a superb job and laid great foundations for sustained growth. 

 

We might be self-sufficient, but we cannot hope to compete financially with the big six or even Everton, therefore people that expect that challenging for the top four is our new normal will get a slap in the face from reality at some point. 

 Why the hell not? Ever heard of Auxerre or remember Burnley in the old first division. Good owners and a good manager, go a long way to countering  pure money, We also have it seems to me excellent training facilitles and  a well above average scouting and recruitment team. We  also have plans for ground expansion to put gate money up which is less important these days anyway. The big 6 and Everton, Villa, Newcastle etc have more trophies in their cabinet but there're not worth a lot when we're playing matches  in 2020. Nice to have but they mean little on the pitch .

 

Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool are huge. but Spurs, Chelsea, Everton, Villa , Wolves, Newcastle, currently are in no better shape to challenge for ECL cash than us and most I would think might be happy to swap our manager, squad and prospects for theirs. I'm not local to Leicester and can't easily evaluate other factors but I see no reason to say we can't compete with the big six. Every season there will be other teams competing for a top 4 finish other than those I've mentioned but at the moment we seem to be doing it most regularly and even Arsenal have n't looked so huge for several years. As for Man C I think of them as the club most like Leicester over the time I've been following football until they came into money, big money. They have a bigger city but have to share it with Man U., and Pep won't be there for ever. Don't know much about their owners except they're  loaded.

Leicester seem to me a well run club, with excellent owners. No one knows what's coming down the road financially post covid but our current prospectus  must make us an attractive investment. KIng Power must have been weakened by weakening Int'l air travel, but a little temporary difficulty would maybe be character building. As an additional bonus practically every direct contact I've had with the club going back to 1963 roughly has given a sense of a good atmosphere. Including the Forum which I only discovered in the last year.

[jerry]

56 minutes ago, murphy said:

What a sad state of affairs if it has come to this.  

 

Football has lost (or sold) it's soul.

Get to the semis and let's see if some fans indifference changes, finish in a position to qualify for Europe or win a Trophy ? Difficult decision for a fan ?🤔

[jerry]

40 minutes ago, murphy said:

..Well I've always had my finger on the pulse...

 

Anyway, I.m gonna leave this thread now.  You've all upset me with your dour, beige, prosaic, humdrum, pragmatism.  

 

I'm gonna find some dreamers and idealists and hang out with them.  

Expect he is just playing Devils Advocate, can't imagine a real can would not like to see his Team win a Trophy.

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

If we do make a lot of changes I can see us going back to a 3 at the back with a more conventional 352 with Perez and Iheanacho. Back 3 of Amartey, Soyuncu and Fuchs, midfield 3 of Mendy, Choudhury and Praet. Only question is who plays right wing back, I'd play Castagne to give him some more minutes. Obviously not our greatest line up, but we are allowed 5 subs if isn't working. 

Whilst I think the world of Fuchs, I just don't see we'd employ him in a back 3, he really isn't a very good centre half. Far better to have a back 4 and an extra, more mobile midfielder. 

[weller54]

40 minutes ago, jerry said:

Expect he is just playing Devils Advocate, can't imagine a real can would not like to see his Team win a Trophy.

A real can of what?😂

[CrispinLA in Texas]

Is it just me or do others feel like me. I couldn't give a toss about the FA cup, to me it's all about the Premier League or nothing. If I were a player I wouldn't care less if I wasn't playing. I can't understand why you guys get so hyper about this p***s*** trophy and go all ga ga. But if Leicester win it, it be good for the club where LCFC will get abit more respect within the footballing establishment I suppose.

Edited 8 January 2021 by CrispinLA in Texas

[goody2028]

1 minute ago, CrispinLA in Texas said:

Is it just me or do others feel like me. I couldn't give a toss about the FA cup, to me it's all about the Premier League or nothing. If I were a player I wouldn't care less if I wasn't playing. I can't understand why you guys get so hyper about p***s*** trophy and go all ga ga. But if Leicester win it, it be good for the club where LCFC will get abit more respect within the footballing establishment I suppose.

Can see where your coming from to be fair but I’d love to see us win it for the first time. Another trophy for the cabinet surely got to be worth some level of hype? 

[Jobyfox]

2 hours ago, Always Next Year said:

It’s all about the money that a top 6 finish and European football brings in to many clubs in the prem don’t give a toss about the FA Cup.

It’s not quite as linear as that.

 

For a start winning the FA Cup enables European qualification. Winning trophies attracts the best players, which enables a top six finish.

 

Perceptions of clubs change when they are successful. They attract more fans and that brings greater commercial opportunity, exposure and revenue. Bigger revenues bring in better players / which enables more top six finishes. 

 

It’s really about creating a squad that can compete for both. All this prioritising A over B is a bit of a nonsense when you look at the teams who win trophies and finish top six - it’s the same teams! 

 

If we are genuinely capable of being a top six club then we are genuinely capable of competing on more than one front. We could change 8 or 9 players for the Stoke game and still field a side eminently capable of winning the game.