The "do they mean us?" thread pt 3

[Oxfordfox83]

1 hour ago, Captain... said:

Cags looked like a bombscare first season, I don't think anyone expected him to fill Maguire's boots so easily. Benkovic is looking like a waste of money.

 

If you're asking who has been better in the transfer market, you could argue West Ham, and I think that's his point. They've spent very well recently and got the most out of their squad.

 

If you can get past the saltiness and inaccuracies his point still stands, we are being rimmed as the greatest exponents of how to run a football club. Whereas West Ham are still seen as a bit of a joke. 

“If you're asking who has been better in the transfer market, you could argue West Ham, and I think that's his point.”

 

I really don’t think you could. They did have a great, largely injury-free season last year, but that’s not the same thing. We haven’t had a summer that didn’t make us stronger since 2016, and even then we signed Ndidi. It speaks well for your open mindedness, I’m just surprised to see a Leicester fan disagree.

[Captain...]

6 minutes ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

“If you're asking who has been better in the transfer market, you could argue West Ham, and I think that's his point.”

 

I really don’t think you could. They did have a great, largely injury-free season last year, but that’s not the same thing. We haven’t had a summer that didn’t make us stronger since 2016, and even then we signed Ndidi. It speaks well for your open mindedness, I’m just surprised to see a Leicester fan disagree.

It was only a couple of years ago we were calling ourselves a laughing stock and calling for Rudkin's head.

 

I guess that is the difference we've had 3 seasons of good acquisitions and high value sales to earn these accolades. West Ham have had one good season. I guess I'm just still nervous of it all coming crashing down. Southampton and Swansea were both similarly lauded for the way they were run and it wasn't sustainable for them. I don't know if we can sustain and grow I still feel like we're massively over achieving. If Soumare and Daka become expensive flops, it turns out Vardy is actually human, Kel reverts to 2019 form, Barnes doesn't regain his pre injury form then we will struggle and the sharks will be circling...

[Hollyfox]

 I don't know if we can sustain and grow I still feel like we're massively over achieving. If Soumare and Daka become expensive flops, it turns out Vardy is actually human, Kel reverts to 2019 form, Barnes doesn't regain his pre injury form then we will struggle and the sharks will be circling...

 

 

 

Looking on the Brightside 😄

[tom27111]

5 minutes ago, Hollyfox said:

 I don't know if we can sustain and grow I still feel like we're massively over achieving. If Soumare and Daka become expensive flops, it turns out Vardy is actually human, Kel reverts to 2019 form, Barnes doesn't regain his pre injury form then we will struggle and the sharks will be circling...

 

 

 

Looking on the Brightside 😄

 

FFS you'll have us all on the depression thread in a minute.

 

I'm guessing you're a glass half empty kind of guy? 

[Hollyfox]

Just now, tom27111 said:

 

FFS you'll have us all on the depression thread in a minute.

 

I'm guessing you're a glass half empty kind of guy? 

Sorry 

I copied it from Captain's post above. 

I just did it wrong😄😄

[Captain...]

15 hours ago, Hollyfox said:

 I don't know if we can sustain and grow I still feel like we're massively over achieving. If Soumare and Daka become expensive flops, it turns out Vardy is actually human, Kel reverts to 2019 form, Barnes doesn't regain his pre injury form then we will struggle and the sharks will be circling...

 

 

 

Looking on the Brightside 😄

I've been a Leicester fan for 30 years, it's not always been trophies and plaudits.

[The People's Hero]

21 hours ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

“If you're asking who has been better in the transfer market, you could argue West Ham, and I think that's his point.”

 

I really don’t think you could. They did have a great, largely injury-free season last year, but that’s not the same thing. We haven’t had a summer that didn’t make us stronger since 2016, and even then we signed Ndidi. It speaks well for your open mindedness, I’m just surprised to see a Leicester fan disagree.

Yeah, but look who was posting it. He's just being contrary.

 

He'd say the sky was pink if you said it was blue.

[Oxfordfox83]

23 minutes ago, Captain... said:

I've been a Leicester fan for 30 years, it's not always been trophies and plaudits.

Me too. That’s why I prefer to celebrate the trophies and plaudits when they are here and not worry about our fall. 

[Hollyfox]

25 minutes ago, Captain... said:

I've been a Leicester fan for 30 years, it's not always been trophies and plaudits.

As I've been going for over 45 years, I'm very aware of that. 

 

I just can't see us falling away unless Top decides to call it a day. 

 

 

[Jon the Hat]

22 hours ago, Captain... said:

Cags looked like a bombscare first season, I don't think anyone expected him to fill Maguire's boots so easily. Benkovic is looking like a waste of money.

 

If you're asking who has been better in the transfer market, you could argue West Ham, and I think that's his point. They've spent very well recently and got the most out of their squad.

 

If you can get past the saltiness and inaccuracies his point still stands, we are being rimmed as the greatest exponents of how to run a football club. Whereas West Ham are still seen as a bit of a joke. 

Agreed it is a bit salty, but he is right we spent a lot of money and bought some brilliant players and some who didn't make the cut.  We would all agree that Slimani, Ghezzal, Iborra, Benko have not been good buys.  West Ham have no doubt done the same, but he thinks we are seen as Gold standard and they as failures.  The truth is of course much closer than that.  If they stay close to top 4 the next season or two no doubt they will also get a lot of credit.  Lets see them lose a top player every year and do that.

[turtmcfly]

I note that our erstwhile Cockney friend has started his evaluation at an apparently arbitrary point after the 2015-2016 season. 

 

I can't see any explanation for doing so, but perhaps the fact that we won the Prem with players bought for less than 30 million was a factor in his choice not to go back any further

[Captain...]

1 hour ago, turtmcfly said:

I note that our erstwhile Cockney friend has started his evaluation at an apparently arbitrary point after the 2015-2016 season. 

 

I can't see any explanation for doing so, but perhaps the fact that we won the Prem with players bought for less than 30 million was a factor in his choice not to go back any further

Not really arbitrary, that's when we started splashing the cash, up until then Ulloa cost a ****ing fortune at 8m.

[turtmcfly]

5 minutes ago, Captain... said:

Not really arbitrary, that's when we started splashing the cash, up until then Ulloa cost a ****ing fortune at 8m.

 

I understand it's not arbitrary if you're trying to make a case for West Ham's transfer business being on a par with ours.

 

I don't understand why a period where we didn't 'splash the cash', a period that nevertheless led us to winning the league, should be excluded for any other reason. What you do when you have a big chunk of cash is one measure of success in the market, but so is what you do without it.

 

 

 

[The_77]

29 minutes ago, Captain... said:

Not really arbitrary, that's when we started splashing the cash, up until then Ulloa cost a ****ing fortune at 8m.

BUT HE SCORES GOALS AND THAT’S ALL RIGHT WITH MEEEEEEE

[Captain...]

5 hours ago, Hollyfox said:

As I've been going for over 45 years, I'm very aware of that. 

 

I just can't see us falling away unless Top decides to call it a day. 

 

 

I admire your optimism, but we are not too big to fail, we don't have the pull of one of the "big 6" teams and the financial clout to have a bad season and bounce back. The difference between the "big 6", and I use that term loosely, is that reputations take years to build and minutes to lose. If you take Chelsea they've had a couple of stinkers in the last 10 years, but they have the pull to say "this won't do" we're going to spend an obscene amount of money, sack a legend and bring in a winner. 

 

I'm just enjoying it at the moment, but keeping my feet on the ground, realistically this might be as good as it gets and it's all downhill from here. I obviously hope not.

[Jacnah]

12 minutes ago, Captain... said:

I admire your optimism, but we are not too big to fail, we don't have the pull of one of the "big 6" teams and the financial clout to have a bad season and bounce back. The difference between the "big 6", and I use that term loosely, is that reputations take years to build and minutes to lose. If you take Chelsea they've had a couple of stinkers in the last 10 years, but they have the pull to say "this won't do" we're going to spend an obscene amount of money, sack a legend and bring in a winner. 

 

I'm just enjoying it at the moment, but keeping my feet on the ground, realistically this might be as good as it gets and it's all downhill from here. I obviously hope not.

I think getting higher than we are now will be monumentally difficult, but hopefully we can, over time, begin to really cement our current place. Im personally optimistic

 

[Hollyfox]

22 minutes ago, Captain... said:

I admire your optimism, but we are not too big to fail, we don't have the pull of one of the "big 6" teams and the financial clout to have a bad season and bounce back. The difference between the "big 6", and I use that term loosely, is that reputations take years to build and minutes to lose. If you take Chelsea they've had a couple of stinkers in the last 10 years, but they have the pull to say "this won't do" we're going to spend an obscene amount of money, sack a legend and bring in a winner. 

 

I'm just enjoying it at the moment, but keeping my feet on the ground, realistically this might be as good as it gets and it's all downhill from here. I obviously hope not.

I never said we're too big to fail but we've done a lot of things very well, especially in the squad building of the past few years. 

 

I agree it can change pretty quick but I think we're now one of England's top clubs and the young players that have just signed, shows how we are now perceived around the world 

 

Your comment was of a pretty bleak outcome, which was pretty laughable, imo. 

 

If I see Brendan standing outside the Emirates and Peter Taylor suddenly appear in the doorway at Seagrave, I'll think you might be right😄

[Les-TA-Jon]

Just for some added perspective on breaking into the Top 6 / Top 4 I did a quick analysis of the last 33 seasons and the 'Big 6' (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Spurs).

 

That timeframe gives us a total of: 198 Top 6 places and 132 Top 4 places. In the last 33 seasons:

• 140 out of 198 Top 6 places went to a 'Big 6 club'. 71%
• 108 out of 132 Top 4 places went to a 'Big 6 club' 82%
• Even looking at the last 20 years instead, it's 97/120 Top 6 places, or 81%
• And 76 out of 80 Top 4 places, or 95%
• Only 1 time in the last 16 years running has a non 'Big 6 club' finished in the top 4 - us when we won it!

 

 

I've said before and I'll say it again - what we're trying to achieve (break into the Top 4) is pretty much unprecedented - and even more so because we're not just chucking Billions at it!

Edited 26 July 2021 by Les-TA-Jon

[Charl91]

All clubs sign duds.

 

The difference is our scouting is good enough that we get a lot of 'great' players in with the ones that don't work out - which we're then eventually able to flog for enough money to cover the poor signings

[kingcarr21]

Yea because Anderson was a great signing wasn't he  

 

They get a couple of signings that turned out decent and they forget the dross that came before. Everyone signs players that don't work out. Get over it.

 

The fact we signed duds and have still progressively improved is more telling than signing players that guarantee success

[urban fox]

4 minutes ago, kingcarr21 said:

Yea because Anderson was a great signing wasn't he  

 

They get a couple of signings that turned out decent and they forget the dross that came before. Everyone signs players that don't work out. Get over it.

 

The fact we signed duds and have still progressively improved is more telling than signing players that guarantee success

There are no guarantees. Even some so called top players have flopped in the PL. Werner for example, has hardly set chelsea alight so far. Not saying he is a poor player, or that he wont have astormer next season, but every club has its failures, even big name signings for all sorts of reasons. some simply cannot adapt to the PL, get on with their new team mates, suffer a series of injuries, and some, especially foreign players don't settle or adapt to to the british way of life.

Every new signing is a gamble but this is where the recruitment team earns their corn. its not just about ability but personality too, judging how a new signing may fit into the squad dynamic, how they think their families will settle in etc. Like all clubs we don't always get it right, but the main thing is we get more right than wrong and keep moving forwards, building

 

[urban.spaceman]

42 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

Just for some added perspective on breaking into the Top 6 / Top 4 I did a quick analysis of the last 33 seasons and the 'Big 6' (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Spurs).

 

That timeframe gives us a total of: 198 Top 6 places and 132 Top 4 places. In the last 33 seasons:

• 140 out of 198 Top 6 places went to a 'Big 6 club'. 71%
• 108 out of 132 Top 4 places went to a 'Big 6 club' 82%
• Even looking at the last 20 years instead, it's 97/120 Top 6 places, or 81%
• And 76 out of 80 Top 4 places, or 95%
• Only 1 time in the last 16 years running has a non 'Big 6 club' finished in the top 4 - us when we won it!

 

 

I've said before and I'll say it again - what we're trying to achieve (break into the Top 4) is pretty much unprecedented - and even more so because we're not just chucking Billions at it!

I'd forgotten how well Chelsea were doing before Abramovich. 2 FA Cups, 1 League Cup, a Cup Winners Cup, Super Cup and a Charity Shield between 97 and 03. Before that though they were bottom half for years.

 

They still had to spend their way into taking the next step of winning leagues though. A lot harder when you have to earn your way in.

[TaggertvsWise]

2 hours ago, Captain... said:

I admire your optimism, but we are not too big to fail, we don't have the pull of one of the "big 6" teams and the financial clout to have a bad season and bounce back. The difference between the "big 6", and I use that term loosely, is that reputations take years to build and minutes to lose. If you take Chelsea they've had a couple of stinkers in the last 10 years, but they have the pull to say "this won't do" we're going to spend an obscene amount of money, sack a legend and bring in a winner. 

 

I'm just enjoying it at the moment, but keeping my feet on the ground, realistically this might be as good as it gets and it's all downhill from here. I obviously hope not.

Our training ground is a master stroke though. That is our game changer. It has cemented a legacy that won’t see us drop far, even then we’ll come back strongly. 

[Blue ROI]

7 minutes ago, urban fox said:

There are no guarantees. Even some so called top players have flopped in the PL. Werner for example, has hardly set chelsea alight so far. Not saying he is a poor player, or that he wont have astormer next season, but every club has its failures, even big name signings for all sorts of reasons. some simply cannot adapt to the PL, get on with their new team mates, suffer a series of injuries, and some, especially foreign players don't settle or adapt to to the british way of life.

Every new signing is a gamble but this is where the recruitment team earns their corn. its not just about ability but personality too, judging how a new signing may fit into the squad dynamic, how they think their families will settle in etc. Like all clubs we don't always get it right, but the main thing is we get more right than wrong and keep moving forwards, building

 

We've definitely moved way ahead of where we were 2 decades ago.

 

We had 2 almost identical times of horrific signings with Taylor and Claudio.

 

Taylor's were catastrophic which damaged us for the rest of that decade but after 2016/17 we were strong enough to take the hit.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Hollyfox said:

I never said we're too big to fail but we've done a lot of things very well, especially in the squad building of the past few years. 

 

I agree it can change pretty quick but I think we're now one of England's top clubs and the young players that have just signed, shows how we are now perceived around the world 

 

Your comment was of a pretty bleak outcome, which was pretty laughable, imo. 

 

If I see Brendan standing outside the Emirates and Peter Taylor suddenly appear in the doorway at Seagrave, I'll think you might be right😄

I don't think it's laughable. We have done, and are continuing to do, a brilliant job, but it wouldn't take that many things going wrong for a lot of the progress we've made to be undone. A couple of transfer windows we get wrong where our competitors get it right, or making a mess of things when we have to replace Rodgers, for example. 

 

It's an unbelievably good time to be a Leicester fan and of course we should all be very excited and optimistic about the future. That said, I don't think it hurts to recognise that it might not last forever and it's going to take a big effort to sustain the position we're currently in, let alone improve upon it.

Edited 26 July 2021 by Guest