mozartfox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 So according to Paul Slurson in the 'Star' - we are on the way down now with no chance of making top 4. I really value his opinion and he is never wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALC Fox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 14 hours ago, davieG said: It's only Paul Merson but he probably has a point. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/paul-merson-column-leicester-chelsea-24655823 Leicester’s roller-coaster ride has inspired all - but top-four chances are non-existent PAUL MERSON COLUMN: Leicester have peaked and won't crack top four for Champions League; PLUS I forgot Danny Drinkwater existed; AND bring back black football boots ByPaul MersonColumnist 18:45, 30 JUL 2021 Leicester supporters have been on such a wonderful roller-coaster ride, it’s going to be hard to step off. They’ve been enjoying all the fun of the fair since that epic Premier League title win five years ago. Champions League football, two seasons where they were pipped for a top-four spot on the last day of the season and FA Cup glory at Wembley a couple of months ago. To quote a phrase, it really doesn’t get much better – and that’s exactly my point. There’s an expectation now that Leicester will step up and crack the top four this time around. Let me tell you here and now, there’s not a chance of that happening. I’d be absolutely flabbergasted if Brendan Rodgers can get his side into the Champions League spots. I’m a massive fan of Leicester and everything they’ve done in the past few seasons. But you don’t have to have been on a roller coaster to know one thing is certain. Once you reach the top, get ready for the fall. I’m not having a go, just stating a fact. People ask me if I think Leicester can become an established member of the so-called top six and I’ll say it straight – I think they already are. But that elite top four is something completely different and a mark where I have to draw a line. They’ve got no chance of doing that this season. The fact is that the Champions League spots are already filled. They’ve got one of the best managers in the business, a brand new £100m training facility that’s as good as anything around and this week revealed plans to increase the capacity of the King Power to 40,000. Where can you see Leicester finishing in the Premier League table in the 2021/22 season? Let us know in the comments section. Can we see a repeat of this if Brendan Rodgers guides Leicester City to a Champions League spot this season? Brilliant, but still not enough to join the elite. Man City aren’t leaving the party any time soon, Chelsea are getting stronger, Liverpool will be stronger and have Virgil van Dijk on the way back and Man United are bankers to be in there. Those four are so far in front of everyone else, it’s frightening. The likes of Leicester, Tottenham and Arsenal are in a separate league below. So there’s no room at the inn and that’s just a harsh reality of life for clubs like Leicester, who could find it more difficult this season than some imagine. I’m a huge admirer of Jamie Vardy but he’s a year older and time stands still for no one. Kelechi Iheanacho stepped up to the plate brilliantly when Vardy’s goals dried up, but he can’t keep scoring worldies. There aren’t really any other contenders to force their way in and so that’s why I’m absolutely certain that ‘cracking’ the top four is for fans who live on Fantasy Island. I’m hearing Danny Drinkwater really caught the eye in Chelsea’s friendly with Bournemouth the other night. Danny Drinkwater of Chelsea looks on during a Pre-Season Friendly between Chelsea and Peterborough United at Chelsea Training Ground Danny Drinkwater has featured for Chelsea in pre-season (Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images) I’m really pleased for him because, without being horrible, I’d completely forgotten about him and that’s a shame because he is a really good player. Drinkwater seemed to lose his way a bit after being a key player in Leicester’s title win and was on the fringes of the England team when he joined Chelsea for £35m in the summer of 2017. It all went a bit wonky after that – a succession of managers and disastrous loan deals later left him out of the picture at The Bridge. Some people would say, ‘What are you talking about? He’s picking up a hundred grand a week’. But that’s not the point. I’m not sure Danny can turn things around at Chelsea but he might just be able to get himself a move and re-ignite his career. It's always easier to say a team or player can't do something than saying that they can. The odds are stacked against us, but they have been before. Looking at the trends, the same teams are largely occupying the same six places in the Premier League. We've bust that wide open in the last couple of seasons. Keep doing that and we'll break into the top 4 again. It might not be next season, or the season after, but there will be another time where one or more of the expected top 4 messes up royally and we can take our chance. My bet is it will be Liverpool as they come towards the end of their Mane-Salah-Firmino cycle. But what do I know? One thing is for sure, if we finish fifth again this season, it won't be a failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 Kinda agree with Merson. We are the fifth best team. I also think we may be going through a bit of a transition and changing of the guard this season with new players needing to bed in quickly and for me our ability to bring in a right winger and our forward players staying fit is going to be key. That said, Manchester Utd for me, whilst obviously not being a one man team, would struggle massively say if Bruno Fernandes were to pick up a serious injury. City will need to pick themselves up and go again and will be there or there abouts no question but we have seen inconsistent slumps and runs of form from them before. Liverpool with a Salah injury like Fernandes at Utd would also score a lot less and the likes of Firmino and Mane can blow hot and cold too. Chelsea are burning money again and have a new manager bounce - this won't last forever and we've seen disharmony and a lack of gelling of brilliant players who can't quite perform together and there's a lot of stars to keep happy who won't get game time. So, before a ball has been kicked I wouldn't write anything off just yet. But we will need to play out of our skins to have a hope of getting top four which I'm not sure we'll be capable of with new players to yet bed in and we'll need to have a bit of luck in terms of some of the above teams having some trials and tribulations like we were decimated with last season. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Fox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 13 hours ago, urban.spaceman said: Imagine complaining that we didn't pay the ambulance service £16,000 20 years ago I saw a good quote from Bill Murray the other day: “It's hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.” There are so many rules around a company going into administration... it is clearly illegal to pay one creditor in full leaving less in the pot for others based on your view of which creditor is more worthy, (and the original question was about the charity the St John's Ambulance, which is a bit of a leap to the East Of England Ambulance service which will ultimately be government funded). So bearing all that in mind I think the one question left is: did you pay the East Midlands Ambulance Service or not? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ealingfox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 (edited) Merson was one of, if not the first mainstream pundit to predict we would stay up in 14/15 so it's not like he has it in for us or that he's completely clueless. Whilst it's convenient to do so and there's not much point lingering on it anyway, you can't dismiss the size of the opportunities we've blown in the league over the last two seasons. Edited 31 July 2021 by ealingfox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhandfox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 (edited) Only way we get top 4 is if we add a RM who can get some serious numbers, another 10-15 goals or assists from that side and we would have got top 4 last season, and our key defensive players keep fit. Edited 31 July 2021 by coolhandfox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStig Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 Buying massively expensive "stars" does not necessarily make a good team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumbeat Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 5 minutes ago, TheStig said: Buying massively expensive "stars" does not necessarily make a good team! Not necessarily, no, but it does perhaps increase your chances. I see what Merson is saying and the reasoning behind it. It's not an unreasonable opinion. Yet is only that, and opinion. Nothing is set in stone and stuff happens contrary to popular opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post StriderHiryu Posted 31 July 2021 Popular Post Share Posted 31 July 2021 Cups and trophies mean much more than qualifying for the Champions League. I’d take finishing 5th and winning a trophy over 4th and no trophy any day of the week. Seeing Kasper and Wes lift the cup, then Top coming down to join the party is what football is all about. Admittedly I wouldn’t mind it if the trophy we won was the Europa League! 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicesterseddon Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 I can see where Merson is coming from. I think he has a point re: the ‘big Six’. Having said that, I do think much of the national media fail to recognise the extent of our injury problems last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LestaFox92 Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 Yeah with how the teams above us are strengthening I can see it being a hard one to crack top 4 but you never know there is usually one that doesn't quite live up to the hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahnsouff Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 29 minutes ago, leicesterseddon said: I can see where Merson is coming from. I think he has a point re: the ‘big Six’. Having said that, I do think much of the national media fail to recognise the extent of our injury problems last year. Be reasonable, it’s not like we lost Van Dijk is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post UpTheLeagueFox Posted 31 July 2021 Popular Post Share Posted 31 July 2021 2 hours ago, StriderHiryu said: I’d take finishing 5th and winning a trophy over 4th and no trophy any day of the week. Seeing Kasper and Wes lift the cup, then Top coming down to join the party is what football is all about. 100% this. We've had two insanely brilliant seasons. Two fifth places and the FA Cup ... bloody dreamland for old stagers like me! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Strokes Posted 31 July 2021 Popular Post Share Posted 31 July 2021 23 minutes ago, UpTheLeagueFox said: 100% this. We've had two insanely brilliant seasons. Two fifth places and the FA Cup ... bloody dreamland for old stagers like me! I find it astonishing that people can see negatives in our last 2 seasons. I can understand initial disappointment of course. We are envied by most football fans in this country and beyond. We are consistently performing and setting higher standards than we ever have historically. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 we don't need top 4, we're winning the Europa League Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighPeakFox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 2 hours ago, Strokes said: I find it astonishing that people can see negatives in our last 2 seasons. I didn't have you down as naive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr The Singh Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 4 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said: 100% this. We've had two insanely brilliant seasons. Two fifth places and the FA Cup ... bloody dreamland for old stagers like me! But we need to progress, 4th place will keep our stars and allow us to bring in young stars. We are at risk of stagnating and then dropping, because we can't meet the aims of our superstars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpTheLeagueFox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 24 minutes ago, Dr The Singh said: But we need to progress, 4th place will keep our stars and allow us to bring in young stars. We are at risk of stagnating and then dropping, because we can't meet the aims of our superstars. Progress is not merely league position although it can be important. Hard to think we'll finish above the Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea next season. Constantly disrupting the rich six is progress. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Daggers Posted 31 July 2021 Popular Post Share Posted 31 July 2021 People need to enjoy the ride more and not keep demanding greater thrills. Take pleasure in what we have, not misery in what isn’t good enough - it’ll all prove to be fleeting and a memory in the end. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr The Singh Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 39 minutes ago, UpTheLeagueFox said: Progress is not merely league position although it can be important. Hard to think we'll finish above the Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea next season. Constantly disrupting the rich six is progress. I know bud, I don't have the solution, but this is the scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HybridFox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 (edited) Not sure if this was shared but the agenda continues Edited 31 July 2021 by TK95 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strokes Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 9 minutes ago, TK95 said: Not sure if this was shared but the agenda continues It will hopefully be a nice windfall when they come knocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_danbury Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 24 minutes ago, TK95 said: Not sure if this was shared but the agenda continues fake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocolate Teapot Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 25 minutes ago, TK95 said: Not sure if this was shared but the agenda continues An old coach said that about him 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st albans fox Posted 31 July 2021 Share Posted 31 July 2021 22 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said: An old coach said that about him don't get in the way of the large portion of chips …….. if we want to be offended we damn well will! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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