Entering a 'Transition Period'?

[Chrysalis]

For sure, we approaching the end of a cycle.

 

It will be even more of a transition period if we also decide to go away from a possession manager again as well when Rodgers leaves.

[fuchsntf]

5 hours ago, StanSP said:

Ignore the current form and manager speculation for a bit (although that may be linked and come about at some point).

 

But in terms of players, are we about to enter one of the most important periods the club has faced? Next 12-18 months are hugely pivotal as to how we continue to compete season by season. 

 

We've got 2 players who have been here for over a decade, still first team players, potentially approaching the end of their careers (Kasper and Vardy if you've been living under a rock!). Kasper being 35, Vardy 34. Could get a couple years more out of them. Daka has been brought in to replace Vardy. We could have Iversen or Ward as the Kasper replacements. 

 

We also have Evans who we probably won't get full seasons out of anymore. There could be any time he's out for a few weeks/months due to his injury issues and this leaves us quite short at the back. The other thing being that he (and the 2 players above) are huge characters and leaders and all will be hugely missed as a presence on and off the pitch. 

 

Then there's the players who are young, developing and could go on to better things - and this is accentuated by us potentially not having European football. The two obvious ones are Fofana and Tielemans. The latter I'm totally resigned to going in summer, if not January. Fofana is destined to bigger and better things. These are two massive players that would leave gaping holes in our squad once they're gone. 

 

Next step are the likes of Ndidi (arguable in the above category too), Soyuncu, Pereira, Barnes, Castagne, Maddison, Iheanacho... The kind of level of player satisfied here and perhaps lack some consistency to be a top performer, but now they've had that taste of European football, they'll want more. And if we can't provide it, they'll bound to go searching for it. I know there's the argument about Maddison not being good enough for anyone else above us but to me he's still a decent player with a lot to show. 

 

My point being is that there's only so long our 'policy' of selling only one big player per summer is going to last. And if we don't get European football for next season, we could find ourselves in somewhat a perilous position. 

Thankfully our transfer/recruitment team have got it right more often than they've got it wrong (yes, we know about Bertrand and Vestergaard!!), so I have a decent level of trust and faith that they'll cover it. But I do wonder how many players we may see leave because the huge clubs come calling (especially for Fofana and Youri). 

 

I know it's never been dull for us as Leicester fans, and I think that may continue as the personnel change... (again, this may be influenced if/when Rodgers leaves...). 

 

(also not saying every single player mentioned above leaves, but think we need to be prepared that some of them will want to go on to bigger and better things. Things they may not be able to achieve here?).

Good interesting post....Though with players like...Iversson, Barnes, (maybe Maddison), Thomas,Fofana ( for a couple more seasons) Justin,Daka,KDH,Nacho,Soumare...There is something to work with...

[Area88]

I don't think transition period was an excuse. There is some truth to it. Clearly something went wrong at the beginning of the season that hasn't been fully addressed yet.

[Winchesterfox]

Transition period.  A cliche used by football clubs that start playing a bit shit.  

[An Away Move]

4 hours ago, lifted*fox said:

i wish someone would reinstate a sports psychologist as a priority. 

 

we look mentally weak from top to bottom. they could all do with a sit down and a talk by the looks of things, rodgers included. 

I wonder what a sports psychologist would have made of Rodgers' comment yesterday about overachieving in the last two seasons and how that affects mentality of where our level is now?

[VictorFox]

A transition period isn’t always a bad thing in fact it could be exactly what we need 

[Plastik Man]

4 minutes ago, An Away Move said:

I wonder what a sports psychologist would have made of Rodgers' comment yesterday about overachieving in the last two seasons and how that affects mentality of where our level is now?

No fear, the club sport psychologist has been re-designated the set piece coach. 

[ALC Fox]

I think the academy will play a huge role in the next two or three seasons, either by providing a few quality first-team players or by producing players good enough to fetch decent fees (pure profit) as Championship/lower Premier League players for other sides - or both, ideally. I think the potential is there and it could be crucial in helping us navigate this potentially tricky period.

 

We also have the ingredients to still be a club that attracts the best of the players who may not get straight into a Champions League side. Players like Tielemans, Fofana, Evans and Soyuncu when they signed. The training ground and stadium expansion show our ambition.

 

And, whoever is our next manager needs to be an appointment that reflects that ambition. Rodgers was just that. Potter would be too, for example. A coach on an upward trajectory, highly thought of by those who are also highly thought of, plays good football, is ambitious and cosmopolitan. There are other coaches out there that tick those boxes, no doubt, but the appointment needs to be the right one. Especially given that we may well see a significant turnaround in players considering the number we have who will consider themselves to be significantly better than our current position in the table.

 

Recruitment of players will always be hit and miss. There will be good and bad surprises along the way, as well those who fulfil exactly what's expected of them. The important thing is we keep on keeping on. Smart and ambitious recruitment in terms of players and staff, increasing the commercial revenue so we can offer competitive wages, playing brave football and producing performances and results that catch the eye and keep people talking about us.

[woollett the bullet]

4 hours ago, filbertway said:

I think every 2 or 3 seasons its healthy to have a bit of an overhaul. Im quite happy with the succession planning for Vards and Kasper tbh. Slightly concerned at the number of players currently expected to be out of contract in 2023 though.

 

We need to get better at shifting dead wood though, most teams seem to be able to get a decent price for their cast offs yet we rarely seem to be able to manage it.

 

Big couple of seasons in terms of the squad and I'd prefer that Rodgers and congerton were absolutely nowhere near the decision making

Have to agree with that

[Guest Col city fan]

25 minutes ago, Winchesterfox said:

Transition period.  A cliche used by football clubs that start playing a bit shit.  

That’s how I see it tbh

How do you conceptualise ‘transition period’? What does it mean? Is it about overhauling players? Changing managers? Expanding stadia even, or board members?

Until it can be conceptually operationalised we don’t know what it means

Take Palace for example. They’ve brought in Viera but actually the bulk of their playing staff haven’t changed much

He’s just got them set up well and playing well

Theres been no ‘transition period’ so to speak

[phoneticerror]

Kasper will have to retire soon, he’s not doing too great of late compared to previous seasons. But f me, the thought of Ward as our starting keeper puts a shiver down my spine that thought. Be better putting a Scarecrow in goal.

Edited 21 November 2021 by phoneticerror

[Sly]

Football is always about evolution and transition. Every team does it, season on season, in fear of standing still.

 

Rightly or wrongly. 

[NaijaFox]

Transition, transmission... 

 

Even if we lose Youri and Fofana in the near term, that should fetch us north of 100 million quid to invest in perhaps as much as 4 or 5 quality players and/or prospects. We do not necessarily have to replace players like-for-like (which IMHO is the biggest issue we've had with trying to 'replace' Mahrez), but rather bring in quality players and/or prospects and, to the extent necessary/possible, modify our game, formation and/or philosophy to best suit the strengths and capabilities of our current pool of players (sort of like what we did when we lost Kante and got Wilf).

 

For better and/or worse, relatively regular evolution of personnel is the nature of modern football BUSINESS - particularly for ambitious clubs.

[Paninistickers]

Always an interesting exercise to take away prejudice and favouritism and loyalty and purely look at, on current form, who you'd base a team around. My list would be:

 

Schmeichel

Castagne

Big Dan

Evans

Youri

Wilf

Kels 

 

....the above are the only players I'd definitely have in. All others, inc faves Cags Vards Ricardo and Madders, would have to fit around the list above if we were starting from.scratch

[HybridFox]

The league cup quarter final against Liverpool is a pretty big game in my opinion. 

 

They are almost certain to rest players and as bad as we've been, we do have the quality within us to get a result.

 

If we do pull it off, what an opportunity we will have for not only silverware but European qualification with a chunk of the season still to play. At that point, you'd think Brendan could take the shackles off and really go for it.

 

The trouble is we're looking way out of it at the moment and could be well be sitting in the relegation zone while we tuck into our Christmas dinner

Edited 21 November 2021 by TK95

[whoareyaaa]

we need to get back to not conceding but when the manager plays this zonal marking rubbish we are always going to be vulnerable to conceding and teams know it.

 

We are wide open at times, look unfit and don't look like we have a clue how to play together, we need to tighten up for starters.. I don't know if this down to players or the manager/coaching or a bit of both.

 

 

[StanSP]

4 hours ago, leicesterseddon said:

If having a couple of players north of 30 and a being in danger of losing your best players means we’re in “transition”, then I think every club is perpetually in transition? 

But when those players have been absolutely instrumental to any success we've had in the past 10+ years they've been here, they're bound to be missed...

 

3 hours ago, Winchesterfox said:

Transition period.  A cliche used by football clubs that start playing a bit shit.  

 

2 hours ago, Col city fan said:

That’s how I see it tbh

How do you conceptualise ‘transition period’? What does it mean? Is it about overhauling players? Changing managers? Expanding stadia even, or board members?

Until it can be conceptually operationalised we don’t know what it means

Take Palace for example. They’ve brought in Viera but actually the bulk of their playing staff haven’t changed much

He’s just got them set up well and playing well

Theres been no ‘transition period’ so to speak

Good job I said we're not in one then, isn't it? I said we could be entering one, not that we've been in one.

[MalletFox]

8 hours ago, Webbo said:

This policy of only selling 1 big player a season isn't really realistic. Its quite possible we could lose 2 or 3 closed season and there's little we can do about it. 

 

We might lose the manager before Christmas, who knows? 

 

All this would mean a lot of money to spend but a necessity to spend it and spend it well. We might luck out and find a better manager and better players but it could easily go the other way. 

Tbf, we went against our standard approach of selling a key man last summer and it’s been coupled with a poor start to the season. I think Top possibly viewed this as the season to take a calculated gamble against that approach as a one-off, which also gives BR less excuses this season, and it’s not paying off at the moment. So I agree, we could possibly see a couple go in the summer (unless that new sponsorship deal was the genuine reason why we didn’t need to sell).

[Foxxed]

The end of this season will be difficult. We'll lose a good few players. And their backups, while very good, aren't going to fill their boots straight away. And we'll need a new manager who'll have a weaker first team than the previous two seasons.

[ajthefox]

1 hour ago, StanSP said:

But when those players have been absolutely instrumental to any success we've had in the past 10+ years they've been here, they're bound to be missed...

 

 

Good job I said we're not in one then, isn't it? I said we could be entering one, not that we've been in one.

We are quite possibly entering a period of greater change than we have seen in a few years, but I think the point made in the quoted posts is that the whole idea of a "transition period" is neither here nor there because football clubs are almost always evolving/transitioning. It's essentially semantics.

 

Generally, I agree. I think as an idea it is overplayed. Liverpool (particularly) and Man City over the last few years personnel wise have been very consistent,  but even Man City have decided they don't want to play with a recognised number 9 anymore, which in and of itself is significant. The rest of the league is constantly changing.

I think you could argue the case that pretty much every other team in the league is currently transitioning in one way or the other. Be it the manager, the players or even just in terms of their system perhaps. 

 

 

Edited 21 November 2021 by ajthefox

[StanSP]

1 minute ago, ajthefox said:

I think the point they're making is that the whole idea of a "transition period" is neither here nor there because football clubs are almost always evolving/transitioning. It's essentially semantics.

 

Generally, I agree. I think as an idea it is overplayed. Liverpool (particularly) and Man City over the last few years personnel wise have been very consistent,  but even Man City have decided they don't want to play with a recognised number 9 anymore, which in and of itself is significant. The rest of the league is constantly changing.

I think you could argue the case that pretty much every other team in the league is currently transitioning in one way or the other. Be it the manager, the players or even just in terms of their system perhaps. 

 

 

I see what you're saying but some clubs' change periods are far more noticeable and impacted than others. Given our achievements recently, it's why we have to come out of this imminent period favourably... 

[ajthefox]

7 minutes ago, StanSP said:

I see what you're saying but some clubs' change periods are far more noticeable and impacted than others. Given our achievements recently, it's why we have to come out of this imminent period favourably... 

For sure.

 

Coming into this season I think most of us thought we only really needed a couple of "marquee" signings (RW & CB) and maybe some more depth and we were looking like a serious CL competitor. Now, although we still have a talented squad it looks like we could see a bit of an upheaval come the summer. 

 

I think we have to be very careful that we finish the season positively at least so that things are looking up going into the new season rather than down. As a club we should know as well as anyone that momentum and I guess just "the feel about the place" can have a huge impact on the pitch.

Edited 21 November 2021 by ajthefox
Grammar.

[Clever Fox]

Brendan took over a pretty sorted squad, All he had to do was add a few quality additions to take them to the next level and somehow he's failed.

Other than Fofana and Ward his signings have been average to poor. We can't afford those level of mistakes we're stuck with for years. Especially with our other commitments.

[Saxondale]

22 hours ago, shailen said:

For me the injuries at the start of the season has spiraled into bad form and we've lost confidence and our way a little bit. We need to get that confidence back first and then our quality will show. The way we've passed the ball in recent games clearly shows the players are petrified to make a forward pass and lose possession. 

Exactly this. Football league performance is about 60% confidence and momentum. We have lost our confidence and momentum. 
 

It is overwhelmingly obvious that players do not perform as well when our chippy crowd is whinging about everything we do. If they pass it around, the crowd moans ‘play it forward’. If they try an early through ball and it gets intercepted, the crowd moans about that as well. 

[StanSP]

6 minutes ago, Saxondale said:

It is overwhelmingly obvious that players do not perform as well when our chippy crowd is whinging about everything we do. If they pass it around, the crowd moans ‘play it forward’. If they try an early through ball and it gets intercepted, the crowd moans about that as well.

Makes me laugh when people around me have a go at the players yet 10 seconds later we've kept the ball and worked an opening for an attack/chance.