What has changed at the club?

[lcfcsnow]

7 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

" Stop buying players over the age of 25 as our track record is heinous " 

Over 25 from the Premier League is the main issue.

[Ric Flair]

1 minute ago, Babylon said:

You can’t just have a team full of young players Ric. 

I know that mate but we've had one player over the age of 25 who's signed and become a 1st team regular at this club since 2015/16 and that's Jonny Evans. 

 

If we can't get better at recruiting experienced players when needed then the only alternative is the young players who have been here a number of years are seen as the experienced ones and the new replacements are the young and talented players we are so good at recruiting. 

 

It's going to be a huge shock when Vardy, Kasper, Evans and Albrighton go. We've already seen with Morgan and Fuchs and it doesn't help that Bertrand and Vestergaard have been horrifying.

[NasPb]

8 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

I know that mate but we've had one player over the age of 25 who's signed and become a 1st team regular at this club since 2015/16 and that's Jonny Evans. 

 

If we can't get better at recruiting experienced players when needed then the only alternative is the young players who have been here a number of years are seen as the experienced ones and the new replacements are the young and talented players we are so good at recruiting. 

 

It's going to be a huge shock when Vardy, Kasper, Evans and Albrighton go. We've already seen with Morgan and Fuchs and it doesn't help that Bertrand and Vestergaard have been horrifying.

We need to simply sign better. Mazraoui would be an example of an experienced player European wise. Aguerd as well both have played European football. Just not signing bottom of the barrell pl garbage that above all doesn't fit our style at all is a problem. I'm all for good signings with experience just not 100% from the pl and ones thag fit our style 

[Dawko]

Too much emphasis on Water Polo and Golf skills.

[shailen]

Balance of attack and defence has been off this year. Think we've scored in most games this year, but we've let in too many goals. Defensive injuries are an obvious reason but also not getting that balance right has exposed our defence to conceding a lot. 

[Babylon]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

I know that mate but we've had one player over the age of 25 who's signed and become a 1st team regular at this club since 2015/16 and that's Jonny Evans. 

 

If we can't get better at recruiting experienced players when needed then the only alternative is the young players who have been here a number of years are seen as the experienced ones and the new replacements are the young and talented players we are so good at recruiting. 

 

It's going to be a huge shock when Vardy, Kasper, Evans and Albrighton go. We've already seen with Morgan and Fuchs and it doesn't help that Bertrand and Vestergaard have been horrifying.

Which is generally what we do and takes a lot of long term planning. But it also be thrown into disarray by injuries. Bertrand and Vestergarrd wouldn't have been needed if we'd not lost all of our defenders. Buying young players there, especially at left back would have just served to block the pathway of either the new signing, or Thomas, or Justin etc. 

[Qwerty]

Covid happened.  And as well as all the obvious effects (that have had an impact on all clubs), our owners' business is pretty dependent on international travel, which has been massively reduced. 

Not to mention the multiple significant injuries. 

[Qwerty]

I know people say that citing the injuries is just making excuses, but just think how different things would have been if Fofana, Evans, Barnes, JJ and Ricardo had never got injured.  And those are just the long term injuries - there have been plenty of short-term ones too. 

[Guest Col city fan]

4 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Fair point, we were quoted £15m for Bowen but maybe I'd have been better describing the type of player rather than the price bracket.

 

We've certainly been happier to look in the £20-30m price bracket more and more where it gets you a bit more supposed proven experience but not necessarily got any more guarantee they'll succeed.

 

I get nervous when we sign players from the PL, especially north of 25 who are either established players at their clubs and cost a significant fee that is unlikely to be recouped or are fringe players and again likely to be a waste. Our record at signing any player over the age of 25 in recent years hasn't been very good at all and that's not even from a monetary point of view where recouping money isn't always the be all and end all if they make an impact, but the likes of Iborra, Silva, Vestergaard, Perez, Bertrand, Ghezzal, Bennett, Slimani have all been terrible value for money or just damn right dog shit. 

 

Not sure why we have trouble scouting the right experienced and proven players but they just seldom do well here. Maybe it's harder for them to integrate or be allowed to adapt to what's required. It's not easy coming in and be expected to make an immediate impact for a top half PL team. Either way, stop buying them 😂

I know we’ve signed some stonkers over the past few years but Christ! we’ve signed some bloody rubbish too! Look at that list you’ve mentioned there

Ouch… 🤔

[Ric Flair]

5 hours ago, Babylon said:

Which is generally what we do and takes a lot of long term planning. But it also be thrown into disarray by injuries. Bertrand and Vestergarrd wouldn't have been needed if we'd not lost all of our defenders. Buying young players there, especially at left back would have just served to block the pathway of either the new signing, or Thomas, or Justin etc. 

I can tolerate the signing of Bertrand, it nearly made sense. Vestergaard was always a concern as he was so poor for Southampton for the first year or so and even when he found a patch of form he wasn't playing in a system like ours which is what makes it so odd. The excuse that they wouldn't have been expected to play this much is ridiculous though because they've never had a good game for us, so what we're saying is if they didn't ever play for us it wouldn't be that bad. 😂

[lcfc_forever]

There is no way anyone sensible can defend the Vestergaard transfer, it’s one of our worst. I had hopes after the Man City game but his poor performances in the Europa League dashed them, he simply doesn’t fit our style of play. 
 

His poor form meant we had to play Evans more than ideal, which increased the chances of his injury. 

[sylofox]

We buy great until we try to step up.

 

Rather spend an extra year than pay over the top and silly wages.

 

Every time we pay the money we get shite on a huge wage that drains us.

 

Mahrez Fuchs Albrighton even big Wes.

 

Slim and the other muppet from sporting. Drain us.

 

Seems like Sven all over again and we need nige to sort it. Stop spending money and silly wages. Rather risk it on a kid we ain't paying millions to until proven.

 

I'd rather lose a bit than throw it away like we have. Stuck with shite on a high wage we cant move for 5yrs.

[Vestan Pance]

13 hours ago, Supergray22 said:

Our strategy of late has been more reactive rather than the proactive strategy suggested. We recruit to fill current gaps and perceived weaknesses rather than to improve the squad generally and improve us longer term.
There are understandable reasons for this shift such as our catastrophic injury list last year or so. That is a separate issue that needs investigation and resolving as best we can. 

I think this is a spot on point and one demonstrated by the re-signing on Mendy. We're not a club that can afford to be conservative with signings, there has to be a element of gamble in them to hopefully push us forward through selling at a profit.

Edited 26 January 2022 by Vestan Pance

[Lionator]

1 hour ago, sylofox said:

We buy great until we try to step up.

 

Rather spend an extra year than pay over the top and silly wages.

 

Every time we pay the money we get shite on a huge wage that drains us.

 

Mahrez Fuchs Albrighton even big Wes.

 

Slim and the other muppet from sporting. Drain us.

 

Seems like Sven all over again and we need nige to sort it. Stop spending money and silly wages. Rather risk it on a kid we ain't paying millions to until proven.

 

I'd rather lose a bit than throw it away like we have. Stuck with shite on a high wage we cant move for 5yrs.

I really don't think we've spent silly money on anyone. And there really isn't anyone we're stuck with that I can think of. 

[Cameron Davidson]

It’s because we haven’t swapped the family stand and the kop

[Tanya]

On 24/01/2022 at 19:33, Fox92 said:

Apart from he said, in that Mail article, that he is still here to do just that and this season we're off it which is right. 

 

People keep saying "three years on" but in those three years we have finished top 6 twice and won the FA Cup and Community Shield. It's not too bad I don't think.

We've been outstandingly successful this year and are still in with a shout to win more trophies this season. If I could have anything this year, it would be that third tier Europa Cup. It's a pathway to Europe again another trophy.

 

This year has been a bit of a step back but considering our incredible success over the last six years and all the competent people still at the club, I'm not too worried yet.

[Babylon]

11 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

I can tolerate the signing of Bertrand, it nearly made sense. Vestergaard was always a concern as he was so poor for Southampton for the first year or so and even when he found a patch of form he wasn't playing in a system like ours which is what makes it so odd. The excuse that they wouldn't have been expected to play this much is ridiculous though because they've never had a good game for us, so what we're saying is if they didn't ever play for us it wouldn't be that bad. 😂

I said wouldn’t have been needed, ie. Not signed. 

[CosbehFox]

19 hours ago, Babylon said:

You can’t just have a team full of young players Ric. 

As exposed currently 

[An Sionnach]

19 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

I know that mate but we've had one player over the age of 25 who's signed and become a 1st team regular at this club since 2015/16 and that's Jonny Evans. 

 

If we can't get better at recruiting experienced players when needed then the only alternative is the young players who have been here a number of years are seen as the experienced ones and the new replacements are the young and talented players we are so good at recruiting. 

 

It's going to be a huge shock when Vardy, Kasper, Evans and Albrighton go. We've already seen with Morgan and Fuchs and it doesn't help that Bertrand and Vestergaard have been horrifying.

The players we have bought cheap and young and then sold on for profit are who? Mahrez, Kanté and Maguire were well in their twenties when we bought them. There is some myth that we buy 20 y o. players , develop them and sell for a big profit . Chilwell was academy so doesn't really count. 

[ian__marshall]

I think the problem we have is that we're too constrained by the system we have in place which effectively applies a ceiling to transfer fees. It works well when investing in up and coming youngsters with potentially high resale values as it leaves us with a good margin, but it does mean we constantly pay low/medium sized amounts for very average experienced players (which is essentially what you get for the money we pay). The problem with this model when recruiting experience is that it effectively becomes a false economy, and as they saying goes 'buy cheap, buy twice' (or in our case many times). Look at how much we've wasted on experienced stop gaps trying to replace certain positions yet if we'd taken the combined fees and just pushed the boat out a little to buy one proven performer we'd have solved the issues much quicker and no doubt picked up more points in the process. Until that changes I think we'll always struggle to recruit players over 25 (exception being the occasional bosman) who will enhance what we have. 

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, An Sionnach said:

The players we have bought cheap and young and then sold on for profit are who? Mahrez, Kanté and Maguire were well in their twenties when we bought them. There is some myth that we buy 20 y o. players , develop them and sell for a big profit . Chilwell was academy so doesn't really count. 

Well I'm counting young as signing players in their early 20's as we seldom sign players younger than 21 anyway. Fofana is the only one I can think of who we've signed for big money at that age. We tend to buy players aged 22-24 with a few years of decent experience. 

 

 

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Shortage of ready cash is the main problem we have, in my humble opinion.

[Guest Kopfkino]

The same complacency that afflicted Southampton might explain it. They finished 6th for 3 seasons in a row, sold their best players for big money but we’re able to replace them but then it stopped working, the owner took a step back, sold up and they don’t spend very much now.

 

Also £100m on a training ground looks great whilst you’re doing well but looks a bit of a vanity project once you have a few struggles and the short-term opportunity cost becomes increasingly clear when you then talk about having no money and you wonder if we’ll be able to compete with teams around us let alone the big boys. You’d have had something to be proud of had you spent 50m at another site.
Rinse and repeat that for the stadium

[Ric Flair]

On 27/01/2022 at 19:25, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

Shortage of ready cash is the main problem we have, in my humble opinion.

If that was a genuine concern we'd have had to sell players last summer and we clearly weren't interested on doing so. 

 

We just don't deviate from our budget each year except for sacking managers. 

[Bluetintedspecs]

Are people seriously wanting our owners out or have I missed something with just scanning through? 🤷‍♂️