Realistic

[Brenfox]

I think many City are fans are being unrealistic. Sorry to go on about it but the MON days are well & truly over. We were a club overperforming & now we expect the same all the time. We have to face the fact that we will be in this division for a long time. We have no divine right to be in the Premiership. Now i am not a big supporter of CL but sacking him would be suicide. As a manager you live & die by your signings & sure he has made mistakes but are we really that far away from being a good side? My opinion is no. Look at Burnley who are sitting pretty but without Akinbiyi banging them in they would be where we are now. The club has very little money partly because it has been squandered on mediocre players that are playing right now.

If you look at Deepfreeze, yes he is not the greatest striker ever to wear the shirt but he cost next to nothing & at the price is a good buy. Hume & Hammond are good players & cost the best part of a million but are not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. The bottom line is give him the time to get the players HE wants playing HIS way & then we can decide whether the axe should fall or not. A quick fix is exactly that & is not beneficial in the long term.

[adam]

I dont understand people who say we were overperforming under MON. We are a big enough team to play in the premiership. Do you class Bolton, Charlton and Middlesborough as overperformers too.

Under Levein we are playing well below par. The football we play is rubbish and the majority of people i know has lost all support of |Leicester City while Levein has been in charge.

He needs to go now not at the end of the season or in another years time. If he is here this time next year we will be playing infront of 14k.

[Frenzied]

I think many City are fans are being unrealistic. Sorry to go on about it but the MON days are well & truly over. We were a club overperforming & now we expect the same all the time. We have to face the fact that we will be in this division for a long time. We have no divine right to be in the Premiership. Now i am not a big supporter of CL but sacking him would be suicide. As a manager you live & die by your signings & sure he has made mistakes but are we really that far away from being a good side? My opinion is no. Look at Burnley who are sitting pretty but without Akinbiyi banging them in they would be where we are now. The club has very little money partly because it has been squandered on mediocre players that are playing right now.

If you look at Deepfreeze, yes he is not the greatest striker ever to wear the shirt but he cost next to nothing & at the price is a good buy. Hume & Hammond are good players & cost the best part of a million but are not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. The bottom line is give him the time to get the players HE wants playing HIS way & then we can decide whether the axe should fall or not. A quick fix is exactly that & is not beneficial in the long term.

Precisely. A bit of realism from a large part of our fans is needed and perhaps even some support for the team might help, especially in this time of rebuilding.

[adam]

Precisely. A bit of realism from a large part of our fans is needed and perhaps even some support for the team might help, especially in this time of rebuilding.

i wouldnt call it rebuilding!

[Chimp]

I think many City are fans are being unrealistic. Sorry to go on about it but the MON days are well & truly over. We were a club overperforming & now we expect the same all the time. We have to face the fact that we will be in this division for a long time. We have no divine right to be in the Premiership. Now i am not a big supporter of CL but sacking him would be suicide. As a manager you live & die by your signings & sure he has made mistakes but are we really that far away from being a good side? My opinion is no. Look at Burnley who are sitting pretty but without Akinbiyi banging them in they would be where we are now. The club has very little money partly because it has been squandered on mediocre players that are playing right now.

If you look at Deepfreeze, yes he is not the greatest striker ever to wear the shirt but he cost next to nothing & at the price is a good buy. Hume & Hammond are good players & cost the best part of a million but are not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. The bottom line is give him the time to get the players HE wants playing HIS way & then we can decide whether the axe should fall or not. A quick fix is exactly that & is not beneficial in the long term.

While I agree wholly with your sentiments I wouldn't bother posting on these forums, they've become over run by reactionary narrow minded 'fans' who over emphasise the negatives when we lose, most of whom don't even go to the matches so don't appreciate any of the positives, who only judge a game by the result and apparantly only want 'entertainment' out of football.

There's no place for a reasoned point of view here, it just gets drowned out by the whining.

[Ultra]

I'm sorry, but I'm almost as horrified by the sentiments on this thread as I was by the display last night.

Burnley are a relatively small club, who have never played Premiership football, and probably never will. Their manager has repeatedly stated that for them, success is finishing mid-table in this league.

We, on the other hand, are a club capable of attracting 30000 every week (as we did under Micky Adams for two seasons), and have not only spent several seasons in the Premiership, but won trophies while doing so.

So it's not unrealistic at all for our expectations to be a little higher than those at Burnley (or Watford too for that matter).

It's irrelevant how much (or how little) the strikers cost, as on last night's display, and many others before it, they are out of their depth.

Ultimately it's the manager who decides to pick them, and therefore the manager should take a little bit more responsibility when yet again they fail to perform.

The board have a difficult choice. They can get rid now, and lose the rest of the Connolly transfer money in paying out compo. Or they can keep the incumbent till the summer, in which case they will lose millions, as not only will the Premiership parachute payments cease, but thousands more season tiicket holders will refuse to renew.

As each week passes, more and more FOXES are losing the faith. Until Levein is removed, there isn't a hope of winning them back.

If the board can't recognise this basic, and take the appropriate action, it is they who are committing commercial suicide.

[adam]

While I agree wholly with your sentiments I wouldn't bother posting on these forums, they've become over run by reactionary narrow minded 'fans' who over emphasise the negatives when we lose, most of whom don't even go to the matches so don't appreciate any of the positives, who only judge a game by the result and apparantly only want 'entertainment' out of football.

There's no place for a reasoned point of view here, it just gets drowned out by the whining.

You only get points on results though?? surely results are the only thing that does matter!! You dont get many points though for having possession, a few shots and very few goals!

[Ultra]

While I agree wholly with your sentiments I wouldn't bother posting on these forums, they've become over run by reactionary narrow minded 'fans' who over emphasise the negatives when we lose, most of whom don't even go to the matches so don't appreciate any of the positives, who only judge a game by the result and apparantly only want 'entertainment' out of football.

There's no place for a reasoned point of view here, it just gets drowned out by the whining.

I've been a season-ticket holder for the past decade, and a regular supporter for the past 30 years, so your stereotyping doesn't apply to me.

I was at the game last night and apart from Gudjonsson's two goals and a decent display by Gerrbrand in defence, can't think of ANY positives from it all.

It's not difficult to understand why people choose not to fork out £22 for the current rubbish, when they have the options of watching quality footballers in the pub and from their armchairs!

[Thracian]

I dont understand people who say we were overperforming under MON. We are a big enough team to play in the premiership. Do you class Bolton, Charlton and Middlesborough as overperformers too.

Under Levein we are playing well below par. The football we play is rubbish and the majority of people i know has lost all support of |Leicester City while Levein has been in charge.

He needs to go now not at the end of the season or in another years time. If he is here this time next year we will be playing infront of 14k.

I agree. My patience has run out completely. This team and these players are well capable of competing in this league but are just drained of confidence.

Levein couldn't inspire an erection with a bucket full of viagra.

Comments like "why were they chasing more goals" in the Stoke match and his ridiculous insistence in reducing our attackers as his ploy to tighten up against 10-man Watford (there are similar instances throughout his time) just sum the man up.

Twenty-two draws are testimony to his getting fingers burned through trying to quieten the game and getting caught, or being satisfied with a one goal lead and then getting shafted at the death.

Tactically, he's an infant. Fifteen wins in 49 games at this level - at any level - is a nightmare for a club of City's potential - with only seven wins in the latest 37, worse than one in five. Would one of us do worse?

Levein continuously plays people out of position - not in emergencies but as a matter of course - thus going beyond logical common sense to keep his favourites in the team.

And he cannot resist tinkering with a team that is winning for no logical reason whatsoever except to make sure as many squad members as possible get a game.

Finally he lets his emotions affect his judgement. His treatment of Hume over his "tiredness" seemed like a childish fit of pique to me which has lost him all credibility in my mind. Let your feelings be known by all means but pick your best side. That's the biggest must there is for a manager.

Don't think he's ever done that yet and Tuesday was no exception. I lost count of the number of fans who were shaking their heads with despair at his decisions and it was only reluctantly that they got behind the team at all as a result.

All those around me were simply taking the piss at his expense just as a means of keeping their spirits up.

Then their hopes were raised, spirits slowly re-awakened, only for Levein to sell the side out with his changes.

I just wonder what the players said afterwards - cos I'd have been livid with him. Hope City's directors feel the same.

[Dr The Singh]

Levein couldn't inspire an erection with a bucket full of viagra.

Agreed, alot of city fans including myself are losing faith with CL!!!

[Darth Fox]

I agree. My patience has run out completely. This team and these players are well capable of competing in this league but are just drained of confidence.

Levein couldn't inspire an erection with a bucket full of viagra.

Comments like "why were they chasing more goals" in the Stoke match and his ridiculous insistence in reducing our attackers as his ploy to tighten up against 10-man Watford (there are similar instances throughout his time) just sum the man up.

Twenty-two draws are testimony to his getting fingers burned through trying to quieten the game and getting caught, or being satisfied with a one goal lead and then getting shafted at the death.

Tactically, he's an infant. Fifteen wins in 49 games at this level - at any level - is a nightmare for a club of City's potential - with only seven wins in the latest 37, worse than one in five. Would one of us do worse?

Levein continuously plays people out of position - not in emergencies but as a matter of course - thus going beyond logical common sense to keep his favourites in the team.

And he cannot resist tinkering with a team that is winning for no logical reason whatsoever except to make sure as many squad members as possible get a game.

Finally he lets his emotions affect his judgement. His treatment of Hume over his "tiredness" seemed like a childish fit of pique to me which has lost him all credibility in my mind. Let your feelings be known by all means but pick your best side. That's the biggest must there is for a manager.

Don't think he's ever done that yet and Tuesday was no exception. I lost count of the number of fans who were shaking their heads with despair at his decisions and it was only reluctantly that they got behind the team at all as a result.

All those around me were simply taking the piss at his expense just as a means of keeping their spirits up.

Then their hopes were raised, spirits slowly re-awakened, only for Levein to sell the side out with his changes.

I just wonder what the players said afterwards - cos I'd have been livid with him. Hope City's directors feel the same.

Everything u said above is spot on, Well said.

[Strokes]

Levein couldn't inspire an erection with a bucket full of viagra.

Agreed, alot of city fans including myself are losing faith with CL!!!

Losing Faith! i lost it completly @ Burnley at home

[Thracian]

You only get points on results though?? surely results are the only thing that does matter!! You dont get many points though for having possession, a few shots and very few goals!

Results matter, of course, but if it was only about results how come you don't get full-houses at places like Hartlepool and Darlington when they're stringing a few together?. The best teams get the best support - even when, like Real Madrid recently, they're not winning everything in sight.

Skills and results are interlinked - and even more so when it comes to attracting fans - cos commendable though they are, the diehards aren't the only kinds of supporters. Some will choose to watch only if they think it'll be entertaining and worth the expense.

Sad though some might think it is, you can't ignore them. Grounds need filling if possible.

[Scow]

Yes, we have to be realistic, but at the same time we shouldn't have to put up with the level of dross being churned out with every passing week. I also think it's a load of bollocks when people say a large number of City fans can't let go of the MON era and expect to be in the Premiership. I think the majority of the fans realise the situation we find ourselves in.

After administration, finances were always going to be tight. Thankfully, we retained our sqaud in 2002/2003, which led to promotion. We missed a great chance to stay up the following season as inept management saw us drop over 20 odd points. Too many over-the-hill players on 1-2 year contracts.

The following season witnessed another high turnover of players, which once again demonstrated MA's reliance over-the-hill players on huge one year contracts in the hope of an instant return to the Premiership. It didn't work because the first XI was crammed full of over 30+ players, with little in the way of energy and motivation.

When MA resigned and CL took over, we expected a rebuilding job as we knew promotion seemed a long way off with the players at our disposal. Saying that, relegation should never have been a close run thing as it turned out to be. 12 wins in 49 games in this division would probably get any manager sacked. There is no defending that record, it simply is relegation form. Luckily for Levein, this is spread out over 2 seperate seasons.

Granted, he hasn't had a full season to work within yet, but can you realistically see us grabbing a number of wins in a short space of time? This team doesn't look capable of scoring enough goals to be able to drag us out of this situation and to increase the current win percentage. This is now supposedly CL's team, but he's no closer to deciding on his best XI. It's chop and change for every game, with tactics heavily decided on who we're playing. It would be nice for a change if the opposition were actually worried about us.

What about teams like Cardiff and Watford? They've spent very little, experienced similar turnover of players, but these are teams flying high near the top with two managers encouraging their respective sides to employ attacking football, which has been rewarded with wins and points. Levein always seems content with just not losing, and that doesn't sit well with me.

The problem is, we're not in a great position to sack Levein because of the financial implications. I'm not saying I want Levein out, but I am saying I expect a lot better than the crap on show at the minute. We don't have the right to be in the Premiership, but we should expect an improvement on hovering just above the relegation zone, mixing it with some horrible teams.

I'd like to see where we're positioned at the start of next year. If we're still struggling above the bottom 3, then Levein's future will need to be addressed. We simply cannot afford to be relegated. Yes, the financial implications could be great with sacking Levein, but we need to think where this football club is heading - if that means paying a few hundred thousand to safeguard the future of this cub, then so be it.

[Sly]

We did not over perform when O'Neill was in charge, no team can over perform, and that is purely cods wallop.

If you have a set of players and that have the correct ability for the teams position, teamwork and good disciple your team you will do well. Leicester once had that and we WERE a good team. It is the managers’ job to bring in players who have the above. I'm sorry but slamming your best defender in public is not good practice. Come to think of it neither is s**t tactics, dodgy substitutions or squandering money on players who might by good in the future is not the best practice for a team in Leicester’s position.

You are perfectly right when you say we do not have a divine right to be in the premier league. Then again, you no other team does either. You get there on team sprit and team performances. Leicester lacks both of them now and has done since O'Neill left. O Neill had a passion to win, you could see it. You always knew when he was upset (remember his rant after that Chelsea layer fell over in the box for that penalty in the FA Cup 5th round). You don't see this with Levein. You get the same lines week after week, we were poor or such and such played well. Then you can guarantee that one member of the squad will come out after one or two days after the match and say, "we can do better, blah, blah, blah"

Levein is not passionate about this football club. O Neill was and that is why we love O'Neill so much and always refer back to him.

RANT OVER

[BenFilbert]

I think many City are fans are being unrealistic. Sorry to go on about it but the MON days are well & truly over. We were a club overperforming & now we expect the same all the time. We have to face the fact that we will be in this division for a long time. We have no divine right to be in the Premiership. Now i am not a big supporter of CL but sacking him would be suicide. As a manager you live & die by your signings & sure he has made mistakes but are we really that far away from being a good side? My opinion is no. Look at Burnley who are sitting pretty but without Akinbiyi banging them in they would be where we are now. The club has very little money partly because it has been squandered on mediocre players that are playing right now.

If you look at Deepfreeze, yes he is not the greatest striker ever to wear the shirt but he cost next to nothing & at the price is a good buy. Hume & Hammond are good players & cost the best part of a million but are not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. The bottom line is give him the time to get the players HE wants playing HIS way & then we can decide whether the axe should fall or not. A quick fix is exactly that & is not beneficial in the long term.

I agree with all that.

[Manwell Pablo]

Also to all of these people saying we over performed under MON. Do you not relise over the past 100 years we have always been a big club? I think we have never dipped below the current division we are in. In fact ill be very suprised if there hasn't been a decade were Leicester haven't been in the top division for at least 3 or 4 years. Leicesters History Streches back at longer then 1990.

[BenFilbert]

Also to all of these people saying we over performed under MON. Do you not relise over the past 100 years we have always been a big club? I think we have never dipped below the current division we are in. In fact ill be very suprised if there hasn't been a decade were Leicester haven't been in the top division for at least 3 or 4 years. Leicesters History Streches back at longer then 1990.

You are right, we have never been out the top 2 leagues and i can't see it happening this season either. There have been times when we've been out the top league for quite a few years, let's not forget that we were in the premier 2 years ago.

[Frenzied]

I think the point is that the fans expectations of the club are often too high. This has been an historical problem with LCFC and has often been the downfall of the club. Examples are the fan's and board's expectation of European football not being fulfilled, leading to the sacking of Jimmy Bloomfield. Gordon Milne losing his job despite the club being consolidated in the old Div One with fans and board expecting more. The appalling behaviour of a great number of fans in the early O'Neill months, expecting promotion. Fortunately O'Neill made the idiots eat their own words.

Now there is nothing wrong with wanting success for your club and at one the size of Leicester certain achievements are possible ie Premiership football, winning the odd cup, possibly even European football. But we are not a big club and shouldn't expect immediate success. We have never won the league, nor the FA cup and haven't progressed in Europe on the few occassions we've qualified. Compare that to our Midlands rivals and I think you'll find the majority of them have had more success.

Furthermore, Leicester is not a big city and so historically hasn't commanded the resources (fans, ability to attract wealthy investors etc) that other cities have, such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool.

Therefore, a sense of realism is called for, together with a sense of unity and a desire to back the club and criticise constructively when things don't seem to going well. Levein has a monumental job on his hands - a club with little money, he inherited a dire team, there was a poor youth set-up and a set of fans having unrealistic expectations of instant success.

So far what he has done is to buy a number of good players (some excellent ie Hughes, McCarthy, Gerrbrand, Maybury), is bringing through a number of talented youngsters and believe it or not got the team playing on many more occassions than over the past few years attractive, although as yet not effective, football.

If by this time next year we haven't shown a marked improvement then maybe it is time to give someone else a go at the helm but at this stage it is sheer stupidity to be calling for Levein's head, which is borne out of a need for instant gratification. We as Leicester fans are in this for the long haul and should support our club as best we can while we lay the foundations of a successful side.