Shum Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 Nils-Eric Johansson's future at Leicester City is in grave doubt following manager Craig Levein's admission that he has "failed to uphold his part." The summer signing from Blackburn Rovers was withdrawn during the second half of The Foxes' defeat to Burnley on Saturday. And Levein has shed light on his decision to remove Johansson from the fray by revealing that he has been disappointed with the recent contribution of the Swede. "Nils-Eric Johansson failed to uphold his part in the back four and that's why he came off," said Levein ahead of Tuesday's match against Watford. "I don't often name players for something like that but I felt he let us down a bit on Saturday and has done on one or two other occasions. "That opens up an opportunity for someone else to come in because I think we can get better defensively - and if someone takes his position, they will stay in." A career that once promised much at Blackburn now appears to have hit the buffers at Leicester, for whom he has featured 22 times.
Libertine Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 Well, I think that's just Sky Sports making a meal out of it to be honest.
holly Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 i cant beleive CL left him out completely last night though, its 1 game that he messed up in!
Head Honcho Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 If you play somebody out of position and he drops a b*llock you only have yourself to blame We have a top defender in Nisse i'd much prefer him to stay at the club then Levein Come on CL wake up and smell the coffee your not good enough!
Katy Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 CL needs to realise that words sink or float a ship full of cabin boys.
Anish Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 If you play somebody out of position and he drops a b*llock you only have yourself to blame We have a top defender in Nisse i'd much prefer him to stay at the club then Levein Come on CL wake up and smell the coffee your not good enough! Exactly, if either Nissa or Levein had to go, I'd rather it be Levein. And without Nissa in the team we conceded 2 goals, when was the last time we conceded 2 goals in a game with Nissa in the team? QPR at home. Explain that one Levein. <_<
Benji Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 erm.... is it me or did the gerrbrand/mccarthy/nils partnership at the back start against cardiff in the cup? results since have been........ Cardiff City 1-0 Preston 0-0 Southampton 0-0 Burnley 0-1 1 goal conceeded in 4 games? how then has he made numerous game costing errors? why is he singling out the defence for one goal conceeded, when we have equally only scored 1? Has he publically named and shamed hammond and dublin? has he left either of them two out of the team? i think its disgraceful to have a go at the back 4, believe it or not even chelsea conceed once in 4 games
Scow Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 It's just the same quotes from Levein re: NEJ's performance on Saturday and adding an over the top headline. I personally think it was wrong for Levein to name and shame him in public like that. And if he's not uphold his part of the back 4 for the past few games now, why was he still playing him? As noted by a number of posters, NEJ isn't a left back by any means - so to criticise him in the press was out of order considering he was played out of position. Seems to me he was using it as an excuse for losing the game. Nothing to do with the fact he played Dublin and de Vries upfront, and a defensive combination of Kisnorbo and Gudjonsson in midfield. Lovely stuff.
Katy Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 If I was Nils Id be pretty pissed off with his manager right now, how is blaming him in public going to help him in the long run? Hopefully CL will realise we missed Nils on Tuesday and kiss and make up with him.
breadandcheese Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 Before everyone shouts Levein down, I think the frustation is born out of the one thing Leicester would have discussed all week and that was not to concede the first goal. Burnley are notorious for defending heavily, so it was imperative not to concede the first goal, to try and open the game up. Johansson messed up, game over for City. Unfortunately, there is extra pressure on the defence because the attack is not pulling its weight. With that in mind, the defence would have had it drilled into them all week to keep tight and not concede. Nils lost concentration. Let's see how he responds before passing opinion.
Scow Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 Before everyone shouts Levein down, I think the frustation is born out of the one thing Leicester would have discussed all week and that was not to concede the first goal. Burnley are notorious for defending heavily, so it was imperative not to concede the first goal, to try and open the game up. Johansson messed up, game over for City. Unfortunately, there is extra pressure on the defence because the attack is not pulling its weight. With that in mind, the defence would have had it drilled into them all week to keep tight and not concede. Nils lost concentration. Let's see how he responds before passing opinion. If Levein wanted to keep things tight, why play a centreback against a nippy winger, who had a direct impact on the winning goal? NEJ has shown a tendency to keep very tight to his centrebacks since playing at Left Back, and therefore anyone attaking up that side (Cotterill did his home work) would have plenty of space to provide service in to the box. You can blame NEJ for the goal, but at the same time Levein was the one who played him there in the first place.
Hullfox Posted 23 November 2005 Posted 23 November 2005 If he's going to publicly admonish those players who contribute to us not winning we're going to have a thin looking squad before too long. He's morphing into MA's what with his bad man management, poor substitutions and panicky selections of no sub keeper.
Nationwider Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 It was just a bizarre statement to come out with. Presumably NEJ came with the blessing of Rob Kelly? I can't see CL giving a public bollocking to the likes of his blue-eyed boys Kisnorbo, De Vries, Hamill or Gilbert because they're all in sh1t hot form at the moment, aren't they? Public blame culture = poor management. I'm trying really hard, Craig, really hard.... throw me a rope, Craig, I'm sinking fast.
Thracian Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 I've been highly critical of Nils as a left-back from day one and have highlighted five or six occasions when he either did or could have cost us goals. I argued that he was too slow on the turn against tricky wingers, a point demonstrated on various occasions. It was, indeed the general consensus that Nils was unsuited to playing left back either because of this, because of his indifferent passing out of defence or because of his limited inclination to link with attack (or all three). None of those points gave Levein any excuse to treat the man so disrespectfully - and more especially when it was Levein's misguided decision to continually play him out of position in the first place when there were good, and natural, left back alternatives. Nils never let the club down in his natural position though he would certainly not get his place back against the present centre-backs. Levein signed Nils and by doing so was saying "I think you're a decent player". Nothing in respect of his playing ability has ever changed. He always had weaknesses and Levein allowed them to be exposed. If he felt let down by the man he should have taken him quietly to one side, explained why he was unhappy and what he expected the player to do about it. I would NEVER show disrespect to a player I signed on account of their footballing performance/ability ... the only time I might go down that road would be in the event of that player seeking to publicly humiliate or embarrass me or the players or the club (in which case he'd probably be out in no time anyway). Levein let himself down and in so doing threatened the comeraderie of the whole squad. Demanding the highest of standards is one thing but being disrespectful to players - or anyone else for that matter - is quite something else. Indeed because it will affect his own right to respect, the whole issue will almost certainly undermine his own authority in the end. Bad mistake. Indeed, ANOTHER bad mistake.
Guest Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 Whatever the fans think of a players performance, for the manager to come out and slag him off looks to me like desperation; rather than admitting his own failings (playing a CB at LB, when it is patently obvious that CB is not comfortable in the full back position, and quite often leaves gaps down the flanks you could get Alan Rogers through), to blame the player is ludicrous. If anything is going to decide for me the time is right for a managerial change, then he's going the right way about it.
wirralsimon Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 There is a rule of football management that says you defend a player to the hilt in public and give him a b*ll*cking in private and mangers break it at their peril. I think it was a blunder by CL Simon
Ric Flair Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 It's pretty obvious that Nissa has spoken out of turn and Levein has then looked for the first mistake he makes to villify him. Managers do this sort of thing, all of them do. Nissa will have mouthed off about not being at centre back and once you do that you've got to be on your best behaviour otherwise the manager will get his own back. Mourinho did it with Carvalho earlier in the season when he moaned about not playing at centre back, the result was Carvalho played for the reserves for x amount of games. Job done, Nissa has been shit in the centre of defence in my opinion anyway.
Dr The Singh Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 It's pretty obvious that Nissa has spoken out of turn and Levein has then looked for the first mistake he makes to villify him. Managers do this sort of thing, all of them do. Nissa will have mouthed off about not being at centre back and once you do that you've got to be on your best behaviour otherwise the manager will get his own back. Mourinho did it with Carvalho earlier in the season when he moaned about not playing at centre back, the result was Carvalho played for the reserves for x amount of games. Job done, Nissa has been shit in the centre of defence in my opinion anyway. Carvalho, went to the press first, hence Mourinho had no option but to put him in his place!! CL just chastised him in public first, and like a good pro Nils has kept his mouth shut and hasn't uttered a bad word about CL to the media!!
Ric Flair Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 Carvalho, went to the press first, hence Mourinho had no option but to put him in his place!! CL just chastised him in public first, and like a good pro Nils has kept his mouth shut and hasn't uttered a bad word about CL to the media!! It's still a similar situation. Mourinho would of still done the same had Carvalho of monmed to him face to face or to the press.
IDEA OR IKEA Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 Carvalho, went to the press first, hence Mourinho had no option but to put him in his place!! CL just chastised him in public first, and like a good pro Nils has kept his mouth shut and hasn't uttered a bad word about CL to the media!! CL vs Nils in a street fight with Douglas as special referee
Guest Gist Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 I think it is discraceful Cl saying Nisse played sh*t and singleing him out look at how many bad performances Kisnorbo and other players have yet he dont single them out plus Nisse is twice the player Kisnorbo is yet he still says that about him he aint going to want to stay at a club were the manager is slating him everytime he has an off day
Thracian Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 I think it is discraceful Cl saying Nisse played sh*t and singleing him out look at how many bad performances Kisnorbo and other players have yet he dont single them out plus Nisse is twice the player Kisnorbo is yet he still says that about him he aint going to want to stay at a club were the manager is slating him everytime he has an off day Nils has not been our worst player this season - especially at centre back. People like Sylla, Kisnorbo, Gilbert, Tiatto, Hammill and Hammond have all warranted an earbashing at far louder decibels than Nils while Maybury, Dublin (in attack), Douglas and Hughes have been pretty naff as well at various times.
Ric Flair Posted 24 November 2005 Posted 24 November 2005 It's obvious that Nissa has bad mouthed Levein about not playing at centre back and Levein has took offence. Nissa has hardly been good this season though has he? He's far too slow to play high up the pitch which is what Levein wants the defence to do.
Scow Posted 25 November 2005 Posted 25 November 2005 It's obvious that Nissa has bad mouthed Levein about not playing at centre back and Levein has took offence. Nissa has hardly been good this season though has he? He's far too slow to play high up the pitch which is what Levein wants the defence to do. We don't know that, so we can't say it's obvious. If NEJ had come out in the press and said those comments, then fair enough - but he hasn't. He's always maintained he's happy to play left back. And if NEJ is far too slow to play higher up the pitch in a back 4, why was he purchased in the first place?
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