FAO LEICESTER CITY RECRUITMENT TEAM - UPDATED 6th July 2022

[coolhandfox]

5 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

How did I know you'd be popping up to defend the current shit show. The day we're losing out to players signing for Crystal Palace if we were in for him is a very scary day. 

Not defending, just playing devil advocate.

 

So what that say about Man U if it true he turned down them?

 

I don't know enough about him to be bothered one way or another. More concern about us bring some of our own current talent thought to the FT.

 

How do you know it a shit show until the end of the window? 

 

I prefer to sit back and make a judge rather then jump in early. 

Edited 22 June 2022 by coolhandfox

[sacreblueits442]

...it comes down to the individual deal, but our new Training Ground does not appear to be the catalyst for young ambitious players to come here!!!

If we could not persuade a young player, playing in a position that we desperately needed to fill, who plays for a club just down the road, to come here, then we are in real trouble.

  Southampton not too long ago had the knack of finding talent, selling, and great recruitment. We may have decided to tap into this too late, and now we seem preoccupied with dealing with them.

  I wonder if Ebiowei, going to Palace pushes Olise down the food chain?

[Lambert09]

1 hour ago, ALC Fox said:

Eze, Olise and this guy. Palace taking a punt on top Championship talent is really paying off for them.

In the Frank Lampard sense of  having near identical seasons every year? 

[Ric Flair]

5 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Not defending, just playing devil advocate.

 

So what that say about Man U if it true he turned down them?

 

I don't know enough about him to be bothered one way or another. More concern about us bring some of our own current talent thought to the FT.

 

How do you know it a shit show until the end of the window? 

 

I prefer to sit back and make a judge rather then jump in early. 

I suspect he's turning Utd down as the chances of 1st team football there are non existent. They paid £20-30m for Amad Traore in his position and he's played about twice.

 

Yet Palace also have 2 other left footed RW's under the age of 20 who are extremely highly rated so his chances of getting game time would be at their optimum with us over both and we have the best training facilities in Europe, pay significantly more than our rivals and are based about 30 miles down the road, although Ebiowi has been based in London in his youth for several years.

[CrispinLA in Texas]

8 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...it comes down to the individual deal, but our new Training Ground does not appear to be the catalyst for young ambitious players to come here!!!

If we could not persuade a young player, playing in a position that we desperately needed to fill, who plays for a club just down the road, to come here, then we are in real trouble.

  Southampton not too long ago had the knack of finding talent, selling, and great recruitment. We may have decided to tap into this too late, and now we seem preoccupied with dealing with them.

  I wonder if Ebiowei, going to Palace pushes Olise down the food chain?

Maybe it's got to do with the manager, Vieira seems like a genuine guy and some players may think they can improve and learn from him. Plus he'll probably go to a massive club in the future and he may be tempted to take some talent with him

[foxinsocks]

21 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...it comes down to the individual deal, but our new Training Ground does not appear to be the catalyst for young ambitious players to come here!!!

If we could not persuade a young player, playing in a position that we desperately needed to fill, who plays for a club just down the road, to come here, then we are in real trouble.

  Southampton not too long ago had the knack of finding talent, selling, and great recruitment. We may have decided to tap into this too late, and now we seem preoccupied with dealing with them.

  I wonder if Ebiowei, going to Palace pushes Olise down the food chain?

It could be that kids dont see a route into the first team.

[coolhandfox]

10 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

I suspect he's turning Utd down as the chances of 1st team football there are non existent. They paid £20-30m for Amad Traore in his position and he's played about twice.

 

Yet Palace also have 2 other left footed RW's under the age of 20 who are extremely highly rated so his chances of getting game time would be at their optimum with us over both and we have the best training facilities in Europe, pay significantly more than our rivals and are based about 30 miles down the road, although Ebiowi has been based in London in his youth for several years.

London is a massive pull for some people. I have no idea why but than again I've never lived there on footballers money.

 

I wasn't have a go by the way, I just think these thing aren't as simple as they seem.

[Pliskin]

Shameful….. Andros Townsend it is. 
 

[Jobyfox]

Bit of a meltdown on here, which seems premature. 

 

Ebiowei may well be a promising player, but I don't think our transfer window will be defined by failing to sign a Derby County squad player 

[cropstonfox]

24 minutes ago, CrispinLA in Texas said:

Maybe it's got to do with the manager, Vieira seems like a genuine guy and some players may think they can improve and learn from him. Plus he'll probably go to a massive club in the future and he may be tempted to take some talent with him

Or maybe Arsenal instead

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, Jobyfox said:

Bit of a meltdown on here, which seems premature. 

 

Ebiowei may well be a promising player, but I don't think our transfer window will be defined by failing to sign a Derby County squad player 

The meltdown is because its a type of player we seem so uninterested in bringing in. Extremely young players with potential but very much unproven. We seem to have decided it's not worth our time but it's an area that has huge gains for teams aspiring to be like we are and I think we're missing a trick. Especially in light of how difficult we seem to find recruitment in and out of the club in recent years. 

 

Our model of buying low and selling high is also slowing down a lot and in a year or two the club may well look back and wonder what's gone wrong and why our rivals seem to have that conveyor belt going nicely and it'll be opting not to tap in to the bargain signings of the likes of Olise, Ebiowi etc.

[moore_94]

2 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

The meltdown is because its a type of player we seem so uninterested in bringing in. Extremely young players with potential but very much unproven. We seem to have decided it's not worth our time but it's an area that has huge gains for teams aspiring to be like we are and I think we're missing a trick. Especially in light of how difficult we seem to find recruitment in and out of the club in recent years. 

 

Our model of buying low and selling high is also slowing down a lot and in a year or two the club may well look back and wonder what's gone wrong and why our rivals seem to have that conveyor belt going nicely and it'll be opting not to tap in to the bargain signings of the likes of Olise, Ebiowi etc.

I would say it is at least a bit unfair on the club to say we are uninterested when you consider that in the last year or so we have signed: Richards, Popov, Grist, Hughes, Lindsay, Lewis, Young

 

All of which we have beaten other premier league teams to sign with us paying decent fees for some and "poaching" others

 

We get regularly linked with decent youth / young players as well, we aren't always going to be able to pick up every single one

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

2 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

I would say it is at least a bit unfair on the club to say we are uninterested when you consider that in the last year or so we have signed: Richards, Popov, Grist, Hughes, Lindsay, Lewis, Young

 

All of which we have beaten other premier league teams to sign with us paying decent fees for some and "poaching" others

 

We get regularly linked with decent youth / young players as well, we aren't always going to be able to pick up every single one

@Ric Flair 🤝 meltdowns about youth players

[sacreblueits442]

32 minutes ago, foxinsocks said:

It could be that kids dont see a route into the first team.

....if he looked across the way, he would see a team who is crying out for a player in his position!!!

He would be guaranteed a pathway here, look who he is up against.

[Ric Flair]

7 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

I would say it is at least a bit unfair on the club to say we are uninterested when you consider that in the last year or so we have signed: Richards, Popov, Grist, Hughes, Lindsay, Lewis, Young

 

All of which we have beaten other premier league teams to sign with us paying decent fees for some and "poaching" others

 

We get regularly linked with decent youth / young players as well, we aren't always going to be able to pick up every single one

We are so half hearted at it though, there's no significant resource put aside for it which surprises me given the new training ground ethos and who's been brought in to mastermind it. The majority of those you quote were released on frees, which I'm not immediately saying equates to them being pony but we seldom are willing to invest.

 

Mind you, the sorts of players I'm moaning about aren't really academy players but investments at reasonable fees whom are progressed via loans or straight to the fringes of our 1st team and then either cashed in on to keep the conveyor belt running or improve our 1st team and its extremely money well spent.

 

I think it's an angle we are missing out on, there's no denying it.

[moore_94]

13 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

We are so half hearted at it though, there's no significant resource put aside for it which surprises me given the new training ground ethos and who's been brought in to mastermind it. The majority of those you quote were released on frees, which I'm not immediately saying equates to them being pony but we seldom are willing to invest.

 

Mind you, the sorts of players I'm moaning about aren't really academy players but investments at reasonable fees whom are progressed via loans or straight to the fringes of our 1st team and then either cashed in on to keep the conveyor belt running or improve our 1st team and its extremely money well spent.

 

I think it's an angle we are missing out on, there's no denying it.

Supposedly spent a decent amount on Richards didn't we? and I think Grist and Young were decent fees as well as we also beat Man Utd and Chelsea to them

 

The ones we picked up on frees were still also being courted by plenty of top level sides, I imagine there is plenty of youngsters we miss out on that we just don't hear about because it is just the nature of that aspect of the transfer market

 

Ebiowei would've been a free... 

 

You can at least see there has been a bit of shift in the way our youth recruiting is operated, it won't be a complete change so quickly, hopefully Glover coming in will give it a bit more of a kick as well

 

With the sales of Sowah and Knight last season, possibly selling players like Iversen, Wright, Hirst etc. this season, we have probably brought in more than most Prem clubs (excluding big 6) from that kind of process, it takes a few years for it to turn around

Edited 22 June 2022 by moore_94

[ALC Fox]

1 hour ago, Lambert09 said:

In the Frank Lampard sense of  having near identical seasons every year? 

In the sense of transforming an aging squad with exciting talent who can keep them competitive while also being assets that could net them big sums of cash in the future. In the sense of hiring a talented manager whose better days are ahead of him. And in the sense of changing their style of play and not being in any way close to a relegation battle, unlike the time they replaced Sam Allardyce with Frank De Boer.

 

The way Palace have gone about their business in the above ways has been pretty impressive in my opinion. They're creating a platform for themselves to be competitive in the future and remain a Premier League side for many years. Being a London club and all the attraction that brings, that bodes very, very well for them.

[Ric Flair]

8 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

Supposedly spent a decent amount on Richards didn't we? and I think Grist and Young were decent fees as well as we also beat Man Utd and Chelsea to them

 

The ones we picked up on frees were still also being courted by plenty of top level sides, I imagine there is plenty of youngsters we miss out on that we just don't hear about because it is just the nature of that aspect of the transfer market

 

Ebiowei would've been a free... 

 

You can at least see there has been a bit of shift in the way our youth recruiting is operated, it won't be a complete change so quickly, hopefully Glover coming in will give it a bit more of a kick as well

 

With the sales of Sowah and Knight last season, possibly selling players like Iversen, Wright, Hirst etc. this season, we have probably brought in more than most Prem clubs (excluding big 6) from that kind of process, it takes a few years for it to turn around

Richards, Grist and Young cost a combined total of about £1.1m.

 

Ebiowi won't be free as he's only 19, they'll get a couple of million at tribunal unless a fee is agreed.

 

That's what i mean though, we actually do OK at selling the players who are too old for our academy and I think we should look to do it more, it's a massive money maker / 1st team talent pool to increase our chances from. It's what I envisaged this state of the art training ground would be part of.

[moore_94]

8 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Richards, Grist and Young cost a combined total of about £1.1m.

 

Ebiowi won't be free as he's only 19, they'll get a couple of million at tribunal unless a fee is agreed.

 

That's what i mean though, we actually do OK at selling the players who are too old for our academy and I think we should look to do it more, it's a massive money maker / 1st team talent pool to increase our chances from. It's what I envisaged this state of the art training ground would be part of.

I don't think Derby would actually get that much for him as he has only been there for 1 year - Derby also can't offer him a contract either

 

I think if you are look at our current youth system there is quite a bit of decent talent in there that down the line could definitely be sold for decent fees

 

Players we bring in probably need to be at the club for minimum 3 years before we get to the point of looking to sell them on though, it is a long process, we have only been in the training ground for 18 months

Edited 22 June 2022 by moore_94

[Collymore]

I remember writing to MON with a shortlist of players from the Dutch league as there used to be random games on Channel 5.

 

He actually wrote back thanking me saying he'd consider my input! Never signed any of them mind! 

[Jobyfox]

2 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

The meltdown is because its a type of player we seem so uninterested in bringing in. Extremely young players with potential but very much unproven. We seem to have decided it's not worth our time but it's an area that has huge gains for teams aspiring to be like we are and I think we're missing a trick. Especially in light of how difficult we seem to find recruitment in and out of the club in recent years. 

 

Our model of buying low and selling high is also slowing down a lot and in a year or two the club may well look back and wonder what's gone wrong and why our rivals seem to have that conveyor belt going nicely and it'll be opting not to tap in to the bargain signings of the likes of Olise, Ebiowi etc.

It's a balance though isn't it? Everyone remembers the one you could have got cheaply, but got away. Few recall the numerous ones, with great potential, who were signed by rivals, but were never heard from again. 

 

I was more commenting, though, on the window itself. We won't know whether it's a successful one until the end. For me I rate a transfer window firstly on whether the first choice eleven has been improved. If that fails then I rate it by whether the squad has been improved - in quality and not quantity. 

 

The last summer window was our worst since 2016. Our first X1 was no better. We did get 3 players who helped squad depth, but also two who did nothing other than drain our resources. I'd rather have 2-3 signings that really improve our quality than 11 who just fill up squad places. 

 

Early doors yet, but missing out on Ebiowei? Admittedly he's not a player I know an awful lot about, but surely one where there must be some doubt currently on whether he can consistently step up to PL level. Of course, if he turns out to be the next Messi there will be a queue forming to shout about the fact we didn't get him. If he just fades into the background and doesn't make it - few will remember this thread 

[mozartfox]

Ground control to the Recruitment Team - turn your engines on please.

[Ric Flair]

8 hours ago, Jobyfox said:

It's a balance though isn't it? Everyone remembers the one you could have got cheaply, but got away. Few recall the numerous ones, with great potential, who were signed by rivals, but were never heard from again. 

 

I was more commenting, though, on the window itself. We won't know whether it's a successful one until the end. For me I rate a transfer window firstly on whether the first choice eleven has been improved. If that fails then I rate it by whether the squad has been improved - in quality and not quantity. 

 

The last summer window was our worst since 2016. Our first X1 was no better. We did get 3 players who helped squad depth, but also two who did nothing other than drain our resources. I'd rather have 2-3 signings that really improve our quality than 11 who just fill up squad places. 

 

Early doors yet, but missing out on Ebiowei? Admittedly he's not a player I know an awful lot about, but surely one where there must be some doubt currently on whether he can consistently step up to PL level. Of course, if he turns out to be the next Messi there will be a queue forming to shout about the fact we didn't get him. If he just fades into the background and doesn't make it - few will remember this thread 

You are right in a lot of what you say but given the issues we have coming our way with a rebuild happening whether we like it or not over the next year or so, we need to give ourselves as many possible angles in to the rebuild and financing our attempts to remain as a top 10 club chasing trophies and Europe.

 

In my eyes the most obvious way to do this is buy low and sell high as much as possible and that the conveyor belt of recruitment and selling certain players is at its optimum. Young talented players but very unproven at very low fees like Ebiowi are just a no brainer to collect and either challenge the 1st team or loan them out and then if they are good enough to improve us great, if not then move them on for a profit and repeat.

 

Currently there's absolutely no traction in this, we've slowed our process down significantly and I think we're in danger of running in to huge problems. We've a perfect storm coming of having had a huge number of successful players here for quite a long period that are either at the end of their careers (Kasper, Vardy, Schmeichel, Albrighton) or are now at a stage where they feel like they want a new challenge and are either running their contracts down because they don't want to sign a new deal or may well do that (Tielemans, Soyuncu and then next summer Ndidi, Maddison).

 

To lose those sorts of players for either nothing or a reduced fee is simply unthinkable, it's never really happened to us in this hacienda period and if and when it does its a huge issue as we a) have the monumental problem of trying to replace them which is not easy whatever the financial situation, b) replace them for knock down fees and c) have to do en masse with so many players out of contract or nearly out of contract at a time where our conveyor belt of it's and outs has slowed down in recent years and are in danger of losing our knack.

 

We need more financial flexibility to thrive, I think we've fallen in to the trap of thinking the only way to maintain what we have done is to keep the successful team together and try and buy proven players which in theory has merit but financially it's going to put a strain on things and if it doesn't bring anymore success then it's a bit of a disaster.

 

Maybe I'm just a footballing fantasist who gets more enjoyment out of what might be than what actually happens and its the same with recruitment of players, I'm at my happiest when we've potentially a steady stream of players we know very little about in the pipeline as opposed players who we see here and now who bore the shit out of me.

 

 

[Ely fox]

1 hour ago, mozartfox said:

Ground control to the Recruitment Team - turn your engines on please.

They are probably still in Ibiza 

[Jobyfox]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

You are right in a lot of what you say but given the issues we have coming our way with a rebuild happening whether we like it or not over the next year or so, we need to give ourselves as many possible angles in to the rebuild and financing our attempts to remain as a top 10 club chasing trophies and Europe.

 

In my eyes the most obvious way to do this is buy low and sell high as much as possible and that the conveyor belt of recruitment and selling certain players is at its optimum. Young talented players but very unproven at very low fees like Ebiowi are just a no brainer to collect and either challenge the 1st team or loan them out and then if they are good enough to improve us great, if not then move them on for a profit and repeat.

 

Currently there's absolutely no traction in this, we've slowed our process down significantly and I think we're in danger of running in to huge problems. We've a perfect storm coming of having had a huge number of successful players here for quite a long period that are either at the end of their careers (Kasper, Vardy, Schmeichel, Albrighton) or are now at a stage where they feel like they want a new challenge and are either running their contracts down because they don't want to sign a new deal or may well do that (Tielemans, Soyuncu and then next summer Ndidi, Maddison).

 

To lose those sorts of players for either nothing or a reduced fee is simply unthinkable, it's never really happened to us in this hacienda period and if and when it does its a huge issue as we a) have the monumental problem of trying to replace them which is not easy whatever the financial situation, b) replace them for knock down fees and c) have to do en masse with so many players out of contract or nearly out of contract at a time where our conveyor belt of it's and outs has slowed down in recent years and are in danger of losing our knack.

 

We need more financial flexibility to thrive, I think we've fallen in to the trap of thinking the only way to maintain what we have done is to keep the successful team together and try and buy proven players which in theory has merit but financially it's going to put a strain on things and if it doesn't bring anymore success then it's a bit of a disaster.

 

Maybe I'm just a footballing fantasist who gets more enjoyment out of what might be than what actually happens and its the same with recruitment of players, I'm at my happiest when we've potentially a steady stream of players we know very little about in the pipeline as opposed players who we see here and now who bore the shit out of me.

 

 

To be honest there isn’t much to disagree with there. Big clubs, or big thinking clubs, do fill their academies with emerging players. They also have multiple players out on loan at any time. It’s hard to compete with those clubs hoovering up all the best talent so, when the opportunity arises, why not take it? Especially when we’ve supposedly got world class training facilities. I get it! 
 

I’m just not sure we should be rating the success of this transfer window by focussing on our failure to recruit one player, although I’m aware that you’re more erudite than most posters in terms of awareness of developing talent. I can’t claim any insight here and, for all I know, Palace might have an absolute bargain. 
 

I’m also not sure it’s totally fair to say we don’t recruit young players with the view of developing them. Justin, Fofana, Tielemans, Soyuncu, Benkovic, Soumare and Daka have all been recruited in their relative youth with a view to developing them for the first team. Admittedly, there isn’t so much evidence of signing players in their absolute youth (16-18). 
 

I’m as worried as the next man (or woman) about our slow start to the transfer window and our lack of apparent strategy, but I’ll only make a final call on its success at 11pm on September 1st. I’m still hoping that it will be better than 2016 and 2021 …. but we shall see …