Rodgers opens up on Leicester City transfer struggles but 'won't go to war' with club

[davieG]

Just now, NaijaFox said:

Except that other teams (including some below us, also not burdened with European engagements) have improved while we stood still..

On the face of it yes but with our injured players back we have in practice an improved squad on last year.

 

no one's saying we shouldn't improve the squad but there's no logical reason to think, with our returning injured players we can't match last years 8th spot. 

[Dusty]

I agree that lots of the teams around us have appeared to make some strong signings. But I don’t think many of them would walk into our team, or is that just me? We still have some level of players that just can’t be matched by the clubs around us, Jonny, fofana, Youri, madders and Vardy being the key ones imo.

 

We need some signings, we can all see that, and I think we’ll get them. I reckon 3 strong signings through the door and we can do well again this season. 

[LinekersLugs]

2 minutes ago, Dusty said:

I agree that lots of the teams around us have appeared to make some strong signings. But I don’t think many of them would walk into our team, or is that just me? We still have some level of players that just can’t be matched by the clubs around us, Jonny, fofana, Youri, madders and Vardy being the key ones imo.

 

We need some signings, we can all see that, and I think we’ll get them. I reckon 3 strong signings through the door and we can do well again this season. 

Madders blows hot and cold .. vardy can’t do 20+ games starting, Fofana is world class, Jonny is older than my Nan and Youri is on his way out either now or running down to a free transfer (and those guys never bust a gut for the cause) 

 

all in all We desperately need fresh blood to pick up the atmosphere and show show spark 

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

Yet Peul with the same squad was looking at a bottom half finish when he got through boot.

 

If you can't see he not improve players, think you are a little be blinkered by you dislike of him.

 

 

Works both ways that.

[StanSP]

20 minutes ago, LinekersLugs said:

Madders blows hot and cold

Literally just come off a season of being in the best form where he was about 90% hot

 

[Simoken]

54 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

I was going to reply to a few posts and then left it. Some of the deluded, hysterical nonsense on here is worth of Spurs or Arsenal fans. 

Been calling it the day after we won the league. its becoming our downfall, think id of prefered to come second if i knew how entitled it would be here. Much worse than Arsenal at least they have a past standard and history to aim for.. while we have.. pretty much nothing but a freak season. truth hurts

 

Edited 19 July 2022 by Simoken

[FLINTHAMFC]

1 hour ago, An Sionnach said:

Bit harsh, football fans rarely agree with each other. None of us are completely right and only the brain dead are completely wrong. Rodgers though is not really divisive , he is just very difficult to understand. We have 900 pages of trying to read him and we are still nowhere near.

Stop trying then. In reality what does it matter? If you could read him what difference to your life would that make. 

[Matt]

1 hour ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

I was going to reply to a few posts and then left it. Some of the deluded, hysterical nonsense on here is worth of Spurs or Arsenal fans. 

The irony is we used to take the piss out of them for their comments on how they played, now we try* and play like it.

 

Atleast we always win on possession.

[smudgerfox]

32 minutes ago, Simoken said:

Been calling it the day after we won the league. its becoming our downfall, think id of prefered to come second if i knew how entitled it would be here. 

 

We certainly would have come second with some of the attitudes on here! What right do we have to beat Man City with their financial turnover? Or Chelsea with their squad size? Or Liverpool with their history ? Surely a Europa League place was all we had a right to expect ….cancel Bocelli  and the bus top tour - forget Champions League QF - that’s not for us. Sell Vardy and Schmeichel - they’re too good for us - let Mahrez go just when he wants. Let us take our place in mid table - until we get relegated.

[Bordersfox]

1 hour ago, Simoken said:

Been calling it the day after we won the league. its becoming our downfall, think id of prefered to come second if i knew how entitled it would be here. Much worse than Arsenal at least they have a past standard and history to aim for.. while we have.. pretty much nothing but a freak season. truth hurts

 

I actually feel really sorry for any football supporter that can write this about their own club.  There are so many great things about this club, not least one of the most remarkable title wins in the history of the league. 

 

To state you'd have preferred us to come second and that we have nothing to our names but a freak season? It's simply the flip side of the entitlement coin.

 

But well done for calling it straight after our greatest ever season rather than basking for a moment in the sun like the rest of us.  

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, Simoken said:

Been calling it the day after we won the league. its becoming our downfall, think id of prefered to come second if i knew how entitled it would be here. Much worse than Arsenal at least they have a past standard and history to aim for.. while we have.. pretty much nothing but a freak season. truth hurts

 

Nobody is "entitled". It's just expectation.

 

I see all the time how amazing our club is. Local media say it, National media say it.

"Amazing owners", "good manager", "great squad", "amazing training facilities", all coupled with a ground expansion. And that's why people expect. It's nothing to do with "being entitled". I would argue the most "entitled" fanbases are the top 6 anyway.

 

Arsenal have a great history, so do Liverpool, so do Man Utd. But what do you think Chelsea and Man City do? They don't sit back and do nothing because they haven't got decent history. They try and make history.

 

We had a "freak season", which is direspectful if I'm being honest, but we also have an okay history. Leeds are made out to be this massive club yet they've only won one more trophy than us and haven't won anything in 30 years. In the last 6 years we've won the league, the FA Cup and played in Europe. We aren't this average club that people try and make us out to be just to defend Rodgers/.

[Simoken]

3 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Nobody is "entitled". It's just expectation.

 

I see all the time how amazing our club is. Local media say it, National media say it.

"Amazing owners", "good manager", "great squad", "amazing training facilities", all coupled with a ground expansion. And that's why people expect. It's nothing to do with "being entitled". I would argue the most "entitled" fanbases are the top 6 anyway.

 

Arsenal have a great history, so do Liverpool, so do Man Utd. But what do you think Chelsea and Man City do? They don't sit back and do nothing because they haven't got decent history. They try and make history.

 

We had a "freak season", which is direspectful if I'm being honest, but we also have an okay history. Leeds are made out to be this massive club yet they've only won one more trophy than us and haven't won anything in 30 years. In the last 6 years we've won the league, the FA Cup and played in Europe. We aren't this average club that people try and make us out to be just to defend Rodgers/.

If you thought that was disrespectful, try reading comments from the a few that blame Top and his dad

Edited 19 July 2022 by Simoken

[Fox92]

3 minutes ago, Simoken said:

If you thought that was disrespectful, try reading comments from the a few that blame Top and his dad

I'm not comparing. I'm fed up of people pretending we're a club like Wigan and just came from nowhere to win something. We've been a stable first division/second division club since 1884 with only one season in the third tier.

 

 

[RonnieTodger]

Using “a European semi final” to surmise that last season went pretty well is a bit disingenuous. The Europa League was a disaster again. 
 

In hindsight, I’m glad we finished third because of the trips I went on in the UECL and it extended our run in Europe, but we were only in it because we were dumped out of a group we should’ve qualified easily from. 

[Ric Flair]

4 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

Using “a European semi final” to surmise that last season went pretty well is a bit disingenuous. The Europa League was a disaster again. 
 

In hindsight, I’m glad we finished third because of the trips I went on in the UECL and it extended our run in Europe, but we were only in it because we were dumped out of a group we should’ve qualified easily from. 

Exactly, it's very similar to claiming winning League One was a successful moment in the clubs history. It was one of my most enjoyable seasons and obviously Pearson helped shape the early green shoots of recovery thst eventually has led us to where we are but we should never have been there in the first place. 

[davieG]

7 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Exactly, it's very similar to claiming winning League One was a successful moment in the clubs history. It was one of my most enjoyable seasons and obviously Pearson helped shape the early green shoots of recovery thst eventually has led us to where we are but we should never have been there in the first place. 

Yeah I've never understood the way it's held up as an achievement, I was amazed when it was on the front cover of an Of Fossils and Foxes book. It's our lowest ever finish since 1884.

[CosbehFox]

2 hours ago, Matt said:

The irony is we used to take the piss out of them for their comments on how they played, now we try* and play like it.

 

Atleast we always win on possession.

I divide the two issues. Rodgers deserves criticism for playing style at times. He doesn't deserve criticism for his overall performance here. He's overachieved; we simply shouldn't be competing with the top six. 

Edited 19 July 2022 by Cardiff_Fox

[Finnegan]

13 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

I divide the two issues. Rodgers deserves criticism for playing style at times. He doesn't deserve criticism for his overall performance here. He's overachieved; we simply shouldn't be competing with the top six. 

 

It doesn't matter how many times I hear this I don't think it'll stop irritating me a little. 

 

The club has over achieved, I'm not entirely sure Brendan Rodgers has. 

 

The two years we finished fifth, our squad deserved it on merit. We had a good side and a lot of the bigger clubs in the league were struggling. United and Arsenal in particular had poor squads, Chelsea in 19/20 were obviously going through a difficult time. 

 

19/20 you'd have a good claim I think to say we had possibly the third best starting 11 in the league and we kept it fit for a lot of the year. 

 

The club was punching above its weight in terms of its spend vs its league position but this is an over achievement that a lot of people deserve credit for, in particular the people responsible for our recruitment but also the academy staff that go really under appreciated on here for the contributions of our own raised players. 

 

I wouldn't for a moment suggest Rodgers has UNDER achieved, even last year I think we don't fully appreciate how honking our side is without Evans, Fofana and Vardy for such a stretch and we still finished top half. 

 

I'd agree he doesn't deserve criticism for his net results but not because he's over achieved but because he's delivered par and it seems ridiculous demanding more than that. 

 

Edited 19 July 2022 by Finnegan

[CosbehFox]

47 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

It doesn't matter how many times I hear this I don't think it'll stop irritating me a little. 

 

The club has over achieved, I'm not entirely sure Brendan Rodgers has. 

 

The two years we finished fifth, our squad deserved it on merit. We had a good side and a lot of the bigger clubs in the league were struggling. United and Arsenal in particular had poor squads, Chelsea in 19/20 were obviously going through a difficult time. 

 

19/20 you'd have a good claim I think to say we had possibly the third best starting 11 in the league and we kept it fit for a lot of the year. 

 

The club was punching above its weight in terms of its spend vs its league position but this is an over achievement that a lot of people deserve credit for, in particular the people responsible for our recruitment but also the academy staff that go really under appreciated on here for the contributions of our own raised players. 

 

I wouldn't for a moment suggest Rodgers has UNDER achieved, even last year I think we don't fully appreciate how honking our side is without Evans, Fofana and Vardy for such a stretch and we still finished top half. 

 

I'd agree he doesn't deserve criticism for his net results but not because he's over achieved but because he's delivered par and it seems ridiculous demanding more than that. 

 

On the metric of budget he's overachieved and stretched the club into a point it can't sustain without some proper infrastructure work. That's my point. 

 

Rodgers himself took a mid-table side and with very little addition, had them fifth in the league. There were no signs when Puel was here that the squad could achieve - I did a comparison elsewhere between Puel's last game and the start of the next season with Rodgers; very little had changed. I get the point when it goes wrong, it goes very wrong. 

 

It's also largely forgotten that 19/20 - the literal rules of the game changed with five subs and a game every three to four days. As a result Manchester United were unbeaten in their last fourteen games. 20/21 saw Liverpool finish with 26 points out of 30. 

 

I think your summary is fair. I am baffled that I've seen the claim that we should be in and around the top six and a failure to do so Rodgers should be sacked. 

Edited 19 July 2022 by Cardiff_Fox

[Finnegan]

13 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Rodgers himself took a mid-table side and with very little addition, had them fifth in the league. There were no signs when Puel was here that the squad could achieve - I did a comparison elsewhere between Puel's last game and the start of the next season with Rodgers; very little had changed

 

For me this is just a reflection of how extremely poor Puel was. 

 

That said, Puel got only a few games out of Tielemans before his sacking and even then he was not up to speed. 

 

YT in good form is a massive part of what made the 19/20 side so good. Man City were probably the only team in the league that could best a midfield three of Maddison, Tielemans and Ndidi when the three of them absolutely clicked. That was Ndidi at his absolute best, Tielemans running the show and the best we've seen Madders play at 8.

 

All of that is a credit to Rodgers, sure, but equally they are also superb footballers anyway. He may have taken us to our highest ever Premier League finishes (besides the obvious) but as I've said before, he's also got the best squad we've ever had. 

[Guest Col city fan]

Are we now the only top flight team in Europe to have had zero transfer activity (in or out)?

[coolhandfox]

41 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

For me this is just a reflection of how extremely poor Puel was. 

 

That said, Puel got only a few games out of Tielemans before his sacking and even then he was not up to speed. 

 

YT in good form is a massive part of what made the 19/20 side so good. Man City were probably the only team in the league that could best a midfield three of Maddison, Tielemans and Ndidi when the three of them absolutely clicked. That was Ndidi at his absolute best, Tielemans running the show and the best we've seen Madders play at 8.

 

All of that is a credit to Rodgers, sure, but equally they are also superb footballers anyway. He may have taken us to our highest ever Premier League finishes (besides the obvious) but as I've said before, he's also got the best squad we've ever had. 

Still think our biggest mistake was not to strengthen in the 19/20 winter window.

 

1 signing could have pushed us over the line.

[HankMarvin]

15 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Are we now the only top flight team in Europe to have had zero transfer activity (in or out)?

There has been activity out

it just hasn’t involved fees

 

Departures

Eldin Jakupovic (Released) 

Vontae Daley-Campbell (Released) 

Callum Hulme (Released) 

Will Russ (Released) 

Tyrese Shade (Released) 

Jacob Wakeling (Released)

[TJQuik]

10 hours ago, volpeazzurro said:

I think Donald Duck should have achieved those league positions given the quality of the other squads around us and what he had available to him at those particular times.

 

It was him, his style of play, tactics, teams selections and substitutions that cost us 4th two years running. I think a number of other managers could have achieved that quite easily with what we had at the time.

 

I don't expect us to be top 6 this season due other teams strengthening over this and last year but, even with what we got, without any incomers, to flirt with relegation would be unacceptable and down to him and him alone. We still have a lot of talent if utilised correctly. For all his coaching input, I don't see many of our players having actually improved under his tutelage, on the contrary, I think some have gone the other way. His failure to address set peice issues after all this time would again tend to point to coaching failure as much as anything else. You can't just point the finger at players and ask for a new set who can just come and do it on there own, a coach has to actually do something about it. He's a legend in his own lunchtime, all fur coat and no knickers. 

I guess we should have stuck with Puel then if he would have been just as capable of getting us 5th place. Or shall we see if Mr Duck is available for the upcoming season?

[Sol thewall Bamba]

8 hours ago, davieG said:

On the face of it yes but with our injured players back we have in practice an improved squad on last year.

 

no one's saying we shouldn't improve the squad but there's no logical reason to think, with our returning injured players we can't match last years 8th spot. 

That's assuming none of our players get injured this season which they will.