Top

[Ely fox]

1 minute ago, Costock_Fox said:

Can any of them play at Centre Back or Keeper?

They have not the best ball control, but very quick running down the wing. 

[Buzzell]

2 hours ago, Spudulike said:

We wouldn't have won the Premier League if Nigel F'ing Pearson had been in charge. 

We wouldn’t of won the league if it wasn’t for Nigel F’ing Pearson.

[foxfanazer]

1 minute ago, buzzer_b said:

We wouldn’t of won the league if it wasn’t for Nigel F’ing Pearson.

Both statements are true

[inckley fox]

I'm not going to turn on the owners, though I agree with much of this criticism, and think fans should be more up front about it.

 

The club over-stretched in its commitment to Rodgers, both in the contract it gave him and the decision to break with our model last summer. Obviously fans weren't arguing with either of these moves, but neither were they privy to the club's long-term funding plan, so you wouldn't necessarily expect them to.

 

With the benefit of hindsight it seems that bad mistakes were made, and now the club is being worryingly indecisive. Are they hoping for BR to jump ship (when, in truth, with each passing day he'll be more aware that the board have to pay up, and in full, because they simply need to)? Or for things to get better? Or are they hoping that the 'right man' will come along (again, with each passing day he's less likely to want to join us)? Or even that someone will come in for BR (ALSO getting less likely by the day)?

 

But when we say 'just get rid of BR, I'd take anyone...' we're also touching on the reason why they haven't made a change. We already have a manager who, whether he's getting the results or not, is of the pedigree we'd be looking for, and would have to spend many tens of millions in acquiring (through sacking BR, paying whatever compensation there may be, and offering him the funds which any competent manager is going to say they need). To me, this run of fixtures is perfect to give the new regime a bounce. To them, it's a chance for Rodgers to save his skin, and save a fortune in the process. We may not like it, it may diminish our chances of survival, but it's an understandable decision even if their hand is effectively forced by their own errors. The manager is clearly not the right long-term option, and has thus far undermined any chance of this being a positive season, but they still see him as less of a short-term risk, on all sorts of levels, than the alternatives.

 

Part of the reason people feel so let down is that belief in the owners has always veered a bit too close to adulation. It's true that they have been very good owners. They initially pumped a lot of money into a second tier club, then made some great decisions often (as in the case of not sacking NP in early 2015, or in actually sacking him a few months later) when fans weren't in agreement.

 

In recent years, possibly as a result of mismanagement, they appear to have reached into their pockets again, though Puel and Rodgers did have a point when they said that anything above 8th/9th place represented, in relation to spending at least, over-achievement. We struggled to see that it was our owners, rather than their employees, who were the one clear and obvious reason why we couldn't establish ourselves as Champions League force. Now we're seeing, as clear as day, their imperfections - but it doesn't mean that they suddenly need to sell up. It's just a reminder that they were never as god-like as we held them to be. For instance, at varying points in time it's been commonplace on here to slate Pearson, Mahrez, Ranieri, Drinkwater - staff and players who contributed hugely to our success. But not (and I know the tragedy plays a part in this) the owners.

 

The truth is that we always overstated the role of the owners in the title win. The whole reason why that title was so exceptional was because the owners' financial contribution didn't compete with that of the top clubs. It didn't need to either because, in the first place, they had a manager and his scout (who had been here, and achieving success, long before they appeared) who were spending 400, 500K, or a million perhaps, on players that were worth 50-100+ times the fees we spent. And in the second place they found a manager who, in contrast to the entire rest of his managerial career, achieved unthinkable things with that set of players. After that, another manager came and brought success which exceeded what that degree of spending would usually deliver, even if he did a lousy job of sustaining our success (and let's not forget, on that score, that it's our club which has taken the view that a possession-based game is more sustainable, and employed managers specifically to deliver that. It's not like BR has 'gone rogue').

 

KP came in half-way through our journey from the third tier to the title, and after a few early aberrations they did a great job. But signing a 400K cheque for a player wasn't anything exceptional. The fact that a scout was able to spot that said player was really one of the best attackers in the world, on the other hand, was. And this happened again and again.

 

So I just think we can't go lurching from one extreme to the next. Unless BR turns things around very soon, we're likely to go down, and that will be a mess of the club's making. But that doesn't mean that the decisions, right up to now, are beyond comprehension and that the board needs to go; just like it doesn't mean that everything was previously immaculate.

[CrispinLA in Texas]

2 hours ago, somebum said:

Interesting to hear of parties who have done work for the club recently over the past two years.

I'm not claiming to know anybody on the inside because I don't but I've spoken to people who have sent invoices in to the club inclusive of VAT but the club then pays the full amount plus vat on top.

These were only a couple of people I spoke with who both said the same thing but my worry is that this level of incompetence is happening all across the board ... 

There is a worry that Top is too soft to make decisions vital to the business and people are taking him for a ride.

 

Could we be witnessing the plunder of our club and not being to melodramatic but also some kind of siphoning of funds? 

Wow..... if the club is paying twice the VAT on invoice bills that's incredibly stupid..... doesn't the club have a proper accounts department, surely the financial accountant/ team will know about this.

The club must have lost hundreds of millions since this is going on, most invoices do already have taxes included....why pay double🤔......unless you employ dodgy accountants!

Edited 22 September 2022 by CrispinLA in Texas

[ian__marshall]

42 minutes ago, Ely fox said:

King Power own 60 race horses 🏇 now. That’s a lot of horses. 

 

34 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

Can any of them play at Centre Back or Keeper?

Better still, can any of them manage a football team? 

[VLC86]

19 minutes ago, ian__marshall said:

 

Better still, can any of them manage a football team? 

Neighhhhh

[filbertway]

21 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Having gotten very very unnerved about how many more defeats on the spin will it take for Rodgers to go, we now need wins by hook or crook even under Brendan because our boards scandalous reluctance to get rid of him, even risking financial ruin and relegation as a consequence.

 

I'd still rather Leicester in the PL under Brendan than I would a team absolutely screwed financially but being managed by some other poor soul in a Portsmouth/Derby situation. Sadly our board are careering us towards that very possibility here if Rodgers doesn't somehow wake this team up and get results.

Im not sure. Its a tough one, because if he is here in the summer, he will have a decent say in basically building up the squad and adding 6 or 7 players.

 

It may not happen immediately but between him and Rudkin they'll muck it up horrifically and we will be set back years

 

What could have happened to Everton last season will happen to us and we will do well to survive the financial impact of it.

 

If him and Rudkin given next summer we will have a very good chance of being the next Leeds

 

On the plus side, we get to rehire Pearson for round 3!

 

......Edited to say, I'm now wondering if we would try and keep him even if he got relegated  

 

Then it's a huge battle between his business brain and ego. Keep taking the £10 million and manage in the championship, or walk away from the money.

Edited 22 September 2022 by filbertway

[CrispinLA in Texas]

7 hours ago, somebum said:

Interesting to hear of parties who have done work for the club recently over the past two years.

I'm not claiming to know anybody on the inside because I don't but I've spoken to people who have sent invoices in to the club inclusive of VAT but the club then pays the full amount plus vat on top.

These were only a couple of people I spoke with who both said the same thing but my worry is that this level of incompetence is happening all across the board ... 

There is a worry that Top is too soft to make decisions vital to the business and people are taking him for a ride.

 

Could we be witnessing the plunder of our club and not being to melodramatic but also some kind of siphoning of funds? 

Surprised nobody is discussing this.

Probably the reason Leicester city is losing money and can't balance the books. Must be costing the company millions 

Edited 22 September 2022 by CrispinLA in Texas

[Corky]

3 hours ago, filbertway said:

Im not sure. Its a tough one, because if he is here in the summer, he will have a decent say in basically building up the squad and adding 6 or 7 players.

 

It may not happen immediately but between him and Rudkin they'll muck it up horrifically and we will be set back years

 

What could have happened to Everton last season will happen to us and we will do well to survive the financial impact of it.

 

If him and Rudkin given next summer we will have a very good chance of being the next Leeds

 

On the plus side, we get to rehire Pearson for round 3!

 

......Edited to say, I'm now wondering if we would try and keep him even if he got relegated  

 

Then it's a huge battle between his business brain and ego. Keep taking the £10 million and manage in the championship, or walk away from the money.

I am starting to wonder if his nonsense about the squad not being good enough and the stuff about him not being backed is getting through to them and they are convinced it is the case, hence they don't see this situation as his fault.

 

The only explanation for him still being in place and being allowed to publicly go at whoever he likes with no comeback.

[An Sionnach]

3 hours ago, filbertway said:

Im not sure. Its a tough one, because if he is here in the summer, he will have a decent say in basically building up the squad and adding 6 or 7 players.

 

It may not happen immediately but between him and Rudkin they'll muck it up horrifically and we will be set back years

 

What could have happened to Everton last season will happen to us and we will do well to survive the financial impact of it.

 

If him and Rudkin given next summer we will have a very good chance of being the next Leeds

 

On the plus side, we get to rehire Pearson for round 3!

 

......Edited to say, I'm now wondering if we would try and keep him even if he got relegated  

 

Then it's a huge battle between his business brain and ego. Keep taking the £10 million and manage in the championship, or walk away from the money.

If he is here in the summer having persisted with his idiot tactics he will need about 20 new players for the Championship. Not many of our players are going to accept contract renegotiation for playing in the second tier. The board could instruct him to change his redundant game plans , they are his employers. If he refuses to do that then they may say he is in breach of contract. No manager and I mean no manager should have 100% control of a football team.

[StanSP]

5 hours ago, foxfanazer said:

Emotions are understandably high and people are quite entitled to wonder what the fuch is going on. Out of respect for Vichai more than anything let's not resort to any personal insults towards Top. Stay classy people 

Gone past that already. Some people can't help themselves, or can't help but resort to abusiveness even if they may have a valid opinion about what he does/doesn't do. 

[foxfanazer]

5 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Gone past that already. Some people can't help themselves, or can't help but resort to abusiveness even if they may have a valid opinion about what he does/doesn't do. 

It's a shame because as you said he's definitely not above criticism but to personally attack him shits on the memory of everything his family and he himself has done for our club. I'd like to think the majority of people don't really feel a bad way towards him 

[Guest ttfn]

5 hours ago, inckley fox said:

I'm not going to turn on the owners, though I agree with much of this criticism, and think fans should be more up front about it.

 

The club over-stretched in its commitment to Rodgers, both in the contract it gave him and the decision to break with our model last summer. Obviously fans weren't arguing with either of these moves, but neither were they privy to the club's long-term funding plan, so you wouldn't necessarily expect them to.

 

With the benefit of hindsight it seems that bad mistakes were made, and now the club is being worryingly indecisive. Are they hoping for BR to jump ship (when, in truth, with each passing day he'll be more aware that the board have to pay up, and in full, because they simply need to)? Or for things to get better? Or are they hoping that the 'right man' will come along (again, with each passing day he's less likely to want to join us)? Or even that someone will come in for BR (ALSO getting less likely by the day)?

 

But when we say 'just get rid of BR, I'd take anyone...' we're also touching on the reason why they haven't made a change. We already have a manager who, whether he's getting the results or not, is of the pedigree we'd be looking for, and would have to spend many tens of millions in acquiring (through sacking BR, paying whatever compensation there may be, and offering him the funds which any competent manager is going to say they need). To me, this run of fixtures is perfect to give the new regime a bounce. To them, it's a chance for Rodgers to save his skin, and save a fortune in the process. We may not like it, it may diminish our chances of survival, but it's an understandable decision even if their hand is effectively forced by their own errors. The manager is clearly not the right long-term option, and has thus far undermined any chance of this being a positive season, but they still see him as less of a short-term risk, on all sorts of levels, than the alternatives.

 

Part of the reason people feel so let down is that belief in the owners has always veered a bit too close to adulation. It's true that they have been very good owners. They initially pumped a lot of money into a second tier club, then made some great decisions often (as in the case of not sacking NP in early 2015, or in actually sacking him a few months later) when fans weren't in agreement.

 

In recent years, possibly as a result of mismanagement, they appear to have reached into their pockets again, though Puel and Rodgers did have a point when they said that anything above 8th/9th place represented, in relation to spending at least, over-achievement. We struggled to see that it was our owners, rather than their employees, who were the one clear and obvious reason why we couldn't establish ourselves as Champions League force. Now we're seeing, as clear as day, their imperfections - but it doesn't mean that they suddenly need to sell up. It's just a reminder that they were never as god-like as we held them to be. For instance, at varying points in time it's been commonplace on here to slate Pearson, Mahrez, Ranieri, Drinkwater - staff and players who contributed hugely to our success. But not (and I know the tragedy plays a part in this) the owners.

 

The truth is that we always overstated the role of the owners in the title win. The whole reason why that title was so exceptional was because the owners' financial contribution didn't compete with that of the top clubs. It didn't need to either because, in the first place, they had a manager and his scout (who had been here, and achieving success, long before they appeared) who were spending 400, 500K, or a million perhaps, on players that were worth 50-100+ times the fees we spent. And in the second place they found a manager who, in contrast to the entire rest of his managerial career, achieved unthinkable things with that set of players. After that, another manager came and brought success which exceeded what that degree of spending would usually deliver, even if he did a lousy job of sustaining our success (and let's not forget, on that score, that it's our club which has taken the view that a possession-based game is more sustainable, and employed managers specifically to deliver that. It's not like BR has 'gone rogue').

 

KP came in half-way through our journey from the third tier to the title, and after a few early aberrations they did a great job. But signing a 400K cheque for a player wasn't anything exceptional. The fact that a scout was able to spot that said player was really one of the best attackers in the world, on the other hand, was. And this happened again and again.

 

So I just think we can't go lurching from one extreme to the next. Unless BR turns things around very soon, we're likely to go down, and that will be a mess of the club's making. But that doesn't mean that the decisions, right up to now, are beyond comprehension and that the board needs to go; just like it doesn't mean that everything was previously immaculate.

Paragraph about the title win is bang on. The whole reason it was so amazing is we won the league with a lower-mid-table budget. 

[somebum]

1 hour ago, CrispinLA in Texas said:

Surprised nobody is discussing this.

Probably the reason Leicester city is losing money and can't balance the books. Must be costing the company millions 

Hopefully it was just two random people with identical stories...but that doesn't seem very plausible to me

 

[SkidsFox]

11 hours ago, Tanya said:

What on earth is Top doing?!

He's laid off some bets (via anonymous stooges) that means he earns mega bucks the longer Brendan stays as manager. We can look forward to some big signings in January!

[Matt]

It's gonna take more than a free beer to win people back over this debacle.

[hackneyfox]

3 hours ago, somebum said:

Hopefully it was just two random people with identical stories...but that doesn't seem very plausible to me

 

I don’t work in an accounts office but I have received bills during my life.

I have never assumed that VAT wasn’t included and then paid 20% extra, why would someone who does the job professionally.

Think you’ve been told porkies.

[Gazza M]

He can add our impressive run under Brendan to the championship to the montage video pre-match soon.  

[AyewJoking]

Hand over the reigns or sell the club

 

 

 

 

 

[marbles]

9 hours ago, Matt said:

It's gonna take more than a free beer to win people back over this debacle.

We call those people “bandwagon fans” - only around when things are great.  
 

Be careful.  People have been known to hurt themselves jumping on and off

[somebum]

9 hours ago, hackneyfox said:

I don’t work in an accounts office but I have received bills during my life.

I have never assumed that VAT wasn’t included and then paid 20% extra, why would someone who does the job professionally.

Think you’ve been told porkies.

No I very much doubt that mate, you don't know these people in any way, I do, but believe what you like.

[Guest TaggertvsWise]

18 hours ago, CrispinLA in Texas said:

Wow..... if the club is paying twice the VAT on invoice bills that's incredibly stupid..... doesn't the club have a proper accounts department, surely the financial accountant/ team will know about this.

The club must have lost hundreds of millions since this is going on, most invoices do already have taxes included....why pay double🤔......unless you employ dodgy accountants!

Don’t get you knickers in a twist over this. It definitely would not happen. Let’s end this rumour.

[Pedro02]

Can’t believe some of the negative comments in this thread towards Top! Like, really? 

[Happy Fox]

21 minutes ago, Pedro02 said:

Can’t believe some of the negative comments in this thread towards Top! Like, really? 

He should be held accountable for what’s going on. He either backs Rodgers or sacks Rodgers no middle ground which seems to be the case and it’s just stagnating the whole club and fans, and we are plummeting towards a relegation battle. Top needs to bite the bullet and wake up to our reality. You cannot stand still in the premier league and it feels like we have been for sometime.

Edited 23 September 2022 by Happy Fox