RADICAL New Idea for Saturday

[Saxondale]

Lads, I’ve got a bit of a mad new idea for Saturday. It’s a bit of a new one, and it’s going to be a struggle to get it to catch on. The idea is so left field that people are going to take some serious convincing. 

 

Hear me out: Why don’t we actually cheer the team on? You know, give them a bit of encouragement?

 

In all seriousness, we KNOW the side plays better when the crowd is bouncing. This is how momentum builds. Yes, it is a chicken / egg situation: the crowd is bouncing when the team is playing well and vice versa. When we won the league, the crowd was unbelievable every week and the team felt unbeatable. They were unbeatable. Which came first? IT DOESN’T MATTER.

 

Furthermore, professional players will openly say that they play better when the crowd is behind them. They will also explain how when the crowd is on their back, they freeze up and are frightened to play with any creativity and expression for fear of making any mistakes.

 

Look at Barnes: he can’t hit a barn door at the moment. It’s absolutely obvious what’s going on - he’s a confidence player. He goes on runs of being amazing, then being erratic; it exactly mirrors how the team is doing and how the crowd is behaving.

 

We as the fan base need to do our bit to break the cycle of negativity. With the current sour atmosphere, we could have Messi and Mbappe in the side and we’d still lose. If you were a player and your own fans were jeering and booing you, would you want to play for them? I wouldn’t.

 

We also need to dispel a few misconceptions. The “forward, quicker” mob need to have a word with themselves. We’re not Wimbledon in 1995 and - even if we wanted to be - we don’t have Ekoku and Gayle up front. It’s 2023, and football has moved on from those halcyon days, whether you like it or not.

 

When players pass it around at the back, it’s not because they’re being “negative”, it’s because they’re retaining possession and trying to draw the opposition players into a press to create a gap in midfield. When they spot a space opening up, they will progress the ball forward. Ironically, when the the defenders and DMs do take a gamble and lump a quick forward pass and it doesn’t come off, the “forward, quicker” whingers are the first to shout “RUBBISH!”

 

It amazes me the number of fans who will boast “I’ve been watching City for 55 years, I know what I’m talking about”, yet seem incapable of understanding even the very, very basics of how modern football is played. Honestly lads, if you don’t like it, no-one’s forcing you to keep coming.

 

One of these chaps came up to me at the Brighton game to have a whinge about our “negativity” or some other bollocks, which I wasn’t really in the mood to entertain. This bloke claimed very insistently “we won the league playing one-touch football”.

 

Now, I’m not entirely sure what he meant by this, especially given that a lot of our unbelievable attacking play centred around Mahrez taking thirty touches and skinning an entire opposition defence. In any case, I suspect what he was actually referring to was our quick breaks and counter attacking.

 

Yes, we famously won the league with very little possession - but even if our possession was as little as 33%, we still had the ball a third of the time. It’s funny how people’s memories are selective. We all remember the Drinkwater dinked through balls and Vardy chasing them and blazing it in the bottom corner. But people forget Drinkwater and Kante retaining possession, passing between each other and the back four, drawing out the opposition to create the space for us to launch our attacks. 

 

In summary: STOP WHINGING - we’ve heard it all before. Get behind the team. If you’re going to get upset that we’re not the 90s Crazy Gang, stay at home. Whether you like it or not, a continual negative atmosphere will send us down to the Championship.

 

P.S. I realise the very first reply to this post will be some ode git angrily retorting something along the lines of  “maybe the players should give us something to cheer about”, but don’t waste your breath.

 

P.P.S. I realise that now I’ve said that, somebody is going to post that exact thing to be comical. Fair play.

[Kilworthfox]

We could choose to ignore the plethora of issues currently at the club and be positive. 

 

I am unsure how much cheering we will have to do to cover up the l decaying stenching corpse of Rodgersball. I'd suggest we would have to break the sound barrier. 😂

[CosbehFox]

Hmmmmm......when I went on Saturday, for the first twenty minutes our support more than matched Forest's to the point their atmosphere just went. 

 

I see and hear a team cheered on week after week tbh - the majority of the away end was with them on Saturday until their second went in. 

[Saxondale]

Just now, Kilworthfox said:

I  am unsure how much cheering we will have to do to cover up the l decaying stenching corpse of Rodgersball. I'd suggest we would have to break the sound barrier. 😂

You say that, but Rodgersball had us in top four form for a nice little run before the World Cup.

 

Im not pro-Rodgers by the way, I’m just being pragmatic.

[Spudulike]

In past decades Leicester City fans have always been at their best in adversity. We come together to criticise the club but will defend it to the last when outsiders criticise us. I'm not sure if we have it in us now given the current fanbase and modern football. The life is being sucked out of us but you can be assured our crowd will be roused if they get encouragement from the players. Sometimes it only needs a couple of bad referee decisions of a Robbie Savage type 'tackle'. Get into them and fuch them up. That's all we need. 

[Kilworthfox]

2 minutes ago, Saxondale said:

You say that, but Rodgersball had us in top four form for a nice little run before the World Cup.

 

Im not pro-Rodgers by the way, I’m just being pragmatic.

Your initial sentence is pro Rodgers. As we didn't finish top 4, and you get no champions league money for being in the top 4 for the majority of the season. 

 

I am very anti Rodgers. Have been before he came. Just my footballing opinions. 

 

I have written extensively here regarding the 1st team issues on and off the field. I believe we have been successful in spite of Rodgers. But we are all entitled to our opinions. 👍🏼

[FLAN]

Barnes gets away with little to no negative reaction from the fans given how atrocious he often is. If he wasn’t local he’d have been hounded off the pitch many times 

[Saxondale]

2 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

Your initial sentence is pro Rodgers. As we didn't finish top 4, and you get no champions league money for being in the top 4 for the majority of the season. 

 

I am very anti Rodgers. Have been before he came. Just my footballing opinions. 

 

I have written extensively here regarding the 1st team issues on and off the field. I believe we have been successful in spite of Rodgers. But we are all entitled to our opinions. 👍🏼

No, my initial sentence is just an assessment. I too want the manager replaced.

 

But if he isn’t going to be replaced, what we gonna do? Just keep booing?

[nnfox]

Meh, just bring the clappers back.

[Saxondale]

Just now, nnfox said:

Meh, just bring the clappers back.

[Kilworthfox]

4 minutes ago, Saxondale said:

No, my initial sentence is just an assessment. I too want the manager replaced.

 

But if he isn’t going to be replaced, what we gonna do? Just keep booing?

I don't recall any booing directed specifically at Rodgers. 

 

He needs to be targeted if we are serious about removing him. Fan bases have historically had huge leverage over a manager, I am unsure why we are so tolerant of his managerial abilities when we are regressing so badly we are in big danger of relegation. 

 

We can crow as much as we like about top 4s and Euro league games, but that's yesterday's news. 

 

Progress is needed. 

A competent recruitment strategy is essential. 

A new style of play for the 1st team is essential. 

 

This is not within Rodgers cababilities. 

Edited 19 January 2023 by Kilworthfox

[Saxondale]

2 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

I don't recall any booing directed specifically at Rodgers. 

 

He needs to be targeted if we are serious about removing him. Fan bases have historically had huge leverage over a manager, I am unsure why we are so tolerant of his managerial abilities when we are regressing so badly we are in big danger of relegation. 

 

We can crow as much as we like about top 4s and Euro league games, but that's yesterday's news. 

 

Progress is needed. 

A competent recruitment strategy is essential. 

A new style of play for the 1stvyeam is essential. 

 

This is not within Rodgers cababilities. 

Again, you’re trying to sell to me the idea of replacing Rodgers. I too want him replaced.

[Kilworthfox]

1 minute ago, Saxondale said:

Again, you’re trying to sell to me the idea of replacing Rodgers. I too want him replaced.

I've been "selling" the idea for years. Look where the club is now. 

[UHDrive]

Why don't we just take our boom boxes with pre installed cheering, and booing.

[Saxondale]

1 minute ago, Kilworthfox said:

I've been "selling" the idea for years. Look where the club is now. 

The point of my original post is that - regardless of who our manager is - we need to break the cycle of negativity to try and do our bit to influence the team’s performance.

 

There has been at least a couple of this times this season when we thought the board would act re. the manager and they haven’t. I’m not sure what we can do to influence that - it’s sort of a separate question.

[westernpark]

30 minutes ago, Saxondale said:

Lads, I’ve got a bit of a mad new idea for Saturday. It’s a bit of a new one, and it’s going to be a struggle to get it to catch on. The idea is so left field that people are going to take some serious convincing. 

 

Hear me out: Why don’t we actually cheer the team on? You know, give them a bit of encouragement?

 

In all seriousness, we KNOW the side plays better when the crowd is bouncing. This is how momentum builds. Yes, it is a chicken / egg situation: the crowd is bouncing when the team is playing well and vice versa. When we won the league, the crowd was unbelievable every week and the team felt unbeatable. They were unbeatable. Which came first? IT DOESN’T MATTER.

 

Furthermore, professional players will openly say that they play better when the crowd is behind them. They will also explain how when the crowd is on their back, they freeze up and are frightened to play with any creativity and expression for fear of making any mistakes.

 

Look at Barnes: he can’t hit a barn door at the moment. It’s absolutely obvious what’s going on - he’s a confidence player. He goes on runs of being amazing, then being erratic; it exactly mirrors how the team is doing and how the crowd is behaving.

 

We as the fan base need to do our bit to break the cycle of negativity. With the current sour atmosphere, we could have Messi and Mbappe in the side and we’d still lose. If you were a player and your own fans were jeering and booing you, would you want to play for them? I wouldn’t.

 

We also need to dispel a few misconceptions. The “forward, quicker” mob need to have a word with themselves. We’re not Wimbledon in 1995 and - even if we wanted to be - we don’t have Ekoku and Gayle up front. It’s 2023, and football has moved on from those halcyon days, whether you like it or not.

 

When players pass it around at the back, it’s not because they’re being “negative”, it’s because they’re retaining possession and trying to draw the opposition players into a press to create a gap in midfield. When they spot a space opening up, they will progress the ball forward. Ironically, when the the defenders and DMs do take a gamble and lump a quick forward pass and it doesn’t come off, the “forward, quicker” whingers are the first to shout “RUBBISH!”

 

It amazes me the number of fans who will boast “I’ve been watching City for 55 years, I know what I’m talking about”, yet seem incapable of understanding even the very, very basics of how modern football is played. Honestly lads, if you don’t like it, no-one’s forcing you to keep coming.

 

One of these chaps came up to me at the Brighton game to have a whinge about our “negativity” or some other bollocks, which I wasn’t really in the mood to entertain. This bloke claimed very insistently “we won the league playing one-touch football”.

 

Now, I’m not entirely sure what he meant by this, especially given that a lot of our unbelievable attacking play centred around Mahrez taking thirty touches and skinning an entire opposition defence. In any case, I suspect what he was actually referring to was our quick breaks and counter attacking.

 

Yes, we famously won the league with very little possession - but even if our possession was as little as 33%, we still had the ball a third of the time. It’s funny how people’s memories are selective. We all remember the Drinkwater dinked through balls and Vardy chasing them and blazing it in the bottom corner. But people forget Drinkwater and Kante retaining possession, passing between each other and the back four, drawing out the opposition to create the space for us to launch our attacks. 

 

In summary: STOP WHINGING - we’ve heard it all before. Get behind the team. If you’re going to get upset that we’re not the 90s Crazy Gang, stay at home. Whether you like it or not, a continual negative atmosphere will send us down to the Championship.

 

P.S. I realise the very first reply to this post will be some ode git angrily retorting something along the lines of  “maybe the players should give us something to cheer about”, but don’t waste your breath.

 

P.P.S. I realise that now I’ve said that, somebody is going to post that exact thing to be comical. Fair play.

So it’s the fans fault we’re doing badly on the pitch? I get your point about supporting for the full 90, but for many they are concerned about the possibility of us spiralling downwards, and out of control, due to our financial situation. 

[willie-bell-in-rothley]

12 minutes ago, FLAN said:

Barnes gets away with little to no negative reaction from the fans given how atrocious he often is. If he wasn’t local he’d have been hounded off the pitch many times 

He has stopped progressing, I think he is to predictable, always cuts inside as cant beat his man, rarely crosses, passing is poor and as for finishing........

[Saxondale]

Just now, westernpark said:

I get your point about supporting for the full 90, but for many they are concerned about the possibility of us spiralling downwards, and out of control, due to our financial situation. 

Yep, and we’re NEVER going to get out of this situation with the crowd how it is currently. Think Great Escape. The crowd was absolutely bouncing.

[An Away Move]

Ahh tyrannous positivity. Look in the mirror and say ‘I am a lovable person’ and ignore the shadow, which says, ‘No you’re not!’  

[Lako42]

The difference between supporting the team through adversity and when we are underdogs is that in the past (great escape) the team was showing great battling spirit and work rate, somthing Leicester fans will ALWAYS get behind. 

 

What we are seeing at the minute is the exact opposite and its **** all to do with being underdogs or less than the opponent. 

[Saxondale]

4 minutes ago, An Away Move said:

Ahh tyrannous positivity. Look in the mirror and say ‘I am a lovable person’ and ignore the shadow, which says, ‘No you’re not!’  

[westernpark]

4 minutes ago, Saxondale said:

Yep, and we’re NEVER going to get out of this situation with the crowd how it is currently. Think Great Escape. The crowd was absolutely bouncing.

I can’t quite agree that we’re responsible for the mess on the pitch. However, that’s not to say we can’t help the team more. I don’t see that as a contradiction, more an acknowledgment that the fans do have an impact, but are fundamentally not responsible for what the players do or don’t do.
 

[Saxondale]

Just now, westernpark said:

I can’t quite agree that we’re responsible for the mess on the pitch. However, that’s not to say we can’t help the team more. I don’t see that as a contradiction, more an acknowledgment that the fans do have an impact, but are fundamentally not responsible for what the players do or don’t do.
 

The point is it’s a chicken and egg situation. No, we’re not fundamentally responsible for the players’ performance, but we can help.

[Aus Fox]

10 minutes ago, westernpark said:

So it’s the fans fault we’re doing badly on the pitch? I get your point about supporting for the full 90, but for many they are concerned about the possibility of us spiralling downwards, and out of control, due to our financial situation. 

It’s not about apportioning blame, it’s about doing our bit as fans. The negativity and booing will do nothing to help the team on the pitch. 
If you are concerned about going down back the lads! Get behind them! 
 

[westernpark]

Just now, Aus Fox said:

It’s not about apportioning blame, it’s about doing our bit as fans. The negativity and booing will do nothing to help the team on the pitch. 
If you are concerned about going down back the lads! Get behind them! 
 

Yeah I think I’ve just said that above. There are also some who believe targeting Rodgers with chants/banners is also our best way of avoiding the drop. Personally I hope we back them during the 90 and people can stay until the end to voice those quite pressing concerns(which I will be doing).