Our decline was so easy to see coming.

[Captain...]

Football fans are a funny breed.

 

It does look like Rodgers is going the way of Puel, but it's taken a lot longer for the rot to set in and he has a trophy, 2 top 5 finishes and some credible European runs in the bank. 

 

The revisionism around Puel is quite amusing, the players didn't like him, the fans didn't like him, the results started well but tailed off dramatically. We were playing lackluster ineffective tippy tappy football in the end. I think it was only the tragedy of Vichai's passing that resulted in him keeping his job.

 

Rodgers has a lot more credit in the bank due to delivering actual success. The decline has not been solely his fault, players and owners need to take their share of responsibility. The pre world cup form and the Spurs and Villa games show he's not completely lost the dressing room and we can turn on the style. 

 

Blackburn was an awful display but it does show that some players are just nowhere near good enough and we have had to use these players due to lack of depth all season. 

[filbertway]

1 hour ago, Sampson said:

Disagree. We created so little under Puel and we’re dragged up the league solely by Vardy a lot of the time, who had an incredible shot to goal ratio at the time. How he got 20 league goals in that Puel side I’ll never know.

 

Puel had a really exciting young team but shackled them with his negative style of play. 
 

When Rodgers first came in, he actually got us to attack and was a breath of fresh air.
 

Vardy for that first year or so under Rodgers, between Feb 2019-the March 2020 lockdown was the best Leicester player I’ve ever seen, even better than him, Mahrez or Kante in the title winning season. Think he got around 30 goals in 32 games or something and only Messi and Lewandowski scored more than Vardy in that time.

 

Rodgers is a short term manager like Bielsa or Mourinho and he’s gone well past stale here and should go, but let’s not rewrite history with Puel and pretend Puel was a great manager and it wasn’t Rodgers who got that team playing to their potential when they were being properly shackled by Puel-ball.

I guess a lot of people think a manager is only responsible for the match day. Explains why a lot of people back Rodgers so much if they look at it this way to be fair.

 

Puel didn't take over a really exciting young team did he? He took over an aging team that was regressing rapidly and could barely string 3 passes together.

 

Him and Macia were charged with taking a very close knit squad that was aging and getting worse by the week. They also put together a young squad with good upside that could compete in the top half of the league

 

That's the magic of his work, he left this club in a far greater position than when he joined it. The football was dull as dishwater, but he laid the foundations that have basically been dismantled, used up and wasted. Rodgers will leave this club in a much worse position than when he found it. Which for me is a failure of our highest ever paid manager who had the highest wage budget of any manager.

 

I think your post quite nicely sums up how people can view the game differently though. For me, week to week results and performances are just a part of what I judge a manager on, whereas for you it's appears to be the major thing you're judging a manager on. We likely agree on a lot more than it seems, but probably view things from a different perspective

 

[Leicester_Loyal]

This WHU away ain't it? That was genuinely the game that I turned and I've wanted him out ever since.

[messerschmitt]

2 hours ago, Sampson said:

Disagree. We created so little under Puel and we’re dragged up the league solely by Vardy a lot of the time, who had an incredible shot to goal ratio at the time. How he got 20 league goals in that Puel side I’ll never know.

 

Puel had a really exciting young team but shackled them with his negative style of play. 
 

When Rodgers first came in, he actually got us to attack and was a breath of fresh air.
 

Vardy for that first year or so under Rodgers, between Feb 2019-the March 2020 lockdown was the best Leicester player I’ve ever seen, even better than him, Mahrez or Kante in the title winning season. Think he got around 30 goals in 32 games or something and only Messi and Lewandowski scored more than Vardy in that time.

 

Rodgers is a short term manager like Bielsa or Mourinho and he’s gone well past stale here and should go, but let’s not rewrite history with Puel and pretend Puel was a great manager and it wasn’t Rodgers who got that team playing to their potential when they were being properly shackled by Puel-ball.

oh I agree with lots of what you say, I'm not trying to say Puel was a great manager but he did far more than people give him credit for and I think the football is worse now, not to mention the squad

[Mickyblueeyes]

I cant remember when I first wanted him out. Its been so long. However, the first on this board to call out what he was going to do to us - which is now very much reality was guy called Deano - he got pelted by many (including myself). However, that guy called it after the first CL collapse and we would be much weaker after he left. 

 

Well done to Deano - shame it took me another two years to actually see what the parasite was doing. One thing is for certain, the guy who does finally take over from Rodgers will not in any way be left with the quality set up and squad that Puel had left. 

[Le Renard]

I don't know when the decline started, but I remember the home match against Norwich in 2019.  We were on an 8-match unbeaten run, but Norwich came and kind of worked out Rodgers and Leicester.  I know an unbeaten run will end at some point, but I don't think we've played as well as that since that 8 game run.  It was as if Daniel Farke gave the blueprint to play against a Rodgers team, and we subsequently got a footballing lesson from Klopp's Liverpool which put us well and truly in our place.

[Ashley]

3 hours ago, filbertway said:

I will always maintain this game was the turning point.

 

 

The default style changed after this from pressing and "we will try and score right till the final whistle", to playing incredibly safe.

 

Now of course we had the odd purple patch where we moved back to the high press, but he's not been the same manager since this loss. 

 

 

 

 

Incredibly harsh that. 

 

We did play safe that game and the tactics were incredibly strange. Trent had the freedom of Leicester. 

 

However. We played West Ham 2/3 days later beat them with practally a reserve side, Newcastle 3-0 on NYD. Then had some good wins. 

 

If anything. It was the Bournemouth game that done it. 

 

[Greg2607]

2 hours ago, Captain... said:

Football fans are a funny breed.

 

It does look like Rodgers is going the way of Puel, but it's taken a lot longer for the rot to set in and he has a trophy, 2 top 5 finishes and some credible European runs in the bank. 

 

The revisionism around Puel is quite amusing, the players didn't like him, the fans didn't like him, the results started well but tailed off dramatically. We were playing lackluster ineffective tippy tappy football in the end. I think it was only the tragedy of Vichai's passing that resulted in him keeping his job.

 

Rodgers has a lot more credit in the bank due to delivering actual success. The decline has not been solely his fault, players and owners need to take their share of responsibility. The pre world cup form and the Spurs and Villa games show he's not completely lost the dressing room and we can turn on the style. 

 

Blackburn was an awful display but it does show that some players are just nowhere near good enough and we have had to use these players due to lack of depth all season. 

I agree with a lot of what you said.. but there is a real irony in the bit i've highlighted in bold. 

 

Puel wasn't popular, far from it.... I didn't particularly like his football.....

 

but we are now playing lackluster, ineffective, tippy tappy football as well. 

 

You are right, Rodgers has bought more success, but I wander at what cost to the long term future of the club. 

 

[David Hankey]

There's a lot of guff written on here and I'm just amazed how many think it is all about one man. What utter tosh.

 

It is so easy to spout with the benefit of hindsight. Has it all been Top's fault for giving BR such a lucrative deal?

 

And when he did did he expect this decline?

 

The fact of the matter is there are so many facets to ponder about our perilous state and no doubt, when the time comes, and a new manager arrives to the Club we could go through the same anguish all over again, nobody knows.

[ealingfox]

33 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

I cant remember when I first wanted him out. Its been so long. However, the first on this board to call out what he was going to do to us - which is now very much reality was guy called Deano - he got pelted by many (including myself). However, that guy called it after the first CL collapse and we would be much weaker after he left. 

 

Well done to Deano - shame it took me another two years to actually see what the parasite was doing. One thing is for certain, the guy who does finally take over from Rodgers will not in any way be left with the quality set up and squad that Puel had left. 

 

Big caveat to that though. I also called for him to be sacked after that Man United game, on the basis that he then showed us who he was (toxic fraud). That was the first of the now many times he has insulted the club and taken the piss out of the fans.

 

But he was given another chance, which was justifiable, and we went on to finish 5th again - albeit with an even less forgivable top 4 bottlejob - and win the cup. So one can't really maintain that it would have been the right decision to get rid after the first one, it clearly wouldn't.

 

He did well to pick the players up and go again after the first collapse but it was more predictable that he wouldn't be able to do it again a second time. The best thing that could have possibly happened for us as a club (in hindsight) is he'd gotten the Spurs or another job and sacked us off after 20/21.

 

It had become clear that he'd run out of ideas by Christmas 2021 and excuses for not getting rid started to run thin around then I would say. They were long gone by last Christmas and even if we win enough games to get ourselves safe before the run-in this season, keeping him into next season is a completely indefensible position in my view.

 

They need to be ready to get rid if it's looking too close for comfort with 10-8 games left. But sadly I suspect they still aren't even contemplating that.

[HankMarvin]

Not hard to see coming, xPTS showed 42 points last season despite finishing 8th.

The season before that it showed Brighton had underachieved and the following season they finished 9th more in line with expectations.

Edited 2 March 2023 by HankMarvin

[Dan]

5 hours ago, Lako42 said:

I wanted him sacked before the Forest game last season tbh. 

 

The time spent since then has just been a complete waste and makes it even harder to get a grip on it. 

Some point around October / November 2021 for me. Remember when Steve Bruce was sacked thinking the best possible outcome here is Newcastle take him as it'll benefit all parties. I've never really bought into him again at any point since it.

 

It's gone almost exactly as I feared - gradual decline but the level of pressure he is under is totally below where it should be.

[Adrian]

Rogers can no more claim responsibility for FA cup and 2 top 6 finishes than ranierri can be credited with league title...ranierri just showed if you stay in the game long enough every dog has it's day

 

it's long term trends that matter over shorter periods of success and failure...managers are figureheads..it's ownership that matters

[TheLittleBigMan]

I love him and I want to have his baby's.

[volpeazzurro]

8 hours ago, Le Renard said:

I don't know when the decline started, but I remember the home match against Norwich in 2019.  We were on an 8-match unbeaten run, but Norwich came and kind of worked out Rodgers and Leicester.  I know an unbeaten run will end at some point, but I don't think we've played as well as that since that 8 game run.  It was as if Daniel Farke gave the blueprint to play against a Rodgers team, and we subsequently got a footballing lesson from Klopp's Liverpool which put us well and truly in our place.

I remember it for similar reasons. Norwich couldn't score let alone buy a win. We had at times been flying but Rodgers decided, if I remember rightly, tried a diamond? Either way, instead of playing our fast winning game he tried to be clever coach.

He derided the boys at halftime when going 3 nil up against West Brom for being too open.

After beating Southampton 9 nil you'd think he'd try more of the same but no, he changed it. These were very early warning signs of a conceited Mr Clever Bollocks. 

[Arkie Bennett]

9 hours ago, Le Renard said:

I don't know when the decline started, but I remember the home match against Norwich in 2019.  We were on an 8-match unbeaten run, but Norwich came and kind of worked out Rodgers and Leicester.  I know an unbeaten run will end at some point, but I don't think we've played as well as that since that 8 game run.  It was as if Daniel Farke gave the blueprint to play against a Rodgers team, and we subsequently got a footballing lesson from Klopp's Liverpool which put us well and truly in our place.

I've said before that I reckon it was this match. It was noticeable that Norwich sussed out we were extremely vulnerable to the high press. We were on 8 successive PL wins and we didn't lose that day, but the die was cast and from then on opponents knew how to break us.

[Dan]

11 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

This WHU away ain't it? That was genuinely the game that I turned and I've wanted him out ever since.

I knew at that game our best days under him were done. Wasn't quite calling for him to go but I was by about November.

[MattFox]

There’s been questionable performances since the start, they’ve just gradually increased season after season as more managers figure him out

 

Rafa Benitez did a complete number on Rodgers when they won at the KP in March 2019 with a dog shit Newcastle side

Everton did a complete number on us before Kelechi popped up in the last minute likewise Norwich did the same a week later.

 

We had no answers to a really bad Villa side in the first leg of the league cup semi too in 2020

 

We’ve been tactically out fought again and again under Rodgers 

[The People's Hero]

Its never been the same since Arsene Wenger told the players to stop eating pies and turning up pissed.

 

 

[Royston.]

22 hours ago, FoxyLeon said:

 

It has been over 18 months now, since I made the above posts, and it's staggering to me that it has taken so long for a substantial portion of our fans to come to the same conclusions. The second he decided to take the best defensive holding midfielder in the league and use him to start our press (Before KDH broke into the side) it became clear that Rodgers just doesn't understand the game at all. I genuinely can't believe how we can ruin such a player, it would be like Conte playing Kane on the wing.

Every comment I made about our performances then, are just the same now. Our performances aren't even significantly worse, we were terrible then, with just greater luck and individual quality. 

 

Well done you

[melrose]

Bournemouth away was so a massive one

Forest away was the last straw for me 

Edited 3 March 2023 by melrose

[sacreblueits442]

14 hours ago, Adrian said:

Rogers can no more claim responsibility for FA cup and 2 top 6 finishes than ranierri can be credited with league title...ranierri just showed if you stay in the game long enough every dog has it's day

 

it's long term trends that matter over shorter periods of success and failure...managers are figureheads..it's ownership that matters

...so wrong, Man. City does not pay Pep all that money to be a poster boy!!!

 Why would you not have Psrdew or Peter Taylor as the face of that club, if that is all that they are. It would save Man. City a fortune.

[weller54]

14 hours ago, TheLittleBigMan said:

I love him and I want to have his baby's.

Have his Babies!!

But you haven't got a womb!!

[ozleicester]

1 hour ago, weller54 said:

Have his Babies!!

But you haven't got a womb!!

Don't you oppress him!

[funkyrobot]

On 02/03/2023 at 01:45, FoxyLeon said:

 

It has been over 18 months now, since I made the above posts, and it's staggering to me that it has taken so long for a substantial portion of our fans to come to the same conclusions. The second he decided to take the best defensive holding midfielder in the league and use him to start our press (Before KDH broke into the side) it became clear that Rodgers just doesn't understand the game at all. I genuinely can't believe how we can ruin such a player, it would be like Conte playing Kane on the wing.

Every comment I made about our performances then, are just the same now. Our performances aren't even significantly worse, we were terrible then, with just greater luck and individual quality. 

 

Ignoring the somewhat self congratulatory tone of your post 😂, I agree with your Ndidi observation. Rodgers has taken the outstanding CDM in the Premier League and turned him into a liability.