The Championship Thread 2023/2024

[RearsbyFox]

5 hours ago, jayfox26 said:

Seeing Sheff U and Burnley being embarrassingly shit every week, makes it even more annoying that we are a league below. I get we don't have a devine right to be in the prem and we were deservedly relegated but when teams go up you want to see some kind of fight/effort/quality like Luton have shown. The other 2 are an absolute embarrassment 

 

Edit: sorry I know its not totally championship related 

It was a "bad" season to be relegated and the fact Everton has their points deduction this season instead of last season just rubs salt in the wound. I honestly thought Luton would struggle the most but I agree Burnley and Sheffield Utd have been embarrassing. I enjoy watching us win in the championship rather than lose in the PL but football is a business and finances dictate we must push for promotion at the earliest opportunity 

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

What you are proposing is that the Director Of Football isn’t responsible for negotiation of player’s salaries, lengths of contract, buying players, or selling players. Ie. The budgets and trading activity of the football element of a football club. 

 

If the above is true (it isn’t) then you’re right, the failure to strengthen the squad in January isn’t his fault.

 

If the above isn’t true then please explain what the role of DOF does involve, because it seems you’ve made it entirely redundant.

 

Or maybe I should just stop trying to be popular and not mention how terrible Rudkin is at his job

Yes, the players would have been identified to Rudkin by both the recruitment team and including Congerton and Rodgers. The latter particularly having a big say and, if you remember back, a decision was made not to sell certain players to fund further purchases (as was our previous model). Further recruitment was also decided upon at the behest of Rodgers in order to supposedly support him and a European campaign with a bigger squad. I'm sure at the time, at least in theory, most people might have gone along with that.

 

Now I agree, you are absolutely right, as far as I know, that Rudkin in his position of DofF would be responsible for conducting negotiations. What we aren't aware of is what players and agents demanded in order to get them to sign for Leicester who, let's face it, weren't exactly a London, Manchester or otherwise attractive club in particular to sign for at that time. Neither do we know what other clubs may have been willing to pay for them or any other players identified who weren't interested in coming or were otherwise unavailable. When it comes to certain players like Perez £30m plus Vestergaard and Bertrand for example, we know exactly who the driving force behind those were don't we. 

 

Either way and whatever pressures came to bear upon Rudkin all negotiations and results would have to be signed off. I would therefore suggest any overspending was due to joint decision making. Not only that, I personally think, without evidence, that Top was completely out of his depth and overtrusting of Rodgers and his big I am salesmanship media hyped blarney and probably more culpable in all of this. 

 

Who knew what it took to get certain players to come here, though I do absolutely agree that it was way too much. If we look at the way business has been conducted this season in terms of who we signed or got in on loan, notwithstanding FFP etc, I think most people would agree that a good job has been done all round, yet it's still the same bloke there. Noticeably though Rodgers and Congerton have left though. 

[volpeazzurro]

19 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

If you want informed evidence of Rudkin’s performance, the BSLB pod with Guillem Balague, a bloke far clued than all of us on here made a notable comment 

Thanks but, honestly not being funny, I don't know what you mean by the BSLB pod or Guillem Balague is?

[Ric Flair]

5 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

Thanks but, honestly not being funny, I don't know what you mean by the BSLB pod or Guillem Balague is?

HOW DARE YOU!!! 😂

[weller54]

7 minutes ago, RearsbyFox said:

It was a "bad" season to be relegated and the fact Everton has their points deduction this season instead of last season just rubs salt in the wound. I honestly thought Luton would struggle the most but I agree Burnley and Sheffield Utd have been embarrassing. I enjoy watching us win in the championship rather than lose in the PL but football is a business and finances dictate we must push for promotion at the earliest opportunity 

IF we go back up to join the circus it won't be fun!!

But you're right it's all about money nowadays!

I'm just extremely grateful that most of my Leicester City supporting days were pre PL era.

Give me the days of Worthington, Weller, Birchenall, Earle, Glover etc etc anyday!!!

[Lillehamring]

22 hours ago, HankMarvin said:

Potential higher ceiling, you are speaking likes it’s a given. 
just like how Kompany is finding out 

Not at all (the clue is in the word 'potential') - i'm saying that they feel in Maresca that the potential to do something special is there, that this is a man who can revitalise and change the direction of the club from top to bottom - no it's not a given, but the early signs are very promising.

 

As opposed to....

 

Farke, who has failed on two separate occasions in the PL.  The point is, Leeds hired a manager with a track record for getting promoted, so Leeds winning the league or being promoted shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

[RearsbyFox]

1 minute ago, weller54 said:

IF we go back up to join the circus it won't be fun!!

But you're right it's all about money nowadays!

I'm just extremely grateful that most of my Leicester City supporting days were pre PL era.

Give me the days of Worthington, Weller, Birchenall, Earle, Glover etc etc anyday!!!

Yes I started as a fan in the Bloomfield era. Lots of happy memories and saw some truly iconic players from the heights of the Double Decker at Filbert Street. Even Keith Weller in his white tights in the FA Cup. 

[Lillehamring]

12 hours ago, JimJams said:

They've conceded less League goals in 2024 than we did in one match. I'm not on board with the negativity but we're the best team in the league with the most goals scored and we got 1. They have statistically the best defence in the league. For this level they're evidently not bang average.

I'm simply pointing out what I saw in our game - that if you play them right they are bang average.  I don't know what has happened in previous games.

 

We scored twice, even if one was wrongly disallowed they still conceded it with some piss poor defending.  And for us to not have scored another two is down to our finishing rather than their defending.

 

We don't know what will happen in their next games, but I don't see them as some invincible monster.

[volpeazzurro]

7 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

HOW DARE YOU!!! 😂

🤣🤣🤣 sorry, I've just googled it! I of course know who you are off here but not the other. I'd best have a listen on Spotify then! 🤣

[Chrysalis]

8 minutes ago, Lillehamring said:

Not at all (the clue is in the word 'potential') - i'm saying that they feel in Maresca that the potential to do something special is there, that this is a man who can revitalise and change the direction of the club from top to bottom - no it's not a given, but the early signs are very promising.

 

As opposed to....

 

Farke, who has failed on two separate occasions in the PL.  The point is, Leeds hired a manager with a track record for getting promoted, so Leeds winning the league or being promoted shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Enzo said it himself (so this cant be debated unless you think he is lying) he was hired for his style of football.  I speculated it earlier in the season as its evident Top likes a specific style, but the man confirmed it himself I dont think that long ago.

 

Whether that works for us we can only see, of course we have to get promoted first, I will say I am not confident it will work in the EPL without adaptation but I have always given manager's a chance.  The only question mark is of course how long should they get when things arent working, hopefully thats not a discussion next season.

[Lillehamring]

9 hours ago, Chelmofox said:

Yup - but we are pushing for the top spot. 

 

This was all in response to the potential of Enzo 'complaining' that he wasn't given reinforcements. I don't think he will because i think he has been very pragmatic all season. But the reality is that our bench doesn't quite have the depth that the hype suggests.

And did he even really complain?  He seemed to know exactly what the situation was from the first: 'sell to buy'.

Sure he was disappointed by the sensei deal falling through but that seems to have been as much the Milan's fault as ours.

 

I think he knows the squad he has is good enough, and nothing has really changed, yes we've had two poor results (without really playing badly) and the four league games since the end of january were all emphatic wins.

[Lillehamring]

9 hours ago, iancognito said:

Easy tiger. You'd think I'd just predicted a slump into the play offs not one possible defeat in 12. I only said I rated the coach (as a lot of people do) 🤣

 

They were the first to take points off us and unlike a lot of other sides they didn't just sit back and take a hammering they actually had a go. Similar story with Sunderland but they don't have Mowbray anymore and are spiralling.

You said they worked us out, which is bollocks. 

[Lillehamring]

9 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

Watched the Saints yesterday on their equivalent of Foxehub.

 

They looked tired, passing was off, lacked energy, running back, getting first to the ball etc etc.

 

Their partisan commentators were saying that the long run of wins was like watching a different side and concluded that they look exhausted.

 

An easy parallel to be drawn to us.

 

The psychology of whether you feel tired, I think, will have a big part to play in the run in. Saints won’t be in the mix for top two now, and one other team will fall away feeling fatigue. 
 

A player signed in January to provide a bit of freshness is really important for the squad mentally. Like a well placed family member / supporter for a marathon runner … that little boost that gives you the second wind.

I wonder how many more January windows we’ll need before Rudkin learns?

You say that as though we simply refused the option to bring players in - we all (should) know that isn't the case.

 

We just didn't have the financials to do it - do you think they planned for casadei to go, no, is it easy to replace a loan player and acclimatise him into the system in january, no.

do you think we could afford to sign a player just to cover ndidi's injury . of course not.

 

Your expectations of what we were capable of seem to be utter fantasy.

[Lillehamring]

3 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

I thought we looked dog tired for the last 15-20 mins of the game (as we have for the last few). We desperately needed subs to bring on that could add some energy and see the game over the line.

I think the difference was Leeds scoring. Psychologically it changes everything - suddenly their players have a new energy whereas our players are suddenly feeling a downhill run turn into an uphill run.

 

We've benefitted from this many times this season, no surprise that finally it bites back.

[Lillehamring]

20 minutes ago, Chrysalis said:

Enzo said it himself (so this cant be debated unless you think he is lying) he was hired for his style of football.  I speculated it earlier in the season as its evident Top likes a specific style, but the man confirmed it himself I dont think that long ago.

 

Whether that works for us we can only see, of course we have to get promoted first, I will say I am not confident it will work in the EPL without adaptation but I have always given manager's a chance.  The only question mark is of course how long should they get when things arent working, hopefully thats not a discussion next season.

I'm simply not thinking about what might happen if we go up - there are far too many unknowns to waste any thought on.

 

I do believe he was hired for his style of football, but i suspect that they also liked the nature of his managerial education and how that could filter through the entire club.

 

I like enzo and i feel more confident (based on how quickly he's turned the team onto his way of thinking) with him as our manager than if we had Farke.

[Chrysalis]

Just now, Lillehamring said:

I'm simply not thinking about what might happen if we go up - there are far too many unknowns to waste any thought on.

 

I do believe he was hired for his style of football, but i suspect that they also liked the nature of his managerial education and how that could filter through the entire club.

 

I like enzo and i feel more confident (based on how quickly he's turned the team onto his way of thinking) with him as our manager than if we had Farke.

Oh if this was a response to a Farke thing, I dont think I would have wanted us to hire Farke, hes a proven failure in the EPL albeit only with one club, to me an unknown is better than proven failure.

[jayfox26]

1 hour ago, alanf0x said:

I sort of get what you are saying but both of them teams would be confident in getting at least 4 points from 2 games against our current side

I don't think they would. I honestly think our current team is better than both of them. 

[Ricey]

1 hour ago, volpeazzurro said:

Your just making it up as you go along aren't you. 

 

You have absolutely no idea whatsoever about his relationships with other clubs and agents etc etc. Neither do you have any idea what Casadei was costing on loan or, IF a suitable other loan had been identified, what the cost of that one would be. 

 

As for Rodgers, do you really think it would have been Rudkin's to sack him or would that decision have to be made by the man that actually owns the club? 🤣

Rudkin was fully behind Rodgers. Various Percy articles backed that up. Rudkin is Director of Football and wholeheartedly trusted by the owners, if he had wanted Rodgers gone it would have happened earlier than it did.

[Chrysalis]

7 minutes ago, Ricey said:

Rudkin was fully behind Rodgers. Various Percy articles backed that up. Rudkin is Director of Football and wholeheartedly trusted by the owners, if he had wanted Rodgers gone it would have happened earlier than it did.

I think it was a decision by Top to keep Rodgers hanging around. (or lack of one to prevent him from being binned)

 

It wasnt just a decision whether to back him as a manager, but also with one eye on the cost of sacking him with his lucrative contract.

Edited 25 February by Chrysalis

[5waller5]

41 minutes ago, Lillehamring said:

You say that as though we simply refused the option to bring players in - we all (should) know that isn't the case.

 

We just didn't have the financials to do it - do you think they planned for casadei to go, no, is it easy to replace a loan player and acclimatise him into the system in january, no.

do you think we could afford to sign a player just to cover ndidi's injury . of course not.

 

Your expectations of what we were capable of seem to be utter fantasy.

No. They didn’t plan for Casadei to be recalled, which would rather lead you to the conclusion that whatever we had committed to pay him until the end of the season was now available to spend elsewhere. 
 

January was another mess and is at the door of our DOF. Ultimately we could really have done with that extra body in midfield, my point isn’t to re-debate how shit Rudkin is though …. It’s to make the point that we look tired and the boost of a signing (like every other club in the league managed to do) would have been a useful fillip 

[HankMarvin]

On 24/02/2024 at 20:49, Lillehamring said:

I get what you mean, and sure it would be a drag especially after leading for so long, but you have to remember that Leeds picked a manager with a track record of doing well in this division, and failing badly in the PL.  We've taken a risk on a long term plan for a much higher ceiling.  As long as we go up i'd rather be there with Maresca that Farke.

 

On 24/02/2024 at 22:52, HankMarvin said:

Potential higher ceiling, you are speaking likes it’s a given. 
just like how Kompany is finding out 

 

3 hours ago, Lillehamring said:

Not at all (the clue is in the word 'potential') - i'm saying that they feel in Maresca that the potential to do something special is there, that this is a man who can revitalise and change the direction of the club from top to bottom - no it's not a given, but the early signs are very promising.

 

As opposed to....

 

Farke, who has failed on two separate occasions in the PL.  The point is, Leeds hired a manager with a track record for getting promoted, so Leeds winning the league or being promoted shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

How nice of you to point at the clue is in the word potential, sadly for you it was missing from your post above, hence why I said it.

[volpeazzurro]

6 hours ago, Ricey said:

Rudkin was fully behind Rodgers. Various Percy articles backed that up. Rudkin is Director of Football and wholeheartedly trusted by the owners, if he had wanted Rodgers gone it would have happened earlier than it did.

Well if Percy says it it must be true 🤣.

 

Although, I thought that quite the opposite reports came out, that the two didn't exactly get on and Rudkin wanted him out way before Top got rid of him and was voted down?

 

The fact again remains that you and I haven't got a flying fig of a clue and merely just believe and repeat any bit of gossip that suits our viewpoints. 

 

 

Edited 26 February by volpeazzurro

[jmono84]

On 24/02/2024 at 20:08, whoareyaaa said:

We didn't bottle it we just missed some key chances, and the linesman helped as well.

 

If we don't win the league or get promoted then I grant you the term bottled it but until then we are top 6 points clear with 12 games to go. 

 

Have some faith.

Us, Leeds, Southampton and fair play to Ipswich are far too good for this division. I’m quite concerned about our record against these sides. We should played 5 and won 4 but due to last mins goals we’ve won once and us squandering 2 clear chances by hitting them well wide and then conceding 3 goals in 10 mins is, for that game, a bottle job.

 

I’m less worried about the Middlesbrough losses because we never went ahead in the games against them and they did a job on us which will happen in this division.

[K789]

Simply put 12 games left, ipswich are 3 games back to overtake us with their goal difference being much worse. Think we can afford to lose 5 from here and still go up. Be a tall order for Ipswich to win 9 and draw 1 from 12 left. 

[goperryrevs]

Ipswich fan in peace.

 

You're the best team in the league and so you're top for a reason. When you have had a couple of losses, you do manage to turn it around. But there are still a lot of games to go, and anything can happen. But I full expect you to go up as champions.

 

Southampton: have never rated Martin that much as a manager. They still have a Premier League squad, but even when they were on that amazing run against lower placed teams, they still had the potential to go on a bad run, once they came up against better opposition - and I don't think Martin has the quality to get them going again.

 

Leeds: The best attacking players in the league. They manage to turn up for the big games, but don't seem to have the desire to grind out other games over a season. You should have been out of sight against them on Friday. I hope we can overtake them, it'll be tight.

 

Us: If you think we're just going to fall away again then you don't understand where our success has come from. We have the best manager in the league - he will manage at the very top. But the players at his disposal are a level well below Leicester, Leeds and Southampton. Our blip was down to one thing - the injury to George Hirst. Our formation is so dependent on a big target upfront. The replacements we had were Ladapo (just not good enough for this level, but great in League One) and Jackson (a league one level utility player who gives 100% but has mostly been playing for us as a winger). As soon as Moore came in, we're straight back to winning games. We can afford to lose players in most other positions as we have cover, but if Moore gets injured, then we'd struggle again.

 

As for luck... every team thinks they're the unlucky ones, but if any fan is honest, these things even out. Someone on here pointed out penalties - you've had 11 in the past 28 games. We've had 2. It does feel like a lot of decisions have gone against us recently. But then again, you remember the ones that go against you, and forget the ones that don't. What we do have is stamina and belief. Our players do say that training is a level well beyond what they're used to, and I think that fitness, as well as squad harmony and options from the bench that are as good as the starting 11 is why we've scored a lot of goals towards the end of games.

 

It'll be an exciting end to the season.