What a Difference a Decade Makes ... Same Results, DIfferent Vibe

[KingsX]

This season is pointing toward the same result as 2013/14.  Dominating the league by a margin not often seen in the Championship.

 

 

Yep, so far, we are scoring a bit more and yielding less than in what we all agree was an exceptional season.

 

No, I'm not crowning us or awarding us 100 points yet -- but that is not my point. 

 

Things have taken a 180 degree turn since May.  We are going back up.  And yet, instead of folks being over the moon ... there's an air of malaise over the forum.  What gives?

 

- Too much cynical, purely results-oriented keepaway football boring us?

- Brainy Italian chief instead of charismatic Englishman?

- Lots of really good, get-the-job-done players instead of an insanely charismatic striker, and eye-popping winger, both on their way to superstardom?

- Too many dinosaurs in the fanbase who can't pipe down and just enjoy the results?

- Or have we just become spoiled, entitled tw@ts after a decade of unprecedented success?

 

- Combination of the above?

 

Discuss.

 

 

Edited 31 January 2024 by KingsX

[TrentFox]

Probably all of the above. Also, maybe some legacy from the depressing football we served up last season?  Last season was excruciating to watch as it unfolded. This season, we’ve all got used to winning again- but it still feels like ‘we shouldn’t be here’ which in turn gives rise to a feeing of ‘just getting back on an even keel’, rather than the elation of the last promotion that took us somewhere we’d almost forgotten existed. 🤷 Finally, speaking for myself, the football is a long way from exciting to watch! I know many on here do enjoy it, but personally I don’t - which makes the game all about the result, as less enjoyment is drawn from the style in which that result is obtained. 🤷😞

[shailen]

It's a mix of sense of entitlement and realisation that we were too good to go down last season. 

 

In 13/14 we didn't have the same expectations and therefore the promotion was far more appreciated. Us fans are a victim of our own success. We view ourselves as a big club. 

[Dan]

The brutal reality is that after what we've witnessed in the last decade we cannot be just expected to reset expectations and pretend that we're excited by beating Swansea and Huddersfield. That is not a criticism of the manager, he should be respected for how well he and the team have turned things around, but it just simply isn't going to get the juices flowing and that isn't arrogance, it's the reality. It's the equivalent of Manchester City winning three straight champions leagues and the following season seeing how they react when they beat Lech Poznan in the Conference League.

 

I think as well the speed of which we fell has placed 2022/23 as the outlier and that 2023/24 is capped by the fact we're in this league. It isn't like we had years of being rubbish in the Premier League and fell into this league gradually and painfully like Everton feel like they're doing. We have in very recent memory produced a consistently winning team at a higher level.

 

I think the fans at our ground have been largely awful and even in spite of all of this they're just adding to the overall malaise. The loudest noise I heard from the east stand all night was a loud groan at KDH overrunning a ball. That isn't how it should be when you're winning this often. But I do understand 'sort of' where the malaise is from - it just isn't particularly exciting. It's wasted on us frankly.

 

To be totally honest I did enjoy the style in 2013/14 a bit more though. I'm not saying that team was better but I did find the higher tempo easier to resonate with.

Edited 31 January 2024 by Dan LCFC

[iancognito]

Conversation behind me during Swansea

 

"No he's not here again, he's let my brother have the tickets. He's only coming to the bigger games. Did you come on Satdeh?"

 

"No course not. I'm not paying extra to watch this"

 

"I've not even seen the goals yet. Feels like we're just waiting for the Premiership again, this ain't much of a pull these days"

 

"I've forcing myself to watch this season, we dint wanna give the tickets away because we might not gerrum back"

 

"Here he goes again, Ndidi not Ndidi the other one, he's so selfish never creates anything"

 

🤨😫🙈

[MattFox]

We’ve finished 8th,5th and 5th in the Premier League in 3 of the last 4 seasons 

 

Finishing mid table under Puel was seen as a bad season

 

People aren’t arsed about beating mid table championship clubs

 

Edited 31 January 2024 by MattFox

[foxinsox]

The problem with getting the crowd enthused is that we have "edge of our seats" football.

 

It isn't "edge of our seats" due to creative flowing football, it is "edge of our seats" anxiety that the team will blow it by a missed pass while passing it around the back 5. We saw that a lot last season, and while Enzo-ball is different, we have seen a few leads blown by it this season, and lots more threatened.

 

It affects the team too. They looked rejuvenated by the second goal and played with excitement and purpose again.

 

I understand the point of playing possession deep in our half to draw the opponent forward and out of position. The table doesn't lie, but it isn't thrilling to watch.

 

The test will be with that system against teams in the PL. Away at Bournemouth will be a test, though probably one for the reserves.

[Vacamion]

 

In 2013/14 we'd spent over a decade out of the top flight, and the stint in the 3rd tier was within much closer memory, as were heroic failures at the ends of seasons, so it was exciting and fresh to see us, after a long period of decline followed by dashed hopes, dominate a league, with generational attacking talents in Vardy and Mahrez.

 

This time, we were relegated with decent players playing poorly and being managed terribly, throwing away a decade of mostly high performance.  After the first few games seeing how it would work out at this level, we have pretty much *expected* to go up, since about September.  Going up will almost be a relief, not exhilerating.   

 

First time round:  "Fook yeah.  The promised land."

 

This time round (if we don't stumble) : "Thank fook.  Now, where we..."

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 31 January 2024 by Vacamion

[coolhandfox]

I think it's sad people can't just enjoy the season for what it is.

 

 

Edited 31 January 2024 by coolhandfox

[eblair]

It’s not even like the league one year where we have spent 3 years avoiding relegation. Last year came out of nowhere

 

Feel for Enzo but club to blame for general malaise at games for last season

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

I haven’t been able to get to as many home games because I live a long way away and can’t get to all these mid week games very easily. But watch them all obviously…
 

We are where we are through gross management. Enzo is putting things right far quicker than any of us thought, but we are still scarred and damaged and that takes time to heal. 
 

Last nights criticism was that we didn’t win by more. At half time it should have been 3 or 4. It’s a combination of where we’ve come from - that we are used to high standards and are currently cruising through this division. 
 

I’m generally not critical this season though (it’s hard to be when flying this high), but can understand the malaise a little and where it comes from.

[Product of 84]

Will the malaise disappear next season? Will we the fans be up for a relegation battle? 

 

Those of us old enough to remember the 90s will know (currently) winning the Championship is nothing to be sniffed at. Yes the Wembley trips at the end of the playoffs were exciting but its the pain of not going up that I remember. Especially, the Swindon one. All while Forest and Coventry were enjoying the Prem. 

 

Perhaps, this season has just been to easy (so far)? Perhaps, we fans crave a contest? Perhaps the lack of contests makes us less sharp when we get onto one?

 

I know I'd rather have the above questions sitting 10 points clear than looking up getting excited about overtaking Leeds and Southampton if we beat them. 

[Libertine]

We basically haven’t ‘suffered’ enough. It took a decade and however many players, managers and owners to get back last time including going down to League 1 in between, then a gradual building of a young and hungry team. There’s no real jeopardy. We simply shouldn’t be down here in the first place. I kind of compare us to Man City, their atmosphere is dead a lot of the time as they’re just so used to winning. It’s kind of hard to reset mentally after all our success.

Edited 31 January 2024 by Libertine

[BluethroughtheMiddle]

My 2p.

Because in recent years we are used to seeing us as a top half of the prem club and instead we are in the championship.(which we all know should not have happened as it wasnt because of a lack of playing talent)

We expect to smash this and get back up, its painful to even be in this position.

Winning is fun but not so much against such poor opponents. The fact we have lost even a few games in this league feels like a disaster. IMHO.

[HitchinFox]

48 minutes ago, MattFox said:

We’ve finished 8th,5th and 5th in the Premier League in 3 of the last 4 seasons 

 

Finishing mid table under Puel was seen as a bad season

 

People aren’t arsed about beating mid table championship clubs

 

So your answer is:
 

– Or have we just become spoiled, entitled tw@ts after a decade of unprecedented success? 

 

 

Edited 31 January 2024 by HitchinFox

[Sol thewall Bamba]

32 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

I think it's sad people can't just enjoy the season for what it is.

 

 

Yeah. The same people will be miserable next season because we go on a 5 game losing streak. 

 

I think a lot of people just need to stop going, it's obviously not enjoyable for them.

[jonthefox]

We're spoilt . Simple 

[Guest David Oldfields Gate]

Bread & Circuses.

[filbertway]

It's just a matter of expectation and jeopardy isn't it.

 

If you're playing a team of similar/better quality then you're buzzing to get a result against them. Then unless there's some kind of jeopardy on the result, beating a team you should be beating, especially in the fashion we do. Isn't going to get you excited unless you're forcing it or just feel unnecessarily nervous about things you shouldn't.

 

I guess there's the odd weird person that gets a kick out of punching down as well, but i'd imagine that's a very tiny number of people.

[davieG]

2 hours ago, foxinsox said:

It isn't "edge of our seats" due to creative flowing football, it is "edge of our seats" anxiety that the team will blow it by a missed pass while passing it around the back 5.

This.

In spite of our position in the league for the last number of games we've been underperforming compared to earlier in the season and there's little confidence that we can hang on to 1-0 leads so every mistake, and there are so many by any player causes concern.

There was a period yesterday just before we got our 2nd goal where we couldn't get out of our own half through continual unenforced errors, it would have been hard for a neutral to tell which team was clear at the top and which was sitting in 16th place. We know our players are better than that. It's like a malaise sets in when we go 1-0 up and that draws in the the fans

Of course there's an underlying feeling of entitlement when your sitting 7 points clear at the top, with the players we have and after last seasons totally unnecessary relegation why would that surprise anyone. That's not to say that after years of being an LCFC fan that people have lost that dread of being let down yet again even after the last 10+ years of success which even in that period has included several let downs.

[Spudulike]

We are having the mother of all hangovers after a 10-year party. Rodgers and the relegation rats caused the depression and we're struggling to move on. 

 

I've given up our seats more times this season than probably the last 5 combined. This has been mainly due to so many mid-week rearrangements but I have to confess that my effort is low. I intend to get to every home game now after Sheff Wed and shake myself out of the malaise for the run-in. 

[goose2010]

2 hours ago, BluethroughtheMiddle said:

My 2p.

Because in recent years we are used to seeing us as a top half of the prem club and instead we are in the championship.(which we all know should not have happened as it wasnt because of a lack of playing talent)

We expect to smash this and get back up, its painful to even be in this position.

Winning is fun but not so much against such poor opponents. The fact we have lost even a few games in this league feels like a disaster. IMHO.

Least you are honest as i imagine a lot of people feel the same. I could go on and on about how wrong you are but i wont as its your opinion. 

 

There is a reason the league record in this league isnt all that. 

[ithuriel]

People are still burnt about being in this league,  we should not have gone down with the squad we had but last season being the shambles that it was has left a bad taste.

To put it simply, it is like being kicked in the balls and still feeling it sometime afterwards.

The only thing I find strange about this season is there is no Maresca chant like previous managers have had, at least I can't remember hearing any chant, maybe he needs to hear some love from the fans.

Wrong thread 

Edited 31 January 2024 by ithuriel

[Spudulike]

2 minutes ago, ithuriel said:

People are still burnt about being in this league,  we should not have gone down with the squad we had but last season being the shambles that it was has left a bad taste.

To put it simply, it is like being kicked in the balls and still feeling it sometime afterwards.

The only thing I find strange about this season is there is no Maresca chant like previous managers have had, at least I can't remember hearing any chant, maybe he needs to hear some love from the fans.

'.... Playing football the Enzo way'. Hear it every match. 

[ithuriel]

Just now, Spudulike said:

'.... Playing football the Enzo way'. Hear it every match. 

Such a boring chant, no wonder I glazed over it,  we need an Enzo we love you kind of chant