Championship 🏆 2025/26

[Fossway Fan]

On 03/02/2025 at 20:19, SecretPro said:

                            Ward

 

Justin     Vestergaard    U18        Thomas

 

                     U18          U18

 

Kasey                  U18                    Tea Lady

 

                            Ayew

 

Swap Kasey for the boot cleaner and it's good looking team.

[Leicester_Loyal]

56 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

I don’t get the argument that we’d be better off not coming back up.

 

Of course we are better off coming back up. As long as we don’t spend on shite again. If we recruit sensibly (ha), the worse case is we come down again but battling and building to getting back properly.

Surely it's more to do with getting rid of the board and Top? If we stay in that division we're more likely for that to happen than being promoted again.

[inckley fox]

58 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

I don’t get the argument that we’d be better off not coming back up.

 

Of course we are better off coming back up. As long as we don’t spend on shite again. If we recruit sensibly (ha), the worse case is we come down again but battling and building to getting back properly.

I think that 'ha' is the reason some people feel we might need more time!

 

You're right, it depends on getting the recruitment right. And of course it'd be better to do both that, and come up at the first time of asking. As you say though, that's a fairly big conditional.

 

I doubt many would prefer us to deliberately tale ourselves out of the promotion picture for any length of time. That'd be madness. Perhaps some are just taking the view that the quick fixes haven't helped our cause long term, and 2-3 years out of the top flight while getting the right blend would be preferable to yo-yoing interminably. It may even give us something which puts us in a better position for years to come.

 

But yes, there are huge problems that also come with extended periods outside the top flight. An instant return is obviously preferable, albeit with the caveat that we have the bigger picture in mind this time around. If there's an element of risk that we might not cruise it because we're building a younger side that turns out to need a bit more time, like in the Wallace and Pearson years (and going further back to Halliday, Hodge and the long-gone legends of the 1920s and 1950s), then I would at least welcome the notion of a club looking forward. But I get your point.

[KFS]

Jakub

 

Coulibaly

Nelson

Okoli

New signing

 

Winks

Skipp

 

Fatawu

BEK

Alves

 

New signing

 

I’d be excited to back this side

[huddersfieldfox]

8 hours ago, Pliskin said:

It’s only enjoyable if you’re winning and going up. Otherwise it’s a hideous league. The standard of football is incredibly poor…. 

I’m wouldn’t agree, don’t get me wrong at the bottom end it’s not great but we have been there and lower. In the premier league now the tippy tippy football drives me mad, it didn’t take long for David Moyes to go route 1, we know that and look at Everton now. I just don’t think the premier league is as good as everyone makes out. Everyone has an opinion but that’s football 

[Heathrow fox]

1 hour ago, inckley fox said:

While I totally go along with your general point about this squad being clearly relegation fodder, unlike the 'Class of 2023', I'd disagree about one or two of the other comments.

 

Firstly the whole HMS Piss the League thing. We only went up by seven points, and only won the league by one or two. Secondly, it wasn't merely a late season blip - we weren't even on promotion form for the second half of the season, and came perilously close to blowing what, on paper, looked like the biggest ever shoo-in for a second tier title. Enzo did his job, but it was far, far from emphatic.

 

Part of the problem was that we didn't recruit all that well. We still effectively had to replace the backbone of the side when we did get promoted because we already knew Faes and Vesty weren't EPL standard, KDH left, and Vardy was 37 - and we simply hadn't developed enough new options with our investments at the lower level. If the likes of Souttar / Nelson / Alves etc. were ever likely to add to those options, then the decision to play a brand of football which would be way beyond the skill-set of our players at a higher level, and to favour those who could handle that brand of football but only at a lower level, totally sidelined them. It left us with too much work to do in the summer of last year, when our resources were limited.

 

As for the 2023 signings, too few of them offered anything at the higher level. The keeper - great - but Stephy, Winks, Coady, Cannon didn't really advance our cause. Winks' form was middling even in the FLC from the New Year onwards. Fatawu may indeed be a great prospect, but he was still some way off PL standard in most of his performances this season.

 

So yeah, you're right that this side is likely to have some difficulties which we didn't have last time round. You're right that they're a lot poorer than the side which went down in 2023. But I think there were plenty of signs last season that things weren't going all that phenomenally well, and many of our current problems come from the short-sightedness of our approach back then.

 

I'm not advocating for a long-term approach which devastates any chance of an instant return next season. But if we don't do a better job of rebuilding the core of the squad next time round, we will also deprive ourselves of the chance to compete again at the highest level, and for the foreseeable future.

Great points made there that just reinforce my feeling that next season might not be all plain sailing.I imagine that taking a couple of seasons out to rebuild isn’t an option A risky strategy at the best of times.Gaining promotion asap by any means will be the priority.

[Guppys Love Child]

1 hour ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Surely it's more to do with getting rid of the board and Top? If we stay in that division we're more likely for that to happen than being promoted again.

I can't believe I'm actually having to say this but....

 

I totally agree.  We have on this forum debated the problems, reasons why etc. and regardless of the divison we play in next season, the same old sH1t will just keep.on happening until  the cause of the problem is removed. 

 

IMO we need new ownership to kick start the healing process, (as Top is clueless, brainwashed by Rudkin and Co. or god knows what, but he is clearly incapable of doing what needed)  New owners hopefully will bring in their own people, who we hope are more competent to run the club.

Only then will we move forward. 

 

However the first task regardless of ownership is for RvN to be moved on. 

He's not a good manager at any level and I truly believe that he would still struggle in the  Championship.

 

 

[LCFCJohn]

2 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

Surely it's more to do with getting rid of the board and Top? If we stay in that division we're more likely for that to happen than being promoted again.

Yeah fair. I took it as it’s better to stay down because we wouldn’t be ready. Which that I don’t agree with. Obviously we need change at the top and that happening due to not bouncing straight back might be better in the long run.

[leicesterseddon]

4 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

The club really need to get hold of these elderly players on a wad. The meek and weak DoF won't of course. 

 

But, a strong a focussed DoF would pull BdcR, Ayew, Vesty, Coady aside at the end of season and make clear; 

 

 

None of them will be registered to play next season, regardless of manager 

 

They will be required to train at Belvoir Drive.Seagrsve isn't available to them

 

 

...each player can, if they wish, ask their agent to negotiate a financial settlement and exit terms. But if they don't want that, the club will do the decent thing and pay what they are owed. 

They aren’t going to “negotiate” an exit package because we want them to

 

The club will not be in a position to pay four senior players high wages not to play

 

Realistically, we all have to accept they will be part of our Championship squad next season, even if they aren’t part of the 1st XI

[FrankieADZ]

3 hours ago, KFS said:

Jakub

 

Coulibaly

Nelson

Okoli

New signing

 

Winks

Skipp

 

Fatawu

BEK

Alves

 

New signing

 

I’d be excited to back this side

think id maybe take winks out of that for a new signing or/U21 player

rest i think id be happy with that in the championship tbf

[hebangsthedrums]

5 hours ago, Pliskin said:

Which he clearly won’t? It’s obvious he loves being here what indication have we got that he wants to leave? 
 

We will sell Mads plus some of the fringe players, and build a team around the likes of Bilal and Abdul! 

What indication have we got that he wants to stay? I'm just saying that although he may love it here, he might also love playing on the premier league...

[Haywood_6]

On 16/03/2025 at 19:53, FrankieADZ said:

think id maybe take winks out of that for a new signing or/U21 player

rest i think id be happy with that in the championship tbf

Winks is an interesting one for me as we've seen he can control the tempo of a game in midfield in the Championship because you get a lot more time and space. It'll be tough for an U21 player to replicate that but I'm all for giving our youngsters a chance but we'll need to get the balance right

 

[Chrysalis]

On 16/03/2025 at 15:33, LCFCJohn said:

I don’t get the argument that we’d be better off not coming back up.

 

Of course we are better off coming back up. As long as we don’t spend on shite again. If we recruit sensibly (ha), the worse case is we come down again but battling and building to getting back properly.

There will be players good enough in lower divisions and over seas, we need to really sort out recruitment, analytics, DoF etc.
Wages need dropping sharply which gives head room for paying transfer fees.

None of this is being fixed with Top and Rudkin in play.

[LVFox]

Just hope we bomb out some of the "experienced" crap we've acquired. Coady, Vestegaard, BDCR and Ayew all need to go.

 

I'm excited with our attacking talent for next year though, especially if we can add a decent centre forward or two!

 

Manager wise, I can massively see it being Ruud or Russell Martin in charge, which doesn't thrill me at all, but we should easily have enough to get top 6.

 

Bigger thing for me is to see us bring the right characters in to ensure we can have a good go at staying up, once/if we return. A coach who can set up well defensively would be nice for that.

 

Basically, I'm asking for smart medium term decisions....which is ridiculous with the decision makers at our club. 

[DJW1]

Is it correct that at Leicester the players´ wages automatically fell by 50% after the last relegation and will that happen this time?

[DJW1]

7 hours ago, LVFox said:

Just hope we bomb out some of the "experienced" crap we've acquired. Coady, Vestegaard, BDCR and Ayew all need to go.

 

I'm excited with our attacking talent for next year though, especially if we can add a decent centre forward or two!

 

Manager wise, I can massively see it being Ruud or Russell Martin in charge, which doesn't thrill me at all, but we should easily have enough to get top 6.

 

Bigger thing for me is to see us bring the right characters in to ensure we can have a good go at staying up, once/if we return. A coach who can set up well defensively would be nice for that.

 

Basically, I'm asking for smart medium term decisions....which is ridiculous with the decision makers at our club. 

After the last relegation the club got some things right. They got a new manager in quickly and made several key signings (Mads, Winks, Coady - although he got injured pre-season) early on. Hopefully they can get it right again.

[ClaphamFox]

7 hours ago, LVFox said:

Just hope we bomb out some of the "experienced" crap we've acquired. Coady, Vestegaard, BDCR and Ayew all need to go.

 

I'm excited with our attacking talent for next year though, especially if we can add a decent centre forward or two!

 

Manager wise, I can massively see it being Ruud or Russell Martin in charge, which doesn't thrill me at all, but we should easily have enough to get top 6.

 

Bigger thing for me is to see us bring the right characters in to ensure we can have a good go at staying up, once/if we return. A coach who can set up well defensively would be nice for that.

 

Basically, I'm asking for smart medium term decisions....which is ridiculous with the decision makers at our club. 

It might be Ruud. It won’t be Martin. 

[st albans fox]

10 minutes ago, DJW1 said:

Is it correct that at Leicester the players´ wages automatically fell by 50% after the last relegation and will that happen this time?

There was apparently a range from 25% to 50%. the higher earners had the largest percentage drop. 

it will be the same this time - maybe more on the newer deals negotiated with a corresponding release clause for some of the players which would no doubt be lowish to encourage them to leave. 

[LVFox]

2 hours ago, DJW1 said:

After the last relegation the club got some things right. They got a new manager in quickly and made several key signings (Mads, Winks, Coady - although he got injured pre-season) early on. Hopefully they can get it right again.

I'd say Enzo, Winks, Fatawu, Mads and Mavididi were good choices.

 

However, the thought process behind getting Enzo was risky, Top asked him to play like Man City which shows a real lack of understanding to the level of our players.

 

Fatawu and Hermansen show the scouting department still have an eye. Good. Let's do more of that.

[Langston]

On 26/03/2025 at 22:11, LVFox said:

I'd say Enzo, Winks, Fatawu, Mads and Mavididi were good choices.

 

However, the thought process behind getting Enzo was risky, Top asked him to play like Man City which shows a real lack of understanding to the level of our players.

 

Fatawu and Hermansen show the scouting department still have an eye. Good. Let's do more of that.

 

He was solid without being spectacular but Akgun was always quite leftfield too.. I know the rules are different but I think we were actually cannier with our loans in the Champ than the Prem. 

[LVFox]

3 minutes ago, Langston said:

 

He was solid without being spectacular but Akgun was always quite leftfield too.. I know the rules are different but I think we were actually cannier with our loans in the Champ than the Prem. 

Liked Akgun myself, a bit chaotic at times but always put in a shift. Has done well this season, if I remember rightly he was recommended to Enzo by Vincenzo Montella?

[Lambert09]

This might be controversial but we are arguably going to go down with a better squad than last time. with who would possibly be available to us still.

 

we already have fatawu and mavi who were 2 of the most important signings. 
 

we almost certainly lose mads but Jakob is ready now imo.

 

bilal leaves, probably okoli and we won’t have vardy. 
 

but our emerging youth is more promising. Nelson and alves are ready.  Evan’s and braybrooke won’t be far away. 
 

Woyo will be good at this level. Ricardo will still be here. Vesty has proved he’s very capable at this level . (I’d prefer to get soutter in but suspect Sheffield wills sign him) 

 

(making assumptions faes, winks, soumare, wilf, vk and possibly daka leave)
 

So really we’re building from this:

 

                           js

Ricardo.  Nelson. Vesty.  Woyo 

 

             Skipp  braybrooke 

 

fatawu.          Alves.          Mavi

 

                         Evans

 

For a starting point that’s pretty good and some of the expected departures might not happen which would potentially strengthen the options. I don’t think the summer will be busy for incomings, only outgoings. 

 

Edited 28 March by Lambert09

[Sol thewall Bamba]

On 16/03/2025 at 16:41, KFS said:

Jakub

 

Coulibaly

Nelson

Okoli

New signing

 

Winks

Skipp

 

Fatawu

BEK

Alves

 

New signing

 

I’d be excited to back this side

OK other than Winks. He's checked out and I think feels he's above us. 

[WestLothianFox]

When we are relegated, I wonder if the club shop will be full of merchandise with the slogan 'straight back down'

[ceebeefox]

On 28/03/2025 at 11:46, Langston said:

 

He was solid without being spectacular but Akgun was always quite leftfield too.. I know the rules are different but I think we were actually cannier with our loans in the Champ than the Prem. 

Akgun would’ve improved us this year. Should’ve signed him instead of the very unimpressive BDR.