Bert Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 These are tough times for Leicester City and, he admits, for manager Craig Levein as he reflects on the most difficult period of his footballing life. City cannot buy a win, even from winning positions or against the lowest opposition. And, with in-form Norwich fancying their chances at the Walkers Stadium tomorrow (3.0), it is a daunting task again. The players need to keep as much confidence as possible in times like these, but what about the manager? Levein said: "This is the hardest spell I have had as a manager, or as a player, and it is tough. "If the players were downing tools it would make my job easier, I could throw people out and change things around. But they are not. It is the lack of a winning mentality that is revealed by a lot of things. "As for the five changes against Reading - well, we are not winning and there were people waiting to get a chance. I am searching for a formula to win matches, not necessarily to play good football because we have done loads of that and it hasn't worked in terms of victories. "This game is vitally important because it gives us another chance to get things right and that means the players making the right decisions at the right time. "They are doing some of the wrong things for the right reasons because they are desperate to win. "For instance, we were giving stupid free-kicks away which can hurt us and there are only so many times you can come in and say 'unlucky lads'. The mentality has to be better." The defensive stance against Reading on Wednesday will change, of course, and, although Mark de Vries did a great job up front on his own, the pace and vitality of Elvis Hammond and Iain Hume look set to feature this time with Gareth Williams likely to continue in midfield. Ryan Smith appeared as a substitute at Reading after a slight knee problem and City will need his pace and trickery to carry the fight. The word from the club is that, despite the severe weather warnings, the undersoil heating has been on for several days and the pitch should be fine. The main task is for the team to turn on the heat themselves and start the recovery as quickly as possible Source: http://www.thebluearmy.co.uk/details.asp?b...6269754|p|536|0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Honcho Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 Well he only has to look in the mirror to see where the problem lies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_lcfc Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 im bored of craig searching for his winning forumla now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FNQ Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 He's a beaten man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimp Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 He's a beaten man. Seems to me that CL has just about reached the same point that MA did when he gave up and walked out. It will be interesting to see if CL has the strength of character to stick it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir JJ Wilcox Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 He'll definately stick it out he's a very awkward man as you've seen with him constantly picking players like Rab so he'll either turn it round or we'll be watching league 1 football next season because he wont walk out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City_4_Life Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 "For instance, we were giving stupid free-kicks away which can hurt us and there are only so many times you can come in and say 'unlucky lads'. The mentality has to be better." Does this mean he will stop using this as an excuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The People's Hero Posted 30 December 2005 Share Posted 30 December 2005 Does this mean he will stop using this as an excuse Don't be so ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lush Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 "As for the five changes against Reading - well, we are not winning and there were people waiting to get a chance. I am searching for a formula to win matches, not necessarily to play good football because we have done loads of that and it hasn't worked in terms of victories. This is a very good point, one in which alot of city fans have not recognised. Before reading, we`d picked up 2pts in 4 games. If he hadnt changed things and lost, we`d be saying why didnt he change things... "This game is vitally important because it gives us another chance to get things right and that means the players making the right decisions at the right time. But craig, de lump isnt the answer. "They are doing some of the wrong things for the right reasons because they are desperate to win I know football players are human, but they get paid thousands of pounds to think in the right way to play good. Maybe we should have a system that takes money off them if they cant do the bizz, that would make them work harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonbluefox9 Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 I know football players are human, but they get paid thousands of pounds to think in the right way to play good. Maybe we should have a system that takes money off them if they cant do the bizz, that would make them work harder. CL said in his post match interview at Reading that he'd be punishing McCarthy, and he may have said Joey Gudjonsson too, for his booking on Wednesday by hitting him in the pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lush Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 CL said in his post match interview at Reading that he'd be punishing McCarthy, and he may have said Joey Gudjonsson too, for his booking on Wednesday by hitting him in the pocket. Yes i think i heard that too. So 1 grand off a 5 grand wage, peanuts. They`ll be crying all the way to the bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anish Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 CL said in his post match interview at Reading that he'd be punishing McCarthy, and he may have said Joey Gudjonsson too, for his booking on Wednesday by hitting him in the pocket. I dunno if that's a good move. Team morale and confidence must be at an all time low as it is, so fining players for bookings is just going to alienate them more and turn them against him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westmidsfox Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 So you don't fine players whose stupid reactions to incidents cost the team ? Please tell me how you punish a player for doing something that has obviously been discussed by the the whole team and has been agreed that silly bookings and sendings off have cost the team results, other than imposing heavier fines than are already in place ? (Other than by making the sanction - you will be dropped) The manager has told us all that he has tried to stop the players doing daft things, the players have accepted that they shouldn't put themselves in the position , so suggest what else the management should do ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 So you don't fine players whose stupid reactions to incidents cost the team ? Please tell me how you punish a player for doing something that has obviously been discussed by the the whole team and has been agreed that silly bookings and sendings off have cost the team results, other than imposing heavier fines than are already in place ? (Other than by making the sanction - you will be dropped) The manager has told us all that he has tried to stop the players doing daft things, the players have accepted that they shouldn't put themselves in the position , so suggest what else the management should do ? By introducing fines within the club. Although I assume such a system already exists. At least I hope so. A yellow card costs, say 500 £, a red one a 1000 quid. Just an example. Regular offenders could be put in the reserve team or even expelled from the club. Amateur football clubs have a similar system. If you can't play fair enough, your fault. You pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anish Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 So you don't fine players whose stupid reactions to incidents cost the team ? Please tell me how you punish a player for doing something that has obviously been discussed by the the whole team and has been agreed that silly bookings and sendings off have cost the team results, other than imposing heavier fines than are already in place ? (Other than by making the sanction - you will be dropped) The manager has told us all that he has tried to stop the players doing daft things, the players have accepted that they shouldn't put themselves in the position , so suggest what else the management should do ? I'm not saying you should never fine players for stupid sendings off. All I'm saying is that there shouldn't be a textbook rule that should be adhered to in every situation. There should be some discretion and Levein should give them a bit of leeway in this case. By fining McCarthy and maybe Joey for 'silly bookings' is taking it a bit too far in my view, especially in the current predicament we're in. These guys will be low on confidence as it is, so taking a further chunk of their wages isn't going to do them any good at all. It's like kicking a man when he's down. Do you think fining McCarthy again (I guess he was fined after the Leeds dismissal) will benefit him or the team? He's passionate and sometimes let's his emotions get the better of him, but I wouldn't fine him for merely a yellow card. Besides, McCarthy's yellow card or even Joey's for that matter didn't exactly cost the team anything or cost us the game. We were losing when it happened and we still lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The People's Hero Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 It's the last, desperate measures of a beaten man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cisono Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 It's the last, desperate measures of a beaten man! Yet, surely 4-4-2 is better than 4-5-1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cisono Posted 31 December 2005 Share Posted 31 December 2005 Do you think fining McCarthy again (I guess he was fined after the Leeds dismissal) will benefit him or the team? He's passionate and sometimes let's his emotions get the better of him, but I wouldn't fine him for merely a yellow card. Personally, I think he should be slapped... to see how he likes being on the receiving end of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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