Team against Luton

[Gamesmaster]

I think RK will go with

GK douglas

RB Stearman

LB Johansson

CB McCarthy

CB Kenton

RW Maybury

LW hughes

CM Johnson

CM Williams

ST Fryatt

ST Hume

Subs: McCauley, gerrbrand, tiatto, Hammond, O'Grady

I would go for

------------------Douglas

Maybury--Kenton--Macarthy--Sheehan

------stearman--johnson--hughes------

--------------------hume------------------

----------hammond-----fryatt------------

Subs, johanson, gerrbrand, weso, tiatto, o'grady

The temptation to play weso is enormouse, especially as its a tuff encounter. We cant risk him, because hes our best CM.

I think we are majorly short on ability in CM, and we will not get promotion with the likes of hughes and williams, johnson to prove himself as yet.

We are so short in the department, its essential that when we get the ball, someone (hume hopefully) will know what to do with it.

Now you could just play fryatt, but if humey is playing deep, he'll need someone more than fryatt to release the ball, because he'll be given it alot.

I think we have some real quality at the back, but how long can they hold out? I wouldn't be surprised if we lost.

Weso must be given the last 20mins or so.

[GianEmmo Zola]

Team vs Luton

DOUGLAS

STEARMAN

MCAULEY

McCARTHEY ©

SHEEHAN

PORTER

JOHNSON

WILLIAMS

HUME

FRYATT

O'GRADY

SUBS- LOGAN, KENTON, HUGHES, DODDS, HAMMOND

[Mort]

I think RK will go with

GK douglas

RB Stearman

LB Johansson

CB McCarthy

CB Kenton

RW Maybury

LW hughes

CM Johnson

CM Williams

ST Fryatt

ST Hume

Subs: McCauley, gerrbrand, tiatto, Hammond, O'Grady

I would go for

------------------Douglas

Maybury--Kenton--Macarthy--Sheehan

------stearman--johnson--hughes------

--------------------hume------------------

----------hammond-----fryatt------------

Subs, johanson, gerrbrand, weso, tiatto, o'grady

So no second choice GK? and with Douglas injured and as poor as ever?! Henderson's still out (not for long, but i would bet he'd miss the Luton game), so one way or another Logan will have to be involved either on the bench or, after Douglas' disgracful showing against Lincoln, in the starting line up... that said I'd still expect RK to want to go with Douglas as first choice (unless the sholder injury is still nagging him).

For my 2 pence worth...

------------------Douglas*

Stearman--Kenton--Macarthy--Sheehan

--Maybury--Johnson--Hughes--Porter--

----------Hume-----Fryatt------------

SUBS: Hammond, O'Grady, Low, Johanson, Logan.

* If he looks in anyway sketchy (which he always does if you ask me) pull him off or simple play Logan from the off instead.

[Stevosevic]

i think he will go with porter. low from what i have seen has not been impressive, also i dont think he likes to play hughes on the wing and we have no other alternatives.

[Ultra]

The temptation to play weso is enormouse, especially as its a tuff encounter. We cant risk him, because hes our best CM.

I think we are majorly short on ability in CM, and we will not get promotion with the likes of hughes and williams, johnson to prove himself as yet.

Your judgement is as wayward as your spelling.

Johnson has been a key player in two promotion sides at West Brom, and presumably signed for us on the basis he'll get regular first team football.

Whatever our views on Weso's potential (which admittedly looks considerable), the reality is he'll be a fringe player at best this season, unless Williams or Johnson pick up injuries.

By the way I agree with Ric's starting 11.

[Gamesmaster]

So no second choice GK? and with Douglas injured and as poor as ever?! Henderson's still out (not for long, but i would bet he'd miss the Luton game), so one way or another Logan will have to be involved either on the bench or, after Douglas' disgracful showing against Lincoln, in the starting line up... that said I'd still expect RK to want to go with Douglas as first choice (unless the sholder injury is still nagging him).

For my 2 pence worth...

------------------Douglas*

Stearman--Kenton--Macarthy--Sheehan

--Maybury--Johnson--Hughes--Porter--

----------Hume-----Fryatt------------

SUBS: Hammond, O'Grady, Low, Johanson, Logan.

* If he looks in anyway sketchy (which he always does if you ask me) pull him off or simple play Logan from the off instead.

IF douglas gets injured, then put a outfield player there. We played two against shrewsbury once without conceeding. We need much outfield support, for it is a tuff encounter, and we will need suitable substitutions.

Why do people think macauley is good enough, what have they seen of him at this level?

[Gamesmaster]

Johnson has been a key player in two promotion sides at West Brom, and presumably signed for us on the basis he'll get regular first team football.

Whatever our views on Weso's potential (which admittedly looks considerable), the reality is he'll be a fringe player at best this season, unless Williams or Johnson pick up injuries.

presumably...he did that one year and a half ago, he's aged since, and he hasn't done it with our squad around him.

Weso has quality, but his injuries mean he'll never fullfill his potential previous to those injuries. The reality is, you dont know what part he'll play this season.

[Ric Flair]

Your judgement is as wayward as your spelling.

Johnson has been a key player in two promotion sides at West Brom, and presumably signed for us on the basis he'll get regular first team football.

Whatever our views on Weso's potential (which admittedly looks considerable), the reality is he'll be a fringe player at best this season, unless Williams or Johnson pick up injuries.

By the way I agree with Ric's starting 11.

Johnson is the undoubted first choice central midfielder I would have thought, but we've seen how things change during a season. This time last year Gudjonsson was classed as our fifth choice midfielder behind (Williams, Hughes, Kisnorbo and Wesolowski) but then with injuries and poor performance he actually became our most relied on midfielder and played alot of matches.

I think Wesolowski's talent (should he stay fit) will be too evident for Kelly to leave out, even if neither he or Johnson are attacking midfielders. What Wesolowski does have in his armoury is that he's very capable of pushing forward, even if it's not one of his notable attributes. He used to play as an attacking midfielder during his first few years at Leicester, infact they've played him everywhere.

Williams and Hughes have alot to prove this year because they will find it hard to shrug off Wesolowski for a first team spot.

[Ultra]

Weso has quality, but his injuries mean he'll never fullfill his potential previous to those injuries. The reality is, you dont know what part he'll play this season.

Bit of a sweeping comment there. Steve Walsh suffered THREE broken legs at the same age (before he joined us) and went on to do OK for himself.

The depth of our squad has given us competition for most positions. This means that non-performers can and will find themselves by eager and hungry replacements.

Williams, Hughes and Johnson will therefore hopefully be aware of the quality they need to produce in order to retain their places in the side.

[DannyLCFC1]

My team would be

------------------Henderson

Stearman--Mcualey--Macarthy--Sheehan

--Low--Johnson--Williams--Wesolowski--

----------Hume-----Fryatt------------

SUBS: Hammond, O'Grady, Hughes, Kenton, Maybury.

[Stevosevic]

My team would be

------------------Henderson

Stearman--Mcualey--Macarthy--Sheehan

--Low--Johnson--Williams--Wesolowski--

----------Hume-----Fryatt------------

SUBS: Hammond, O'Grady, Hughes, Kenton, Maybury.

?

[Vo Rogue]

Johnson and Weso will be our central midfield pair, with Hughes a possibility at left mid. And the way Hammond has been of late how can he be omitted as many in this thread have. And if Williams was going okay at Lincoln he would have stayed on. He was absolutely terrible. Blew his chance to impress.

[Gamesmaster]

Bit of a sweeping comment there. Steve Walsh suffered THREE broken legs at the same age (before he joined us) and went on to do OK for himself.

The depth of our squad has given us competition for most positions. This means that non-performers can and will find themselves by eager and hungry replacements.

Williams, Hughes and Johnson will therefore hopefully be aware of the quality they need to produce in order to retain their places in the side.

Which means walshie could've done better without the broken legs. Ask any medical expert in this field, and they'll tell you that broken bones never fully heal.

Will? What was that about sweeping statements?

On previous form, williams and hughes have no chance of guiding us to promotion. We can only hope that johnson has it still in his locker. Hope seems to be a very very big word when it comes to describing city's potential success.

LCFC sell their product on hope.

[Jamesino_LCFC]

I think it shows how excited we are when we are starting up a thread for the team against Luton about 2 weeks prior to the event

I must say, however, the starvation of club football for so long got to me weeks ago, and the excitment is therefore is inevitable

[Ric Flair]

Which means walshie could've done better without the broken legs. Ask any medical expert in this field, and they'll tell you that broken bones never fully heal.

Will? What was that about sweeping statements?

On previous form, williams and hughes have no chance of guiding us to promotion. We can only hope that johnson has it still in his locker. Hope seems to be a very very big word when it comes to describing city's potential success.

LCFC sell their product on hope.

I could list several players who have broken their legs and have been classed as fulfilling their potential. Obviously it's impossible to prove whether they'd have been any better had they not broken their legs but if Wesolowski plays aswell as we know he is capable of for the rest of his career then that will be fine by me.

[Gamesmaster]

I could list several players who have broken their legs and have been classed as fulfilling their potential. Obviously it's impossible to prove whether they'd have been any better had they not broken their legs

"classed"?. Like me saying egg on toast is better without the egg hmm feel hungry now

Medical experts know the ins n outs of bone structure. Once broken, never the same again. Break a piece of wood, and put it back together, wont be the same.

When you watch weso next, and he goes into a crunching tackle, will you winse?

[Ric Flair]

"classed"?. Like me saying egg on toast is better without the egg hmm feel hungry now

Medical experts know the ins n outs of bone structure. Once broken, never the same again. Break a piece of wood, and put it back together, wont be the same.

When you watch weso next, and he goes into a crunching tackle, will you winse?

It's often been said that broken bones heal back stronger, so who's right and who's wrong?

If you want an example just look at Henrik Larsson. Broke his leg in the most horrific of fashions, he dislocated the ankle aswell as broke the leg (far worse than Weso did) when he came back he actually scored more goals per season than he had done prior to the leg break (although he was very prolific before the leg break)

Dion Dublin broke 2 legs, as did Andy Cole quite early in their careers. Both went on to play for England and both scored a vast amount of goals in the premiership. Would they have been better had their legs not broken? I can't say, but they still had great careers and Weso still can.

[Bert]

Weso has the mental strength and determination to become one of the best players in the world - he's only 18, just give him some time!

Wes will never wince out on a tackle.

[Vo Rogue]

It's often been said that broken bones heal back stronger, so who's right and who's wrong?

If you want an example just look at Henrik Larsson. Broke his leg in the most horrific of fashions, he dislocated the ankle aswell as broke the leg (far worse than Weso did) when he came back he actually scored more goals per season than he had done prior to the leg break (although he was very prolific before the leg break)

Dion Dublin broke 2 legs, as did Andy Cole quite early in their careers. Both went on to play for England and both scored a vast amount of goals in the premiership. Would they have been better had their legs not broken? I can't say, but they still had great careers and Weso still can.

Spot on there Ric. Speaking to young Weso a few months ago about the second break he said it was an opening of the old break as it had not fully healed. However given time it would be stronger. The complication that can be a problem is pain from the memrane over the bone where it is not as smooth of previously. Also at Brighton when he did rebrake it he was able to walk,and even return onto the field of play,due to the metal rod in his leg holding all together. A real Robo-leg.

[Master Fox]

Johnson and Weso will be our central midfield pair, with Hughes a possibility at left mid. And the way Hammond has been of late how can he be omitted as many in this thread have. And if Williams was going okay at Lincoln he would have stayed on. He was absolutely terrible. Blew his chance to impress.

Stephen Hughes is our best Midfield player and should start every game whether he plays in the middle or on the left.

[Fez of Mahrez]

I think it's crazy to say Weso will just be a fringe player this season. If he is, then it means Williams and Hughes will have played incredibly well all season. Like Ric says, I think Kelly will find it impossible to leave him out, especially if the midfield looks a bit powderpuff without him and we are getting beat. He's simply the most robust, energetic midfielder we have and the most natural replacement for Gudjonsson. I think in time this will tell and it will be a case of Weso and Williams/Johnson in the middle with Hughes/Low on the right. I'm not even going to mention the left side.

EDIT: I guess I did mention it... I'm not going to utter that w**ker's name though. I hope Levi gets a chance and makes the spot his own.

[Ultra]

There's a danger of overloading the side with youngsters.

And with Stearman and Fryatt already established, Weso may have to bide his time..

[Gamesmaster]

It's often been said that broken bones heal back stronger, so who's right and who's wrong?

If you want an example just look at Henrik Larsson. Broke his leg in the most horrific of fashions, he dislocated the ankle aswell as broke the leg (far worse than Weso did) when he came back he actually scored more goals per season than he had done prior to the leg break (although he was very prolific before the leg break)

Dion Dublin broke 2 legs, as did Andy Cole quite early in their careers. Both went on to play for England and both scored a vast amount of goals in the premiership. Would they have been better had their legs not broken? I can't say, but they still had great careers and Weso still can.

"...its often been said"....people have said alot of things. Experts know what there talking about, thats why they have expertease. Who would you believe?

Henrik either didnt live up to his potential (for whatever reason), or didnt get the service, or got the service later on.

Dublin had a great career in comparison to most players. He was never a great player. maybe he could've been had he not broke his leg?

Andy cole too, was never a great player, he was a very good player in England, for a time, and mostly due to his service from beardsley and shcoles etc etc etc. When he left manyoo, he was average. maybe his injury caught up with him?

[Manwell Pablo]

"...its often been said"....people have said alot of things. Experts know what there talking about, thats why they have expertease. Who would you believe?

Henrik either didnt live up to his potential (for whatever reason), or didnt get the service, or got the service later on.

Dublin had a great career in comparison to most players. He was never a great player. maybe he could've been had he not broke his leg?

Andy cole too, was never a great player, he was a very good player in England, for a time, and mostly due to his service from beardsley and shcoles etc etc etc. When he left manyoo, he was average. maybe his injury caught up with him?

You talk utter garbage. I know someone who runs marathons...alot, and he's fastest time have came after he broke his leg not before.

Larsonn scored shit loads before he broke his leg, so he was getting the service, he just score even more when he came back

I think the chances of a rebrake and the amount of time the injury hampers the person in question depends on where the break it what type ect. Any way wasn't Weso's second break above his first brake?

Can we have a link to the source of your "Expertease" ( ) please.

[Thracian]

There's a danger of overloading the side with youngsters.

And with Stearman and Fryatt already established, Weso may have to bide his time..

You may be right Ultra. But I'm not sure. Our youngsters have won things or been runners-up in their Leagues. It was something the first team used to do.

And the youngsters who have come through to the first team already like Stearman, Wesolowski and O'Grady have done well, some might say, very well.

Some of the older players have not done well. I won't name them. This is not a witchhunt but it is true. People are getting in City's team without playing particularly well and that annoys me far more than whoever is chosen to replace them. There is a difference between playing well and playing okay and too many okays won't win things.

Right now there are four players, Wesolowski, Sheehan, Porter and Dodds who are knocking on the first team door and, generally, they have all done at least as well, sometimes better, than their so-called seniors.

Weso was even the catalyst for our recovery in his all too brief appearances.

When I think of youngsters having experienced senior players around them I think of people with outstanding talent, not ordinary players or people who don't have much effect on a game. The senior players around our youngsters are a mixture of abilities.

If the "ordinary" represent our options then I wonder if we'd be better off backing the genuinely talented youngsters. I'll never forget Allen Hanson's comment that Manchester United would never win anything with kids. They did win and they won with style. Thanklfully ours don't have to be taht good.

If I saw these kids in training week in, week out I would know for certain but I don't. Nor do I think our youngsters are without flaws. They all have flaws. But so do the seniors.

While I may have (perhaps misguided) faith, as Bertfox pointed out and as Manwell does with regularity, it is Rob Kelly who picks the team. Sooner or later he will have to show whether he is a safety first manager or a visionary manager who can inspire people beyond even their own imaginations.

Whatever he does I wish him luck but my own managerial yardstick was simple. I picked teams on merit and I could look people in the eye when I did so. The word favourite never existed in my vocabulary and I would, literally, drop my own son if he didn't do the business.

Our youngsters did us proud in the Academy. They also did us proud on many occasions in the reserves and I used to cringe when their team was disrupted by the sort of trialists we introduced like Haapala and that easily forgettable guy from Charlton, neither of whom looked like they would ever justify a place in the side.

First teamers turned out too, and for good reasons, but results-wise, the lads probably wished they hadn't bothered. Only Hammond and O'Grady really belonged. Only those two were good enough to keep their company and, for their part, the lads looked proud to play with them.

Whatever happens I want our team to develop. I don't want it to remain stagnate displaying the same limitations which it has for so long.

I think it is nonsense to suggest Kelly will be sacked if he doesn't challenge for promotion, certainly it is from my point of view.

I don't really mind if Kelly improves the team bit by bit or more dramatically. But I want to see a team emerging that looks like it can play football and looks like it can be a force in our division (the two things really go together).

That team would need organisation, collective spirit, and genuine ability in its various departments.

It needs to score 70 goals or more and it needs to concede no more 50-odd goals per season, a little over one a game. It needs those goals to come from various places because 35 goals each from the strikers in unrealistic.

That is a defined task. How RK achieves it matters not except that we need to consider our finances too. And without having players to trade we will go bust (or at best tread water) without a benefactor and I doubt we'll see one of them.

The brightest light to me is that I believe the chairman realises this and will already have impressed on RK that he needs to bring some youngsters through otherwise the Academy is a fairly expensive waste of time.

We all have parameters and those are Kelly's. I am more than confident he is up to the task but it won't always be easy. Especially if one of the youngsters has a bad un because he will get pilloried far more than an established senior outfield player having a bad un. Sooner or later though this club has to move forwards, it has to lift its game.

What would I do? I would pick the player for each position who I thought was best for what I wanted to do and RK and I would probably differ in precisely what that was so the decisions wouldn't necessarily be the same.

Kelly might do otherwise and might easily be right, but I would choose Sheehan at left-back (though using him as a replacement left-back would be justified too) and I would use Porter or Dodds regularly in 20-30 minute spells whenever it was sensible. Would I use them together? Why not?. They do have an uncanny understanding. What I'd do about Weso would depend on his fitness and confidence but if in doubt I'd be cautious.

Probably before the end of Autumn, and certainly by Christmas and transfer window time, I would thus know how good the youngsters really were, I could assess their potential, and if they were serious assets or whether they needed to be replaced by other young talent.

I would make sure they knew that because it would focus their minds on the job and the task of continually improving which O'Grady has so willingly taken on board.

And how many do I think would have justified my faith by Christmas? Four! But I would probably settle for three. Seconds thoughts, sod it, all four because there's no reason for any of them to fail and I've never been comfortable with compromise.

These are not creche kids suddenly exposed to a big wide world they don't understand.

These lads have grown up with the ways of Leicester City and are as much part what makes the place as the marvellous array of sporting photographs which brighten the club's corridors.

They have watched every one of our Championship matches. They know the players of other teams, far better, probably than people like Low and McAuley for instance. And, given backing, they won't fail.