Feedback from the Kelly evening - nicked from another forum

[davieG]

From FoxFanzine:

As posted by: LeicesterDeano

Was a really good night overall. About 150-200 people there and Rob did his best to answer every question as honestly as possible.

Main points were:

- He had no intention of going anywhere near signing Ryan Smith. Birch earlier mentioned loan players who 'keep their head down'. This would support everyone's theory that he is a bit of a showpony, who hangs around in the wrong crowd.

- Rob seemed to reveal that Maybury and Tiatto will play wide right and left respectively as they make us 'hard to beat'. Maybury has a great understanding with Stearman. He did single out Josh Low for praise though.

- The board will not sell Stearman, although they could do due to the interest already shown in him. He is level-headed and wants to play for the club.

- The centre-mid pairing will probably be one from each of the following two groups - AJ/Weso and Hughes/Williams. It would seem most likely to be AJ and Williams.

- Louis Doods is the most natural finisher at the club and has a bright future ahead of him.

- As for the keepers, he described Rab and Hendo as 'competitive for this division'. And throughout the night he referred to the squad as saying we 'have what we have'. Which may suggest he would like a new keeper but can't afford anything that would improve on the current ones.

I would think that keeper is the only major doubt in his starting line up, which I would predict as follows:

Keeper?

RB - Stearman

CB - MaCarthy

CB - Kenton (until Kisnorbo returns)

LB - Johannsen

RM - Maybury

CM - Johnson

CM - Williams

LM - Tiatto

CF - Hume

CF - Fryatt

RK did make it clear that he knew his starting line up already.

One of the funnier bits was when RK was asked how he prepares the players in the moments leading up to the game. He recalled the home game against Preston last season (1-0 up early on and lost 2-1). In the week, he put together a montage of clips of players being 'aggresive' in matches and put a Kasabian song over it. He quoted that this was a one-off and he was normally quite calm but decdied to try and psyche them up. RK said he wouldn't do it again for fear of them 'taking the f**king roof off!' with MaCarthy saying 'f**king let me at em!'. He didn't want to put too much pressure on Paddy, but said that he could develop into a Walshie character, if he continues to make progress.

Overall, RK seemed like a top, down-to-earth fella, who genuinely wants to do well, whilst knowing the limitations of the team.

Let's hope he can do as he says.

Bring on Luton...

As posted by stevostadium:

I actually raised 2 questions last night. The first, which referred to Maybury and Tiaato playing wide would not penetrate teams ( and consequently got ripped by the Birch for wearing a stripey paul and shark shirt!!) which was covered as detailed in the posts above.

The seccond question asked, was why re-sign Tiatto when the wages could have been freed up to sign Welsh from Sunderland. The question was not read out, but was aware that i had written it, cos when he answered the Maybury question he basically said "we have what we have" and then went on about how much of a good lad Welsh was.

This obviously means that 1) Tiatto signed a very cheap contract and wages would be far less than Welsh's and /or 2) Sunderland would have wanted a fee for Welsh.

Good night out, and was very impressed with RK, he genuinely wants to do well for the club, and I think progress will be made this season, but whether we have the strength in depth to reach the play offs remains to be seen

[Bert]

Interesting read.

[lookwhaticando]

Top Bloke.

Interesting to read about Paddy pre-Luton.

He'll make a fine captain on the pitch, and a good club captain once Tiatto's given the old heave-ho.

[Guest Gist]

He does seem a good bloke and has the right attitude I think to make us do well this season even without money to spend.

[Ric Flair]

Nice to hear Dodds is highly thought of, i've often wondered whether the coaches truely rate him. Even Elvis has commented on us having 6 strikers vying for 2 places and Dodds is now classed as one of them.

I definately think de Vries should be booted out, even if we loan him out and pay all of his wages. Surely some sweaty wants him, Motherwell were desperate for him last January. Same goes for Sylla.

Wesolowski will force his way in to being first choice if he stays injury free, Kelly won't be able to ignore him for long. If he does, then the crowd will be on to him.

[Stevosevic]

good stuff, which forum are those snippets from?

[Ric Flair]

good stuff, which forum are those snippets from?

www.foxfanzine.com i think.

[davieG]

www.foxfanzine.com i think.

[Ultra]

Cue a 1000-word rant from the usual source..

[Thracian]

Depends where you want the club to go. If you think I want to get a season ticket watching a contrived 4-4-2 with Maybury and Tiatto providing the width then you must think I've come from the funny farm.

I've tried as best I can to explain the self-imposed limitations of the City team. If you think all I deserve is ridicule in response then I can handle that.

It was the same Kelly you speak so highly of who talked about places being up for grabs rather than knowing who his team would be. Sounds like Blairspeak to me.

I accept that we'll be workmanlike and had to beat - Millwall could be like that but they went down nit it was never easy to beat us last season even during the first half yet we hardly distinguished ourselves

But if that's the limit of the club's ambitions I certainly won't waste 1,000 words on trying to make you change your viewpoint. In my experience that wouldn't be possible with a novel of War and Peace proportions.

Like I said we won't score enough goals from places other than striker.

[Stevosevic]

Depends where you want the club to go. If you think I want to get a season ticket watching a contrived 4-4-2 with Maybury and Tiatto providing the width then you must think I've come from the funny farm.

I've tried as best I can to explain the self-imposed limitations of the City team. If you think all I deserve is ridicule in response then I can handle that.

It was the same Kelly you speak so highly of who talked about places being up for grabs rather than knowing who his team would be. Sounds like Blairspeak to me.

I accept that we'll be workmanlike and had to beat - Millwall could be like that but they went down nit it was never easy to beat us last season even during the first half yet we hardly distinguished ourselves

But if that's the limit of the club's ambitions I certainly won't waste 1,000 words on trying to make you change your viewpoint. In my experience that wouldn't be possible with a novel of War and Peace proportions.

Like I said we won't score enough goals from places other than striker.

i can see that you have supported city since 1957 so why stop getting a season ticket? my dad has supported us since around the same era and he says this is the worst leicester team ever. so you paid to watch worse so why not get a season ticket?

[Hullfox]

Thrach,

We all have a choice in this. If you're not happy then don't go.

As Rob Kelly has said, we have what we have. He cannot produce millions of pounds to buy top class players. For once there appears to be a sense of realism amongst much of the support of where we sit in the pecking order of the championship.

Personally I have not renewed my season ticket and that's down solely to Craig Levein. He turned the football club I have followed for many years into something unrecognisable. Reading those snippets tonight have made me rethink my position a little.

Kelly can obviously motivate the team, he showed that after taking the reigns and the earlier quote highlights that too. He seems to want something realistic from this squad of players and the support seems to be buying into that more.

Flying wingers and all out attack sounds good but isn't where we're at just now.

Give me players who show they want to wear the shirt and play for the manager and we've got a platform.

Throwing caution to the wind and playing with a gung ho attitude will not reap rewards. It will bring about exactly what it did last time round. We had a fan base that sporadically booed it's own players and argued amongst themselves in the stands. We had a team that spiralled downwards in confidence and form.

As for Millwall, losing 22 games in a season does not represent being hard to beat in my books, that represents being shit. We survived last year because we were less shit.

[lookwhaticando]

Thrach,

We all have a choice in this. If you're not happy then don't go.

As Rob Kelly has said, we have what we have. He cannot produce millions of pounds to buy top class players. For once there appears to be a sense of realism amongst much of the support of where we sit in the pecking order of the championship.

Personally I have not renewed my season ticket and that's down solely to Craig Levein. He turned the football club I have followed for many years into something unrecognisable. Reading those snippets tonight have made me rethink my position a little.

Kelly can obviously motivate the team, he showed that after taking the reigns and the earlier quote highlights that too. He seems to want something realistic from this squad of players and the support seems to be buying into that more.

Flying wingers and all out attack sounds good but isn't where we're at just now.

Give me players who show they want to wear the shirt and play for the manager and we've got a platform.

Throwing caution to the wind and playing with a gung ho attitude will not reap rewards. It will bring about exactly what it did last time round. We had a fan base that sporadically booed it's own players and argued amongst themselves in the stands. We had a team that spiralled downwards in confidence and form.

As for Millwall, losing 22 games in a season does not represent being hard to beat in my books, that represents being shit. We survived last year because we were less shit.

I agree.

Personally, I think it would be great if we could have an all-out attacking 11. It'd be a refreshing change, it'd make the games more exciting to watch (or hear, for me). But with the current personnel it's not entirely possible without taking gambles on untested youngsters right from the go.

Until the youngsters have been blooded properly, "we've got what we've got" as RK says. Fine by me. If the team spirit and attitude from the end of last season has carried over the summer, we've got something to build on later. If the team works as a team, and fights tooth and nail for the cause, I'm happy enough without the all-out-attacking line-up. Who knows? Perhaps a good start will land us some cash to play with in January or next summer - then we can go about resolving some of the big problems we all percieve.

If that team spirit has gone, and the team folds like a cheap tent at the sign of trouble, then naturally we're up the creek. But I don't think that's the case. Especially if McCarthy & the lads are shown any more of those video montages

[Jonbluefox9]

Thrach,

We all have a choice in this. If you're not happy then don't go.

As Rob Kelly has said, we have what we have. He cannot produce millions of pounds to buy top class players. For once there appears to be a sense of realism amongst much of the support of where we sit in the pecking order of the championship.

Personally I have not renewed my season ticket and that's down solely to Craig Levein. He turned the football club I have followed for many years into something unrecognisable. Reading those snippets tonight have made me rethink my position a little.

Kelly can obviously motivate the team, he showed that after taking the reigns and the earlier quote highlights that too. He seems to want something realistic from this squad of players and the support seems to be buying into that more.

Flying wingers and all out attack sounds good but isn't where we're at just now.

Give me players who show they want to wear the shirt and play for the manager and we've got a platform.

Throwing caution to the wind and playing with a gung ho attitude will not reap rewards. It will bring about exactly what it did last time round. We had a fan base that sporadically booed it's own players and argued amongst themselves in the stands. We had a team that spiralled downwards in confidence and form.

As for Millwall, losing 22 games in a season does not represent being hard to beat in my books, that represents being shit. We survived last year because we were less shit.

I truly believe that we'll get that this season at the very least. With Paddy McCarthy as captain the rest of the squad can hardly afford to fail to put their all in.

[Thracian]

Thrach,

We all have a choice in this. If you're not happy then don't go.

As Rob Kelly has said, we have what we have. He cannot produce millions of pounds to buy top class players. For once there appears to be a sense of realism amongst much of the support of where we sit in the pecking order of the championship.

Personally I have not renewed my season ticket and that's down solely to Craig Levein. He turned the football club I have followed for many years into something unrecognisable. Reading those snippets tonight have made me rethink my position a little.

Kelly can obviously motivate the team, he showed that after taking the reigns and the earlier quote highlights that too. He seems to want something realistic from this squad of players and the support seems to be buying into that more.

Flying wingers and all out attack sounds good but isn't where we're at just now.

Give me players who show they want to wear the shirt and play for the manager and we've got a platform.

Throwing caution to the wind and playing with a gung ho attitude will not reap rewards. It will bring about exactly what it did last time round. We had a fan base that sporadically booed it's own players and argued amongst themselves in the stands. We had a team that spiralled downwards in confidence and form.

As for Millwall, losing 22 games in a season does not represent being hard to beat in my books, that represents being shit. We survived last year because we were less shit.

He doesn't need millions of pounds and neither did Brian Clough. He just needs vision and the courage to use it. Most of the materials he needs he already has.

[Thracian]

I truly believe that we'll get that this season at the very least. With Paddy McCarthy as captain the rest of the squad can hardly afford to fail to put their all in.

We've had that platform for some time and we've done no more than survive in the Championship. Our lack of points was never down to lack of effort it was down to cautious tactics and a lack of sufficient creativity.

I've never once suggested that the likes of Danny Tiatto and Alan Maybury, or one or two more, don't give their all. But it isn't enough. I'm not talking about all-out attack - we are light years away from that right now - but I am warning that the team is overbalanced defensively and will not score enough goals.

We will never push for promotion with harrassers in places where attackers should be. I don't know how much more plainly I can spell it out. Such a policy will only get us so far.

[filbertway]

He doesn't need millions of pounds and neither did Brian Clough. He just needs vision and the courage to use it. Most of the materials he needs he already has.

I don't know for sure, but did clough break the million pound mark for transfers by signing trevor francis? Or was that before cloughs time.

What team would you play then with the players weve got, whta team would you start against Luton?

[Mark]

I hear you Thracian, I have the same concerns. I was hoping the idea of Maybury at right wing would be scrapped this season so we could push on, clearly not.

I'm a bit dissapointed Gradel hasn't turned out in any pre season games with the lack of wingers in the squad... maybe this is Porter's breakthrough year? I've been expecting that the past two seasons though.

If Kelly isn't careful it's going to be a good few months into the season until he realised he's made a mistake in these crucial positions, by then it may be too late to rescue another mediocre season. We're going to lose more and more fans attending games until the whole club starts showing some more ambition.

[Thracian]

i can see that you have supported city since 1957 so why stop getting a season ticket? my dad has supported us since around the same era and he says this is the worst leicester team ever. so you paid to watch worse so why not get a season ticket?

I probably will. It is a form of masochism really. Times I ask myself why I subject myself to voluntary self-torture when there are so many alternatives but it seems like liquor to an alcoholic or fast women to a playboy. I just cannot seem to help it.

But as I get older I wonder if I will ever see my club play not just with spirit but with the craftsmanship I once witnessed.

Will we ever again have a side which made you tingle with excitement at the prospect of watching them - a team which made you quicken your step as you caught sight of the ground.

It isn't that we have no skillful players, quite the contrary. It is whether the players that have the skills will ever be selected and given freedom to use them.

And as an old time fan I cringe at the very thought that we seem to give ourselves handicaps we could do without - voluntary limitations. Why?

[Hullfox]

He doesn't need millions of pounds and neither did Brian Clough. He just needs vision and the courage to use it. Most of the materials he needs he already has.

What exactly makes you see it better than Rob Kelly can?

Are you in and around the players day in day out or do you base your judgements on 90 minute snapshots?

[Hullfox]

I'm a bit dissapointed Gradel hasn't turned out in any pre season games with the lack of wingers in the squad... maybe this is Porter's breakthrough year? I've been expecting that the past two seasons though.

If Kelly isn't careful it's going to be a good few months into the season until he realised he's made a mistake in these crucial positions, by then it may be too late to rescue another mediocre season. We're going to lose more and more fans attending games until the whole club starts showing some more ambition.

Maybe you shouldn't name names Beloved.

You championed the cause for Petrescu and Dawson over the last couple of years both of whom have gone into obscurity.

You're a jinx I tell you.

[newms]

i only read the first post but i would like to say that was the team i suggested kelly would pick to play luton only winding u boys up

[lookwhaticando]

I don't know for sure, but did clough break the million pound mark for transfers by signing trevor francis? Or was that before cloughs time.

What team would you play then with the players weve got, whta team would you start against Luton?

That was Clough

[Thracian]

What exactly makes you see it better than Rob Kelly can?

Are you in and around the players day in day out or do you base your judgements on 90 minute snapshots?

There is more than one way of doing a job successfully for a start.

But, if your misguided notion held up in truth then hundreds of "expert" managers wouldn't have been sacked for getting it wrong including Levein who readily admitted after his sacking that he would have done various things different in hindsight.

Sadly hindsight is no use at all when you've lost your job?

And if it helps you I regularly attend Academy, reserve and first team matches (not that it makes my view any more valid than anyone else's).

[Mark]

Maybe you shouldn't name names Beloved.

You championed the cause for Petrescu and Dawson over the last couple of years both of whom have gone into obscurity.

You're a jinx I tell you.

Your right I did, but that also went for Stearman, Weso, and O'Grady. I still believe both of those players could have made it at this level, it was Petrescu's life outside football that was his downfall.

As for Porter and Gradel, I've never had such high hopes for them as I did for the above players. We just desperately need to sort out the wings, somehow.