Joey wants to leave AZ

[Webbo]

Have you even seen King play?

All the bluster and attempts at ridicule won't alter the facts about our midfield and what I cannot understand is why so many Leicester fans still talk about how good our individual midfielders are.

They all have their good points but that's as far as it goes.

If we want goals then we either need someone like King or someone else and seeing as, right now, we don't have any money, King seems the only option, apart, perhaps from Hume.

Cos we're not suddenly going to start banging goals in from midfield - not if past history can be relied on.

does it ever occur to you that you can have too many youngsters in the side. this is a physical division and kids can be too easy to bully.

[Flynny]

Have you even seen King play?

All the bluster and attempts at ridicule won't alter the facts about our midfield and what I cannot understand is why so many Leicester fans still talk about how good our individual midfielders are.

They all have their good points but that's as far as it goes.

If we want goals then we either need someone like King or someone else and seeing as, right now, we don't have any money, King seems the only option, apart, perhaps from Hume.

Cos we're not suddenly going to start banging goals in from midfield - not if past history can be relied on.

Yeah okay. You should probably be manager.

[Thracian]

Yeah okay. You should probably be manager.

But that doesn't tell me if you've seen King play while contesting his claims to a squad place.

[Thracian]

Like people have said, there are obviously probable valid reasons why King is not playing yet. It is probably down to him not just being good enough. How old is he?

Levi, Stearman, Logan and Weso have all made the step up and done reasonably well, some doing better than others. These have had their chance and taken it. There must be reasons why King hasn't had the oppurtunity to show what he can do. Even a sub appearence.

Now you can rave about him all you like, but a comparison between Championship football to youth team football is very different.

The Championship is a very physical league, and a lot of youth players would struggle to adapt. This could be the case for King.

If Kelly really wants King to play at a higher level he would consider sending him out on loan somewhere to gain first team football experience.

King is not some tiny knock-kneed kid. He's 19 - has been League club based for years and stands very close to six feet.

[Flynny]

But that doesn't tell me if you've seen King play while contesting his claims to a squad place.

I already said no, didn't I? It basically boils down to me trusting several qualified, experiences coaches over yourself. Sorry n' all. Not saying he won't be a good player, possibly even a great one, but we'll see.

[Thracian]

does it ever occur to you that you can have too many youngsters in the side. this is a physical division and kids can be too easy to bully.

How can you have too many players of any age if - and I only say if - they are the best available?

I've seen Stearman, McCarthy, Nils, Kenton, Williams, Hughes, Fryatt and even Hume struggling to cope physically at times this season and I've not noticed Levi having any more trouble with this aspect than anyone else in the main.

Besides, King and Dodds are both six feet tall or more. One is already out of Academy age and the other is already 19 I believe. If Levi and Stearman can cope I'm sure they can.

I'm much more concerned about our goals column than the exaggerated toughness of the Championship.

[JoeyB]

do the club play friendlies? yes

i bet RK plays King in those so he probably knows how good he is, but think, RK might not feel that he is ready for the step up yet.

theres no point rushing a player into it is there?

i mean if king has an appauling game on his debut i could ruin him, i think come the end of the season we shall see some youngsters begin to play in the team

[Thracian]

I already said no, didn't I? It basically boils down to me trusting several qualified, experiences coaches over yourself. Sorry n' all. Not saying he won't be a good player, possibly even a great one, but we'll see.

I've lost count of the qualified coaches I've seen shunted out of the door cos their teams were at the bottom of the League, some not long ago, but I willingly concede the lad might not be good enough.

But seeing as the alternatives aren't scoring/making goals and we are pretty poorly placed because of it, I'd have sure liked to find out, and that goes for Dodds too.

[Simi]

do the club play friendlies? yes

i bet RK plays King in those so he probably knows how good he is, but think, RK might not feel that he is ready for the step up yet.

theres no point rushing a player into it is there?

i mean if king has an appauling game on his debut i could ruin him, i think come the end of the season we shall see some youngsters begin to play in the team

How would you do that then

[Thracian]

do the club play friendlies? yes

i bet RK plays King in those so he probably knows how good he is, but think, RK might not feel that he is ready for the step up yet.

theres no point rushing a player into it is there?

i mean if king has an appauling game on his debut i could ruin him, i think come the end of the season we shall see some youngsters begin to play in the team

We didn't introduce any youngsters any last season when we'd achieved safety but Kelly might take a different view this season..

As far as I'm aware we've only had four or five friendly reserve matches since August and I don't recall King featuring much.

King plays mainly in the Academy side. I'm sure Kelly's aware of his abilities but I've not seen him at Academy matches on a Saturday.

However, if he relies on Beaglehole's view then I imagine it would be glowing.

You talk of having a bad game. A bad debut for anyone doesn't help them but I've watched King on 20-odd occasions and I cannot recall anything I'd call a bad game, just games that weren't quite as good as others.

Sometimes he frustrates you by getting into glorious positions but missing with his final shot or header but it is very rare indeed that he goes even a game without scoring or making at least one goal and often more.

He is very positive for a midfielder and how we wouldn't benefit from involving a positive central midfielder in the first team - even from the bench - escapes me.

I've been glancing through the likely Foxestalk team and its going to be interesting to see how many goals the chosen side finally represents. Probably not enough from the indications.

No wonder MM is so eagerly awaited.

[JoeyB]

How would you do that then

you know what i ment(iT could ruin him), the best of us make mistakes and so do the worst of us and im in the middle so i make mistakes too

[Simi]

you know what i ment(iT could ruin him), the best of us make mistakes and so do the worst of us and im in the middle so i make mistakes too

It was all in good humour !

[JoeyB]

you know what i ment(iT could ruin him), the best of us make mistakes and so do the worst of us and im in the middle so i make mistakes too

It was all in good humour !

i know it was

still i think we should wait untill the end of the season or a time when there isnt too much pressure on them to do well

[Flynny]

I've lost count of the qualified coaches I've seen shunted out of the door cos their teams were at the bottom of the League, some not long ago, but I willingly concede the lad might not be good enough.

I don't think you'd go on about hi this much if he wasn't pretty decent, honestly I don't, but I find it highly unlikely that he's better than our entire midfield line as this point in time. JG, I think, is, though, and would be a worthwhile signing. If RK is ignoring King, then surely you'd want JG who CAN score goals from midfield?

[Manwell Pablo]

King is not some tiny knock-kneed kid. He's 19 - has been League club based for years and stands very close to six feet.

His tackling is not as good as any of the current midfield.

The lad plays a good ball but he takes his time picking them out even at Academy level, at this one he will have a fraction of the time allowed to him at Academy level. There’s also going to be fewer balls on and fewer players in space.

Same with his shooting, he has got a good strike on him but finds the stands more often than the net, and there is the issue with having less time, better keepers to beat, not being in a team vastly superior to the opposition.

Porter was bought through at the right time IMO a good 6 months after you suggested it, I had my reservations I'll admit look back and I said he should be playing 10-15 games for us this season to progress his career, he's obviously shown since that’s he's capable of more, don't make out your the only one who thought he should be playing.

[holly]

bring him back

wish he had never left if i`m honest.

[Thracian]

I don't think you'd go on about hi this much if he wasn't pretty decent, honestly I don't, but I find it highly unlikely that he's better than our entire midfield line as this point in time. JG, I think, is, though, and would be a worthwhile signing. If RK is ignoring King, then surely you'd want JG who CAN score goals from midfield?

I didn't want to take the point up but I didn't quite say he was better than them all - certainly not in specific departments - just that if I had to choose to have any one of them in my squad he's the one I'd choose first because his talents would be hardest to replace.

The reason is because he has such a broad range of ability. He scores with shots, with headers, he makes goals, he works hard, he attacks the box, he's okay on the ground and he can pass and doesn't mind tackling.

If that suggests he's faultless it's not meant to. I don't say he tackles as well as Tiatto, hits long passes like Williams, has quite the engine Hughes has got or that his marksmanship is deadly, cos it's not.

But he does all those things solidly and the thing I'd pick out as exceptional is the number of times he gets right into the box and the number of shots he has in a typical game.

Compared with Joey I'd say he was a more accurate passer, a much better header, he's more skillful on the floor and gets into a much wider range of shooting positions.

But you can't really be sure til he's in the thick of a game at the level where Joey's already shown he can cope.

I've seen King in the same team as Levi and Dodds and in their own ways all three were outstanding.

King's great talent is to drift into shooting positions almost unseen - a bit like Martin Peters or David Platt used to do. I'm not comparing him to those it's just that I can't think of any others who illustrate what I mean. He's their sort of build too.

[The People's Hero]

I didn't want to take the point up but I didn't quite say he was better than them all - certainly not in specific departments - just that if I had to choose to have any one of them in my squad he's the one I'd choose first because his talents would be hardest to replace.

I apologise if I'm incorrect, but I'm fairly certain you did a post before Xmas about Andy King comparing aspects of his game to all our other midfielders.

In every department you did (which was 5 or 6) you had him down as the best or equal best of the 5 or 6 players included.

So what is it? There is an inconsistency in your argument? Is he the best in every department as per your earlier post? Or not, as per this post?

[filbertway]

does it ever occur to you that you can have too many youngsters in the side. this is a physical division and kids can be too easy to bully.

To be fair, williams and hughes get bullied off the ball quite easily, isn't king about 6 ft?

[Thracian]

His tackling is not as good as any of the current midfield.

The lad plays a good ball but he takes his time picking them out even at Academy level, at this one he will have a fraction of the time allowed to him at Academy level. There’s also going to be fewer balls on and fewer players in space.

Same with his shooting, he has got a good strike on him but finds the stands more often than the net, and there is the issue with having less time, better keepers to beat, not being in a team vastly superior to the opposition.

Porter was bought through at the right time IMO a good 6 months after you suggested it, I had my reservations I'll admit look back and I said he should be playing 10-15 games for us this season to progress his career, he's obviously shown since that’s he's capable of more, don't make out your the only one who thought he should be playing.

I didn't ever suggest that.

What I said was that a hell of a lot of people dismissed, even mocked his selection saying he too small and wouldn't cope physically, which which seems to be the perpetual argument against bringing in young players.

And that despite the fact that there are endless examples of such players coming through and coping perfectly well, even in recent months.

Just like Henrik Larsson or OGS at the other end of the age/experience spectrum - there is no substitute for ability.

And right now Leicester are desperately short of ability in certain vital departments.

[Eastern Fox]

Besides, King and Dodds are both six feet tall or more. One is already out of Academy age and the other is already 19 I believe. If Levi and Stearman can cope I'm sure they can.

I'm much more concerned about our goals column than the exaggerated toughness of the Championship.

Dodds is 20 sadly, a few months younger than Fryatt and O'Grady. If I was his agent I'd advice him to leave the club as soon as possible. Kelly just doesn't want to play him. Ever.

[Thracian]

I apologise if I'm incorrect, but I'm fairly certain you did a post before Xmas about Andy King comparing aspects of his game to all our other midfielders.

In every department you did (which was 5 or 6) you had him down as the best or equal best of the 5 or 6 players included.

So what is it? There is an inconsistency in your argument? Is he the best in every department as per your earlier post? Or not, as per this post?

Not at all. If you take Tiatto for instance I would rate King superior in passing, heading, shooting, atttacking the box but say he was weaker at tackling and perhaps at closing people down. Stamina wise I'd say it was close. So giving a mark for each skill I'd rate King a better player overall 4.5/2.5. If I wanted a team of tacklers for some reason I might pick Tiatto first whereas if goals were my priority I'd pick King.

[Manwell Pablo]

Dodds is 20 sadly, a few months younger than Fryatt and O'Grady. If I was his agent I'd advice him to leave the club as soon as possible. Kelly just doesn't want to play him. Ever.

I believe he's out of contract in the summer, no ones going to pay money for a player that hasn't played a football league game, has hardly played any football this year, and is out of contract in the summer.

I really don't know with Dodds, who do you sacrafice to put him in the team? Fryatt needs experince and confidence just as much as he does and he's at a similar age, you have to ask yourself who's got the most potential and despite Fryatts goal drought this season, he's out scored Dodds at all youth levels and has the league first team experince Dodds lacks. I'd have to say Fryatt gets involved in play more than Dodds as well. Kellys not going to drop Hume and Cadamateri has made a suprisingly good start, I'd play him over Elvis but even he was finding the net a few weeks ago.

If we aren't going to play him or at the very least get him out on loan at a decent level to see what he can do then there is no point in him staying here, it would be best for both parties if he moved on, same with Sheehan.

Although if he really is "the most natural finisher" at this club he will probabley come back to haunt us.

[Thracian]

It's inexplicable that we've never bothered to find out.

All season I've never seen why Dodds has not been on the bench at the very least. We've scored 26 goals in 27 matches for Heaven's sake and the only striker who's found the net consistently, at least until recently is Hume.

Neither Fryatt - because he's rarely been/looked fit either through injury or whatever - nor Hammond because his returns have been no more than ordinary - have justified keeping Dodds out permanently.

So finding space on the bench and giving the lad some time should never have been a problem - IF the club had kept him fit which didn't lookm the case to me.

Sending Dodds to Northwich was a waste of time as it turned out.

Even against Fulham, Dodds could have had some time. Fryatt might have done a bit better in some ways but he never looked like scoring and I still cannot see why people rate him so highly.

To me he's not big enough to be a traditional striker, not fast enough to be an impish striker and neither strong enough nor fast enough to be a dribbler. He doesn't score from outside the box anyway so altogether he has important limitations.

Yes he's got ability but for me he looks too easily marked, he's never looked especially fit this season until the last match and he doesn't bring others into play as well as I'd like.

Fryatt to me stands or falls is an out and out striker. And if he's not scoring I can't see why you wouldn't try someone else.

[Hullfox]

Is it just me or is anyone else not bothering to read every other post.