Ratings

[Eastern Fox]

Probabley not, we've probabley just been beaten by a better side and of course, as usual people have a hard time excepting it.

After all we are Leicester City, Man U Chelsea Arsenal and Liverpool aside, we shoud beat anyone.

It's not as simple as that is it? We weren't just outplayed, the performance of the team was extremely poor all round according to people who went. Also concerns about Megson's management-bizzare team selection, very negative tactics, including replacing two attackers with defensive players at half time when we're 2-0 down. If there were some positives to take away from the game even if we lost it wouldn't be as bad but that isn't the case.

[lcfc_jme]

Probabley not, we've probabley just been beaten by a better side and of course, as usual people have a hard time excepting it.

After all we are Leicester City, Man U Chelsea Arsenal and Liverpool aside, we shoud beat anyone.

I respect most of your opinions about football generally 'cos you know what you're talking about. But it's not the fact that we were beaten by a better side that people are having trouble accepting. It's the absolutely dire performance, the lack of passion and commitment shown by the players and the totally inept tactical approach shown by Megson. If the lads had have at least shown they were bothered, shown they wanted to try to win the game and made a go of it, then it wouldn't be so bad. That today reminded me of a Rob Kelly side. Milan says to trust him as he knows what he's doing and he's going to take us forward, but as far as I can see we're in the same position this season as we were last season, only we've spent more money this time around.

Clemence was probably the only player worthy of a rating of 5 today. The rest were below that. I wouldn't say that's acceptable for a fooking Sunday League team, so if I'm supposed to believe that's acceptable for a group of "professionals", then maybe I'm following the wrong game and I need shooting.

[andyred61]

The most disturbing performance I have seen for years - the players had no hunger, no fight, and notice they were so embarassed that only two of them bothered to acknowledge the fans at the end. It was obvious from the start that Clemence would have to do it all himself in a lightweight disjointed midfield and we were blown away by Charlton in the first half- it was painful to see the obnoxious Danny Mills look like a worldbeater.

There is something seriously poisonous at the heart of this club right now and lets hope we dont regret the blind faith shown in Mr Mandaric

[Tommeh]

Fulop - 6

Stearman - 5 - long ball after long ball

McAuley - 5 - at fault for one of the goals possibly both

Kisnorbo - 5 - rare shambles at the back for he and McAuley

Mattock - 7 - did well I thought, showed good desire 2nd half unlike many others

Hume - 5 -

Clemence - 8 - our best player YET again, tackled, ran, shot, nearly scored another good performance.

Chambers - 6 - few decent challenges, but I can't see why he was selected there, PLAY HIM AT RIGHT BACK!!

Sheehan - 5 - largely annonomous

Cort - 5

Fryatt - 6

Decent day out to be honest 2 good meals, a lot of walking, some great sights, loosing my bearings at about 7pm, moaning how me and my mate had £25 between us, cracking random jokes on the train. Unbelievebly bumping into Ched, Joe, Dave, Andy and the rest under the eye etc. etc. Shame about what happened between 3 and 5. No atmosphere, no passion, no desire, negativety everywhere. Basically a complete role reverse to tuesday night.

[lcfc_jme]

Fulop - 6

Stearman - 5 - long ball after long ball

McAuley - 5 - at fault for one of the goals possibly both

Kisnorbo - 5 - rare shambles at the back for he and McAuley

Mattock - 7 - did well I thought, showed good desire 2nd half unlike many others

Hume - 5 -

Clemence - 8 - our best player YET again, tackled, ran, shot, nearly scored another good performance.

Chambers - 6 - few decent challenges, but I can't see why he was selected there, PLAY HIM AT RIGHT BACK!!

Sheehan - 5 - largely annonomous

Cort - 5

Fryatt - 6

Sorry but you're either drunk or extremely easily pleased if you've managed to give out a 7 and an 8 based on today's performance, Thomas. We were way too poor to give out ratings like those.

[Tommeh]

Sorry but you're either drunk or extremely easily pleased if you've managed to give out a 7 and an 8 based on today's performance, Thomas. We were way too poor to give out ratings like those.

tbh I did these without seeing any others, I was encouraged by Mattock's desire 2nd half and I thought he defended reasonably well with also having Sheehan in front of him who was no existand, hence the 7.

And Clemence is one of those players who I happen to notice everything he does, the ground he covered, challenges he made, the way he seems to be the only city player capable of keeoing the ball, and the fact he was the ONE player to come and applaud us at the final whistle. Maybe the 8 was a bit generous but certainly a 7 he did nothing worng, neither did Mattock for that matter but just a shame about the other 9!

[lcfc_jme]

tbh I did these without seeing any others, I was encouraged by Mattock's desire 2nd half and I thought he defended reasonably well with also having Sheehan in front of him who was no existand, hence the 7.

And Clemence is one of those players who I happen to notice everything he does, the ground he covered, challenges he made, the way he seems to be the only city player capable of keeoing the ball, and the fact he was the ONE player to come and applaud us at the final whistle. Maybe the 8 was a bit generous but certainly a 7 he did nothing worng, neither did Mattock for that matter but just a shame about the other 9!

Yeah I didn't expect you to have been influenced by everyone elses ratings, but I just thought it was bizarre how we played so badly yet you managed to give 2 such a high ratings.

I agree that Mattock showed desire in the second half to a degree, as in he tried to get forward, but it doesn't help when you have Carl Carthorse upfront who can't read what you're trying to do and is about as mobile as a corpse. But we were 2-0 down by then, had taken off Hume and brought on 2 defensive players. The game was as good as gone and we never looked like scoring. Where was he in the first half? Their main attacking threat came down the right, and with Mattock being a left-back, I see problems with rating him as a 7. He looked like he struggled quite a bit today, in my opinion. Blame Sheehan for going walkabouts if you must, but young Joseph will have to take his fair share of the blame as well.

Clem appears to be our only real quality player at the minute and the only player who looks like he wants to play for us. He doesn't give up as the others do and shows a real desire to get things going. I noticed him absolutely screaming at Fulop to give him the ball quickly and get us going forward when he was open, and he was far from impressed when he was ignored. But by the standards I'm used to seeing from Clemence, he was below par today. I'm happy to put that down to the fact everyone is entitled to a dip in form sometimes, as he's usually fairly consistent. Yes he was our best player today, but based on how everybody else around him played, that isn't saying much. A match rating of 8 considering he has played a lot better in the past and only got a 7 is a little generous for me, mate.

I was absolutely disgusted that the only player I saw clapping the fans at the end was Clemence. What an absolute joke. I bet Rodney and his pals are all out in town though as I type this. Wankers.

[Geo V]

Fulop 5 - Weakest game for us so far but did make a couple of decent saves too.

Stearman 4 - Distribution woeful and all over the shop. I dont get his selection one bit.

McAuley 5 - Mistakes and out of sorts. Its like he came out half asleep.

Kisnorbo 5 - Out of sorts. Has to take responsibility as the senior defender for us being all over the shop.

Mattock 5 - Got beat far too often for my liking as the right-mid had a field day

Hume 5 - Didnt get in the game. Cant see why we would play him with two strikers away from home at all. Not his fault he is being wasted.

Clemence 6 - Did OK but I wanted him to get the team moving. He cant do it all himself but still.

Chambers 5 - Didnt get this one either. Started CM and was all over the shop. Terrible Megson decision wih Kish on the bench and Stearman at RB.

Sheehan 4 - Just not good enough. Does the odd thing right like a nice pass or scores a decent goal from free-kicks but from what I have seen at this stage of his career, is far from the end product needed for a team that supposedly has aspirations of promotion.

Cort 3 - Useless. I have had a pop at MDV in pre-season but MDV has done more than enough to play ahead of a washed up Cort. He needs a run in the reserves to score before he plays for us again as he does nothing.

Fryatt 5 - Like Hume, I cant really blame him too much on this. The odd time he got the ball he looked sharp, turning and shooting and nearly getting an unlikely goal and some decent touches but all in all he didnt make much happen himself.

N'Gotty 6 - Sured things up and we seemed more secure with him in but again, Charlton didnt really go for us in the second half.

Deej 6 - Looked sharp but once again the service was diabolical. Why was he benched??

Kishishev 6 - Came on and looked organised from the middle. A couple of pot shots but he isnt that creative and joined the game when teh damage was done.

Megson 3 - Not to blame for the timing of his appointment and he just like MA must work out his best team but some of his decisions in the league have been poor thus far although his subs at Forest worked well. Today, he brings in Stears at RB and Chambers goes CM with Kish on the bench. He perceivers with Cort which I cant get my head round and again we play a target man, a second striker and Hume in the side away from home which leaves us no balance, no shape with no width. I am worried that DJ was subbed before and benched today under Megson as he does look lively. I hope that DJ as "MAs man" isnt made the scapegoat as he has the pace that defenders at this level struggle to cope with. He wont be some world class all round striker but he has pace and has spells in matches where he is a real pest and should have started.

All in all a horrible performance after a bright ten minutes but what really upset me today was our ineptitude and lack of fire and determination to try and get back in the game in the second half. As fans, we deserved better in the second half as Charlton just strolled around the pitch with fatty Andy Reid spraying the ball all over the place.

[Lillehamring]

Dear FT-ers,

I didn't go today, and I've not seen City play this season. Despite this, a few things about today's team selection confused me. I'm not a jibbering idiot - I watch a lot of football generally, please excuse me for not being very up-to-date on LCFC 07/08 ... but the following troubled me:-

1. Kishishev, an experienced international midfielder, didn't start in central midfield. But a relatively inexperienced full-back did. Any ideas why?

cause megson's a dolt

2. The consensus seems to be that MDV has started the season quite well. So why did Cort start ahead of him?

megson has picked him with consistency, if nothing else

3. Toe-poked goal aside, did Stearman really warrant a start ahead of Chambers, Kenton or N'Gotty for that specific position?

one can only assume that he wanted to rest n'gotty and chambers in midfield

4. Is Hume playing wide right? And if he is, is this a good thing?

apparently he is, but he was taken off anyway, you'd have to ask megson why...

5. Would our collection of exotic foreign wingers have added any value today?

sheehan under performed today, by all accounts, personally i think he is the man, but when the team collapses it is no surprise that he forms part of that collective collapse - kaebi/ferreira on the right wing, probably...

6. Having paid a zillion pounds for Dudley, should we not just be giving him an extended run to really boost his confidence? Or is he a turkey?

wouldn't have made much difference yesterday, we didn't doing any attacking, i think only chances were clemence and mcauley of a free kick???

Yours sincerely,

Confused, North-East.

just my thoughts any way

[Lillehamring]

from the times

Player ratings.

Charlton:

Weaver 7, Mills 8, Bougherra 6, Fortune 7, Powell 6, Sam 7 (Ambrose 88min), Zheng 7, Semado 7, Reid 7 (Sodje 84min), Varney 7 (McLeod 76min), Iwelumo 7

Leicester:

Fulop 5, Stearman 5, McAuley 4, Kisnorbo 4, Mattock 5, Hume 5 (Kishishev 5, ht), Clemence 6, Chambers 5, Sheehan 4 (N’Gotty 5, ht), Cort 5, Fryatt 4 (Campbell 62min)

[Finn Claw]

dross

none deserve anything above 5 even Clemence

Sheehan and Mattock don't know how to mark, Mills and Sam could cross at will, I don't think you can paly those two in the same team

Chmabers isn't a central midfielder

Stearman seems to get worse every time I see him play. Hume didn't really help him out defensively either.

McCauly and Kisnorbo looked like they hadn't playyed together before which was worrying

Cort makes DeVries look good

The worst i've seen us play against a side that didn't even have to try to beat us.

[Simi]

Fulop - 5 - Not his best day.

Stearman - 3

Kisnorbo - 4 - Poor for goals, where were they?

McAuley - 4 - See above.

Mattock - 4

Hume - 4

Clem - 6 - Only person with a little credibility.

Chambers - 4 - Didn't warrant a place against a top Championship side.

Sheehan - 4

Cort - 3

Fryatt - 3

Both strikers extremely lazy and cannot play together.

[David O'Leary]

dross

none deserve anything above 5 even Clemence

Sheehan and Mattock don't know how to mark, Mills and Sam could cross at will, I don't think you can paly those two in the same team

Chmabers isn't a central midfielder

Stearman seems to get worse every time I see him play. Hume didn't really help him out defensively either.

McCauly and Kisnorbo looked like they hadn't playyed together before which was worrying

Cort makes DeVries look good

The worst i've seen us play against a side that didn't even have to try to beat us.

Because he is a bloody striker! I know he played wide right but he can't do everything for the team

[Finn Claw]

Because he is a bloody striker! I know he played wide right but he can't do everything for the team

If you are played as a right winger in a 4 4 2 you have to help out your full back. Hume didn't do that.

I think he is the best striker we have, i'd play him up front with Campbell, who i thoguht looked far more lively than cort or fryatt

[Thracian]

Because he is a bloody striker! I know he played wide right but he can't do everything for the team

I often feel that's a problem with Leicester. At first team level they get everyone trying to help everyone else do their jobs but fail to get anyone doing their own job properly.

MON made people work for the team too but first and foremost he had people who were experts at specific things and he encouraged them to do those things.

[Sparky]

looking at the 2 charlton scored i thought we were giving more free goals out like we did midweek

[Lillehamring]

this will make A LOT of people laugh, nay, p!ss themselves...

who the hell voted for this!

[Fez of Mahrez]

Time to crack out the famous Palace player ratings I did last season.

Fulop - F

Stearman - U

McAuley - C

Kisnorbo - K

Mattock - I

Hume - N

Clemence - G

Chambers - S

Sheehan - H

Cort - I

Fryatt - T

Just had a quick browse of the post-match thread and this thread. Two things - firstly, we played 3-5-2 second half with three essentially defensive midfielders in the middle, two full-backs on the flanks and obviously three centre-backs. Secondly, we were 2-0 down away from home against a good side so we ignored our two strikers on the bench at half time and threw on a centre-back and a defensive midfielder.

Really utterly, utterly dreadful.

[Bob666]

Under MA's brief spell at least it felt as it we'd gone one step forwards. Having witnessed that tripe yesterday, we've gone back at least 3. I can't think of anything that Cort positively contributed to the match. There was no passion & I might as well have gone home with 20 minutes to go rather than with 1 minute left. Hopefully this was a hang over from the Forest victory but there was a complete lack of team balance, drive, passion or commitment. The Charlton goals were a joke. It looks as if we're going to miss Weso more than I thought. MDV has to play rather than Cort & Hume is wasted on the wing. C'mon Megson sort it out & quick............

[Manwell Pablo]

from the times

Player ratings.

Charlton:

Weaver 7, Mills 8, Bougherra 6, Fortune 7, Powell 6, Sam 7 (Ambrose 88min), Zheng 7, Semado 7, Reid 7 (Sodje 84min), Varney 7 (McLeod 76min), Iwelumo 7

Leicester:

Fulop 5, Stearman 5, McAuley 4, Kisnorbo 4, Mattock 5, Hume 5 (Kishishev 5, ht), Clemence 6, Chambers 5, Sheehan 4 (N’Gotty 5, ht), Cort 5, Fryatt 4 (Campbell 62min)

What dreadfull ratings to get from a national newspaper.

[Geo V]

this will make A LOT of people laugh, nay, p!ss themselves...

who the hell voted for this!

at Cort 7. His performance was one of the weakest "Target man" performances I have seen for a while. He was hopeless but he was always a risky signing having had all those injuries. Lets hope he just needs game time to show us what he has but I have serious doubts after the weekend display.

[Ric Flair]

Good to see Megson is still picking 6 defenders in his teams. He did it at West Brom, probably did it at Forest and is now doing it at Leicester. Fookin idiot.

6 defenders in a team will never win you matches on a regular basis, especially when they struggle to defend, let alone attack.

Worried, very worried.

[The People's Hero]

Fulop 5

Stearman 5

McAuley 2

Kisnorbo 2

Mattock 5

Hume 4

Clemence 7

Chambers 3

Sheehan 1

Cort 4

Fryatt 4

N'Gotty 6

Kishishev 1

DJ 2

Basic thoughts -

Sheehan/Mattock cannot play together. Neither can mark and both stay far too far off their man. Sheehan was appalling on Saturday - fair enough, he's not a left midfielder but everything was absymal from him on Saturday. Poor passing, awful tackling and absolutely abysmal positioning. Mattock - tried hard but was simply out of his depth. Did feel for him a bit when we went 3-5-2 as he just didn't get the role he was supposed to be playing and was constantly in the wrong place.

Left side needs sorting out.

Kishishev. Nothing against him at all but seriously question the fitness of the squad. He was so far off the pace. He'd close down a player a full 3 or 4 seconds after the ball was gone. Plenty of running but shockingly off the pace. Didn't lack willing but it just wasn't working for him. Made to look completely second rate by Clemence.

Stearman right back? Chambers centre mid? NO! Chambers at right back.

Kaebi/Ferreira? Internationals. Champions League Winner. Good enough for Leicester? Course not.

If I was either of them, I'd fu ck off. How must Ferreira feel after presumably watching Sheehan's display? He was keeping him out of the bloody side.

Fulop, Clemence and N'Gotty when he came on were acceptable.

Everyone else was poor.

Away at Charlton is a difficult game - but we didn't even make them try. 2 gifted goals.

McAuley and Kisnorbo are always in the same bloody place. Do they want to hold hands? Why do our full backs not close down. For god's sake, either close down properly or stand off properly, we're always somewhere in the middle with no chance of getting the ball or blocking the shot. And our centre backs? Fu ck sake.

Balls to the lot of them.

Sorry Clemence - you must really regret signing mate.

[The People's Hero]

Dear FT-ers,

I didn't go today, and I've not seen City play this season. Despite this, a few things about today's team selection confused me. I'm not a jibbering idiot - I watch a lot of football generally, please excuse me for not being very up-to-date on LCFC 07/08 ... but the following troubled me:-

1. Kishishev, an experienced international midfielder, didn't start in central midfield. But a relatively inexperienced full-back did. Any ideas why?

I was wondering this until Kishishev actually came on. Chambers had plenty of bluster and some nice touches but overall not enough central midfield know how. He dithered too much in possession and was often not aware of what was going on around him. Additionally, he got very sloppy as the game progressed with his passing. Kishishev came on and was so far off the pace it was a joke. He was nackered after a few minutes too. Ran a lot but not terribly quickly and had very little purpose about him at all. Hard to see him making much of a positive impact this season.

Having said all that, Chambers should have started at right back.

2. The consensus seems to be that MDV has started the season quite well. So why did Cort start ahead of him?

Pass. Bit of a mystery. Equally though, if we're going to play Cort, why not play our exciting, shiny, new foreign wingers. Cort is not going to damage a team with back to goal, 45 yards out. Potentially the least mobile footballer I've ever seen.

3. Toe-poked goal aside, did Stearman really warrant a start ahead of Chambers, Kenton or N'Gotty for that specific position?

Didn't play very well. Looked willing at all times and put himself about but he just doesn't seem to be the player he was 2 or 3 years ago. I don't think he warranted a start ahead of any of those 3.

4. Is Hume playing wide right? And if he is, is this a good thing?

Yes. But we needed a bit of movement up front. Fryatt and Cort were static. I thought we needed him further up the pitch. Fryatt NEEDS pace and movement alongside him. Fryatt and Cort was never going to work. Just never. Just no. Just why? Aside from that, Hume was fairly mediocre vs Charlton, ran about, huffed and puffed, final ball always lacked quality. Typical Iain Hume stuff.

5. Would our collection of exotic foreign wingers have added any value today?

Have never seen either say, but would speculate that either of them would be preferable to Sheehan on the left. Horrible performace. Looked like he wanted to be taken off, to be fair.

6. Having paid a zillion pounds for Dudley, should we not just be giving him an extended run to really boost his confidence? Or is he a turkey?

Looked ok when he came on, but nothing special. Did add something though, which was movement and a willingness to have the ball. In reality though, we never looked like scoring and I don't think DJ/Cort is the answer anymore than Fryatt/Cort.

Yours sincerely,

Confused, North-East.

[Lillehamring]

Dear FT-ers,

I didn't go today, and I've not seen City play this season. Despite this, a few things about today's team selection confused me. I'm not a jibbering idiot - I watch a lot of football generally, please excuse me for not being very up-to-date on LCFC 07/08 ... but the following troubled me:-

1. Kishishev, an experienced international midfielder, didn't start in central midfield. But a relatively inexperienced full-back did. Any ideas why?

2. The consensus seems to be that MDV has started the season quite well. So why did Cort start ahead of him?

3. Toe-poked goal aside, did Stearman really warrant a start ahead of Chambers, Kenton or N'Gotty for that specific position?

4. Is Hume playing wide right? And if he is, is this a good thing?

5. Would our collection of exotic foreign wingers have added any value today?

6. Having paid a zillion pounds for Dudley, should we not just be giving him an extended run to really boost his confidence? Or is he a turkey?

Yours sincerely,

Confused, North-East.

dear nationwider, thanks for this fun questionaire, completing it and reading other replies has been very fun.

perhaps you should have a 'nationwider questionnaire' thread after each game - questions we're all asking - to get some focused opinions.

thanks, again