Leicester v PNE Post Match Thread.

[philce]

Pearson got his team selection and tactics completely wrong. Preston were strong, quick and very clever on the break, they got the ball down and played some good stuff, something I'd like to see us do a hell of alot more instead of just frigging hoofing it, something I think will be eliminated if Howard is dropped.

What makes you think they will stop hoofing it?

It made no difference this afternoon?

[Munzie]

Well Mr Pearson, the honeymoon is well and truly over. With the League One trophy gathering dust on its own in our trophy cabinet, it's now about maintaining a mediocre position in the Championship. To date, it's just about job done. However, any more performances like that today and we could find ourselves treading water in or around the drop zone.

Like the majority of football fans up and down the country, when my team lose, I'm not the happiest bunny to be around. My expectations for this season are not as high as some. I've no mis-placed conceptions that we'll be challenging for a promotion spot or even a place in the play-offs. What I do expect is a safe mid-table position with not too many dramas to contend with. That said, this is Leicester City after all. Today, we were nowhere near good enough.

As some on here have already pointed out, cracks are beginning to show in NP's chosen eleven. N'Guessan is not delivering anywhere near what he promised, Neilson (although was expected to be erratic) is fast becoming a liability and our front two or three or even four (who can tell what formation we play) are not testing keepers anywhere near what would be expected from a competing team.

1) Drop N'Guessan. Give Dyer, Adams or Gradel a shot over 90 mins.

2) Drop Howard. Although I am still a fan, playing the vast majority of play through him is clearly not working. Yet again today we saw two or more defenders closing him out of the game, restricting him to flick on headers that, in the main, do not find their intended target.

3) Have a different game plan. Even with Howard's retraction from the game, we still persisted with high balls. Asking Waghorn, Dyer or Kermorgant (even though he did well) to win these is asking too much.

Mr Pearson, you keep telling us you have a big squad. Prove it.

[lou]

Raj rekoned he saw him with his wife and kiddie before the game.

Then again Raj sees lots of things that noone else sees!

Is Gradel old enough to have a wife and kid?

[davieG]

Is Gradel old enough to have a wife and kid?

I presume they're his siblings, although I think he had a cousin who was helping him look after them.

[ian_marshall]

I have to agree with pretty much everyone's appraisal of today's game. Neilson as usual was shocking. He looks well out of his depth in the championship and often gets caught out of position. N'Guessan was also awful as well today, and seems afraid to attack the space behind the full back. Brown should be dropped following his recent poor performances. I personally think Hobbs and Tunchev compliment each other well and have a good understanding in defence. Furthermore Gallacher does need to be replaced by a proper winger and given the options currently available I think Dyer is the best of the bunch. Has anyone else noticed that Dyer's pace doesn't have the same impact in the Championship that it had in League One? I also think that he seems to be lacking confidence when in possession. I though Kermorgant had a decent performance when he came on. He looked good in the air and showed some nice touches. I'd like to see Gradel recalled to the side and Gilbert recalled on loan. Clearly, if we are to prosper in this league we need to play far better than we did today. However, given our poor performance we weren't exactly embarrassed by Preston today, especially when you consider that we gifted them both of their goals. Anyway, come on Nigel, be strong and make the necessary changes to give us a fighting chance against the Boro'.

[Ozwin]

It's almost like Pearson daren't drop Gallagher because he spent £1m on him.

[Thracian]

Was anyone else a bit dissapointed with the attendence? We had about 800 less than when we played Posh and that was a tuesday night! We also had 6000 less than Swansea, though admittedly that was the first game of the season.

I was but it doesn't surprise me. People are struggling and expecting things to get worse despite the little puffs of optimism belching from various chimneys of opinion.

We monitor our business closely and while our total number of sales has remained fairly constant, the amount the customers spend has dropped.

I am quite sure the same or worse would be reflected in other businesses especially what I call "luxuries" businesses like restaurants, holidays, collectables, which people can choose to avoid if they want/need to save money.

Football is an expensive entertainment even for home matches. And, apart from the sterile atmosphere, certainly at The Walkers, there are other factors that probably eat at attendances.

Some are obvious. Like two matches a week. The disappearance of free car parking spaces and increase in the cost of commercial car park charges. Then there's the ludicrously high cost of alcohol in pubs now (my pint costs £6.20p which is +80p) and the difficulty of finding anything decent to eat at a sensible price in the pubs you might consider using.

Other things might dissuade people too like having to sit in cramped seats instead of being able to stand, like watching ever-more tactical and sometimes unenterprising football with endless stoppages and perhaps even the fact that we are now fielding a team which has not the slightest connection to our club - either by way of someone living in Leicester or Leicestershire or having been brought through the Academy.

I know that many of you won't give a shit about that. You'd have a whole squad of international mercenaries if it meant getting up into the Premiership.

But, when things go wrong, having a team of outsiders is not the most compelling way of keeping bums on seats. I've said that I can't think of one single player who has come through the ranks under Pearson's watch. Now even Gradel seems to have disappeared and King has been reduced to bit parts. Porter's gone, Mattock's gone, Stearman's gone, Weso's gone, Sheehan's gone and when I look at replacements like N'Guessan and Neilson I don't see anything left that I feel associated with.

Don't misread me. I'm as excited as the next fan when a good player turns up. I well remember the arrival of Davie Gibson from Hibernian for instance. Or Frank Worthington, or Derek Dougan to name but a few.

But the team we have now doesn't have players like those. Or anything like.

Last year we did have some Academy graduates, Gradel, King and even Leicester lad Mattock and we seemed to have a damned good atmosphere about the side too.

Today I saw one or two players who didn't appear to give a shit. I couldn't have said that about any one of the Academy team this morning.

[Permafrost]

my pint costs £6.20p which is +80p

What are you drinking? Pints of wine?

[clazkel]

Therefore the team in my opinion should look something like this (obviously depending on players fitness) :

GK Weale

LB Berner

CB Hobbs

CB Tunchev

RB Morrison

LM Adams

CM Oakley

CM Wellens

RM Gradel

ST Fryatt

ST Kermorgant

The back 4 i agree with, i think for Gradel to come straight back in the team when he hasnt been on the bench for a while may not be a good idea, but then again he is pretty good at defending aswell when he needs to get back and help out. I would like to see Gallagher and Fryatt up front, and Dyer on the left and Adam the right. Adams definately needs to play. Id like:

Weale

Morrison Hobbs Tunch Berner

Adams Wellens Oakley Dyer

Fryatt Gallagher

[Cobbo]

Preston are ****s.

Ref was a ****.

We need to learn to be mean in this league. Stop the footballing side of our game..

[Mikey]

Meh, we were bound to lose sometime and it may as well have been to a quality side. The 'old' Leicester would have lost to a shit Peterborugh side the other week. Preston will be in the play offs for sure.

N'Guessan is the most annoying and inconsistent footballer I've ever seen, a poor mans Maxi, at least he tried hard. Where is the guy?

Neilson was absolute shit today. I was actually cringing with embarrassment every time he touched the ball today, especially his 2 shots he had. Morrison please.

I think Fryatt should be played up front with either Gallagher, Waghorn or Kermorgant (who looked decent) on Tuesday, give Steve a rest and see how Matty does playing alongside someone else. Gallagher blatantly has talent, but is wasted out on the wing.

We didn't play that bad first half, had quite a few chances, we just needed to put them away. We deserved to be in front, not behind. Second half was a bit shit.

Oh yeah, and Chaplow was quality. And Mellor and Chris Brown were a handful. Thought Tunch did alright against the quality Brown, but Wayne Brown struggled again.

[Unit]

Just back from the post-match pub. We were absolutely shite.

a few little good bits: kermognrananananats shot at the end that just dipped wide, fryatts penalty that never was and... oh, that's it.

preston shat us all game, however they're always good for the first half the season then go back to being the shit average championship side after xmas, mark my words.

[marbelladave]

Got in an hour or two ago, something to eat, couple of drinks so:

We were very average first half and pretty dire second, a few not so random thoughts.

Why start Tunchev and Brown? They have never started together before today and as far as I can recall never played alongside each other in a meaningful game. Tunchev and Hobbs work well together so why did they not start? Was there a fitness issue and if so why was Hobbs on the bench? They were clearly not at ease with other, so bad in fact that Tunchev looked very ordinary.

Having your fullbacks get forward and support the attack is fine, if you give them cover. Today there was little cover on the right, none whatsoever on the left and no one in center midfield to read and cover the gaps. They got forward, Preston got through the gaps. Laughable.

Once again we were largely bossed in center midfield, it has happened a number of times already this season so it was hardly a surprise. If we do not at least win our share in the middle it is going to be a very long season! Despite the fact that I have been told otherwise, Wellens did not look fit to me, shocking play for the first goal.

Of the supposed wide men, N'Guessan rarely got decent ball and faded badly after an energetic start and Gallagher just seemed to roam about without getting very involved. Pointless.

Sometimes the Howard/Fryatt partnership looks like it is not going to score for a week, this was one of those days. Howard was heavily involved but his flick ons and lay offs created very little given the number of times the ball was played to him. He made a half chance fo N'Guessan once, otherwise I can not recall Fryatt getting one clear chance.

Overall the performance lacked focus and (I hate to say it again) organisation. Preston are a decent side but we appeared to have no game plan and did nothing to counter Chaplow who more or less ran the game.

I am beginning to think that those of you who berate me for my belief that we are a decent side who should be doing better than we are, are absolutely right.

We really are pretty mediocre!

[Daggers]

We really are pretty mediocre!

And this was apparently an aspirational thing to many people.

[marbelladave]

And this was apparently an aspirational thing to many people.

I know, scary!

What I am really concerned about is that a mediocre season with no relegation worries might be as much as the management expects or even hopes for.

So far this season I have seen little to suggest that we are going to make the step up to being a competitive Championship side.

Even worse it appears that we are not even attempting to make the step up. No ambition, no flexibility, no inspiration yet with nothing but a little tinkering round the edges, we keep trotting out the same team whose performances are getting worse match by match.

[Salieri]

I know, scary!

What I am really concerned about is that a mediocre season with no relegation worries might be as much as the management expects or even hopes for.

So far this season I have seen little to suggest that we are going to make the step up to being a competitive Championship side.

Even worse it appears that we are not even attempting to make the step up. No ambition, no flexibility, no inspiration yet with nothing but a little tinkering round the edges, we keep trotting out the same team whose performances are getting worse match by match.

There is a fine line between having high expectations and ambitions, and being realistic. Of course we would all love for the team to push on from last seasons success to another successive promotion, or even a good crack at one. But history suggests that the odds of doing so are very high.

There is nothing wrong with consolidation, and building towards something greater. I'd rather we finished outside the play offs for a season (or even two) to then go up with a team well equipped to handle the Premier League long term than to go up too soon only to come staight back down.

Realism shouldnt be confused with a lack of ambition.

[marbelladave]

There is a fine line between having high expectations and ambitions, and being realistic. Of course we would all love for the team to push on from last seasons success to another successive promotion, or even a good crack at one. But history suggests that the odds of doing so are very high.

There is nothing wrong with consolidation, and building towards something greater. I'd rather we finished outside the play offs for a season (or even two) to then go up with a team well equipped to handle the Premier League long term than to go up too soon only to come staight back down.

Realism shouldnt be confused with a lack of ambition.

Who is suggesting that we are good for promotion? Not me! The most I have ever suggested is that "if we are in the mix" for a playoff spot in april then we will have had a decent season.

Consolidation is fine, if we have a team that is making progress and moving forward, but that is not the case. We are playing worse week on week, Dyer, Adams and now N'Guessan are loosing confidence due to the overall team performance and the senior players, Brown, Oakley and Howard are doing little to help.

For me ambition is simply to be the best team you can be, so far this season we have shown how good that can be but failed dismally to come close to that standard on a regular basis!

[Budweiser]

Who is suggesting that we are good for promotion? Not me! The most I have ever suggested is that "if we are in the mix" for a playoff spot in april then we will have had a decent season.

Consolidation is fine, if we have a team that is making progress and moving forward, but that is not the case. We are playing worse week on week, Dyer, Adams and now N'Guessan are loosing confidence due to the overall team performance and the senior players, Brown, Oakley and Howard are doing little to help.

For me ambition is simply to be the best team you can be, so far this season we have shown how good that can be but failed dismally to come close to that standard on a regular basis!

Basically, your saying that we are crumbling, because we haven't played are best in the last 3 games.

[Salieri]

Who is suggesting that we are good for promotion? Not me! The most I have ever suggested is that "if we are in the mix" for a playoff spot in april then we will have had a decent season.

Consolidation is fine, if we have a team that is making progress and moving forward, but that is not the case. We are playing worse week on week, Dyer, Adams and now N'Guessan are loosing confidence due to the overall team performance and the senior players, Brown, Oakley and Howard are doing little to help.

For me ambition is simply to be the best team you can be, so far this season we have shown how good that can be but failed dismally to come close to that standard on a regular basis!

It would be fair to say that we have been "making progress and moving forward" for pretty much of the entire reign of NP thus far.

Admittedly, the wheels have come off somewhat in the last few games but that is not cause for such negativity. If its so obvious to all of us on here that a few changes are required to improve things, then i'd like to think that NP and his staff are also aware of this fact.

If and when we are plumbing the depths of the league and flirting with relegation once more, then i will be bemoaning this that and t'other as much as the next man. But until that happens, i will continue to have faith that the management will steady the ship.

[marbelladave]

Basically, your saying that we are crumbling, because we haven't played are best in the last 3 games.

No.

I'm saying we are crumbling because we have not played well all season but were lucky enough to pick up some cheap points against woeful opposition.

Two away games to come, both of which we could easily loose, what then?

[Budweiser]

No.

I'm saying we are crumbling because we have not played well all season but were lucky enough to pick up some cheap points against woeful opposition.

Two away games to come, both of which we could easily loose, what then?

Pearson gets sacked and we gear up for relegation?

[Monk]

Thought we played pretty well in the first half, and more or less matched them for chances, although they always looked more likely to score.

Second half we were far too pedestrian, not closing people down and losing our shape badly. At times it felt as if we were playing a very poor 4-1-2-1-2.

Totally lost after Howard went off, and our goal was more a lucky consolation than anything else.

We knew today would be tough, but I would have expected a bit more from us today. How much longer are we going to keep only turning up for 45 minutes?

Thought Tunch left Brown exposed on several occasions and he did well to recover. That said I think Hobbs + Tunch would have been better.

Neilson needs to raise his game. If only we actually had some serious competition for right back he might get his arse in gear.

Good performance by Fryatt, but perhaps could have been more clinical after creating himself a handful of good opportunities.

Disappointed.

[marbelladave]

It would be fair to say that we have been "making progress and moving forward" for pretty much of the entire reign of NP thus far.

Admittedly, the wheels have come off somewhat in the last few games but that is not cause for such negativity. If its so obvious to all of us on here that a few changes are required to improve things, then i'd like to think that NP and his staff are also aware of this fact.

If and when we are plumbing the depths of the league and flirting with relegation once more, then i will be bemoaning this that and t'other as much as the next man. But until that happens, i will continue to have faith that the management will steady the ship.

Until this season.

There is absolutely no evidence that suggests that the management have the faintest idea how to deal with our poor form. I can see no plan even being put in place yet alone being effective.

Any idiot can tell that things are going wrong once we slip into a relegation fight, the trick is to work out what is going wrong and fix it before that happens.

Some people had confidence in Holloway too!

[marbelladave]

Pearson gets sacked and we gear up for relegation?

Pearson to get his finger out and start putting out teams who know what they have to do to win a game. The right balance of the right personnel in the right positions with some sort of a plan of how to compete with and beat the opposition.

That will do for a start.

[Salieri]

Until this season.

There is absolutely no evidence that suggests that the management have the faintest idea how to deal with our poor form. I can see no plan even being put in place yet alone being effective.

Any idiot can tell that things are going wrong once we slip into a relegation fight, the trick is to work out what is going wrong and fix it before that happens.

Some people had confidence in Holloway too!

So on the back of the last few results, Pearson is already being put in the "Holloway" bracket? Do you not think they are trying to fix it? Like it or not, we have made a "step up" from last season and it will take time to adapt.