Leicester v PNE Post Match Thread.

[Salieri]

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.

I'll bet you're a wizard on Football Manager.

[Koke]

We're not really that bad.

We have a few passengers and liabilities [Neilsen, Howard] and a few who aren't playing that well atm but overall we are a pretty solid team. A few changes here and there and we'll do fine. And by *fine* I mean upper half finish.

To say that Nigel and the management team has lost their plot is ridiculous.

[Salieri]

We're not really that bad.

We have a few passengers and liabilities [Neilsen, Howard] and a few who aren't playing that well atm but overall we are a pretty solid team. A few changes here and there and we'll do fine. And by *fine* I mean upper half finish.

To say that Nigel and the management team has lost their plot is ridiculous.

i'm beginning to wonder if Marbella Dave is the love child of Thracian and Ultra.

[StanSP]

Would have preferred a win going into Tuesday's match.

Ah well. Time to move on and forget playing Preston again for a few months!

[marbelladave]

I'll bet you're a wizard on Football Manager.

I watch real football and call it as I see it.

Anyway what is 'Football Manager' anyway, I have no idea!

[marbelladave]

i'm beginning to wonder if Marbella Dave is the love child of Thracian and Ultra.

The words your are looking for are:

bastard love child.....

Hardly our fault if we are the only ones who can see what is really out there!

[Ultra]

We're not really that bad.

We have a few passengers and liabilities [Neilsen, Howard] and a few who aren't playing that well atm but overall we are a pretty solid team. A few changes here and there and we'll do fine. And by *fine* I mean upper half finish.

To say that Nigel and the management team has lost their plot is ridiculous.

I doubt whether Milan will be that tolerant..

[Salieri]

I watch real football and call it as I see it.

Anyway what is 'Football Manager' anyway, I have no idea!

It's a computer game, not that it really matters. I meant that in a sense that you come across as the sort who is certain that their ideas and philosiphies would guarantee success, such is the conviction of your ramblings.

We all think we know best and that is what makes forums such as these so entertaining. It is easy to spout and theorise what should be the solution to the problems, but the reality is a different ball game.

I'm an idealist in that i like to think that the people in charge of our team actually know what they are doing, through genuine experience of playing and managing. I'll offer opinion, but at the end of the day what do i know? Jack shit is the answer.

On the basis of what Nigel Pearson and his staff have done so far, I for one will continue to back him.

[Thracian]

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.

I remember one of their first half chances in particular. Striker had a 15-yard tap into an open goal but managed to sky it over the bar with our central defence awol. Pearson's had his day ruined already and when he sees that at training it'll make Monday miserable too. Unless they're in Sunday, or course!

[Bluefoxtim]

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.

I like how specific you are.

I think you should go and work for NASA or something. "Ok, we need to get a man on Mars. All we need to do is build a shuttle, fly up there and land. What do you say? 2 weeks?"

Thracian, it was the bold fella who skied it. Is it me, or have all the bald centre-midfielders that we've have faced played us off the park?

[Fox92]

We were very, very poor. In fact, it was the worst performance of the season.

Every time we kept on attacking, they just kept on counter attacking us. Tunchev/Brown does not work, and Tunchev wasn't winning anything against his striker.

Brown was poor and now needs a rest, N'Guessan is poor and is only a player who comes on off of the bench the Adams, hence not good enough. Pearson doesn't know where to play Gallagher; and he doesn't work on the left.

Not sure if Wellens was fit, but some of his ball's worked, others didn't.

Howard won headers but got frustrated and shouldn't have been taken off because Waghorn and Fryatt don't win header and all Chris Weale does is lumps ball's forward - which I am sure isn't his fault at times.

Fryatt was most probably man of the match.

It was a shocking display, and I don't think we were beaten by a better team, it was just that we were rubbish.

Rubbish, but we have got a chance to turn it around...... at Middlesborough.

[Babylon]

i'm beginning to wonder if Marbella Dave is the love child of Thracian and Ultra.

I think Marbella Dave is Thracians alter ego. Thrac' has seemed rather calm of late, where as Dave has gone into football meltdown over Pearson. I reckon duplicate accounts is the only answer.

[vim23]

Very disapointing performance. I think n'guessan and neilson have had their honeymoon period and the fans are starting to show a bit of frustration with them. Neison is clearly not up to it at this level and why oakley gave him the ball 30 yards out at the end i don't know. Get in the box! Not starting hobbs was very strange. I anticipated Tunchev coming in for brown at some point but NEVER for Hobbs. I know brown didn't get a lot of protection from midfield but you can't let a guy run 60 yards and keep backing off. We got away with it in the first half as well so we were warned. Brown started the season well but i think now is the time to get our best partnership back together of tunchev and hobbs. Wellens is different class but was definitely off the pace today having not trained all week. Hopefully we can take this defeat out on Derby in 3 weeks as my life will be hell at work if we don't.

Would like to see a bit more of kermogant. Looked half decent

[marbelladave]

I like how specific you are.

I think you should go and work for NASA or something. "Ok, we need to get a man on Mars. All we need to do is build a shuttle, fly up there and land. What do you say? 2 weeks?"

Thracian, it was the bold fella who skied it. Is it me, or have all the bald centre-midfielders that we've have faced played us off the park?

I have posted specifics on this forum so many times in recent weeks that I did not feel the need to do so again.

If you want me to give you the full details, I will be happy to do so but it will have to be after I get back from the gym.

The Preston midfield was both bald and bold. Blew us away!

[marbelladave]

I think Marbella Dave is Thracians alter ego. Thrac' has seemed rather calm of late, where as Dave has gone into football meltdown over Pearson. I reckon duplicate accounts is the only answer.

Spooky is it not.

In reality I am just Thracian's 'military wing'. :D

The truth is out there.

[Daggers]

I like cheesy peas.

[Budweiser]

I think everyone is forgetting that Preston are a very good side!

We played poorly okay, but it's not like we played against shite opposition. They were extremely well organised at the back, and quality on the counter attack.

We still should have had a peno

[marbelladave]

I think everyone is forgetting that Preston are a very good side!

We played poorly okay, but it's not like we played against shite opposition. They were extremely well organised at the back, and quality on the counter attack.

We still should have had a peno

No I am not forgetting that at all!

My major criticism of our play yesterday was that we as a team, were simply not prepared to play against Preston who are 'a very good side'. We were simply unprepared to take them on, our 2 man midfield was never going to get any real help from the flanks or from the frontmen so they never really got to grips with midfield, even worse when we know that Preston are strong attacking on the flanks we get our fullbacks to go forward without any cover....

These are basic mistakes, ones that we really should not be committing at this level.

[Monk]

I like cheesy peas.

squeezy cheesy peas?

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

I think after seeing that performance yesterday it might actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise for us.

Yes, I am annoyed with the result but it might just be a wake up call to some of the players that we arent as good as we think we are and the performance of PNE is the sort we need to live up to, especially away from home.

Yes, we were bad, but they are a good team who are big and strong and almost seemed to stop us from playing. We underestimated them and I hope NP has had harsh words, which will hopefully be the factor in a win on Tuessday.

[Salieri]

I think after seeing that performance yesterday it might actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise for us.

Yes, I am annoyed with the result but it might just be a wake up call to some of the players that we arent as good as we think we are and the performance of PNE is the sort we need to live up to, especially away from home.

Yes, we were bad, but they are a good team who are big and strong and almost seemed to stop us from playing. We underestimated them and I hope NP has had harsh words, which will hopefully be the factor in a win on Tuessday.

I'm not sure that we did. Think it's more of a case that they are simply a better side than us.

[Karljohn]

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.

The casual fan is picking and choosing their games, with Cov away and Derby home on the horizon its likely their money would go on this instead of Preston. Swansea brought 3,000 with them Posh probably 1800 and the rest not much more than 1000 so part of the reason for the dwindling gates are the numbers coming to support the away team. However yesterdays performance wont do much to add numbers!

My missus wants to come to the Derby game so I relocated my ST to sit with her, there looked like there were plenty of seats left for Derby on the ticket office computer. It'll probably be the biggest crowd so far but cant see it selling out.

[Corky]

Very suprised that Hobbs was dropped, fair enough he was probably at fault for a couple of goals at Watford but Brown was responsible for the Blackpool and Peterborough goals so I don't see how Hobbs has been any more to blame than Brown.

Neilson struggled badly yesterday, I really wonder where Morrison has gone (can anyone shed any light on the situation?). He's not perfect but he's better than Neilson.

Gallagher looked much better on the right than the left, and Yann seemed to be in the Howard mould, which could prove useful.

Got to give a lot of credit to Preston, they broke superbly for their second goal and look a side that is top six material. Frustrated that our home record has gone, plenty to improve on but there were some positives, Fryatt especially who was excellent.

[Thracian]

I think everyone is forgetting that Preston are a very good side!

We played poorly okay, but it's not like we played against shite opposition. They were extremely well organised at the back, and quality on the counter attack.

We still should have had a peno

One of the consequences of yesterday's City performance is that it will encourage the ordinary sides as well as the better ones.

We're dropping points regularly and not scoring many goals. All our competitors know now that we have serious weaknesses and limitations as a team.

Our record since we lost in the cup at Preston is poor but what most concerns me is not the results as such but the fact that our team is looking worse, not better and has still not played what I'd consider to be a good 90 minutes since day one tis season.

The cohesion, the balance, the pattern of play and the unity of purpose has gone or seems to be going. Areas of weakness are not being noticeably improved.

I really would try Oakley at right-back with Gradel wide right, McGivern with Adams on the left in the continued absence of Porter, King as the fulcrum in front of the defence with DJ/N'Guessan/Gallagher/Howard competing to partner Fryatt in the central striking role.

We have to inject pace, energy, mutual back up, quality passing, movement, goals potential and unpredictability. Fryatt excepted, we're so lumbering that I cannot imagine opposition defences fearing us and so slow at the back that every half-quick striker or winger is going to fancy his chances.

Slowly, the City management seem to be discarding youth and putting their faith in experience. Exactly the sort of policy that Kelly adopted and which pointed us right at the relegation trapdoor and eventually worse.

Wayne Brown (32), Neilson (29), Tunchev (28), Bruno Berner (31) represent dogged competitiveness but serious limitation to me. Yet they provide the foundation of our team. Mix in Howard's 33, Oakley's 32, Wellens (29) and the collective lack of pace going forward and recovery when the ball is lost is there to be seen too often.

We've had experienced but limited defenders before - people like McAuley, Kisnorbo, Nils-Eric Johansson, Kenton and even N'Gotty, with more experience in front of them like Hughes, Clemence and that other ineffective sideways-passing loanee we put such faith in, Jason Jarrett. The result was always poor support for the attack and no chance of scoring enough goals.

I don't think all those named are/were altogether lousy footballers. But they have and had no chance of using pace and movement to exert control any more than occasionally and therefore, in respect of our current team, it has got to be given much more ooomph.

On Saturday, even quite early in the first half, the crowd was bellowing for our defensive hoard to move upfield when they won the ball instead of loitering outside our penalty area and simply waiting for the next wave of Preston attack.

I couldn't believe it. Examples abound in these days of endless televised football, of exactly how committed teams should be in collectively clearing their lines and swiftly turning defence to attack.

Preston did it brilliantly at times showing real pace and determination to get groups of players forward.

Very rarely did I see that sort of single-minded determination from City. Fryatt never stopped trying as an individual and there were occasional sorties from others but nothing sustained.

Sadly some of our players didn't do it cos they can't and we just cannot afford to carry them all and at the same time.

At least not unless we prefer stoking egos to fielding a team to be reckoned with and which stretches and asks questions of defenders.

Cos right now I'd be pushed to make a list of "strengths" that apply to our team.

Solid defence? It's been like the Biblical parting of the Red Sea at times.

Fast to close down? We're sluggish in too many areas now and getting caught out far too often.

Rampant attackers? Were it not for Fryatt we'd hardly have scored at all this season and there's no penetration from the flanks.

To provide the basis of a team that might affect the necessary improvements I'd start with:

Weale;

Oakley, Hobbs, Brown (Tunchev when fit and sharp), AN Other (perhaps McGivern);

Gradel, Wellens, King, Adams/Porter (when fit);

Fryatt, Campbell.

Subs: Logan, Morrison, Berner, Porter, Gallagher, Howard, N'Guessan.

And the instructions would be simple. Go out and play for each other.

I'd do whatever it takes to get DJ, Porter and Gradel back in the fold fit and keen.

The above would provide the template for a new Leicester City team that would be committed to fast passing and the scoring of goals. Only players who could compliment that philosophy would be signed and gradually introduced to the side.

[Thracian]

Very suprised that Hobbs was dropped, fair enough he was probably at fault for a couple of goals at Watford but Brown was responsible for the Blackpool and Peterborough goals so I don't see how Hobbs has been any more to blame than Brown.

It was bloody stupid and shouldn't even have been considered. Hobbs has been an important player for us these last season and a bit and has cost us very few goals overall.

But it's clear someone had to be made a scapegoat to facillitate the determination to play Tunchev but all that demonstrated (yet again) was the nonsense of not having proper and regular reserves football nor a philosophy where returning players prove their fitness and sharpness first before gracing the senior side once more.

Tunchev was neither fit nor sharp on Saturday. In fact he looked as much a weakness as Neilson in many ways and there's no way at all that I'd consider him as a starter for the Middlesbrough game.

Hobbs and Brown would be back with an apology and the simple directive to keep a clean sheet.

Tunchev would be loaned out for a month to try to get him back to his most effective.