Levein Interview

[Shauno45]

dont think no one posted this so might aswell

talks about his first six months in the city hot-seat

Is the job here harder than you expected?

I didn't know what to expect. The six months since I came have been interesting because it has given me the opportunity to get a handle on what it is all about - to see what the teams are like and what the stadiums are like. It might prove that it was the best time to have looked at things like that.

It has been a little more difficult in that I didn't expect us to be at any time involved in relegation and we were. But from my own point of view, that is the first time I have ever been involved with anything like that as a manager and it is a great experience because we came out of it all right and won the games that mattered.

Was it a case of too many changes - managerial and players - that led to flirting with the drop?

When you change things, there are a lot of factors people don't realise, a change in environment, staying in a hotel, which is not easy for three months, and the players have to get to know the style of play, the standard of the opposition and also get to know their team-mates.

Change can bring about inconsistency and we were inconsistent.

I look back and feel we played well in a lot of games and didn't win. That was down to bad refereeing, bad luck and our own doing at times, but the encouraging thing was that it wouldn't have taken much for one point to have been three. There was not a massive gap.

I could have waited to the end of the season to make changes but, as much as I was going to have six months learning about the club, I also felt it was important that the players I wanted to bring in got a head-start.

That is what happened. Hughes, McCarthy, de Vries and Maybury will know the scene. If I had waited and brought everyone in together in the summer I might have been doing what Micky (Adams) did last year, basically starting with a new team.

But what I have managed to do is get those four, and Kisnorbo, into the way of things and they have got a little bit of spirit between them so they have knitted quite well with the other players who are going to be here next season.

It has been a good exercise and we will see the benefit next season, I am sure.

It was not just new players but new staff as well. Did that add to it?

Peter Houston knew me before, so did Kenny Black, and Rob Kelly has done a great job for me since he arrived here from Blackburn Rovers. Housty knows me well, Rob is different and will throw in different things and he could not be further from a yes man. We have some good bits of banter but I like that, I like people to be strong and his depth of knowledge is great.

There is definitely a respect between the players and staff. The behaviour has been spot-on, no bad news, no wrong headlines, they know they have a responsibility to be on good behaviour.

That is something I was conscious of. You can't keep being the focus of attention for the wrong reasons.

Did you realise the financial state when you took on the job here?

As soon as I walked in the door I was told the truth - we are under-performing and, not only that, we have financial problems we need to address as quickly as possible.

I had done the same at Hearts for the last three years, cutting costs yet still trying to find new players.

If you look at things positively, even though we are making cuts, our wage-bill is still going to be around the top five in the division, so that puts me in with a chance of being in the top five of the table. The figure we are coming down to still allows us to be competitive in this league, which is all we are looking for, to have a reasonable chance of being high up.

It was not a case of being given all the parachute payment from the Premiership and going out to spend it.

It was a case of here is some this year, you will get a bit more next year and see how we go.

When the club went up last time, it still had the nucleus of a team but that has all fallen away now.

What we need to do is build it up again with a new nucleus. That is what Martin O'Neill had, a nucleus which he added to. That is what I am trying to do with Hughes, Maybury, Kisnorbo and de Vries, to get a core to go from.

Are you disappointed at getting rid of good players?

That was the hardest thing. I had to do the same at Hearts. It is not the players' fault that they are earning high wages.

To be fair, all the players I had to let go, in different circumstances, would have stayed, purely on football. I would be going with a 24-25 man squad, plenty of competition for places, cover for suspensions and injuries, but the finances would not allow that.

Conceding late goals has to be a thing of the past, doesn't it?

We had a problem but we have lost very few since I came here - some, but in the normal course of events. When we lost a late goal against Wolves it hadn't happened for a while and has not happened since.

The personnel has changed so the new people don't know anything about the history of late goals. They are not going to get nervous about something that means nothing to them.

It is a problem for the fans or some of the staff here, the people who have been here for a while. But for most of the players, myself, the staff, we don't see it.

The long-term view is lasting success. How is that going to be managed?

We are looking hard at the youth system. Richard Stearman and Alan Sheehan didn't look out of place, so there are little signs. What I would like to see are three players coming through every year to be in the senior squad.

The home-grown aspect has two advantages. First, the fans want to see it. They love Stearman because he is a home-grown product, he ties the two together and that is a big step forward in the relationship. The other thing is that they are cheap and save you buying players.

The Walkers Stadium has been far from a fortress, will that change next season?

The stadium is good, the training ground is, er, all right. We could do with more pitches, that is something for further down the line.

We need to make the Walkers Stadium a difficult place for teams to come. It is too nice just now.

If we are winning, it can be more intimidating to the opposition. We want teams to look down the fixture list and worry about Leicester away.

Are the games harder or easier than you expected, compared with Scotland?

I didn't think it was going to be easier. The early years at Hearts were difficult and this is no different. Down here, I have not got the handle on who is the best. A lot of results hinge on heads or tails, not just our own games but matches we have watched elsewhere in this division.

It is going to be difficult to get out. I think there will be eight teams capable and they can't all do it. From my point of view, everything is evenly matched. The games aren't any more competitive from up the road - but the league is.

Is promotion for your new team asking too much then?

It might be, it depends how we get on with signing new players in the summer, it depends on how we start, how quickly we get into our stride and whether we get a bit of luck.

You look at the teams who are coming down from the Premiership and they will be people's favourites to go straight back up again. I don't know how often that occurs but, whatever transpires, we will be looking for a big improvement on this season.

[FNQ]

Ta.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Cheers for that, a very interesting read. Particularly like this excerpt;

"I could have waited to the end of the season to make changes but, as much as I was going to have six months learning about the club, I also felt it was important that the players I wanted to bring in got a head-start.

That is what happened. Hughes, McCarthy, de Vries and Maybury will know the scene. If I had waited and brought everyone in together in the summer I might have been doing what Micky (Adams) did last year, basically starting with a new team.

But what I have managed to do is get those four, and Kisnorbo, into the way of things and they have got a little bit of spirit between them so they have knitted quite well with the other players who are going to be here next season."

[Vo Rogue]

What is CL on about?? 'To be fair all players I had to let go,in different circumstances,would have stayed purely on football.' Werent these the same players that had us looking at going into a Division that we thought we would never be in.These players were crap so say it like it is.

[Louise]

Not Levein, but it ties in with the future of the club and next season...

This is a quote from a Hearts fan on Jambos Kickback:

Just had a wee chat with Maybs who is in town for the game tomorrow. Says he is enjoying it in Leicester and by next season Levein will have lost all the dead wood and has already lost half a dozen players he feels aren't up for it. He says next season they will be fighting for promotion which should have the crowds up from 23k to about 30k.

Asked him if he was up here to arrange a move back to Hearts but sadly he isn't. Very nice guy though. And his good lady wife is not unattractive it must be said. Heres hoping he is a lucky mascot for us.

[Chandler]

dont think no one posted this so might aswell

talks about his first six months in the city hot-seat

Is the job here harder than you expected?

I didn't know what to expect. The six months since I came have been interesting because it has given me the opportunity to get a handle on what it is all about - to see what the teams are like and what the stadiums are like. It might prove that it was the best time to have looked at things like that.

It has been a little more difficult in that I didn't expect us to be at any time involved in relegation and we were. But from my own point of view, that is the first time I have ever been involved with anything like that as a manager and it is a great experience because we came out of it all right and won the games that mattered.

Was it a case of too many changes - managerial and players - that led to flirting with the drop?

When you change things, there are a lot of factors people don't realise, a change in environment, staying in a hotel, which is not easy for three months, and the players have to get to know the style of play, the standard of the opposition and also get to know their team-mates.

Change can bring about inconsistency and we were inconsistent.

I look back and feel we played well in a lot of games and didn't win. That was down to bad refereeing, bad luck and our own doing at times, but the encouraging thing was that it wouldn't have taken much for one point to have been three. There was not a massive gap.

I could have waited to the end of the season to make changes but, as much as I was going to have six months learning about the club, I also felt it was important that the players I wanted to bring in got a head-start.

That is what happened. Hughes, McCarthy, de Vries and Maybury will know the scene. If I had waited and brought everyone in together in the summer I might have been doing what Micky (Adams) did last year, basically starting with a new team.

But what I have managed to do is get those four, and Kisnorbo, into the way of things and they have got a little bit of spirit between them so they have knitted quite well with the other players who are going to be here next season.

It has been a good exercise and we will see the benefit next season, I am sure.

It was not just new players but new staff as well. Did that add to it?

Peter Houston knew me before, so did Kenny Black, and Rob Kelly has done a great job for me since he arrived here from Blackburn Rovers. Housty knows me well, Rob is different and will throw in different things and he could not be further from a yes man. We have some good bits of banter but I like that, I like people to be strong and his depth of knowledge is great.

There is definitely a respect between the players and staff. The behaviour has been spot-on, no bad news, no wrong headlines, they know they have a responsibility to be on good behaviour.

That is something I was conscious of. You can't keep being the focus of attention for the wrong reasons.

Did you realise the financial state when you took on the job here?

As soon as I walked in the door I was told the truth - we are under-performing and, not only that, we have financial problems we need to address as quickly as possible.

I had done the same at Hearts for the last three years, cutting costs yet still trying to find new players.

If you look at things positively, even though we are making cuts, our wage-bill is still going to be around the top five in the division, so that puts me in with a chance of being in the top five of the table. The figure we are coming down to still allows us to be competitive in this league, which is all we are looking for, to have a reasonable chance of being high up.

It was not a case of being given all the parachute payment from the Premiership and going out to spend it.

It was a case of here is some this year, you will get a bit more next year and see how we go.

When the club went up last time, it still had the nucleus of a team but that has all fallen away now.

What we need to do is build it up again with a new nucleus. That is what Martin O'Neill had, a nucleus which he added to. That is what I am trying to do with Hughes, Maybury, Kisnorbo and de Vries, to get a core to go from.

Are you disappointed at getting rid of good players?

That was the hardest thing. I had to do the same at Hearts. It is not the players' fault that they are earning high wages.

To be fair, all the players I had to let go, in different circumstances, would have stayed, purely on football. I would be going with a 24-25 man squad, plenty of competition for places, cover for suspensions and injuries, but the finances would not allow that.

Conceding late goals has to be a thing of the past, doesn't it?

We had a problem but we have lost very few since I came here - some, but in the normal course of events. When we lost a late goal against Wolves it hadn't happened for a while and has not happened since.

The personnel has changed so the new people don't know anything about the history of late goals. They are not going to get nervous about something that means nothing to them.

It is a problem for the fans or some of the staff here, the people who have been here for a while. But for most of the players, myself, the staff, we don't see it.

The long-term view is lasting success. How is that going to be managed?

We are looking hard at the youth system. Richard Stearman and Alan Sheehan didn't look out of place, so there are little signs. What I would like to see are three players coming through every year to be in the senior squad.

The home-grown aspect has two advantages. First, the fans want to see it. They love Stearman because he is a home-grown product, he ties the two together and that is a big step forward in the relationship. The other thing is that they are cheap and save you buying players.

The Walkers Stadium has been far from a fortress, will that change next season?

The stadium is good, the training ground is, er, all right. We could do with more pitches, that is something for further down the line.

We need to make the Walkers Stadium a difficult place for teams to come. It is too nice just now.

If we are winning, it can be more intimidating to the opposition. We want teams to look down the fixture list and worry about Leicester away.

Are the games harder or easier than you expected, compared with Scotland?

I didn't think it was going to be easier. The early years at Hearts were difficult and this is no different. Down here, I have not got the handle on who is the best. A lot of results hinge on heads or tails, not just our own games but matches we have watched elsewhere in this division.

It is going to be difficult to get out. I think there will be eight teams capable and they can't all do it. From my point of view, everything is evenly matched. The games aren't any more competitive from up the road - but the league is.

Is promotion for your new team asking too much then?

It might be, it depends how we get on with signing new players in the summer, it depends on how we start, how quickly we get into our stride and whether we get a bit of luck.

You look at the teams who are coming down from the Premiership and they will be people's favourites to go straight back up again. I don't know how often that occurs but, whatever transpires, we will be looking for a big improvement on this season.

108369[/snapback]

You have performed a very useful service, Shauno. Your syndicated effort shows what we can expect from next season: NOTHING.

It also appears that despite being warned on his arrival that the team was under-performing Levein feels that winning the couple of games 'that mattered' to beat the drop was somehow acceptable.

He seemed very relaxed in his role as LCFC manager for his first six months here. Instead of talking about getting his sleeves rolled up and being up to his neck in muck and bullets in a promo dog fight he treats himself to a leisurely RAC guided tour of Championship teams and stadia.

Psst! Craig there's a certain team and stadium that's in danger of losing its Michelin stars. The staff seem to be on a permanent fag break.

And it's happening on your shift...

[Fez of Mahrez]

Hi, fickle bonehead here, would just like to pick apart your argument with merciless ease.

It's pretty obvious Levein doesn't rate his contribution so far as acceptable. He has said so himself. However, he actually has an idea as to where the club is headed in the long term as opposed to one Mr Michael Adams' policy of signing anyone and everyone who wanted to play for us, playing them all out of position and bluntly refusing to change his tactics or his favoured players for anyone.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Levein's results so far have not been up to scratch but that's the kind of price you pay for gradual overhaul of a creaking playing staff. The only way this club will establish itself in the Premiership again is to stop this policy of changing the entire squad every summer and bring in quality players of a younger age who are ready to commit themselves to the club for many years.

Or we could get rid of Maybury, Hughes and McCarthy if you'd prefer? I hear Martin Keown and Les Ferdinand are looking for a club?

[Chandler]

Hi, fickle bonehead here, would just like to pick apart your argument with merciless ease.

It's pretty obvious Levein doesn't rate his contribution so far as acceptable. He has said so himself. However, he actually has an idea as to where the club is headed in the long term as opposed to one Mr Michael Adams' policy of signing anyone and everyone who wanted to play for us, playing them all out of position and bluntly refusing to change his tactics or his favoured players for anyone.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Levein's results so far have not been up to scratch but that's the kind of price you pay for gradual overhaul of a creaking playing staff. The only way this club will establish itself in the Premiership again is to stop this policy of changing the entire squad every summer and bring in quality players of a younger age who are ready to commit themselves to the club for many years.

Or we could get rid of Maybury, Hughes and McCarthy if you'd prefer? I hear Martin Keown and Les Ferdinand are looking for a club?

108574[/snapback]

Football, Fez, is similar in one or two respects to any other business - when you have staff that are under performing it is usually down to poor management.

Unfortunately, Levein seems to have many of the characteristics associated with poor managers. He is complacent, lacks charisma, continually revises expectations downwards and is forever coming up with very well crafted excuses.

There's a froggy expression that sums him up rather neatly - laissez-faire.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Complacent, lacking in charisma and forever coming up with excuses? Now where have I seen those traits before?

And as for revising expectations downwards, at least he hasn't targetted automatic promotion. Then he'd really have to go some to live up to his own aims.

PS - Did you have a season ticket last season? Or go to any games at the beginning of this one? Did you notice a short man standing by the sidelines looking confused. Unbelievably, he was actually in charge of our football club! Crazy I know, but true.

[Chandler]

Complacent, lacking in charisma and forever coming up with excuses? Now where have I seen those traits before?

And as for revising expectations downwards, at least he hasn't targetted automatic promotion. Then he'd really have to go some to live up to his own aims.

PS - Did you have a season ticket last season? Or go to any games at the beginning of this one? Did you notice a short man standing by the sidelines looking confused. Unbelievably, he was actually in charge of our football club! Crazy I know, but true.

108586[/snapback]

And did you have one the season before? The same short man took us up automatically with a record points tally despite administration and a shit squad.

And if you want to be REALLY scientific about things have a look at the points haul of the bottom four teams in the PREM at the moment. And have a think about which division three of them were playing in last season.

And then ask yourself how many of them are starting campaigns to hound their managers out...

[Vo Rogue]

Hi, fickle bonehead here, would just like to pick apart your argument with merciless ease.

It's pretty obvious Levein doesn't rate his contribution so far as acceptable. He has said so himself. However, he actually has an idea as to where the club is headed in the long term as opposed to one Mr Michael Adams' policy of signing anyone and everyone who wanted to play for us, playing them all out of position and bluntly refusing to change his tactics or his favoured players for anyone.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Levein's results so far have not been up to scratch but that's the kind of price you pay for gradual overhaul of a creaking playing staff. The only way this club will establish itself in the Premiership again is to stop this policy of changing the entire squad every summer and bring in quality players of a younger age who are ready to commit themselves to the club for many years.

Or we could get rid of Maybury, Hughes and McCarthy if you'd prefer? I hear Martin Keown and Les Ferdinand are looking for a club?

108574[/snapback]

Football, Fez, is similar in one or two respects to any other business - when you have staff that are under performing it is usually down to poor management.

Unfortunately, Levein seems to have many of the characteristics associated with poor managers. He is complacent, lacks charisma, continually revises expectations downwards and is forever coming up with very well crafted excuses.

There's a froggy expression that sums him up rather neatly - laissez-faire.

108582[/snapback]

On the ball there Chandler about management skills.CL has brought in some good new players but I saw a lack of motivation in numerous games since October last year.sure they 'peaked' 2 and 3 games from the end but was the motivating factor players looking to be scouted to impress and move on?The team could play well for 90 minutes,its just they didnt for the rest of the time with CL.Ive heard the fanfare about CL as the new MON or a cross between Wenger and Ferguson and that he's the new Messiah to lead us from the wilderness.I'd rather than hear the talk see the work.I'm far from convinced so far.