Sousa, Form & in 4 games

[Kilworthfox]

I have had a quick glance in the Cov Vs Leicester thread and there seems to be a mix of opinion in regards to Sousa & the way we are playing. I believe that there is alot of uncertainty regarding the expectations for this season & supporters do not know what to realisticly expect from LCFC on the field this season in terms of performance & results, however last season looks to have raised expectations and after 4 games it appears that results over the 46 games may not be as favourable as would be ideal to some?

I think there are only 2 important things to take into consideration at this point in the season!

Firstly the on field performances.... I have witnessed Middlesborough & Reading, & I am not too disapointed to be honest (accoring to my mate we were sh it at Burnley)I admit that ideally results would have been better, but were were easily better than Boro, & again Reading was a frustrating loss, but the performances were not a million miles from what we had under NP last season. My years of experience of writing opinions like that on Foxestalk, will incur a wrath of a few outspoken opinions, but realisticly under every manager we have ever had LCFC must have played crap & won games we should not rightly done so & vice versa which in my opinion was the case against Boro. Reading last season was the same scoreline at home as this season, the game was close again, but we made a few errors & were punished. If the side learn from these errors then maybe...just maybe it was a worthy defeat if it makes us stronger in the long run? Results do happen like that.

Secondly, we are only 4 games in, results are not the be all at this point in the season, look at Sunderland before Keane went in or even Palace under Dowie! There need to be no mass panic, I feel that there are a few things that need 2 be Iorned out, but lets not completely loose all sence of logic & suggest that Sousa is a complete Idiot & never deserved more than 4/5 games to show us what he is all about.

On Sousa, lets not think that this guy is some kind of foreign mug just stepped off a banana boat & landed himself a job which he is very unqualified for, & has got because he is more photogenic & charismatic than the dour NP. That aint the case at all! Sousa was a combative midfield general in the mould of Neil Lennon only far better and much more successful having earned the right to play for better bigger teams than Leicester. This does not make a manager (See Bryan Robson) but it makes players respect the man & his ability as a professional, "lets put our medals on the table & see who know what kinda arguement"?

The biggest concearn I hear from this site is the supposed unhappyness within the squad!!! It was a long time ago since we had players actively requesting a transfer, now one was DJ which actually helped LCFC as we did not need to give him his 5% of the transfer fee. That is not a major issue as we don't need him as last season proved, but accroding to sources there were others, potentially players who were part of the spine of the team in Fryatt, Wellens & Hobbs??? These players are no way indespensable, but they are great assets in this division & they will only get better with time also.

I don't doubt Sousa with what he is trying to do on the field at all, the football once it comes off will be more eye pleasing, the work rate is great to see! Off the feild, "IF" players are unhappy, it can be terrible for the team, & results could suffer, that then would be the time to get jumpy about the situation, but not after 4 games!

[Foxblogger]

Good post. All managers need time. It took O'Neil 10 matches to get his first win. City won just 5 points from his first 7 league games.

It's far to early to make judgements.

[Webbo]

I try to be positive, I really do, but there are so many things about this manager that worry me. The lack of fitness at this stage of the season, the mediocre signings (admittedly these might not all be his choices), the unhappiness in the camp, the strange team selections and most importantly of all the piss poor results.

The highlight of the league season has been a 0-0 against Boro, a team that has just been well beaten by Barnsley and I don't think we played that well against Reading.The team that were penaly kicks away from a play off final last season are now joint bottom.

I agree that Sousa should be given a little longer to try and sort out the team, but I don't feel any confidence that he'll be able to.

[Lisburn Fox]

I think that he should be given a lot more time before we start on the bloke, but I do agree that our overall fitness levels look very poor.

[Thracian]

I think that he should be given a lot more time before we start on the bloke, but I do agree that our overall fitness levels look very poor.

I quite agree because the alternatives could be disastrous. The way I see it the whole character of the club is changing. From respectable Midlands yo-yo club to international brand name carrier with all that implies.

Someone, somewhere wants us to play football and Sousa's been brought in to do that. Unfortunately he didn't have a footballing team to get started with. He had a team of functionaries lead by the likes of Wayne Brown and Jack Hobbs who battled away and ground out results by defending any lead and attacking any deficit.

Boring, laborious unadventurous it might have been on far too many occasions but it was relatively effective - and certainly enough to keep the fans reasonably happy given where we had to lift ourselves up from.

But any of those fans expecting Sousa to completely re-structure our first team, to get the right combination of players and to get the necessary understanding between them in such a short time is a mug. I've not expected any such thing - my criticism has been of his failing to address certain essentials that should have been attended too almost from day one - including fitness, free-kicks, corners and someone to be responsible for ensuring we score goals.

You only had to look at the embarrassment that was Burnley to know there were serious problems to be sorted. Especially the attitude to the warm up and the performance that followed which was entirely predictable given the couldn't give a shit attitude of some players pre-kick-off.

Some of those were lucky to ever be picked again.

I don't know who wants a transfer and don't care. Out em. If Sousa wants to conduct his own choir then the sooner he gets rid of everyone who's singing flat the better. And if they won't go send em off to train on their own or with the kids.

That's not to say they're wrong. If they're unhappy why shouldn't they move? But if that's their viewpoint you don't want any of them bitching in the background either.

Sousa needs to be working with people who want to play his way but that's the surest way to improved team spirit apart from good results.

But we sure need the personnel sorting soon. We should never be pissing about putting our squad together this late on which is just another example of our lack of forward planning and our inability to see problems and solve em before they kick us in the wotsits.

It's daft not to give Sousa time because if he was outed there would only be another unseemly upheaval.

But anything can happen when clubs are run by outside moneymen from far off lands rather than committed football people with some knowledge of and feel for the club.

To them money can buy anything. But football has never worked quite like that. True I no longer believe you can win anything worthwhile without money. But if every team had money, there would still be only one who finished Champions and all the rest would finish second or worse ...which just shows how much money could be wasted without the right decisions.

So Sousa doesn't need sacking. He needs to get his head down and attend to the details, including the fitness levels you mentioned.

[Nick]

I have had a quick glance in the Cov Vs Leicester thread and there seems to be a mix of opinion in regards to Sousa & the way we are playing. I believe that there is alot of uncertainty regarding the expectations for this season & supporters do not know what to realisticly expect from LCFC on the field this season in terms of performance & results, however last season looks to have raised expectations and after 4 games it appears that results over the 46 games may not be as favourable as would be ideal to some?

I think there are only 2 important things to take into consideration at this point in the season!

Firstly the on field performances.... I have witnessed Middlesborough & Reading, & I am not too disapointed to be honest (accoring to my mate we were sh it at Burnley)I admit that ideally results would have been better, but were were easily better than Boro, & again Reading was a frustrating loss, but the performances were not a million miles from what we had under NP last season. My years of experience of writing opinions like that on Foxestalk, will incur a wrath of a few outspoken opinions, but realisticly under every manager we have ever had LCFC must have played crap & won games we should not rightly done so & vice versa which in my opinion was the case against Boro. Reading last season was the same scoreline at home as this season, the game was close again, but we made a few errors & were punished. If the side learn from these errors then maybe...just maybe it was a worthy defeat if it makes us stronger in the long run? Results do happen like that.

Secondly, we are only 4 games in, results are not the be all at this point in the season, look at Sunderland before Keane went in or even Palace under Dowie! There need to be no mass panic, I feel that there are a few things that need 2 be Iorned out, but lets not completely loose all sence of logic & suggest that Sousa is a complete Idiot & never deserved more than 4/5 games to show us what he is all about.

On Sousa, lets not think that this guy is some kind of foreign mug just stepped off a banana boat & landed himself a job which he is very unqualified for, & has got because he is more photogenic & charismatic than the dour NP. That aint the case at all! Sousa was a combative midfield general in the mould of Neil Lennon only far better and much more successful having earned the right to play for better bigger teams than Leicester. This does not make a manager (See Bryan Robson) but it makes players respect the man & his ability as a professional, "lets put our medals on the table & see who know what kinda arguement"?

The biggest concearn I hear from this site is the supposed unhappyness within the squad!!! It was a long time ago since we had players actively requesting a transfer, now one was DJ which actually helped LCFC as we did not need to give him his 5% of the transfer fee. That is not a major issue as we don't need him as last season proved, but accroding to sources there were others, potentially players who were part of the spine of the team in Fryatt, Wellens & Hobbs??? These players are no way indespensable, but they are great assets in this division & they will only get better with time also.

I don't doubt Sousa with what he is trying to do on the field at all, the football once it comes off will be more eye pleasing, the work rate is great to see! Off the feild, "IF" players are unhappy, it can be terrible for the team, & results could suffer, that then would be the time to get jumpy about the situation, but not after 4 games!

+1

[themotivator]

Good post, good attitude. if only all fans thought like this.

LETS GET BEHIND PAULO SOUSA YOU BIG BLOODY ****S!

[Corky]

I try to be positive, I really do, but there are so many things about this manager that worry me. The lack of fitness at this stage of the season, the mediocre signings (admittedly these might not all be his choices), the unhappiness in the camp, the strange team selections and most importantly of all the piss poor results.

The highlight of the league season has been a 0-0 against Boro, a team that has just been well beaten by Barnsley and I don't think we played that well against Reading.The team that were penaly kicks away from a play off final last season are now joint bottom.

I agree that Sousa should be given a little longer to try and sort out the team, but I don't feel any confidence that he'll be able to.

Pretty much my view.

I really hope Sousa can turn it around and we start to climb the table.

This next week is vital.

[Wymsey]

Pretty much my view.

I really hope Sousa can turn it around and we start to climb the table.

This next week is vital.

If we gain 5 points minimum in these three next games then the team should feel confident to push on and confident the team can perform well under Sousa's 'style.' However I do doubt it especially the QPR and Cardiff match the way we are playing defensively. Let's hope defence is sorted out for the cov scum and beyond as it has been utter shambles.

[Guest ttfn]

I try to be positive, I really do, but there are so many things about this manager that worry me. The lack of fitness at this stage of the season, the mediocre signings (admittedly these might not all be his choices), the unhappiness in the camp, the strange team selections and most importantly of all the piss poor results.

The highlight of the league season has been a 0-0 against Boro, a team that has just been well beaten by Barnsley and I don't think we played that well against Reading.The team that were penaly kicks away from a play off final last season are now joint bottom.

I agree that Sousa should be given a little longer to try and sort out the team, but I don't feel any confidence that he'll be able to.

Thank goodness for some sense. We've been total shit this season, yet 5 games ago we were a stone's throw from the Play Off Final.

[samjohnson]

Form is nothing to play on.

For all we know, QPR could be relegated by the end of the season, and Accrington Stanley could be FA Cup winners.

Its just not the Football League if things are as predictable as the Premier League.

There's always a team that does the dramatic "rocket" up the league at one point in the season and steals the show. We've done it once. Blackpool did it last season. What's to say we can't do it again??

Sousa is just as good as the next bloke. Its just the results and rub-of-the-green hasn't particularily gone our way. But it soon will do.

Hey, whats to say we might actually get a decent referee this season that actually likes us...

[Madrid_Fox]

Palace - Poor 25 minutes cost us

Boro - On top for 80 mins

Burnley - Never turned up

Reading - Didnt take chances

I think thats the best I can do with that. It has been hit and (mostly) miss. I am hoping these new signings will compliment the way Sousa wants to play. I am very excited about the way he wants to play, I am a footballing purist after all. However, the sign of a good manager is a manager that can adapt his style to the players he has, e.g. Micky Adams in 02-03.

[leftsideoverhere]

Thank goodness for some sense. We've been total shit this season, yet 5 games ago we were a stone's throw from the Play Off Final.

We're hardly the first team to find it hard to keep up an 'over-performing' run to the play-offs, are we? It wouldn't surprise me if we struggle to reach the top six this season, and that would have been true even with Pearson. He'd not exactly set the world alight in the summer transfer market to replace last year's loanees, had he?

Last season we got dumped out the Carling Cup in the second round so we're clearly a better side now, right?

[Asha]

I think we'll do alright at Cov, providing we keep Lukas Jutkiewicz quiet.

But I really fear for us against Cardiff and QPR at the moment - would love to say we might get some good points out of them, but in all honesty I can currently only see us getting turned over twice.

[Ric Flair]

I think we'll do alright at Cov, providing we keep Lukas Jutkiewicz quiet.

But I really fear for us against Cardiff and QPR at the moment - would love to say we might get some good points out of them, but in all honesty I can currently only see us getting turned over twice.

I'm sure I read somewhere that he got injured recently? It's that fookin Marlon King we need to worry about, loves a goal against us.

[Corky]

If we gain 5 points minimum in these three next games then the team should feel confident to push on and confident the team can perform well under Sousa's 'style.' However I do doubt it especially the QPR and Cardiff match the way we are playing defensively. Let's hope defence is sorted out for the cov scum and beyond as it has been utter shambles.

I'm hoping that the quality of opposition will make the team stand up and be counted and get some points on the board.

[Bettsj2]

Agree with most of this thread apart from the fitness issue.

This has been mentioned so much but I dont see any evidence of it.

Against Palace, Leeds, Reading and Middlesborough, we were applying pressure right until the end of the games with no let up. Fryatt, Dyer and Gallagher all have had injuries at various times during their time at Leicester as have other players.

All of a sudden though, the reason is because of Sousa's training methods?

Not sure why Radio Leicester began to mention this train of thought so heavily implementing it into the minds of many supporters but I really dont think it has any substance.

[h1210]

Agree with most of this thread apart from the fitness issue.

This has been mentioned so much but I dont see any evidence of it.

Against Palace, Leeds, Reading and Middlesborough, we were applying pressure right until the end of the games with no let up. Fryatt, Dyer and Gallagher all have had injuries at various times during their time at Leicester as have other players.

All of a sudden though, the reason is because of Sousa's training methods?

Not sure why Radio Leicester began to mention this train of thought so heavily implementing it into the minds of many supporters but I really dont think it has any substance.

I'm convinced they've got it in for Sousa, particularly Charles Dagnall. I know they're bound to be critical when results aren't right but I think they're picking up on minor things much more than they ordinarily would.

[Manwell Pablo]

Which ever way you look at it Saturday is vital for him.

Our fan base don't like losing to Coventry at the best of times never mind in the current circumstance and the two games that follow look very daunting.

[Trickyfox]

I don't think any of us are in a position to fully gauge sousa record so far, we have only played an handful of games and the players are still getting to know the new manager and the new players.

The season doesn't start proper until after ten games or so, and if in ten games we are still at the bottom of the league then it is time to worry. As stated above certain players may not be happy at the club as many of them were very loyal to NP. The attitude of the club in changing into a more continental approach and I think that is a good model to take on.

If we are still in the bottom half of the table in ten games things will be rough because it will indicate to me that sousa has lost the dressing room and that could see a re-run of our relegation season.

I personally feel that sousa is a winner and will not give up on city, he wants top flight football and he will get us there

.

[Bettsj2]

I'm convinced they've got it in for Sousa, particularly Charles Dagnall. I know they're bound to be critical when results aren't right but I think they're picking up on minor things much more than they ordinarily would.

Definitely agree. I've sent several text messages to them after games and during the forum asking them why they are trying to witchhunt Sousa but they never get read out, yet ones I send in saying that Sousa should go (sent as an experiment) got read out??

[Foxhateram]

Not posted on here for a while but have been browsing the threads quite a bit.

It is strange seeing this place being so split, normally you can come on here and nearly everyone will be pessimistic or optimistic, but not often do you get such split views.

I liked us under Pearson i will be the first to admit that, i have met the bloke on a few occasions and he is down to earth and always has control and respect of everyone around him. I was and am still gutted to have lost him. Everyone is talking about how the way his team played was hoof ball and dull, but when i think of last season i think of spells of nice passing football, flair players running at defenses like Gallagher and Dyer and bloody good last ditch defending. The best thing though was the unity and the stability.

This season just feels so uncertain and i am not going to say that it would not be like this under Pearson because i think truly we wouldn't be that much better off. It is always hard to replicate a good season especially when you were batting above your weight in that good season, but i miss the unity of the team from last year, that sense of desire and fight.

Something seems to be missing at the moment, and it smells a little bit of Clough at Leeds where the manager comes in and says yer you did well last season but it wasn't pretty football and therefore is obsolete. I just feel that Sousa has tried to change things to dramatically and too quickly. If he had come in and done things slowly and changed the system and added new players slowly into an established and consistent first 11 then i believe we would be playing better football and have more points on the table at this point.

Its all too quick and if i was a player at the club right now i would be wondering what the hell was happening, this club that i played my heart out for last season is suddenly changing, and the air at the moment just seems a bit uncertain.

Sousa needs to find his starting 11 and get some stability and consistency in who he plays and what he expects and quick.

[davieG]

Not posted on here for a while but have been browsing the threads quite a bit.

It is strange seeing this place being so split, normally you can come on here and nearly everyone will be pessimistic or optimistic, but not often do you get such split views.

I liked us under Pearson i will be the first to admit that, i have met the bloke on a few occasions and he is down to earth and always has control and respect of everyone around him. I was and am still gutted to have lost him. Everyone is talking about how the way his team played was hoof ball and dull, but when i think of last season i think of spells of nice passing football, flair players running at defenses like Gallagher and Dyer and bloody good last ditch defending. The best thing though was the unity and the stability.

This season just feels so uncertain and i am not going to say that it would not be like this under Pearson because i think truly we wouldn't be that much better off. It is always hard to replicate a good season especially when you were batting above your weight in that good season, but i miss the unity of the team from last year, that sense of desire and fight.

Something seems to be missing at the moment, and it smells a little bit of Clough at Leeds where the manager comes in and says yer you did well last season but it wasn't pretty football and therefore is obsolete. I just feel that Sousa has tried to change things to dramatically and too quickly. If he had come in and done things slowly and changed the system and added new players slowly into an established and consistent first 11 then i believe we would be playing better football and have more points on the table at this point.

Its all too quick and if i was a player at the club right now i would be wondering what the hell was happening, this club that i played my heart out for last season is suddenly changing, and the air at the moment just seems a bit uncertain.

Sousa needs to find his starting 11 and get some stability and consistency in who he plays and what he expects and quick.

Since the introduction of the transfer window it's become almost impossible to slowly change a team, with the greater use of loan players it's become inevitable that every close season we will see extensive changes to the team.

As for being too quick some would argue that with the change of manager the inevitable rebuilding of the team, as a result of replacing loanees it has taken far too long and is still in progress.

I'm sure Sousa would love to have a stable starting 11 but taking into account the circumstances that's not been possible and it's not really his fault and I'm sure the players are well aware by now of what he expects it's whether they are capable of delivering it.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Just supposing Sousa was sacked tomorrow. Then where would we be? Back yet again searching for a new manager, who is better. Where is he the?. If one were to come in, it would take time for him to impose his style on the players, and none could be bought before January.

We have had enough disruption at this club, over the past few seasons, and I for one don't want any more. Sousa must be given much more time to gel the side, and we as fans should be getting behind him, and the players, and not getting the knives out after just a handful of games.

[kimsalabim]

I try to be positive, I really do, but there are so many things about this manager that worry me. The lack of fitness at this stage of the season, the mediocre signings (admittedly these might not all be his choices), the unhappiness in the camp, the strange team selections and most importantly of all the piss poor results.

The highlight of the league season has been a 0-0 against Boro, a team that has just been well beaten by Barnsley and I don't think we played that well against Reading.The team that were penaly kicks away from a play off final last season are now joint bottom.

I agree that Sousa should be given a little longer to try and sort out the team, but I don't feel any confidence that he'll be able to.

I have highlighed the most sane opinion i have seen in this thread. The man should, like anybody else be given time, But the way things are going, i don't think we will go in the right direction under PS. For the sake of not having a "nothing" season (or worse) I hope he proves me wrong, but the fitness levels as you mentioned, and some of the selections are really not putting much forward for his case at the minute.