Eriksson is sharpening the knife for change at Leicester

[davieG]

If I were a Leicester City player, I'd be considering my next few performances very carefully.

After interviewing Sven Goran Eriksson last week, speaking to people in and around the club and watching the Foxes in action against West Brom on Tuesday night, one thing is very clear.

The former England boss hasn't pitched up at the Walkers Stadium to mess about.

As can be seen from his experiences with Lazio and, to a lesser extent at Manchester City, the Swede isn't afraid of spending (someone else's!) money in the transfer market.

There is an argument that he bought the Serie A title while with the Rome club. And he certainly wasn't shy of finding players for Thaksin Shinawatra to spend his money upon at Eastlands.

Irrespective of whether you believe the Swede to be an excellent coach or whether he has been brought in to build the profile or a combination of both, you cannot deny the fact that he is under pressure to deliver.

I understand that the Thai owners of the east Midlands' club made a grand show when Leicester flew over during the last international break.

That the players were certainly impressed that these foreigners were the real deal.

That will reveal itself over time. But the fact is that the likes of Curtis Davies, Darius Vassell and Jason Roberts will not arrive in the east Midlands on the cheap.

At least two of these players command seven-figure salaries and with that kind of outlay at Championship level, you are expected to deliver.

Eriksson's post-match press conference after West Brom's second XI showed just how confident a camp it is at the Hawthorns these days, hinted at what he was thinking.

Conrad Logan's error handed the Baggies the initiative however, at a pivotal moment in the match. From there on in, there was only likely to be one winner.

But there was an undoubted message to the players when he said: 'The football we play doesn't matter if we don't stop conceding goals so easily.

'From what I've seen so far, this has been a problem all season. It's too easy to score goals against us.

'If we don't change that, we can forget about the play-offs or promotion.

'The only way to be promoted is to play football. I don't believe kicking it into the channels and chasing it is the way forward.

'You can't be nice in football always. You have to bite.

'The players are doing a lot of good things. Then you see the scoreboard. It says '4-1.' That's crazy.'

A couple of players were singled out for praise. Miguel Vitor, Franck Moussa and Yuki Abe were given the thumbs-up at the final whistle.

But Eriksson won't be afraid of upsetting the rest of them if they don't start producing. He has money to spend and loan moves are afoot.

Leicester City's players should be prepared to do their very best in the near future. Or else they could find themselves looking for new clubs more quickly than they think.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...?#ixzz13dfcrbBN

[Ric Flair]

I didn't realise we'd signed Jason Roberts. Brilliant news.

[AmyLGK]

I didn't realise we'd signed Jason Roberts. Brilliant news.

ME NEITHER!! When did this happen?!??!?!! I'm on the OS and LM ever day (and here of course) and didn't see any confirmation of this!

[Callabinho]

Sven is becoming the authoritarian we craved, Pearson himself was hard at times but he still had golden boys, Sven seems to tell it how it is almost "I'f you don't don't perform then find another club", I feel Jack Hobbs will suffer, especially if Taylor does arrive at the walkers. Personally i think Svens approach is good! It should keep the players on their toes and they will know if your not performing Sven will always know a better player!

[davieG]

I fear this accelerated approach will not work and rarely does. There's a limit to the number of loanees he can play and pretty much telling the present incumbents they're not good enough and will soon be on their way out will hardly engender team spirit and motivate them. Not forgetting the constant changing of the team personnel and where they play.

It has shades of when Holloway came in and said the team was shit and brought in a load of newbies who just never settled sufficiently to get us away from the bottom 3 never mind accelerating us up the league.

I don't know how the players feel but I find this whole scenario off-putting and I lack any sort of affinity with the team, Sure I want to see us win games and play entertaining and exciting football but I prefer a team to evolve seamlessly this constant mass change by first Sousa and now restarted after just a few weeks with Sven leaves me cold and disinterested.

But I guess this is the Mandaric way.

[MikeyT]

Since when did we sign Roberts?

[surrifox]

I didn't realise we'd signed Jason Roberts. Brilliant news.

"will not arrive in the East Midlands on the cheap" well the same might be said of Messi or Eto'o or indeed The Rolling Stones for that matter

[Zingari]

Since when did we sign Roberts?

in the quote it says

likes of Curtis Davies, Darius Vassell and Jason Roberts will not arrive in the east Midlands on the cheap.

that doesn't actually say we've signed him , ( or even the other 2 ) but that we may at a future date

that's how i read it anyway

edit; beaten to it by surrifox

[Ric Flair]

I fear this accelerated approach will not work and rarely does. There's a limit to the number of loanees he can play and pretty much telling the present incumbents they're not good enough and will soon be on their way out will hardly engender team spirit and motivate them. Not forgetting the constant changing of the team personnel and where they play.

It has shades of when Holloway came in and said the team was shit and brought in a load of newbies who just never settled sufficiently to get us away from the bottom 3 never mind accelerating us up the league.

I don't know how the players feel but I find this whole scenario off-putting and I lack any sort of affinity with the team, Sure I want to see us win games and play entertaining and exciting football but I prefer a team to evolve seamlessly this constant mass change by first Sousa and now restarted after just a few weeks with Sven leaves me cold and disinterested.

But I guess this is the Mandaric way.

We don't actually know that Sven is going to wield the axe like this article suggests. But it's fair to say there'll be a lot of strengthening and you're right it often doesn't work straight the way. I hope he can get it right as he is a quality manager and it would make life so much easier if he was the chap to make us finally succeed.

[AmyLGK]

in the quote it says

likes of Curtis Davies, Darius Vassell and Jason Roberts will not arrive in the east Midlands on the cheap.

that doesn't actually say we've signed him , ( or even the other 2 ) but that we may at a future date

that's how i read it anyway

edit; beaten to it by surrifox

OOOOOOOOHHHHHH so it's like "if they DID arrive, that's how much they'd cost"!

[Zingari]

OOOOOOOOHHHHHH so it's like "if they DID arrive, that's how much they'd cost"!

yes , most journalists are not above stating the bleeding obvious

[Finnegan]

You're blonde, aren't you?

[James.]

I fear this accelerated approach will not work and rarely does. There's a limit to the number of loanees he can play and pretty much telling the present incumbents they're not good enough and will soon be on their way out will hardly engender team spirit and motivate them. Not forgetting the constant changing of the team personnel and where they play.

SGE hasn't actually said anything about the players not being good enough.

[davieG]

SGE hasn't actually said anything about the players not being good enough.

No but by bringing in a shed load of players over a short period, and he has said more will come in then in effect that's exactly what he's saying and it's not as if he hasn't done it before.

Either way if you're a member of this team from before Sven arrived then it's seems to me you're going to feel less than wanted.

So the effect is the same.

The point is wholesale changes like this invariably do not work in the short term and swathes of loanees means we'll have to go though wholesale changes again at the end of this season.

[Dr The Singh]

I thought his thread might be about the nasty poon that come and watch Leicester, what a shame!!!

[AmyLGK]

yes , most journalists are not above stating the bleeding obvious

Yeh - they could say that about ANYONE! puft!

You're blonde, aren't you?

Ginger - but I have my blonde moments!

[cc_star]

I don't understand why Hobbs is so in the firing line on this site

Fair enough I'll give you he hasn't hit last season's highs, but he's rarely played with the same partner and anyone who knows even the slightest thing about football will tell you you need a settled back line.

He is a very young lad, has a fantastic talent and its not his fault Sousa didn't have a clue about defending or what the players should be doing when the opposition had the ball, and then Sven hasn't been here long enough to develop a settled back 4... and then there is the added issue of Davies being injured for Saturday meaning Hobbs has to change yet again.

I seriously can't believe people are hounding him out of our team for another failed Premier League player who's not good enough to get in his own team.

Hobbs is a great talent, as he's young he will get better and anyway its not his fault it's him + Morrison, him + Vitor, him + Davies and he never plays with the same partner, which is probably needed for him to reach last season's form and then once he does that the sky is the limit - which is a lot more than you can say for a failed Premier League journeyman

[Criggers]

If bringing in loanees with the threat of new signings in Jan doesnt up the players ante then nothing will. A footballer should be fighting for their position in the starting XI and if they aren't in it they should be asking why. If there is a threat of new signings they should be working their bollocks off to keep the manager impressed.

If the threat of them losing a starting place isn't enough to buck their ideas up then we're doomed anyway. Because you either stick with the original, lazy, uninterested team. Or, sign the new players and hope they settle quick.

We're never reaching the play offs this year. I'm all for positive talk but we're going to look a little ridiculous when we're in the bottom 6 at Xmas and still saying we can make the play offs!

Survival this year, go for it next year. I'd like to think of that as a suggestion but we don't really have a choice

[dave the caveman]

No but by bringing in a shed load of players over a short period, and he has said more will come in then in effect that's exactly what he's saying and it's not as if he hasn't done it before.

Either way if you're a member of this team from before Sven arrived then it's seems to me you're going to feel less than wanted.

So the effect is the same.

The point is wholesale changes like this invariably do not work in the short term and swathes of loanees means we'll have to go though wholesale changes again at the end of this season.

Pretty sure SGE is more than capable of dealing with any negativity from any player who may feel 'unwanted'. But I can't see it happening. These lads are professional footballers not life long blue blooded Leicester fans. They don't care whether they're here or somewhere else, as long as they're getting paid.

In my opinion the difference between this current overhaul and the previous ones you've mentioned is the quality of the players. I'm sure you remember Mickey Adams hastily putting together a team of veterans that got us promoted? So it can work, it all depends on the quality. Back then (and if my memory serves me correctly) we had the likes of Paul DIckove and Joey Gudjonsson. Compare them to Sergo Hellings and Hosien Kaebi. Quality players vs useless crap. And from what we've seen so far, it looks as though Sven is bringing in quality.

[davieG]

Pretty sure SGE is more than capable of dealing with any negativity from any player who may feel 'unwanted'. But I can't see it happening. These lads are professional footballers not life long blue blooded Leicester fans. They don't care whether they're here or somewhere else, as long as they're getting paid.

In my opinion the difference between this current overhaul and the previous ones you've mentioned is the quality of the players. I'm sure you remember Mickey Adams hastily putting together a team of veterans that got us promoted? So it can work, it all depends on the quality. Back then (and if my memory serves me correctly) we had the likes of Paul DIckove and Joey Gudjonsson. Compare them to Sergo Hellings and Hosien Kaebi. Quality players vs useless crap. And from what we've seen so far, it looks as though Sven is bringing in quality.

But they're are still mainly loanees so the whole thing will need to be repeated and it's not the motivation or the quality of those coming it's the disruption and uncertainty it has on the existing squad. Nobody is a lifelong member of any organisation they work with but they still need to feel wanted and appreciated in order to perform to the best of their ability.

No one can convince me that this merry go round of players is better than gradually evolving and improving the team in a seamless manner. That's not even taking into account that it leaves me with no connection to this team. I don't feel any rapport with players still contracted to Benfica, Spurs, Aston Villa, Wolves, Man City and any other club he'll have to get players from.

[StanSP]

Success won't happen overnight as a result of all these changes. The more players we bring in, the longer it will take for them to adapt to the club and vice versa.

To me, it's likely to have a negative effect before we see the rewards of Sven's 'master-strokes' in the transfer market.

[Geordie]

Success won't happen overnight as a result of all these changes. The more players we bring in, the longer it will take for them to adapt to the club and vice versa.

To me, it's likely to have a negative effect before we see the rewards of Sven's 'master-strokes' in the transfer market.

I can see your logic, bring in better players than the ones that have taken us in to a relegation battle, we're bound to worsen or stagnate.

[StanSP]

I can see your logic, bring in better players than the ones that have taken us in to a relegation battle, we're bound to worsen or stagnate.

Bringing in so many players at once doesn't guarantee that they'll start winning every game does it?

I know Davies and Naughton had good games against Hull, but they didn't propel us to a win did they?

I'm also not saying that we'll stay in the relegation zone. I'm just saying it will take time for players to gel with each other and understand how player plays etc. I'm saying it's not gonna be instant success.

[MPH]

Bringing in so many players at once doesn't guarantee that they'll start winning every game does it?

I know Davies and Naughton had good games against Hull, but they didn't propel us to a win did they?

I'm also not saying that we'll stay in the relegation zone. I'm just saying it will take time for players to gel with each other and understand how player plays etc. I'm saying it's not gonna be instant success.

Let's be fair to them... they are defenders. They should not be winning us matches...

[Trav Le Bleu]

Sure let's throw money at the problem, cos spending too much money has got nothing to do with the situation City find themselves in today.

I understand the Sven approach, but for the life of me I'd prefer a coach who could get the best out of what we have, which was, let's face it, only just short of being good enough last season. I'm hoping Sven can do that, as well as bring in better quality players, but I'm not sure that I see him in that mould.