Sven Vs Sousa

[baddabing]

Saw a comment in another thread, but thought I'd dig the facts up

Using statto.com here is a little table featuring Sousa's first 7 games of the season, as you can see we have 5 points & 0.71 points per game Vs Sven's last 7 games also with 5 points & 0.71 points per game.

At the beginning of the season, after the 1 win in 7 people were getting very restless & after the next defeat Sousa's head was being called for.

I assume Sven will be afforded more time from us fans, but what if the run continues?

[Stevosevic]

Is this a joke? Pearson had a couple of similiar runs last season as well.

[MattyFromLE]

I think Sousa even if given more time, things wouldn't have improved. No fitness coaching, his methods you could tell weren't greatly recieved by the players. Sven is quality, difference is, those results with Sousa was full potential, under Sven, other than the amazing run we had, i still don't think we've hit the potential he brings to us!

[Babylon]

I assume Sven will be afforded more time from us fans, but what if the run continues?

If we end up near the bottom, or bottom like we were under Sousa then he will get the tin tack, simple as that.

Although results were obviously a major factor in Sousas departure, the whole atmosphere around the club stank. He couldn't communicate with the press/fans, so it would stand to reason he struggled to communicate with the players as well. We know they were handing in transfer requests left right and centre so there was obviously no harmony in the camp.

Whilst current results obviously need to improve, the whole feeling around the club seems totally different. Not forgetting, until the last 7 our form had been excellent so obviously he will have good will in the bank that Sousa did not have.

He'll make decisions we don't agree with, but as long as the majority are the right ones then he will have backing. Sousa unfortunately had people asking WTF from pretty much day one.

Sousa wasn't afforded much time here and normally I would always say a manager needs 6 months +, but the atmosphere after his 9 games was like nothing i've seen for quite some time, it seemed like we would only be going one way and I think the atmosphere made his position untenable.

Oh and of course it's all very well your point, but Sousa was actually here for 9 games, so compare his first 9 to Svens last 9 and i'm sure the stats will look quite different.

[Joe.]

Plus the fact most of Sven's defeats have come against topsix opposition.

[Babylon]

Plus the fact most of Sven's defeats have come against topsix opposition.

I think Svens "bad" results have come against many of the same teams actually.

Sousa: QPR L, Cov D, Boro D, Norwich L, Portsmouth L

Sven: QPR L, Cov D, Boro D, Norwich L, Portsmouth L

Off the top of my head.

[baddabing]

Plus the fact most of Sven's defeats have come against topsix opposition.

Not strictly true as Sousa's defeats were against the likes of QPR, Reading & Burnley, so it's reasonably similar in that respect.

[ScouseFox]

And we beat Cardiff under Sousa and lost under Sven...

But yeah, if we'd had this sequence as soon as Sven had come in, he wouldn't be around much longer as we'd still be bottom and as Babs said everything just seemed wrong under Sousa.

Sven has shown he can make it work and we're just in a bad patch of form, Sousa never looked like turning it around, hence he was sacked.

[Joe.]

I think Svens "bad" results have come against many of the same teams actually.

Sousa: QPR L, Cov D, Boro D, Norwich L, Portsmouth L

Sven: QPR L, Cov D, Boro D, Norwich L, Portsmouth L

Off the top of my head.

Shit, so they have. That's quite interesting actually. I guess Portsmouth were having a 'mare when we played them at Fratton though at the time, and Cov were looking their usual useful selves at the beginning of the season.

[baddabing]

If we end up near the bottom, or bottom like we were under Sousa then he will get the tin tack, simple as that.

Although results were obviously a major factor in Sousas departure, the whole atmosphere around the club stank. He couldn't communicate with the press/fans, so it would stand to reason he struggled to communicate with the players as well. We know they were handing in transfer requests left right and centre so there was obviously no harmony in the camp.

Whilst current results obviously need to improve, the whole feeling around the club seems totally different. Not forgetting, until the last 7 our form had been excellent so obviously he will have good will in the bank that Sousa did not have.

He'll make decisions we don't agree with, but as long as the majority are the right ones then he will have backing. Sousa unfortunately had people asking WTF from pretty much day one.

Sousa wasn't afforded much time here and normally I would always say a manager needs 6 months +, but the atmosphere after his 9 games was like nothing i've seen for quite some time, it seemed like we would only be going one way and I think the atmosphere made his position untenable.

Oh and of course it's all very well your point, but Sousa was actually here for 9 games, so compare his first 9 to Svens last 9 and i'm sure the stats will look quite different.

Good points.

The feeling, at the club, is still that we're on the up even if we do lose (I just hope we aren't being taken in) whereas under Sousa because it was such a contrast to the relatively successful NP the feeling was very negative. Perhaps Sven is benefiting from being compared to Sousa whilst Sousa was compared to NP (sub-consciously)

and yes of course I'm aware that Sousa was here for 9 games, which is why I said - what if the run continues, If we lose against Burnley & Palace, it will be pretty much an exact mirror image of the start of the season (apart from Sousa's two wins in the League Cup, Macclesfield & Leeds)

The thing is with Sven there's always 'promise' and of course our football is much better even if defensively Sven seems to be making just as many mistakes

[dave the caveman]

Clearly prejudice and discrimination against south Europeans is rife at Leicester City. This calls for a Guardian feature.

[Corky]

I agree.

And we never play that Martynez Waghorn either.

[lcfc_jme]

I don't know.

For me, had Sousa stayed, we'd be destined for League One as he showed absolutely no sign of turning anything around and - along with Forest away under NP - gave me one of my worst Leicester supporting moments in the tanking at Portsmouth. I also doubt we'd have had much of a squad after January as well what with all the reported unrest and transfer requests. We'd have been right up shit creek.

With Sven, you just can't help but get the feeling that most of the players are happy working under him and that we'll be just fine with him at the helm. Lets not forget that in Sven's last seven, we've played 2 of the sides who will be promoted this season and one side who will definitely be in the playoffs this season - the current top 3 - and 2 of those games were away from home. That kind of run can easily result in dodgy looking stats for any side.

Yes, Sven is being afforded a bit more patience despite this downturn in form because of his reputation and how good we've looked under him for the most part. But I think the key factor that isn't (and shouldn't be) lost on most is that we were bottom of the table and looked a team of no-hopers when he arrived and we've had a drastic change of fortunes since he rocked up, and are still in with a(n admittedly extremely slim) chance of making the playoffs this season. I'd go as far as saying that I'd be confident if he was given an entire pre-season programme (which I fully expect him to be given) with us, we'd be certain to make at least the playoffs.

One thing's for certain, we'll be in a much better position when Svennis departs than we were when his predecessor left.

[cc_star]

Interesting, but just as interesting is that its almost exactly the same teams over the 7 games & then extending the current run to 9 games it extends the run against almost the same teams further having the potential to bring it full circle

Despite defeats Sven's seems to be on an upward curve (despite me being frustrated by his negativities like the defence more than most, I do still believe overall the curve is upward), whereas Sousa seemed to be on a terminal downward curve

I'd agree that Sousa may have faired (fractionally) better had he not followed NP, for example if he'd followed pretty much any other manager probably since Adams the contrast wouldn't have been so great, but by following NP's highly organised & reasonably effective unit with what basically looked like a load of unfit sh1t on the verge of mutiny, he never stood a chance.

The thing I really, really believe is that Sven will be the most amazing Prem manager we could (probably/almost) ever have, I'm pretty sure we'd be top10 regulars, maybe even UEFA cup entrants on a reasonably regular basis and I can't see us ever having a manager being able to do that. I just hope Sven can get us there next (this?) season, although next year the potentially relegated sides (they all look strong apart from maybe Wigan) plus the rejuvenated relegated sides from last year (who have had stronger 2nd half of the seasons) could make it even more difficult than this year.

[Foxblogger]

I think Svens "bad" results have come against many of the same teams actually.

Sousa: QPR L, Cov D, Boro D, Norwich L, Portsmouth L

Sven: QPR L, Cov D, Boro D, Norwich L, Portsmouth L

Off the top of my head.

You're quite right. I wrote a piece on this a couple of weeks ago - http://foxblogger.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/why-sven-is-learning-quickly-but-not-quickly-enough/

The contrast between Sven’s results when facing a Championship side for the first time and the rematch is quite stunning.

In the first meeting with other Championship teams Sven’s Leicester have P20 W7 D4 L9.

In the return fixture against the very same teams City under Sven have P9 W7 D2 L0.

The next three fixtures, just like the last 7, are all against teams who played City when Sven wasn't in charge first time around.

[ozleicester]

Sven out!

[cairnsy]

Sven has only lost to teams he hasn't played against before

[FoxyPV]

Sven >>>>>>>>>>> Sousa.

[cc_star]

Sven has only lost to teams he hasn't played against before

We've got 3 teams coming up he hasn't played against before - so hopefully that's not going to continue being the case, because 1 win in 10 is piss poor, if only Sven could break the poor run up with a couple of cup wins against Macclesfield & Leeds

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

sven took us from bottom of the table, on a decent unbeaten streak and into the top half of the table still in with a shout of the play offs and people are comparing him to sousa, unbelievable.

sousa won 1 game in 7 and sven is on that run at the minute but have people forgot about the 8 unbeaten?

look at the quality of players sousa brought in and compare them to svens signings, say no more.

[cc_star]

sven took us from bottom of the table, on a decent unbeaten streak and into the top half of the table still in with a shout of the play offs and people are comparing him to sousa, unbelievable.

sousa won 1 game in 7 and sven is on that run at the minute but have people forgot about the 8 unbeaten?

look at the quality of players sousa brought in and compare them to svens signings, say no more.

Yup... As I said above somewhere, the curve is still upward despite Sven's defeats, whereas with Sousa it was obviously in terminal decline

[Mack]

Let's compare Elle Mcphereson and Jo Brand based on the fact they both blob once a month?!