Post Mortem

[sphericalfox]

Which all makes a nonsense of people assuming we're going to be an automatic promotion threat. We have so much work to do it's daunting.

But it isn't just about money - it's about choices. About getting the best out of people and signing the sort of people who get the best from themselves. It's about having principles and a philosophy and making them work. a la Shankly, Revie, Wenger, George Graham to name four with notably different approaches.

Pearson set his own example and in many ways I admired him for that. It was just not the philosophy I'd have chosen for the reasons he fell short and will likely fall short again this season - an inevitable shortage of goals.

Me, I'm a Shankly fan, as summed up in his own words to me ..."Everything aboot Liverpool is special. Even the way the players break their legs is special. Don't you worry aboot the opposition. They'll fade like rain when the snow comes." Wonderful man, uncompromising attitude and complete belief in what he was doing."

Not short of suggesting you go support Liverpool, as I've read you are a supporter of Daglish, Thracian, but I have never stated that is was all about the money. It's clear that Sven will be approaching the transfers with intelligence. Otherwise we could have bought every Tom, Dick, and Harry, and signed every person we had on trial during the season. He's doing it with a clear idea that there's not an endless pot of money, and certainly the first season (ok not a full one) was going to be spend.

When people are critical about Sven to a ridiculous degree on this forum and others, it doesn't half make me laugh. You are a fan of managers who aim for the long-term, I do hope that you allow him the same respect has those named in order to actually build that long-term future.

[MC Prussian]

Sousa's abysmal start with unhappy & unfit players

Sven's inability to change something/anything to halt a decline which was one game away from being as bad as Sousa's start (prob worse than Sousa's if you take into account his 2 wins in the League Cup)

Sven thinking the best players make the best team & too happy to play square pegs in round holes to accommodate them.

Sven's inflexibility to change a formation that hasn't worked for a long time

Needing 10 to 15 chances (in general) to score a goal

Spotting the keeper needed improving but signing firstly the dreadfully awful Kirkland and then one vastly unsuited to the country/division/our team

Some odd signings that plain and simple haven't made a great team no matter how good individually they may be

his/Coaching staff's acceptance that our team player like headless chickens who've only just met when the opposition has the ball. As a manager you get the performances you accept, why is this side of our game still abysmal after 7 months!!!

As much as Sven improved us (which I firmly believe he did) he needs to improve us that much again, and keep in mind at least 6 loan players will be leaving, he has a very, very big job on his hands

There you go - still moaning and bitching about Ricardo when in fact Weale has been worse (e.g. letting in more goals per average as well as more silly goals overall) by a landslide!!

"Unsuited to the country"???Unsuited to our team??? How cheap an argument is that? What team??

Also, when will some people realize we have not spent £10m on players this season!!!

And why is it some people still manage to bring up Eriksson in the same sentence as Pearson??

"Pearson brought in proper loanees, Pearson was so much better, Pearson is GOD, yada yada yada!"

Yes, I loved our two seasons under Pearson a lot myself BUT...

... that was a different season, under a different manager - a different situation with a lot of different players, different circumstances!!

With the emphasis on WAS. Look at what IS now. And look forward WHAT CAN BE.

What I take out of this thread is a sense of deeper understanding. The one set of fans that don't like Sven actually do like him, but they can't show or they don't want to.

They're just utterly disappointed he didn't get us out of this league without a pre-season and without getting his own permanent players on board first.

Feel sorry for them for they don't know what realistic expectations are...

Looking forward to the summer, the pre-season and then it's all aboard the Optimistic Bus once again.

Roll on next season.

[B52]

There you go - still moaning and bitching about Ricardo when in fact Weale has been worse (e.g. letting in more as well as more silly goals) by a landslide!!

"Unsuited to the country"???Unsuited to our team??? How cheap an argument is that? What team??

He suited our team excellent til the morons in the stands made their point clear.

[Fox92]

The team has so many players that don't get stuck in and tackle, such as Andy King and Paul Gallagher. We also don't seem to work hard - Take Norwich for example, all of their players work hard for each other, but I don't see that happening at Leicester.

Our loan players are going back too. In my opinion, Naughton needs to be signed ahead of them all, and then Vitor, Mee and Cunningham.

We do need a new team near enough. A goalkeeper, two full backs, a commanding centre half, an expierienced defensive midfielder, a proper winger, a big man and a natural goalscorer are all required in my opinion and it'll be interesting to see who we recruit in the summer.

[The Year Of The Fox]

Sven has misjudged this league completely. I think he thought bringing in premiership/international quality players will bring us success. He's made one very good signing albeit temporary- Naughton, and one not bad one- Bamba. Jury is still out on Kamara. All the others, at this time are not good enough in one way or another.

The only thing I now agree on with Sven that I didn't before is that we need a new keeper. Westwood at Cov? Though Sven made the situation worse dropping Weale at the wrong time IMO. Maybe a bit too naive on what affect squad rotation would have?

I think Svens upset the applecart in some repsects. Berner- sorry but he's our best left back however many times Sven tries to replace him. Hobbs is as good as any other centre back recruited by Sven- BUT play them together and it doesn't matter how poor you think they are invidually, we are a better defensive unit with them.

I think Hobbs Berner Waghorn along with the other loanees will be gone this summer. Frankly I'd not blame any of them.

The two loanees we need to keep are Vitor and Naughton,

God knows how nexts seasons going to go. Anyone who thinks we will walk the league with the players we currently have is as deluded as I am pessimistic

[Col city fan]

He suited our team excellent til the morons in the stands made their point clear.

No he didnt, he's an accident waiting to happen, which was clear from the start... neither Ricky nor Weale is who we want between the sticks

Sven has misjudged this league completely. I think he thought bringing in premiership/international quality players will bring us success. He's made one very good signing albeit temporary- Naughton, and one not bad one- Bamba. Jury is still out on Kamara. All the others, at this time are not good enough in one way or another.

The only thing I now agree on with Sven that I didn't before is that we need a new keeper. Westwood at Cov? Though Sven made the situation worse dropping Weale at the wrong time IMO. Maybe a bit too naive on what affect squad rotation would have?

I think Svens upset the applecart in some repsects. Berner- sorry but he's our best left back however many times Sven tries to replace him. Hobbs is as good as any other centre back recruited by Sven- BUT play them together and it doesn't matter how poor you think they are invidually, we are a better defensive unit with them.

I think Hobbs Berner Waghorn along with the other loanees will be gone this summer. Frankly I'd not blame any of them.

The two loanees we need to keep are Vitor and Naughton,

God knows how nexts seasons going to go. Anyone who thinks we will walk the league with the players we currently have is as deluded as I am pessimistic

[Col city fan]

The team has so many players that don't get stuck in and tackle, such as Andy King and Paul Gallagher. We also don't seem to work hard - Take Norwich for example, all of their players work hard for each other, but I don't see that happening at Leicester.

Our loan players are going back too. In my opinion, Naughton needs to be signed ahead of them all, and then Vitor, Mee and Cunningham.

We do need a new team near enough. A goalkeeper, two full backs, a commanding centre half, an expierienced defensive midfielder, a proper winger, a big man and a natural goalscorer are all required in my opinion and it'll be interesting to see who we recruit in the summer.

I think this accurately reflects the mess the squad is in - we need big improvements and a full squad to challenge next season

[MC Prussian]

Sven has misjudged this league completely. I think he thought bringing in premiership/international quality players will bring us success. He's made one very good signing albeit temporary - Naughton, and one not bad one- Bamba. Jury is still out on Kamara. All the others, at this time are not good enough in one way or another.

The only thing I now agree on with Sven that I didn't before is that we need a new keeper. Westwood at Cov? Though Sven made the situation worse dropping Weale at the wrong time IMO. Maybe a bit too naive on what affect squad rotation would have?

I think Svens upset the applecart in some repsects. Berner- sorry but he's our best left back however many times Sven tries to replace him. Hobbs is as good as any other centre back recruited by Sven- BUT play them together and it doesn't matter how poor you think they are invidually, we are a better defensive unit with them.

I think Hobbs Berner Waghorn along with the other loanees will be gone this summer. Frankly I'd not blame any of them.

The two loanees we need to keep are Vitor and Naughton,

God knows how nexts seasons going to go. Anyone who thinks we will walk the league with the players we currently have is as deluded as I am pessimistic

If Sven is only half as smart as I take him to be, the last 7 months in charge will have taught him A LOT about this league, this club and this team.

Secondly, how many Premier League players or International players have we really signed? Some posters on here (you included) make it sound as if we've signed a plethora of PL rejects and international have-beens, which in fact couldn't be much further from the truth.

Out of all Eriksson loan signings, Kirkland and Bednar were by far the worst (and rightfully sent back home rightaway), Yakubu is so-so, Kamara rather brilliant (I think he's brought a lot of fresh blood and energy to our stuttering midfield), same goes for Naughton and Mee, Patrick van Aanholt and Bruma can be frustrating or very frustrating to watch at times, but I still see a lot of potential in them. Cunningham's stint was cut short by a horrible injury, but he was great for us up until that point. Davies was alright for the short time being with us.

Why Berner hasn't played more often? Maybe because Eriksson sees something in van Aanholt and/or Mee on the left side?

I'm a fan of Bruno myself, but he's lost a lot of speed and tenacity over the years, even though he's still a classy defender with a neat touch.

So whether Berner deserves a place in the starting eleven or not, it's all up to Sven.

And personally, I don't think van Aanholt or Mee have done an awful job playing for us.

In addition, I again miss more justified criticism of our so-called "established" players, such as King, Oakley, Wellens, Gallagher and Weale.

[The Year Of The Fox]

The team has so many players that don't get stuck in and tackle, such as Andy King and Paul Gallagher. We also don't seem to work hard - Take Norwich for example, all of their players work hard for each other, but I don't see that happening at Leicester.

Our loan players are going back too. In my opinion, Naughton needs to be signed ahead of them all, and then Vitor, Mee and Cunningham.

We do need a new team near enough. A goalkeeper, two full backs, a commanding centre half, an expierienced defensive midfielder, a proper winger, a big man and a natural goalscorer are all required in my opinion and it'll be interesting to see who we recruit in the summer.

Here lies my problem. Goalkeeper, and natural scorer I certainly agree with. However,and I'm sorry to harp on about it, but Berner is perfectly good enough- for another season at least- to be in a team pushing for promotion. Whats up with Moussa as a winger? Hobbs will be quality whether its wearing a blue shirt or not. All thats needed in defence is some consistency in the selection.

I'm not arguing against you, my point is Sven will overlook these options for ever more, purely as they're not already established names (outside the club) or they haven't come in on loan from a bigger club

[B52]

No he didnt, he's an accident waiting to happen, which was clear from the start...

So it's better to drop him and take something worse instead of making him better through playing. As I recall it Ricardo hadn't played so much and were still better than Weale....... Think of how good Ricardo can be when he's shaken off some rust.

[MC Prussian]

No he didnt, he's an accident waiting to happen, which was clear from the start...

When I see statements like yours from fans like you that can't give (foreign) players the benefit of the doubt...

Slagging off a player even before they've actually played a string of games for us.

How is an attitude like yours supposed to help the club, the team, the player your anger is directed at or your fellow fans around you during matchdays?

Why so overtly negative?

Where does that hatred stem from? Spit it out.

[The Year Of The Fox]

If Sven is only half as smart as I take him to be, the last 7 months in charge will have taught him A LOT about this league, this club and this team.

Secondly, how many Premier League players or International players have we really signed? Some posters on here (you included) make it sound as if we've signed a plethora of PL rejects and international have-beens, which in fact couldn't be much further from the truth.

Out of all Eriksson loan signings, Kirkland and Bednar were by far the worst (and rightfully sent back home rightaway), Yakubu is so-so, Kamara rather brilliant (I think he's brought a lot of fresh blood and energy to our stuttering midfield), same goes for Naughton and Mee, Patrick van Aanholt and Bruma can be frustrating or very frustrating to watch at times, but I still see a lot of potential in them. Cunningham's stint was cut short by a horrible injury, but he was great for us up until that point.

In that I include players from premiership teams, even if they haven't had their debuts.

Ricardo

PVA

Naughton- the only one I'd 100% keep

Mee- Unsure

Bruma

Cunningham

Vassell- I know he came from Turkey but you know what I mean

Yakubu

Kamara- Jury still out on him, though he was awesome against Burnley

Bednar- As you said

Kirlkland- Again, as you said.

Theres probably more that I've overlooked. So there are a few in my defence aren't there? Mee has been so shaky in some games, yet brilliant in others. No better than Hobbs though- and yes I would compare him to Hobbs. mee is no better than him.

I really don't want to be one of these fans who hang on to players not currently playing for us, but when you have the talent in your squad in the first place, why get rid of them and replace them with what are basically nothing but players but in name only- or indeed assumed to be good just because we've got them on loan from chelsea etc

In reference to your Cunningham comment, although obviously its horrible for any player -except marlon king-- to suffer such an injury, the first text I sent about him said something along the lines of 'blessing in disguise'

I won't profess to be an expert in football tactics etc, but playing left back myself I tend to look at that position first. I can honestly say that not in any game did he impress me at all. there were certain games, though I can't list them off the top of my head, where he was at fault for the goals that resulted in us dropping points.Certainly Millwall away stands out as one.

[Craig]

In that I include players from premiership teams, even if they haven't their debuts.

Ricardo

PVA

Naughton- the only one I'd 100% keep

Mee- Unsure

Bruma

Cunningham

Vassell- I know he came from Turkey but you know what I mean

Yakubu

Kamara- Jury still out on him, though he was awesome against Burnley

Bednar- As you said

Kirlkland- Again, as you said.

Theres probably more that I've overlooked. So there are a few in my defence aren't there? Mee has been so shaky in some games, yet brilliant in others. No better than Hobbs though- and yes I would compare him to Hobbs. mee is no better than him.

I really don't want to be one of these fans who hang on to players not currently playing for us, but when you have the talent in you're squad in the first place, why get rid of them and replace them with what are basically nothing but players but in name only- or indeed assumed to be good just because we've got them on loan from chelsea etc

Curtis Davies, Carl Ikeme...

[The Year Of The Fox]

When I see statements like yours from fans like you that can't give (foreign) players the benefit of the doubt...

Slagging off a player even before they've actually played a string of games for us.

How is an attitude like yours supposed to help the club, the team, the player your anger is directed at or your fellow fans around you during matchdays?

Why so overtly negative?

Where does that hatred stem from? Spit it out.

I didn't know much bout him bar what he did to us in the Euro's and World Cups, but I have to admit alarm bells were ringing loud and clear with me when he signed. Why's Sven done this? Doesn't he realise you shouldn't change a winning team?

Of course its very possible that Sven would have never have expected such a deplorable reaction from some of our fans as well, which hardly helped Ricardo

[leicesterseddon]

Hmm. Number of things have gone wrong this season. The encouraging thing is I think Sven has already acknowleged what they are - although it remains to be seen whether he can find solutions.

1. A dreadful start - Let's face it, when Sven arrived, we were looking more like relegation candidates than promotion hopefuls. There was very little organisation under Sousa and the players didn't look fit. It's vital we make a much better start next time round.

2. Lack of experience in defence - The average age of our back four is very low; there's no one there with experience of this league and who shows authority at the back. This is going to be the hardest problem to solve I think...Sven will have to think very hard about getting someone in that can make us much tighter at the back. To be fair I think we've got reasonable value for money from Bamba - yes he is very accident-prone but what did people expect from a £500k signing from Hibs? A much higher quality is needed next season.

3. Too lightweight in midfield - We are nowhere near aggressive enough in the middle of the park. Wellens often puts a decent shift in, but with King and Gallagher in the side we are far too weak through the middle. King in particular has had too many matches this season where he has been completely innocuous.

4. No consistent goalscorer - And, let's be honest, we haven't had one for a number of years (if you exclude Fryatt in League One). Having a midfielder as our top goalscorer says it all really - we need someone who can stick it in the net ~20 times next season.

[The Year Of The Fox]

If Sven is only half as smart as I take him to be, the last 7 months in charge will have taught him A LOT about this league, this club and this team.

Secondly, how many Premier League players or International players have we really signed? Some posters on here (you included) make it sound as if we've signed a plethora of PL rejects and international have-beens, which in fact couldn't be much further from the truth.

Out of all Eriksson loan signings, Kirkland and Bednar were by far the worst (and rightfully sent back home rightaway), Yakubu is so-so, Kamara rather brilliant (I think he's brought a lot of fresh blood and energy to our stuttering midfield), same goes for Naughton and Mee, Patrick van Aanholt and Bruma can be frustrating or very frustrating to watch at times, but I still see a lot of potential in them. Cunningham's stint was cut short by a horrible injury, but he was great for us up until that point. Davies was alright for the short time being with us.

Why Berner hasn't played more often? Maybe because Eriksson sees something in van Aanholt and/or Mee on the left side?

I'm a fan of Bruno myself, but he's lost a lot of speed and tenacity over the years, even though he's still a classy defender with a neat touch.

So whether Berner deserves a place in the starting eleven or not, it's all up to Sven.

And personally, I don't think van Aanholt or Mee have done an awful job playing for us.

In addition, I again miss more justified criticism of our so-called "established" players, such as King, Oakley, Wellens, Gallagher and Weale.

Sorry only just seen this bit;

A defenders job is to defend. Whilst its nice to have someone such as Naughton who will get forward, its not his job as such. There are times he's got forward and then been exposed and we've conceded. So for me we want old fashioned defenders- Boring? Yes! effective? yes!

Mee is much better at CB than he is LB.

The established players- well you can't really slag King off anymore than anyone can slag Sven off. Without King we'd still be bottom of the league! But yeh he does go missing in some games.

Wellens- every game I can remember this season bar perhaps a couple, he's looked good, he just needs to shoot more.

Oakley- The last few games he has been the best player on the pitch and rightly got a standing ovation on friday. But you can't have missed any crticism over him this season surely? The boo's everytime he comes on as a sub make me sick!

Gally- was getting some very bad stick before xmas time, certainly in L Block. But he's turned it round to be fair. Still hides from a tackle though.

Weale- Well- everyone knew he was susceptible to a long range shot, but to me, the thing that done the most damage to his ability was him being dropped- needlessly! Since he's been brough back into the team- yeh shocking, and he is indeed highlighting why sven dropped him in the first place.

It all depends how you view the players when theyre on the pitch. Wellens came from Doncaster- you're hardly gonna be inspired by that as a signing are you? So therefore you expect less from him perhaps? In fact a lot of the players that are our own and established have come from lesser teams, possibly thats why they dont get as much crticism from the fans? I dunno!

[MC Prussian]

I didn't know much bout him bar what he did to us in the Euro's and World Cups, but I have to admit alarm bells were ringing loud and clear with me when he signed. Why's Sven done this? Doesn't he realise you shouldn't change a winning team?

Of course its very possible that Sven would have never have expected such a deplorable reaction from some of our fans as well, which hardly helped Ricardo

Your statement is blowing into the same horn, I suppose.

Ricardo being criticised for being Ricardo before he actually put on his shirt for us and played a single game for this club.

Why Sven signed him? I assume because he thinks Ricardo's actually a pretty good goalkeeper at a good age, an excellent shotstopper, a great penalty killer with a vast amount of experience?

I'm also not so sure which "winning team" you're referring to. Granted, we had gotten ourselves some results prior to Ricardo's arrival. But even with Ricardo in goal, we won the following two matches and then lost a couple of games against some of the best teams in this league. In addition, we had a poor December where we only won once in five. Poor results which were either down to Weale messing it up or the team playing sub-par (Millwall away for instance). Or the FA and weather gods were completely against us (Ipswich away in the snow). Or we were the better team, yet still managed to lose or drop points (Bristol City or Coventry away).

And I still can't get my heard around the question why we've had such a bad away form this season. It oftentimes felt like watching two different teams.

All in all, this season has had it all for us. A season full of comedy capers, ups and downs, mishaps, brilliant results only to be followed by pathetic displays.

Manchester CIty in the FA Cup, then recently conceeded three times three goals in eight games. The drubbing at Portsmouth. Fryatt's red card at Norwich.

It's been a mess.

Ending up near the playoffs doesn't look so bad now out of a sudden, does it?

That's football. That's Leicester.

[sdb]

All managers and players deserve a full pre-season behind them together. The summer months will be telling and we just have to wait and see who we can bring in and how much money Top will make available. We need some consistency for sure. No more than 3 loanees imo. Get a squad together, make them a unit, work from there.

[The Year Of The Fox]

The first thing I'd do would get all the lads we have out on loan back in again. Separate the wheat from the chaff, IE get rid of Neilson get Hobbs back in for an example.