The "do they mean us?" thread

[davieG]

LATEST LEICESTER SIGNINGS A GAMBLE FOR SECOND-SEASON SURVIVAL

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Claudio Ranieri has spent quite a bit on two players with questionable pedigree

4 August 2015

3/1

TOP BET

LEICESTER TO BE RELEGATED IN 2015/16

 

Barclays Premier League 2015/16

RELEGATION BETTING

Watford8/11

Norwich11/10

Bournemouth7/5

Sunderland7/4

Aston Villa13/5

Leicester3/1

West Brom16/5

Newcastle5/1

West Ham13/2

Crystal Palace15/2

Leicester City’s miraculous survival became one of the great storylines of 2014/15, but jubilation has been replaced by a degree of turbulence heading into the Foxes second Premier League season since returning to the top tier.

Indeed, at that time of the year when crystal balls get their biggest work out, many have foreseen the Foxes to be among the main candidates to be relegated already, priced as 3/1 fifth favourites by Ladbrokes.

Nigel Pearson’s rather bizarre exit as manager kicked things off in bad fashion this summer and the chequered record of the man brought into replace him is also feeding the negativity.

Claudio Ranieri, aka The Tinkerman, forged a reputation as a relentless rotator when in charge of Chelsea between 2000-2004; a trophy-less stint which ultimately saw him being axed.

The Italian has since landed jobs at several top European sides as well as taking the reins of Greece prior to arriving at Leicester, though as was the case latterly, these postings have predominantly ended in his contract being terminated.

In fact, his only major achievement following a trickle of silverware at Fiorentina and Valencia in the mid-to-late 90s was guiding Monaco, heavily backed by rich owners, to the Ligue 2 title in 2012/13.

If Ranieri is a reason for concern at the King Power Stadium then two of his latest signings will probably add to that anxiousness in the form of N’Golo Kante and Yohan Benalouane.

Unlike other summer additions Robert Huth, Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki – who bring a certain level of Premier League, Bundesliga and international pedigree between them – the same cannot be said at all for this duo.

With Leicester bound to feel the loss of last season’s uber-experienced talisman Esteban Cambiasso, that void is supposedly being filled with 24-year-old Kante, who has only one Ligue 1 campaign under his belt after cutting his teeth in Ligues 2 and 3 previously.

Irreplaceable? Cambiasso’s role in the team looks to be going to the relatively unknown Kante

Meanwhile, at 28, Frenchman Benalouane has plotted a fairly unremarkable career path beginning at Saint-Etienne and taking in Serie A lesser lights Cesana, Parma and Atalanta before this move.

Neither player came cheap either, with both men rumoured to have cost approximately £5.5m each.

Leicester will be hoping the pair can quickly adapt to the English game, but at this stage their acquisitions look a little speculative to say the least.

[fuchsntf]

LATEST LEICESTER SIGNINGS A GAMBLE FOR SECOND-SEASON SURVIVAL

•  

  0

   

•  

  0

   

•  

  0

   

 

Claudio Ranieri has spent quite a bit on two players with questionable pedigree

4 August 2015

3/1[/size]

TOP BET

LEICESTER TO BE RELEGATED IN 2015/16

 

Barclays Premier League 2015/16

RELEGATION BETTING

Watford8/11

Norwich11/10

Bournemouth7/5

Sunderland7/4

Aston Villa13/5

Leicester3/1

West Brom16/5

Newcastle5/1

West Ham13/2

Crystal Palace15/2

Leicester City’s miraculous survival became one of the great storylines of 2014/15, but jubilation has been replaced by a degree of turbulence heading into the Foxes second Premier League season since returning to the top tier.

Indeed, at that time of the year when crystal balls get their biggest work out, many have foreseen the Foxes to be among the main candidates to be relegated already, priced as 3/1 fifth favourites by Ladbrokes.

Nigel Pearson’s rather bizarre exit as manager kicked things off in bad fashion this summer and the chequered record of the man brought into replace him is also feeding the negativity.

Claudio Ranieri, aka The Tinkerman, forged a reputation as a relentless rotator when in charge of Chelsea between 2000-2004; a trophy-less stint which ultimately saw him being axed.

The Italian has since landed jobs at several top European sides as well as taking the reins of Greece prior to arriving at Leicester, though as was the case latterly, these postings have predominantly ended in his contract being terminated.

In fact, his only major achievement following a trickle of silverware at Fiorentina and Valencia in the mid-to-late 90s was guiding Monaco, heavily backed by rich owners, to the Ligue 2 title in 2012/13.

If Ranieri is a reason for concern at the King Power Stadium then two of his latest signings will probably add to that anxiousness in the form of N’Golo Kante and Yohan Benalouane.

Unlike other summer additions Robert Huth, Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki – who bring a certain level of Premier League, Bundesliga and international pedigree between them – the same cannot be said at all for this duo.

With Leicester bound to feel the loss of last season’s uber-experienced talisman Esteban Cambiasso, that void is supposedly being filled with 24-year-old Kante, who has only one Ligue 1 campaign under his belt after cutting his teeth in Ligues 2 and 3 previously.

Irreplaceable? Cambiasso’s role in the team looks to be going to the relatively unknown Kante

Meanwhile, at 28, Frenchman Benalouane has plotted a fairly unremarkable career path beginning at Saint-Etienne and taking in Serie A lesser lights Cesana, Parma and Atalanta before this move.

Neither player came cheap either, with both men rumoured to have cost approximately £5.5m each.

Leicester will be hoping the pair can quickly adapt to the English game, but at this stage their acquisitions look a little speculative to say the least.

surely any new buy is speculation...isnt that what its all about...?? !!

[Babylon]

There is so much utter shit written at this time of year.

[MC Prussian]

It's all a bit redundant, to be honest.

I can't wait for Saturday and the focus on the new season. All these speculations and rumours seem to have reached new heights with the flurry of ITK websites and individuals.

[SomalianFox15]

I don't think the criticism is completely unfair. They won't have watched Leicester as much as us last season so in their eyes we are a team that spent the most part of the campaign bottom of the table who have now sacked their manager and lost their best player. The media are also desperate to see Ranieri fail. The Sunday Times preview of us did annoy me however, slating our scouting system because of Kramaric.

[Danizen]

There is so much utter shit written at this time of year.

^this 99% of journalists and 100% of fans are just pissing in the wind with these kind of predictions. It's a long season of ups & downs, changes and surprises.

[Gerard]

Kante is young and pursued by some high pedigree clubs.

 

Benalouane on the other hand seems a very strange buy, little pedigree and fans and pundits who've seen him play are to a man saying he's overpriced and won't improve us.

[Finnaldo]

Preseason reviews I can stomach. Predictions? Further down the table you might as well draw straws, there's a good 5 or 6 teams (us included) in which form, injuries and luck could decide who gets relegated, whilst the same teams may look to push on as well.

[Fox Ulike]

To be fair to the journalists, they have 20 Premiership teams to cover. It’s impossible for them to be as knowledgeable about LCFC as a lot of our fans who pour over every LCFC-related event as if it was a Rictor scale 10 earthquake!

 

None of us have got the wider knowledge of all 20 Prem teams that a good journo will have, but conversely, none of the journos have got the in-depth knowledge of a single team that a good chunk of the fans will possess.

 

Journalists are employed not for their knowledge about football, but their ability to write about it in an engaging way. A lot of fans will have a much better understanding of the game, they just won’t be able to write about it as eloquently.

 

For a journo tasked with writing in-depth reviews of all 20 teams, it must be tempting just to see the managerial change and Cambiasso’s departure as the catalyst that will cause our disaster. That’s a story you can hang your hat on, and non-Leicester fans aren’t interested enough to look any further.

 

They may well be right. In fact, it’s a distinct possibility. But unlike us, they don’t realise that, apart from the change in manager, nothing else has changed. It’s the same set-up that performed miracles last season, minus the man at the top. It’s not a great situation for us to be in, but it’s hardly the disaster that it appears to be from the outside. The journo who has quickly cobbled this article together won’t have taken the time to watch the Youtube video of Kante, and they won’t have read the comments from fans on this forum from French fans who have actually watched the guy play. He won’t realise that this is the kind of player we’ve been lacking for 3 years. Also, with Benalouane, it’s likely that they have just looked him up a search on Soccerbase.com and written a couple of sentences just detailing the clubs he’s played for.

[DennisNedry]

So we're being tipped to go down by the majority of pundits and journalists?

 

I'm not confident at all that we'll finish 14th or above this season but fairly sure we'll stay up.

 

The 3 promoted teams this season are all pretty poor, certainly not as strong as us in our promotion season.

[Master Fox]

I'm so tired of reading about Pearson and Cambiasso now.  I'm also sick of hearing 'tinker man' being used all the time when talking about Ranieri. 

 

We've been written off by most pundits again. I think a lot of people are hoping we have a terrible season because of the racist sexy orgy. Many pundits keep bringing it up when discussing our forthcoming season like it's an important issue. I just hope we go out there and prove everyone wrong. I absolutely loathe the people who work in the media. 

Edited 4 August 2015 by Master Fox

[Corky]

There is so much utter shit written at this time of year.

 

I preferred it when nobody in the media gave a shit, to be honest.

 

Definltely a feeling of "Oh we have to cover Leicester? Just spend a few minutes on Wikipedia/ message boards" about it all.

[WiFoxes]

People who didn't actually watch the games just think the form of the middle of the season was the "real Leicester" and that the end was an anomaly. They don't realize the team was playing good football during that time even if we couldn't win to save our lives.

With that in their minds and a fluke finish, of course they expect us to do poorly with a "wild" offseason that to me has been anything but. I think Ranieri is steadying the ship already, and we've improved besides our obvious issues at midfield.

[Dan]

Their terrible assessment of Albrighton is why they're probably wrong though.

 

He's a massive player for us and will be key to our season once again.

 

A fair point although it may just be a matter of opinion from their end - which I don't actually mind. I won't get annoyed at reasoned arguments for us going down, but the usual clichés and myths that people believe in for whatever reason (second season syndrome a perfect example) are downright ridiculous.

[Dan]

That article which writes us off because Kante is Cambiasso's replacement - now THAT is crap, considering we're blatantly in for another midfielder. I'm sure if Bournemouth had signed him it'd be a brilliant signing, showing real transfer nous investing in an up and coming midfielder that a couple of big clubs wanted.

[kingcarr21]

Just makes me laugh that people assume Cambiasso was the sole reason for our survival. Any journalist who watched any of our games would know it was Huth that ultimately made the difference.

 

I actually dont think we will even miss Cambiasso that much. The standard was set last season and the players would have learnt how to organise the midfield and for me will continue on where Cambiasso left off. I fancy Drinky or King to firmly cement a CM spot. If Kante can get anywhere near the sort of tackles he put in last season i can c us being very competitive and hard to break down.

 

Who cares what the journalists have to say. Let them write us off. Last year should have proved to NEVER write a team off

[lgfualol]

That article which writes us off because Kante is Cambiasso's replacement - now THAT is crap, considering we're blatantly in for another midfielder. I'm sure if Bournemouth had signed him it'd be a brilliant signing, showing real transfer nous investing in an up and coming midfielder that a couple of big clubs wanted.

 

So true it hurts.

[Freesolo]

Just makes me laugh that people assume Cambiasso was the sole reason for our survival. Any journalist who watched any of our games would know it was Huth that ultimately made the difference.

 

I actually dont think we will even miss Cambiasso that much. The standard was set last season and the players would have learnt how to organise the midfield and for me will continue on where Cambiasso left off. I fancy Drinky or King to firmly cement a CM spot. If Kante can get anywhere near the sort of tackles he put in last season i can c us being very competitive and hard to break down.

 

Who cares what the journalists have to say. Let them write us off. Last year should have proved to NEVER write a team off

 

He was our best player last season and his experience and class will be missed, If you think that we wont miss him much thats your opinion but i have to say there is no player that could replace him so cheap

[Nalis]

I agree with Fox Ulike's comments, particularly with so many new transfers from those you'd think would be outside the top 7.

[Leeds Fox]

A fair point although it may just be a matter of opinion from their end - which I don't actually mind. I won't get annoyed at reasoned arguments for us going down, but the usual clichés and myths that people believe in for whatever reason (second season syndrome a perfect example) are downright ridiculous.

I'd argue that we've been immunised against the dreaded Second Season Syndrome, because we've changed manager, which obviously has massive changes on the players, style of play and how the club goes about its business off of the field.

Although I do think we'd have stayed up with Nige at the helm.

Edited 4 August 2015 by Leeds Fox

[Kitchandro]

Just makes me laugh that people assume Cambiasso was the sole reason for our survival. Any journalist who watched any of our games would know it was Huth that ultimately made the difference.

 

I agree with your first bit but the second part is no more true. Huth made a significant difference, but so did several players coming into form; Cambiasso and Vardy being the main ones. Not to mention Albrighton finally getting a run in the team.

 

At the heart of it all was a change to a almost throwing caution to the wind attacking style, something we should have done all season. This was the real difference, more important than any one player.

[HEGGSY]

Meh this time last year there were write ups of Ulloa being the worst signing of the year. He hit double figures in his first PL season.

These pundits go off nothing but reputation of clubs and players

[Steven]

I'm so tired of reading about Pearson and Cambiasso now.  I'm also sick of hearing 'tinker man' being used all the time when talking about Ranieri. 

 

 

Quite.

[Guest]

tbf i don't think this is an unreasonable write up.

The two players in questions do have questionmarks over them and are unknown quantities really. People can point at supposed links elsewhere but that doesn't really mean anything. 

If you consider a top half standard prem team we only have a handful of players of that level and a few we have hopes for: schmeical, huth...er????

the likes of drinky, king, morgan, de laet, was, schlupp, vardy, nugent, ulloa etc had varying levels of success last season but can't really be considered 'proven'.

If I was a fan of another prem team I wouldn't exactly be scared by our first team line up.

It also remains to be seen whether the change of manager is a good or bad thing in terms of team cohesiveness and effort.

Stop viewing everything through blue-tinted specs.

[Livid]

Honestly most of them spend their lives sniffing around North and West London and hopping on a train/plane to the North West.

They haven't got a clue about the rest of the league. They're having to cobble together a couple of paragraphs on clubs they pay no real attention to and will largely be ignored when the Mourinho/Wenger/Pellegrini/Van Gaal/Rogers love in starts again on Saturday.