Quarter of the season gone

[Kitchandro]

If im being honest i expected a lot more pre season. Would be interested to know what everyone thinks on the way we play football. I think we have the right intentions (passing it around) but it all seems a bit static too me. Theres no fluency in our play. I think if michael johnson gets a run in the team it may make a difference. Once beckford gets his first goal then we will start seeing the real beckford i think. Got a feeling he will score on wednesday. About the signings we made in the summer, i have most been impressed with lee peltier. Hes solid and consistent. Also kasper is looking top quality. Without him i think we would be near the relegation places at the moment. Ive been disappointed in pantsil - everytime he gets the ball i expect him to give it away. I also expected a bit more from konchesky and danns. Nugent has been great. I also think sven has got his tactic of going to away games looking for a point wrong. Its actually put me off going to away games a bit. Sven seems to think we will win every home game, thats not going to happen. So if we continue to only look for a point away from home then automatic promotion will not happen. Teams that finish 1st or 2nd look to win every game - home or away. Like norwich last season, i remember watching them at the walkers and looked like the home team! Sorry for going on a bit but thats my assessment so far.

Agreed.

But I don't think we had intentions to pass the ball at all yesterday, it was all hoofing in the first half, and the long balls were badly of the mark. We had no ideas and no patience.

And yes we are too negative away from home, we should be able to outclass a lot of teams home and away because we have quality players who can pass the ball quickly and pass it forward quickly and effectively.

Schmeichel, Peltier and Nugent the stand out players so far.

It's been an average start at best.

[Kitchandro]

With all the money invested by the Thai's, not much has changed

Last season we finished 10th on 67 points.

The style of football that we are playing is easy on the eye, but very innefective. This is because we have an abundence of very good Championship central midfielders, & no decent natural wide midfielders, so we have ended up with a Diamond formation. The only player who is in our squad who breaks the trend of our midfield is Lloyd Dyer & he can be very good, but also very inconsitent, and does not posess the footballing quality a player such as Wellens posseses.

This failure by the football club to address the weakness in our midfield has lead to LCFC being very predictable, even with all the cash shelled out on transfer fees and wages. We have no width apart from the full backs, which is fine if you are playing a poor side who you can dominate and push back, however not if the other team is well organised and compitent at defending.

Against Birmingham we dominated the first half, but how many clear cut chances did we create, especially from open play? None. Our most dangerous option was a set peice with either Mills or Bamba heading at goal or setting up an oppertunity in the air. You could say we had an off day, but we didn't! We should have converted all that play into at least a 2 goal lead at half time, if we had the players with the ability to create a chance with that posession!

Id rather think that against Derby we had a good day! We deservedly got our rerwards with 2 goals and they may aswell just have given us the 2 at the end they were so crap.

Overall, we are a good side for the division, if Sven can see that all we do is pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass (Hoof / go nowhere / start again) Pass ...

he may get in a player who is a natural wide player or even a winger with pace who can beat a man & think about crossing the ball in the box, we could be very dangerous

You see whilst I agree with your main points in general, our football away from home isn't easy on the eye at all.

Now under Sousa, we played some lovely passing football in our own half, that was easy on the eye without being effective. But this season away (and in the first couple of home games) our football has been horrible to watch. We struggle to keep it for more than 3 passes and after that we're realising very quickly that we are just going sidewards/backwards so we just hoof it long and aimlessly, or cross it from a standing position, and the majority of these crosses are absolutely shocking.

We move the football very slowly and whilst we are missing a winger to give us that burst of pace and a final ball, we should be passing it more fluently in general. Good teams can play through the middle, though it is often more difficult.

[Houdini Logic]

Having possession and passing negatively in areas that didn't hurt the opposition (again!!!) is hardly my definition of "better team". Their keeper could have had a picnic in his area for all the threat we carried.

The worrying thing is that an average outfit like Birmingham can force City to play like that, where is the case for optimism?

To clarify, you don't think we were the better team before the penalty and sending off?

[Kitchandro]

To clarify, you don't think we were the better team before the penalty and sending off?

No one was the better team, neither team did anything.

Even at the end I think no points for either would have been a fitting result!

[Houdini Logic]

No one was the better team, neither team did anything.

Even at the end I think no points for either would have been a fitting result!

Firstly I don't agree, I think we started poorly but slowly started to take possession, pass it around and take control of the game. My personal opinion is that if the penalty and sending off didn't occur then we would have at least drew the game and likely won it. I do however agree that we didn't get enough shots off, but they were large spells they were playing with 11 men behind the ball - you have to be patient (any maybe change it a little, Sven).

Secondly, let's say I agree with you and we were both as poor as each other, surely as the away team to pick up a point wouldn't neccessairly be a bad thing?

[Number 6]

Underwhelming start, but given the pre-season this was inevitable. Will be a battle 'til the end but I expect us to be in the mix.

[Corky]

I'm frustrated but not overly surprised with our start. We should be doing better, we've had glimpses of what we can do, but in the main, the free-flowing football of last season hasn't been shown yet.

As I said I'm not overly surprised, I thought it might take time to settle down and a nearly settled team pattern going, but we've played 11 and only won four, which isn't good enough.

Our style of play away hasn't been inspiring, however looking at how soft and vulnerable we were outside of the KP it was obvious something needed to happen to make us competitive in most away games.

We're good at beating teams in form this season, now we need to beat those who aren't.

[Kitchandro]

Firstly I don't agree, I think we started poorly but slowly started to take possession, pass it around and take control of the game. My personal opinion is that if the penalty and sending off didn't occur then we would have at least drew the game and likely won it. I do however agree that we didn't get enough shots off, but they were large spells they were playing with 11 men behind the ball - you have to be patient (any maybe change it a little, Sven).

Secondly, let's say I agree with you and we were both as poor as each other, surely as the away team to pick up a point wouldn't neccessairly be a bad thing?

Well we'll have to agree to disagree with the first part then, I thought we were clueless with the ball throughout and very ineffective. What I would say is that the penalty and the sending off did occur, ifs and buts don't matter, if we give away a blatant penalty and lunge in 2 footed on someone then that's our fault.

I can't tell the future but the fact that we barely troubled their goalkeeper before those incidents doesn't fill me with the belief that we would have won the game. The point is that despite dominating possession we really never looked like scoring and that is concerning. We had our chance to take control of the game but we blew it by not creating enough and taking the lead, and deservedly paid the price in the second half for being so poor going forward. The momentum swung the other way after they scored and then we were struggling all of a sudden through no one's fault but ours. We didn't capitalise on the opposition playing poorly, same as at Cardiff - though we were slighty better we were wasteful all the same and got away with it.

We are not going to keep clean sheets every single away game, it seems to me we're playing for a 0-0 and if for whatever reason we concede we are ****ed.

People can say what they like about it being early days and we are only so many points off the play-offs but my main concern is that we just don't look good enough. We are not 13th through bad luck, we must improve quite a bit to be top 2 material on the evidence (performances) that I have seen so far.

As for away draws being good - 1) we didn't draw this time and 2) Promotion chasing teams need to pick up wins away at average sides (and especially at teams that play as badly as Birmingham, Cardiff and Forest did).

[Guest MattP]

Why does everyone keep saying how fantastic away draw are??

If you look at the top 2 every season it's very likely they will have won 10-11 away games, I don't remember many going up with a 0-23-0 record.

Also, anyone who thought we were good first half yesterday....I have no words, it was absolutely awful, we could of played until today and not have scored.

[Guest Col city fan]

Quarter of the season gone and to be where we are isn't acceptable and, to be frank, shouldnt be acceptable to anybody who considers themselves a City fan in my opinion.

To have the quality of squad we do and to put in a performance like we did yesterday actually beggars belief really.

We have so much potential flair in the squad and for it to be stifled like it periodically has been is difficult to understand.

King, mills, wellens, Beckford et al are not poor players but any neutral fan who might have watched City on the box

against Cardiff and yesterday Birmingham must surely have

been singularly unimpressed with our lack of creative flair.

More importantly, they would have been bored shitless...

I doubt that many of us, if asked to give an honest answer, would have said we would be 12th/13th at this stage of the season. And certainly would not have been happy with such a position.

I remain almost confused at the continual loving of Sven.. 'we will get it right', 'win the next two and we are ok'... and similar comments pervade these boards this season much like they did last and seem to be used to paper over the

deficiencies in the team which are, if we are being brutally

honest, there for all to see.

The lack of width and pace going forward, especially away from home is blindingly apparent and Svens bench yesterday told it's own story regarding how he wishes us to

play in away fixtures. No Lloyd Dyer, no Jeff Schlupp and no big Steve gave us no Plan B.. Something which Man City fans made it absolutely clear was a problem for them when SGE was in charge..

It actually frightens me that 'loyalty' to City somehow

equates to loyalty to Sven. Yes he is our manager but given our league position and some of the inept performances which gave come from HIS squad this season, we are generally being laughed at in the media

and showing little for our opposition to be frightened of.

Sven, the man, is apparently a lovely bloke... Listens,

doesn't create many waves, is polite and courteous.

However, Sven the manager seems to generate inconsistency in performances, has little obvious tactics to use when we concede goals and has somehow got this talented young squad of players into mid table mediocrity..

As a City fan of many years I expect more than the rubbish

we saw yesterday as, I would expect, do many who are honest enough to say so.

And to be 'loyal' to Leicester City football club is to want us to shine in front of the cameras, to instill fear into the

opposition and quite simply, to provide value for money.

This is happening too infrequently and too inconsistently for my liking.

Basically I am loyal to my beloved Leicester... But I have no loyalty to Sven and if I believe we are going to be better, more consistent and more exciting if he were not

our manager I'd be happy to see the back of him.

Bring on the 'slating'... This is what I believe and I will always say what I believe.

I'm not happy we are where we are... I'm surprised any other loyal fan of Leicester City is either!

I have always said give Sven till Christmas... If we are just

as inconsistent at Christmas then, nice guy or not, he's had his go and I'd be happy to see him replaced.

[Babylon]

I doubt that any of us, if asked to give an honest answer, would have said we would be 12th/13th at this stage of the season.

I did, I predicted a sluggish start. Although I'd had hoped by now we'd be getting close to knowing our best team/formation and getting settled... we seem a million miles from that yet.

Quarter of the season gone and to be where we are isn't acceptable and, to be frank, shouldnt be acceptable to anybody who considers themselves a City fan in my opinion.

To have the quality of squad we do and to put in a performance like we did yesterday actually beggars belief really.

We have so much potential flair in the squad and for it to be stifled like it periodically has been is difficult to understand.

King, mills, wellens, Beckford et al are not poor players but any neutral fan who might have watched City on the box against Cardiff and yesterday Birmingham must surely gave been singularly unimpressed with our lack of creative flair.

More importantly, they would have been bored shitless...

I doubt that any of us, if asked to give an honest answer, would have said we would be 12th/13th at this stage of the season.

I remain almost confused at the continual loving of Sven.. 'we will get it right', 'win the next two and we are ok'... And similar comments pervade these boards this season much like they did last and seem to be used to paper over the deficiencies in the team which are, if we are being brutally honest, there for all to see.

The lack of width and pace going forward, especially away from home is blindingly apparent and Svens bench yesterday told it's own story regarding how he wishes us to play in away fixtures. No Lloyd Dyer, no Jeff Schlupp and no big Steve gave us no Plan B.. Something which Man City fans made it absolutely clear was a problem for them when SGE was in charge..

It actually frightens me that 'loyalty' to City somehow equates to loyalty to Sven. Yes he is our manager but given our league position and some of the inept performances which gave come from HIS squad this season, we are generally being laughed at in the media and giving little for our opposition to be frightened of

Sven, the man, is apparently a lovely bloke... Listens, doesn't create many waves, is polite and courteous.

However, Sven the manager seems to generate inconsistency in performances, has little obvious tactics to use when we concede goals and has somehow got this talented young squad of players into mid table mediocrity..

As a City fan of many years I expect more than the rubbish we saw yesterday as, I would expect, do many who are honest enough to say so.

And to be 'loyal' to Leicester City football club is to want us to shine in front of the cameras, to instill fear into the opposition and quite simply, to provide value for money.

This is happening too infrequently, too inconsistently for my liking.

Basically I am loyal to my beloved Leicester... I have no loyalty to Sven and if I believe we are going to be better, more consistent, more exciting if he were not our manager I'd be happy to see the back of him.

Bring on the 'slating'... This is what I believe and I will always say what I believe.

I'm not happy we are where we are... I'm surprised any other loyal fan of Leicester City is either!

I think perhaps you may have been better off saying this before the game yesterday when we were what 7 unbeaten or something?. Unfortunately you look like another reactionary, and I include those who start thinking we are going to win the league after beating Derby.

In my eyes before yesterday we had been slowly improving. Was it a blip against Brum, is it going to be indicative of how our season goes we'll see. Even the best teams are capable of abject performances, thinking positive lets hope that was ours and we can bet back to slowly improving as I thought we had been.

The next 5 games are going to be big, if we can close the gap on the top then we will be in a great position. We really can't afford any slip ups in the "easier" games and we need to try and pick up more than draws away. We need to be getting 10 points minimum I feel.

H Watford

H Millwall

A West Ham

A Burnley

H Leeds United

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Dissapointed so far tbh but im sure we will improve - come on you Foxes

[Karljohn]

Quarter of the season gone and there is little evidence that we have the credentials to get anywhere near automatic promotion, our season so far was summed up in one match yesterday, nice passing team but it doesnt hurt the opponents, then we press the self destruct button (Blues, Forest, Bristol).

One year on and Im still having trouble convincing myself that Sven is the man.

[The Doctor]

We've been more functional than impressive so far (Derby, Brighton & So'ton first half aside) but we are getting points on the board - I think I'm right in saying that Sunday was our 3rd loss this season.

The main problem for me is that, despite the addition of Beckford & Nugent up front, we are still not clinical enough in front of goal and fail to put teams to the sword when in the ascendancy - first half at Birmingham a prime example.

We've only scored 4 goals away from home in the league in 6 games which is not a good enough strike-rate to be winning games, but the 1-4-1 record & only 5 goals conceded suggests that defensively we are well set up on our travels but at the expense of forward play. Our home record of 3-0-2, 9 scored and 6 conceded is much better and suggests Sven is following the conventional wisdom of winning at home and grinding out results away will result in promotion.

MD is correct in saying the change to 4-1-2-1-2 has been merely cosmetic - we have put in some good performances but have been just as lacklustre on occasion as we were with 4-3-3 at the start of the season.

I'd like to experiment with a (narrowish) 4-2-3-1 formation away from home with Yuki + Fernandes holding in midfield and allowing Danns, Gallagher & King more of an advanced role behind the striker allowing them some defensive freedom and instead apply themselves in front of goal, where all three have, either with us or elsewhere, shown themselves to be quite effective.

[AyewJoking]

Certainly dont have a chance of automatic promotion unless we make big improvements. Same old Sven, win some, lose some. We are good on paper but its like torturing yourself, forever waiting for the players to sort themselves out and resemble a TEAM but ultimately fail to deliver.

The Birmingham defeat ended a good run in which we looked capable of going somewhere and theres certainly no need to panic but judging by things so far, we will likely miss out on promotion.

[B52]

Disappointing start but I have high hopes still.

I thought we would hit the ground running but we are in reach of promotion spots and it's ok.

[crisp packet]

Just proves again we have the most fickle fans in the world!!!

IF ( I know )......... we had have won yesterday we could have gone 5th ?? With 2 home games coming up ?

Said it before will say it again , just because we have spent money does not give us a divine right to anything!!!

[Leicester_Loyal]

I kinda get all this "If we won we would have been up to 5th" stuff, BUT, we didn't win, surely thats the point? And we are now 13th? Its like saying if we win our next three matches we will probably be top 6, well yes we could be, but we're probably not going to win them all so we'll still be lagging behind the top two, which is ultimately the aim for this season.

[Guest Col city fan]

I kinda get all this "If we won we would have been up to 5th" stuff, BUT, we didn't win, surely thats the point? And we are now 13th? Its like saying if we win our next three matches we will probably be top 6, well yes we could be, but we're probably not going to win them all so we'll still be lagging behind the top two, which is ultimately the aim for this season.

There is NO point in all this 'what if' stuff.. None

IF we win all our matches for the remainder of the season we will win the league.

You gotta look at the facts and accept that we are below the likes of Peterborough in the division.

This may change.. But at present it's fact.. No 'ifs' here

[Leicester_Loyal]

There is NO point in all this 'what if' stuff.. None

IF we win all our matches for the remainder of the season we will win the league.

You gotta look at the facts and accept that we are below the likes of Peterborough in the division.

This may change.. But at present it's fact.. No 'ifs' here

That was my point mate, its all well and good saying "If we won we would have been 5th", but we didn't.

[Babylon]

That was my point mate, its all well and good saying "If we won we would have been 5th", but we didn't.

You should perhaps just look at it just as another way of saying we are still very much in touch with everyone above us.

[Guest Col city fan]

You should perhaps just look at it just as another way of saying we are still very much in touch with everyone above us.

Glass half full or glass half empty you mean?

It's true we aren't far off the top few.... Then again that's exactly what you continued to say last season..

I'd rather be realistic in terms of the facts at present.. Which read that we are 13th in the league and sitting under sides like Peterborough.

Acceptable after a quarter of the season (ie now)?

No way...

[Babylon]

Glass half full or glass half empty you mean?

It's true we aren't far off the top few.... Then again that's exactly what you continued to say last season..

I'd rather be realistic in terms of the facts at present.. Which read that we are 13th in the league and sitting under sides like Peterborough.

Acceptable after a quarter of the season (ie now)?

No way...

Depends what you expected, as I've said from day one I expected a slow start and that's what we have had. My main gripe is not where we are in the table, but that I don't think the manager is yet any the wiser as to what our best formation or team is.

[Guest Col city fan]

Depends what you expected, as I've said from day one I expected a slow start and that's what we have had. My main gripe is not where we are in the table, but that I don't think the manager is yet any the wiser as to what our best formation or team is.

To be fair Babylon you have always said this..

As usual a sensible look at things...

And I do agree with you on this... For me it's not only about our league position, it's more about how we can put on such an inept performance against a pretty average team a quarter of the season in.

I don't expect us to win every game, but I do expect entertainment with the players we have to hand.

[Reynard Bleu]

Like most of the media many of us expected that the summer spending would see us top of the division start to finish and now we feel the disappointment of a relatively average first quarter. Saturday was the first time I felt we really lacked any direct tactical plan, we lacked any width and consequently found ourselves slugging out in the trenches in the middle with a determined Brum midfield. The think that really impressed me in the Derby game was the speed of thought and pass that created space all over the pitch. We did not find the conidence to do that on Satuday and once down to 10 it became an even more unlikely ocurrence. However, I do believe that we will continue to improve and we will stay in contention. I would love automatic promotion, but if we have to do it te hard way then I am happy we have the players to acheive that too. Whenever i get to frustrated I put my time machine glasses on and relive some of the huge disappointments of Levein, Kelly and Holloway. Getting out of this division is never easy, top sides always have tough times. But I have faith.