Season Over?

[Happy Fox]

If we utilize the loan window to our advantage and get a winger in (preferably a LW to replace Dyer) and a striker that could give us a boost, it would only be papering the deficiencies but could reenergize our playoff push.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

If we utilize the loan window to our advantage and get a winger in (preferably a LW to replace Dyer) and a striker that could give us a boost, it would only be papering the deficiencies but could reenergize our playoff push.

i will eat 10 shit sandwiches if Leicester make the play-offs this season

[THEFATBASTARD]

i will eat 10 shit sandwiches if Leicester make the play-offs this season

Don't be a fooking hog and save some for me.

[Kitchandro]

i stand by what I said. Look at some of the sides that have gained promotion in recent years, not always packed with great players were they? More a case of organised very well by managers who knew how to get the best of what was at their disposal.

This squad for me should be good enough to get us up but for varying reasons have not performed anywhere near to the level they should be, that is where a good manager earns his corn and hopefully Pearson can be the man to get the best out of these players.

There are players here who have excelled at other clubs yet have only sporadically shown what they are capable of during their time here. (Danns, Mills, Beckford to name but 3) Get them organised and motivated and we can be a match for anyone in this league, the Southampton match being a case in point. If we could maintain that level of commitment and intensity in every match then you can't tell me we wouldn't be there or thereabouts.

I'm not a blind optimist, I think going up this season is a very big ask and the players do need to take the majority of the blame as they have woefully underperformed but I just hope the owners remain patient with Nige as I believe he will get us up, next year if not this.

Is that a bit misleading though? Danns was part of a relegation battling side, Mills was not popular with the Reading fans who say he is very overrated (and really, on what we've seen this season explain why he is any better than any other average Championship centre back?) and Beckford hadn't played many games in the Championship before he came here.

Other teams that have gone up have had less well known players but I disagree they had a squad as average as ours. We simply have a bunch of names and has beens, a few sprinkles of quality yes but the individual talent is just not there. We are never going to play good football with players who take 3 touches to control the ball, have no vision or concept of movement and who cannot pass 5 yards or hit the target.

It's important to remember that Southampton were missing their 2 best players that night. And anyone can put in good one off performances and beat good sides when they have an off day. Doncaster or Bristol beat Southampton but obviously neither of them are good enough to go up.

[Happy Fox]

Is that a bit misleading though? Danns was part of a relegation battling side, Mills was not popular with the Reading fans who say he is very overrated (and really, on what we've seen this season explain why he is any better than any other average Championship centre back?) and Beckford hadn't played many games in the Championship before he came here.

Other teams that have gone up have had less well known players but I disagree they had a squad as average as ours. We simply have a bunch of names and has beens, a few sprinkles of quality yes but the individual talent is just not there. We are never going to play good football with players who take 3 touches to control the ball, have no vision or concept of movement and who cannot pass 5 yards or hit the target.

It's important to remember that Southampton were missing their 2 best players that night. And anyone can put in good one off performances and beat good sides when they have an off day. Doncaster or Bristol beat Southampton but obviously neither of them are good enough to go up.

I think it is important to remember our pressing on and off the ball that day likewise against Dierby that lead to two fantastic results in the league, and the type performances if we produce on a consistent basis this team would be right up their challenging sadly this hasn't been the case.

[Kitchandro]

With the right tactics, team selection, and coaching, you can get the most out of any bunch of players. To say that the guys capable of destroying teams last season are at fault for the poor style of play at times this season is unfair on the players, sometimes you just have to look at the coaching staff. Pearson's a traditional old school manager, and a former centre half, not sure if that's what a club like Leicester needs, as we need an attacking manager who's willing to take a few risks to succeed, I mean take a look at the teams that have been promoted lately, most have been promoted by coming out onto the pitch looking to take control of the game, and played a very attacking and attractive brand of football. That's how you 'get out' of this division, by playing to win every game by scoring as many as you can, not setting out to nick a goal here or gain a point there. That's how you stay in this division. Unless you're West Ham with a team full of Premier League quality players and Big Sam.

But those same players have been absolutely wank this season. Under Sven and Pearson. Wellens and King, major players last season, have been completely hopeless for the most part. A lot of the rest were in fact bought in the summer.

You might have a point about Pearson's mentality, but I'm more worried that he thinks some of our players are good enough. The players have to take blame for their own unacceptable displays all season.

[cc_star]

I'm looking to next season, anything positive that happens before that is a bonus.

NP will need to keep results & performance levels up though else he'll be out

Saying that, even in the depths of negative malaise I'm in..... a run like Reading, Hull or Birmingham have had at one time or another and we'll be in the mix, sadly we don't look capable in the league of stringing 2 results together

Kasper, Konch, Nuge & on rare occasion Beckford are the only players who look good enough

Severe doubts over Peltier, centre backs & midfield (new signings excluded as they've not been here long enough)

Basically a wasted summer that could have ramifications for years.

[Kitchandro]

I think it is important to remember our pressing on and off the ball that day likewise against Dierby that lead to two fantastic results in the league, and the type performances if we produce on a consistent basis this team would be right up their challenging sadly this hasn't been the case.

There's a bit more to it than that though. We still lack creativity because we don't have individual players to create things. Derby and Southampton were absolutely awful on the day and we had a good one. They were both all round good performances from us but sometimes all the players just have a good day. But that has rarely happened and it's more than about pressing, or even formation and style of play.

[Happy Fox]

There's a bit more to it than that though. We still lack creativity because we don't have individual players to create things. Derby and Southampton were absolutely awful on the day and we had a good one. They were both all round good performances from us but sometimes all the players just have a good day. But that has rarely happened and it's more than about pressing, or even formation and style of play.

The Neil Warnock formation and I think the one that Norwich adopted as well is the best bet.

[jamesmilner]

at the minute we dont deserve anything other than what we've got . two seasons of absolute mess . i hope we pick up and have a go at getting into the playoffs but i've been waiting for some kind of form all season , big ask for us to start playing in february when it should have been august . i haven't given up yet !! but..................

[Matt]

Of course we want success, and nobody would turn it down if it happened but do we really want to rush things?

I know this is a funny league, everyone can beat everyone but can anyone honestly say we are atleast the 6th best team in the league? Can anyone honestly say we deserve to be in the top 6? I don't think so, we've not been good enough all season, we've improved recently but it's all too little too late, if we do make the playoffs and if we do win them i'm kind of dreading next season, I wouldn't go as far as saying we'd risk being the worst team in Premiership history but I think we'd be embarressed and it'd end up in being back in the Championship the following season, I know we can rebuild for the Premiership and it wouldn't mean more cash coming in but we want to go up and stay up and don't think it would happen.

Don't get me wrong no-one builds a Premiership team in the Championship, because Championship clubs struggle to attract Premiership quality players but lets atleast get some foundations of a Premiership team, I think we'd have to replace many players in a current team to upgrade to Premiership quality which again is no way to get results, get stabilty, and a winning team.

[The Fox and The Crow]

I can't say I fully agree with the suggestion that the squad isn't good enough. We have some distinctly average players but so do all sides in this division. We also have some very good players (some of whom are still under performing and a couple that are new additions). Ideally we need to tweak the squad but it is capable ENOUGH. As for this season, I've never felt so up and down; wanting to write it off after every loss while prematurely lauding each victory. Ultimately though it's an unpredictable league and making even educated speculations about finishing positions is futile. Unlikely as promotion now seems, so long as it remains possible, that's exactly what it is.

[nickelbyfox]

I can't say I fully agree with the suggestion that the squad isn't good enough. We have some distinctly average players but so do all sides in this division. We also have some very good players (some of whom are still under performing and a couple that are new additions). Ideally we need to tweak the squad but it is capable ENOUGH. As for this season, I've never felt so up and down; wanting to write it off after every loss while prematurely lauding each victory. Ultimately though it's an unpredictable league and making even educated speculations about finishing positions is futile. Unlikely as promotion now seems, so long as it remains possible, that's exactly what it is.

Very good post, echoes my feelings perfectly.

[Guest Col city fan]

I can't say I fully agree with the suggestion that the squad isn't good enough. We have some distinctly average players but so do all sides in this division. We also have some very good players (some of whom are still under performing and a couple that are new additions). Ideally we need to tweak the squad but it is capable ENOUGH. As for this season, I've never felt so up and down; wanting to write it off after every loss while prematurely lauding each victory. Ultimately though it's an unpredictable league and making even educated speculations about finishing positions is futile. Unlikely as promotion now seems, so long as it remains possible, that's exactly what it is.

Beautifully written post IMO.

However, when you say we have a squad that is capable ENOUGH... I'm afraid that's what most have been saying all season.

But look at the reality... The table doesn't lie, and we have turned out some dreadful performances this season, both under Sven and Pearson.

I know... So have other teams too but if you consider, for the example, the points gap between ourselves and the top two, you must conclude that actually our squad is not good enough..

If it was, we'd be at least nearer the front runners.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

I said our season was over when Sven was replaced by Pearson. We have no chance at all.

[yag101]

?

Look at the some of the teams who have come to our place and turned us over...

Brizzle, Millwall, Barnsley, Leeds

Are you seriously suggesting that these teams have played 'an exciting, attacking brand of football' and that we should be attempting to emulate these teams?

No... Why they have beaten us is actually because we have been Shite and have not been able to break them down

This was as much a problem under Sven as it has been under Pearson.

The three nil home loss to a very very average Millwall side being possibly the best case in point...

It only became a problem under Sven in the second season, when we started playing the diamond with the wrong full backs, and because we never committed enough numbers forward. Konch and Pelts had far too responsibilty to start attacks and try and provide a spark, but they are no wing backs. If we had van Aanholt and Naughton playing for us with that diamond system, it would've been a lot more successful because we'd have more numbers forward to work open a team. We should have been making good use of the midfield advantage we possessed. Sven shouldn'tve fielded Abe, Danns, and Fernandes in the same midfield, and should have signed a playmaker/attacking midfielder to play alongside King and Gelson, one capable of creating space for himself and teammates and picking out a pass, think Wellens is too past it to play in an advanced playmaking role, he ought to be operating deeper, picking up the ball earlier in space with time to pick out a pass. I'm not saying we should try and emulate those teams, I'm saying if we want promotion we need to play football good enough to keep us up in the Premier League, not Championship level football. Do you think Pearson's Leicester would even have a chance against Man City? Maybe if we camp in our own half and nick one from a set piece would be his answer. Attendances are falling, the fanbase is suffering, even the Thais are losing interest.

Regarding Wellens and King, it's a poor central midfield 'partnership' when you're playing two in the middle. King's most dangerous assets are his dangerous runs and excellent finishing, while he also makes a number of key interceptions, especially in our third, so his role would be best as a box-to-box, however if you want to get goals out of him, he can't be the only player making dangerous runs and looking to get into goalscoring positions, other players must be willing to make dummy runs too, and actually pick him out, whereas during our worst patch under Sven, we just looked to sit back a bit and the side lacked movement, which is key for any passing side.

[The Fox and The Crow]

Beautifully written post IMO.

However, when you say we have a squad that is capable ENOUGH... I'm afraid that's what most have been saying all season.

But look at the reality... The table doesn't lie, and we have turned out some dreadful performances this season, both under Sven and Pearson.

I know... So have other teams too but if you consider, for the example, the points gap between ourselves and the top two, you must conclude that actually our squad is not good enough..

If it was, we'd be at least nearer the front runners.

I think that our squad isn't good enough to compensate for the lack of cohesion and desire we've shown this season. I think that in this league those qualities can often make for a more forgiving campaign (just look at our squad last time Pearson was here, arguably no better if not worse than what we have). Incidentally you're very much correct if you consider that, had we gone up this year, we would've needed to strengthen considerably to avoid being absolutely punished in the Premier League

[Cropwellfox]

I'm looking to next season, anything positive that happens before that is a bonus.

NP will need to keep results & performance levels up though else he'll be out

Saying that, even in the depths of negative malaise I'm in..... a run like Reading, Hull or Birmingham have had at one time or another and we'll be in the mix, sadly we don't look capable in the league of stringing 2 results together

Have been looking back at what Reading did last year - during Feb last season they had a run of 1 league win in 8, and were 9 points off the play-offs after 31 games, but then came 8 wins in a row, and they ended up with 4 points more than they actually needed to get into the playoffs. So from where we are, the charge up the table is more than possible. I think the difference is that they had won back to back league games 4 or 5 times before that run, despite their position, whereas to echo the post above we just don't seem to have the mental game (or the right balance of players?) to string results together in the league. Failure to win back to back this far into the season leaves any kind of winning run going forward very unlikely, My prediction is that our typical pattern of 4 points from 3 games will continue and we'll finish the season on about 63 points or so, about 10 short of the playoffs. Any worse than that and surely Nige has got to be worrying about his job security.

[Happy Fox]

First thing is to achieve the points total needed to avoid relegation that lies somewhere in 52 points mark, then we can push on.

[Guest shearfox]

First thing is to achieve the points total needed to avoid relegation that lies somewhere in 52 points mark, then we can push on.

I'm pretty sure we don't need to be worrying about relagation... fortunately we are by far not the worse side in this league.

[Happy Fox]

I'm pretty sure we don't need to be worrying about relagation... fortunately we are by far not the worse side in this league.

Of course we don't need to worry about relegation but we need to get past that 50 points mark soon.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

Of course we don't need to worry about relegation but we need to get past that 50 points mark soon.

what a farce this season has turned out to be, we are looking forward to getting 50 plus points so we are safe from relegation

[inckley fox]

The Neil Warnock formation and I think the one that Norwich adopted as well is the best bet.

'The Neil Warnock formation'. I've noticed you're very much in the midst of a Warnock love-in!

The 'Neil Warnock formation' was 4-2-3-1; a variation on 4-5-1 and therefore not entirely dissimilar to the one we played at times under Sven. In fact, though I didn't go yesterday, by all accounts we played a 4-3-3 with two deep-lying central midfielders (Drinkwater, Danns... though I could be wrong). A similar system worked so well for Warnock because he had better players; Taarabt for instance.

It's important we remember that it took Warnock six years to win promotion with Sheffield United and, regardless of financial constraints, he never got close with Palace. He isn't as clear a 'quick solution' as you seem to think. It's also worth noting that, although Warnock instantly won promotion with QPR, this came three or four years after their initial 'big money takeover', so even that took time.

The key for us now is increasing the quality of our first team and - unlike our policy last season - build for the future. Because, from what I've seen under two different managers and various different formations, we're nowhere near a promotion team in the present.

[Happy Fox]

'The Neil Warnock formation'. I've noticed you're very much in the midst of a Warnock love-in!

The 'Neil Warnock formation' was 4-2-3-1; a variation on 4-5-1 and therefore not entirely dissimilar to the one we played at times under Sven. In fact, though I didn't go yesterday, by all accounts we played a 4-3-3 with two deep-lying central midfielders (Drinkwater, Danns... though I could be wrong). A similar system worked so well for Warnock because he had better players; Taarabt for instance.

It's important we remember that it took Warnock six years to win promotion with Sheffield United and, regardless of financial constraints, he never got close with Palace. He isn't as clear a 'quick solution' as you seem to think. It's also worth noting that, although Warnock instantly won promotion with QPR, this came three or four years after their initial 'big money takeover', so even that took time.

The key for us now is increasing the quality of our first team and - unlike our policy last season - build for the future. Because, from what I've seen under two different managers and various different formations, we're nowhere near a promotion team in the present.

Norwich also adopted that as well and are you trying to say that Hoolahan was world quality and a player of the caliber we couldn't attract?, all the teams that have got promoted and are acclimatizing well in the prem were in that style in formation from what I can recollect. I am in agreement that this project with NP will take more than just a season or two to get promoted automatically, but whether the Thais have the patience to wait that long remains to be seen and they may be tempted to go for Neil Warnock type figure.

[inckley fox]

You can't be serious. How many of them have been consitently good this season? Kasper, Nugent, Konchesky and Bamba in the main, that's about it.

Lets look at the players who started today.

Dyer - not good enough, never has been in this league.

Wellens - past it, been poor all season.

Mills - average, inconsistent, poor captain material, can't pass, can't deal with pace.

SSL - average

Peltier - Has been very poor for some time now after a good start to the season

Danns - average

Beckford - on his day yes very dangerous, but the fact still remains that he's only really shown any form in the last 5 games, it's inconclusive.

Then others.

Marshall - unproven

Gallagher - I've defended him but he's been shocking in some recent games, inconsistent

King - Useless this season

Morgan - ?

Howard - Past it

Those who think we have a strong squad with players who have excelled at other clubs need to seriously re-evaluate the quality of the current squad.

We've got far too hung up on the two thrashings we've administered. We put four past Sheff U towards the end of the Levein era too, but that was with a squad which would later need Rob Kelly to keep it up.

And I'm confused by the suggestion that these players have excelled elsewhere. Dyer, King, Mills, Danns, St. Ledger, Morgan, Beckford have all won League One promotions, but nothing else. Wellens won Lg.2 and Lg.1 promotion but nothing above that either, while Schmeichel won Lg.2 promotion. Nugent won an FA Cup but scored 0 goals in 15 games that season and has never won a promotion. Peltier, Konchesky, Bamba, Schlupp, Waghorn, Drinkwater, Marshall, Gallagher have - to my mind - never won promotions. Nobody apart from, I believe, Howard has ever won promotion to the Premier. The only major trophy winner is, I think, Nugent. And it's a fairly old squad for such a lack of success, the average age being 26-27.

To me, even on paper, that's a good League One squad but a very, very average Championship squad.