Leicester City, the managers and their way of thinking

[ivarti]

You can start to wonder what it is all about really, Leicester City FC. The managers and their way of leading the way. My time as a Leicester City supporter started back in the 70's with Jimmy B and his brigade of Londoners.

Matt Gillies before him had a love for Scottish players and himself being a Scot he made Leicester City "Little Scotland". This was what Jock Wallace did also when he came in he started again to bring in Scottish players.

Frank McL had no idea of what to do, and he just phoned up some of his old mates, finished at other clubs. George Armstrong, David Webb and Eddie Kelly came in, all former team mates of Frank McL.

Gordon Milne was in my mind a good manager for Leicester City, thinking about the club and the need of players, mixing young home grown talent with players that suited the style and system played, not using old friends from Coventry or just bringing in old chaps.

Bryan Hamilton didn't have a clue, and was sacked. He had no idea of what this was all about. A great bloke, but in my mind a person that had little or no idea of what football management was all about.

David Pleat, like Sven Goran Eriksson, tried to make a quick fix and never really managed to get anything out of it at City, despite being great managers in the past. They were like "saviours" in a way, that everyone believed that just their name and previous achievements was enough to get things 100 % at City. Our two most profiled managers in modern time, failed both of them. Svennis and David Pleat never managed to convince their main targets that playing for Leicester at Level 2, was a great idea for their careers, and then plan 2, never really worked, since plan 1, was impossible to get going, despite being backed by owners at the time.

Martin O'Neill, like Gordon Milne, build teams and had thoughts about how to get things right, and targeting the players that was in a way suited to play for City and both got a success. Great men, who both made unique signigns for the club, and brought forward talents such as Gary Lineker, Alan Smith (Milne), Lennon, Izzet, Heskey (O'Neill)

Craig Levein went north to sign his "new great prospects" all of them failed and Levein was sacked. He had no idea about English football and never really showed any knowledge about the game needed. He also underestimated the Championship and the level of quality. Levein's Scottish love affair never worked out.

Peter Taylor made so many errors as City manager so it's difficult to count. He had a great team to work from, but ruined everything in a season, despite being top of the league in October, reaching the quarter finals of the FA Cup and being in the Champions League position in March, ending in a terrible 13th place when the season was over.

He sold quality players and signed "rubbish". To not be able to see the quality needed and bring in players that are not good enough is in a way the worsed thing to do. Bringing Dennis Wise to Leicester City was like throwing bananas to the fans, telling as all that we are monkey's. This is the worst decission ever to be done by a Leicester City manager ever, and no one can do worse.

Dave Bassett, phoned every player in the country and believed in a chop and change strategy that never will work. Micky Adams was good as long as he was stopped by doing moves in the transfer market, but when he was allowed he went bananas and signed up players that would never be able to perform in the Premier League, like Brooker, Hignett and Priet.

Nigel Pearson is on the same path as O'Neill and Milne, doing business in a way that makes you believe that he can be succesfull, but all of the previous City managers has never really managed to bring forward young talent that would be good enough to play at the highest level, if you count out Jock Wallace and Gordon Milne, but their teams never really managed to be anything else than relegation fighters.

So why is every club having an academy for local lads when you see no talent coming forward or even getting a chance.

Schlupp has played a bit this season, but he is not local.

The problem for Leicester is that people in the City and football as a game is not worked with in a proper way, then not only Peter Shilton, Steve Whitworth, Graham Cross, Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey would have been top footballers from this city in the last 40 years.

Talent is not found and managers coming from all over the world, will not see it as a potential.

The problem for clubs, management and owners are that they really don't know, how to bring forward local talent, see the local area as a potential and work in the community with the right tools. A city like Leicester, should be able to bring forward more talent of football players than they have in the past, and it is a shame for the area as it is for most in English football. Soon no one in the local comminuty has the knowledge of how to bring forward great talent and be able to train them, and that would even see even more import in the coming years, because of this.

Ajax, Auxerre and Athletic Bilbao are all great examples of clubs that works fantastic with local talent, why others try other strategies, quick fixes, managers from far away shows lack of understanding what this game is all about.

[Legend_in_blue]

You forgot Hollowhead.

If we had to choose between him and Taylor as the worst manager of all time, it'd be a close call.

[burni]

enjoyed reading that, i have little knowledge of the earlier days but i agree with what your saying about nigel, sven etc

[ivarti]

Holloway once said he was scared and thought someone would kill him in the streets of Leicester, he was in my view not worse than Taylor, since PT managed to burn down the house, Holloway came in and the house was allready burned down, he just walked around in the ashes and wasn't able to make anything out of it

[cc_star]

You forgot Hollowhead.

If we had to choose between him and Taylor as the worst manager of all time, it'd be a close call.

Good point

1 blew the best position we've almost ever been in and the other took us to our lowest level ever & signed 402 players to do it.

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Sven could also be viewed as blowing a great position, & is probably the most fortunate manager in our history as he was manager at a time when our rich owners would have spent anything (I'm not so sure they will from now on) and never once climbed out of mid-table.

You missed out Brian Little, who took us from the cusp of the 3rd tier to the top flight although the club as a whole wasn't prepared to stay there... hugely important manager for us and did something no one had really done before or for many years after which was get us into the playoffs having lost in the playoffs when most clubs used to spend many years in the wilderness or even get relegated having failed.

Little was in charge when I was old enough to take myself to the football & go with my mates home & away every game I have a soft spot for him

[Corky]

You forgot Hollowhead.

If we had to choose between him and Taylor as the worst manager of all time, it'd be a close call.

Taylor was worse. Had a squad and resources the envy of most who've managed our club and managed to bugger it up spectacularly.

[ivarti]

^{The vital point in this topic is not really who was good or bad, but the lack of long term thinking and to try to get more out of local talent. Who was the last Leicester born, to be manager of the club ?}

[Out Foxed]

well we seem to have the talent in the academy it's just about bringing that talent through to the first team and that doesn't seem to be a problem that's solely consigned to Leicester; it's the case all over England. This new academy rule they've brought in is only going to make it worse for teams (although we'll get category 1 status).

[cc_star]

^{The vital point in this topic is not really who was good or bad, but the lack of long term thinking and to try to get more out of local talent. Who was the last Leicester born, to be manager of the club ?}

Our academy has just returned to the top of the league after back to back wins away at Arsenal & Portsmouth, if we have a manager here for many, many years who believes in young talent we may be able to build a proper strategy around it, but whilst we're changing direction every 2 to 3 years, they'll all have no chance as every new manager will want to sign players who they feel they can trust, whereas when a manager is at a club for many years they come to trust the talent coming through

Pearson believes in young talent, he generally signs players who aren't the finished article and he's had Moore, Taft & Hooper involved in the matchday squad, fast forward a few yearsthey could be first team regulars and other players from the academy could regularly make the step up.

It all about having a quality manager, who you back even in the lean times.