'Leicester City: A Defence in Numbers'

[seenitall]

Good defences are usually marshalled by a strong leader - I would guess that Mills, although showing no passion by regularly kissing his badge, pretending to do the annoying pretend cross thingy that all dumbo footballers do now or throwing his shirt at the fans, was probably quite good at this. He lost the fans when he got sent off twice really and never lived down the £5m (which was probably a lot less than that) tag. Sadly, I would imagine that even if Nige did have loadsamoney to spend, not many players of more than a million or so will want to come here, always supposing that he had the contacts and pulling power to attract them in the first place.

I suspect Mills could be Niges undoing even more so that the piss poor results

[LCFCCHRIS]

England need Nugent to play in euro 2012, 1 goal per game ratio

[Raw Dykes]

Good defences are usually marshalled by a strong leader - I would guess that Mills, although showing no passion by regularly kissing his badge, pretending to do the annoying pretend cross thingy that all dumbo footballers do now or throwing his shirt at the fans, was probably quite good at this. He lost the fans when he got sent off twice really and never lived down the £5m (which was probably a lot less than that) tag. Sadly, I would imagine that even if Nige did have loadsamoney to spend, not many players of more than a million or so will want to come here, always supposing that he had the contacts and pulling power to attract them in the first place.

I suspect Mills could be Niges undoing even more so that the piss poor results

Don't forget Sven dropped Mills very early on, and I'm pretty sure the reason was not because he wasn't kissing his badge enough, throwing his shirt at fans, or pretending to do whatever that "annoying pretend cross thingy that all dumbo footballers do now" is. It was probably because of his shocking performances, I'm guessing.

Mills might be a good player on his day, but a strong leader he is not. The Reading fans did warn us about his attitude, and it looks like they were right. Players like Mills don't make good captains because nobody respects them.

We've already tried spunking millions up the wall on players, and that was when we had a "world class" manager to attract big names. It didn't work. It was a very expensive way to go about business, and it got us nowhere. It didn't even get us into the top 6 for one second in that whole calendar year. We've done a lot better working with a small budget before, so it's not a concern. How many of the players we've spent more than two million on have been worth it?

What were your views about Sven this time last year? Did you want him sacked when we knew we'd missed out on the playoffs?

[seenitall]

Don't forget Sven dropped Mills very early on, and I'm pretty sure the reason was not because he wasn't kissing his badge enough, throwing his shirt at fans, or pretending to do whatever that "annoying pretend cross thingy that all dumbo footballers do now" is. It was probably because of his shocking performances, I'm guessing.

Mills might be a good player on his day, but a strong leader he is not. The Reading fans did warn us about his attitude, and it looks like they were right. Players like Mills don't make good captains because nobody respects them.

We've already tried spunking millions up the wall on players, and that was when we had a "world class" manager to attract big names. It didn't work. It was a very expensive way to go about business, and it got us nowhere. It didn't even get us into the top 6 for one second in that whole calendar year. We've done a lot better working with a small budget before, so it's not a concern. How many of the players we've spent more than two million on have been worth it?

What were your views about Sven this time last year? Did you want him sacked when we knew we'd missed out on the playoffs?

Already said elsewhere - he was not really expected to do anything other the keep us up after being bottom so early on, and so while disappointed, it did look as if he had taken the tables whipping boys and had a real go at the play offs. We knew our defence was poor and we had no keeper or strikers who could score and so getting so far with a patched up team was some achievement (now forgotten)

The difference this year is Nige had a similar amount of time and NO improvement has been made at any stage - the defence (his usual cornerstone) went nowhere, midfield was poor and stayed that way and even Nugent seems to have been demoralised recently - the fact that he doesn't know what to do (possibly) about it confirms the worst suspicions that he has lost a bit of sparkle in the past couple of years - the huffing off from Leicester for the money at Hull and the reverse 18 months later seems to have dented the man's ability - perhaps a nice long holiday will turn it around

[Raw Dykes]

Already said elsewhere - he was not really expected to do anything other the keep us up after being bottom so early on, and so while disappointed, it did look as if he had taken the tables whipping boys and had a real go at the play offs.

It might have been true that Sven was only expected to help us avoid relegation, but I'm not buying it, purely because of the resources made available to him. The owners let him go and get as many PL players as he could get his hands on, and I doubt they would have done that if all they were looking for was to finish in 21st.

At the end of February last year, we had just won 5 in a row, and were just one point off the playoffs, and only 4 points off the top 2 Surely, the owners must have had their eyes on promotion at that point, just the same as everyone else at the club?

While it certainly is an achievement to take the side bottom of the league and turn them into playoff hopefuls in the same season, it is undermined when you consider that we came so close to a very real automatic promotion challenge with plenty of time to spare (14 games) and ended up mid-table. That's not to mention the seemingly unlimited transfer budget available.

We knew our defence was poor and we had no keeper or strikers who could score and so getting so far with a patched up team was some achievement (now forgotten)

You say that, and looking at those players now, most would say the same. Their reputations, and our memories of them, have been ruined by Sousa and Sven, but let's not forget that those same players made up a team that finished 5th the previous season - our best in eight straight seasons. I'm not sure if you could call Sven's team last year a poor team patched up any more than you could call it a Championship playoff team replaced almost wholesale with a PL team.

The difference this year is Nige had a similar amount of time and NO improvement has been made at any stage - the defence (his usual cornerstone) went nowhere, midfield was poor and stayed that way and even Nugent seems to have been demoralised recently

This is still the squad that Sven built, and it hasn't resembled a team all season. I doubt many managers would do much better with the current group of players. There's no balance and no harmony.

Nugent has been off the boil recently. There could be any number of reasons for this. My own suspicion would be that he needs a rest. He's a very hard working player, and the players that could have been brought in to replace him for a while, Vassell and Waghorn, have both been out long term.

- the fact that he doesn't know what to do (possibly) about it confirms the worst suspicions that he has lost a bit of sparkle in the past couple of years - the huffing off from Leicester for the money at Hull and the reverse 18 months later seems to have dented the man's ability - perhaps a nice long holiday will turn it around

I don't agree with your view of the manner that Pearson left and returned. I don't see it as going off in a huff as much as him being pushed. Do you not think it's a bit odd that the club made no effort to hang onto the manager after he was the man responsible for the two very successful seasons that had just ended? Pearson arrived at the lowest point in our history, and in the shortest time possible, we'd won the title at a canter in one season, and got to a penalty shoot out (a.k.a. lottery) away from Wembley in the next. Why wasn't MM doing everything he could to hold onto that manager? I'm sure the owners wanted a big name. Maybe Hull caught wind of this and tried their luck at landing the man the big name would be replacing. As for Pearson's return, it's hard to say. Of course, the money is a huge factor, but Pearson has said he never wanted to leave in the first place. Who's to say he wouldn't have come back if he'd have been offered half the wage he's on. People are quick to point out that it's not Beckford's or Mills' fault that they're on so much money, why not Pearson?

I originally asked the question about your opinion this time last year, because I can't see much difference between this season and last, but clearly, you feel very differently about the manager this time, and the one who was here April last year. Yes, we were bottom when Sven arrived, but then we were very close to automatic promotion in February, and still finished 10th. Yes, we haven't threatened the top 2 this season, but NP hasn't been granted anywhere near same riches Sven was last year.

There are a lot of similarities between this season and last, and the differences are well-balanced, so why is your opinion of each of those season's manager so different?

[Babylon]

[/b]

The difference this year is Nige had a similar amount of time and NO improvement has been made at any stage

Have you not thought that no improvement was made because that's as good as that team could manage as a unit? It's all very well singing Svens praises for keeping us up and having a go at the playoffs. But he took over a team that was a damn site more proven than the one Pearson took over. We knew what they were capable of in this league.

People say of Pearson that anyone could have got us promoted from league one. Well you could quite easily say that anyone could have saved that play off team from relegation, especially when handed the backing Sven had.

You've never really commented either on the fact we were two points off the play offs in March and that he blew it. Whether it was expected or not, we got there and he messed up. All he managed was to spend a lot of money and get us no higher or even as good as the team of the previous year.

[seenitall]

Have you not thought that no improvement was made because that's as good as that team could manage as a unit? It's all very well singing Svens praises for keeping us up and having a go at the playoffs. But he took over a team that was a damn site more proven than the one Pearson took over. We knew what they were capable of in this league.

People say of Pearson that anyone could have got us promoted from league one. Well you could quite easily say that anyone could have saved that play off team from relegation, especially when handed the backing Sven had.

You've never really commented either on the fact we were two points off the play offs in March and that he blew it. Whether it was expected or not, we got there and he messed up. All he managed was to spend a lot of money and get us no higher or even as good as the team of the previous year.

I've commented several times on that actually - at the time it was extremely frustrating and I found myself wrapped up in the 'we're gonna do it' mentality that we all had. I believe it spelled the beginning of the end for Sven too - the 9 games under Sousa are largely forgotten and while that was to you a proven squad, they looked like dog shite when I saw them play under Sousa and the results (except for the Cardiff game when they looked great) backed it up.

The biggest laugh out of all this is that the NB's want him to be given time when we all know the fellas in charge of the club don't know how to do that - I of course know that a manager should be given a healthy amount of time and believe that to be, in all honesty, a full season with their chosen team unless something is clearly VERY wrong. It wasn't very wrong when Sven went, just disappointing, but from a chairman's point of view it was near suicidal for the club as it meant we had lots of guys who had signed on to play for a guy recognised by many senior players (Beckham et al) as a great coach and because they believed in him, now playing for a few weeks with no manager (and for most this was only a month to three months after they had been persuaded to come here) and then, and this is not meant as an insult to Nigel, playing for Top's third or fourth choice, the manager of Hull, who had failed in the year before to even get above Leicester.

So, gutted when Sven missed out on play offs but brimming with confidence after he signed a raft of players - genuinely excited to see players of Kasper and Nugents quality coming here after years with low league superstars, rejects and ex Derby players cluttering up the team and, probably like the players he attracted, baffled (that word again) and disappointed win they moved him on, incredulous when they thought they could then get MoN and deflated when they got Nige back, who despite his achievements with us before, looks like a man out of his depth with proper footballers - its just my opinion but we deserve better

[Captain...]

I've commented several times on that actually - at the time it was extremely frustrating and I found myself wrapped up in the 'we're gonna do it' mentality that we all had. I believe it spelled the beginning of the end for Sven too - the 9 games under Sousa are largely forgotten and while that was to you a proven squad, they looked like dog shite when I saw them play under Sousa and the results (except for the Cardiff game when they looked great) backed it up.

The biggest laugh out of all this is that the NB's want him to be given time when we all know the fellas in charge of the club don't know how to do that - I of course know that a manager should be given a healthy amount of time and believe that to be, in all honesty, a full season with their chosen team unless something is clearly VERY wrong. It wasn't very wrong when Sven went, just disappointing, but from a chairman's point of view it was near suicidal for the club as it meant we had lots of guys who had signed on to play for a guy recognised by many senior players (Beckham et al) as a great coach and because they believed in him, now playing for a few weeks with no manager (and for most this was only a month to three months after they had been persuaded to come here) and then, and this is not meant as an insult to Nigel, playing for Top's third or fourth choice, the manager of Hull, who had failed in the year before to even get above Leicester.

So, gutted when Sven missed out on play offs but brimming with confidence after he signed a raft of players - genuinely excited to see players of Kasper and Nugents quality coming here after years with low league superstars, rejects and ex Derby players cluttering up the team and, probably like the players he attracted, baffled (that word again) and disappointed win they moved him on, incredulous when they thought they could then get MoN and deflated when they got Nige back, who despite his achievements with us before, looks like a man out of his depth with proper footballers - its just my opinion but we deserve better

I actually agree with most of that, except the last line, do we deserve better? Based on what? Having money? We are, performance wise, an average championship club and have been for years, we have a manager befitting of that status, we couldn't attract any better when we had the chance, the only way we could with Sven was by offering him the earth, big wage and unlimited budget, but that didn't work, and probably wouldn't again.

When sven went and MON was ruled out I wanted Lee Clark ahead of all other candidates, a young hungry manager with something to prove. I wouldn't have appointed NP again, and I was still pissed off with him for leaving us, regardless of the circumstances and MM he left us for another club and didn't make any sort of reference to the fans in any of his press conferences. Most of your and other criticisms of him are partly true (I will not accept this holding grudges crap though, the manager is the boss and needs to be respected otherwise he cannot be an effective boss and seems to create a good team spirit in all the teams he has managed something we lacked under Sven), but I will support him because he is Leicester City manager and I am a Leicester city fan, I honestly believe he has the capability to sign the right players in the summer and lead us in promotion push next season. Whether he will or not I don't know, but while he is trying to do so as Leicester manager I will support him.

As for Sven, he was in part a victim of his early success, his impact was instant and he quickly got us in to a position to challenge for the play-offs and then we bottled it, and he messed it up by making too many changes bringing in too many players and destroying any sort of team spirit we had. He is rumoured to have lost the dressing room, and the nonsense of getting the players to write down why they were not performing might have been the final straw (and if it wasn't it should have been). I loved Sven as a person, but as he manager he was trading on his name and had been for a while.

[Vale Blue]

It's a great effort mate and a lot of hard work done but conclusions can only be based on opinions not the stats produced.

Problem one, you're giving all the praise and responsibility for goals conceded to the centre halves.

Problem two, the quality of the opposition and in particular how good they are offensively, is a major factor.

Problem three, how many goals we concede also depends on our own tactics that day.