Marko Futacs signs for Leicester

[Jimmy]

I made this point yesterday. Some of the games we saw under Sven were great! Derby at home 4-0 I think being one of them.

Unfortunately some were horrendous too.. Millwall at home nil-three being one of the worst.

I'm hoping Pearson at least gives us some consistency in performances.

I remember getting thumped 5-1 away at Forest too under Pearson so its not like we never got hammered under him

[knowf***all]

i think the problem with big target men is that they tend to be played in a rigid 4-4-2 od 4-4-1-1 system that only results in a hoofball upfront, instead of using them in a more flexible system that allows wingers to get to the bye line and cross the ball back for the big man to power a header in. english disease i think, no imagination

[Captain...]

Gelson Fernandes was a good, exciting signing this time last year.

And when he left us he went and was practically ever present in a side who finished 3rd in Serie A.

What's wrong with getting excited over that one? At least pick a decent example before talking absolutecrap.

I think that was part of the problem, we all got excited by Fernandes, Beckford, Johnson, Vassell, and they all disappointed, some more than others, now we are starting to appreciate signings like Futacs, James, De Laet, possibly because of the success of Marshall. Without trotting out the usual cliches, but players that could form the heart of our team for the next 7-8 years.

[Mark_w]

I remember getting thumped 5-1 away at Forest too under Pearson so its not like we never got hammered under him

Yeah, but Nigel had us in 5th place with a side that cost a lot, lot less. Plus we also had some great wins under him as well (QPR, Scunthorpe, Forest at home come to mind). Not to mention our home record under him is fantastic, you all have this 'I pay a lot for my season ticket' arguement, and think that's something that can be used against Pearson, but I pay a lot for mine as well and I like the look of Pearson's home record a lot more.

[Ric Flair]

Did Southampton, Reading and West Ham have a target man last season in their matchday squad? The answer is yes. I'm not saying Futacs is quality because he's 6ft 5, but there is a place for a striker with good aerial ability at this level. It is important Pearson went out of his way to mention Futacs has good technical ability, he's aware we can't go route one. I just hope he can teach Morgan and the new centre half to keep it down. SSL can pass a ball.

[foxes2011]

Everyone is talking like Futacs is a target man and only that but i think he is alot more technically gifted than half of the target men in this league. Just watch the goal he scored against us and that wasnt a target mans goal it was a goal ronaldo himself would have been proud with. He has got the ability to be a target man because he is very tall but hes better than that and i think he could force his way into the first team.

[shade]

Another young, relatively untried player.

We'll have to hope Pearson knows what he's doing.

Same with the others, I don't know Futacs as I've seen only seen him play once.

We must trust Pearson again. There is literally nothing else we can do.

there literally is, we could:

1. not trust Pearson.

2. scour the Internet for every piece of footage of him and make our own mind up.

3. go on a Portsmouth forum and ask their views.

4. ask a Portsmouth supporting friend if you have one.

5. claim (forcefully) that you know all about him and think he's rubbish.

[Guest Col city fan]

I think that was part of the problem, we all got excited by Fernandes, Beckford, Johnson, Vassell, and they all disappointed, some more than others, now we are starting to appreciate signings like Futacs, James, De Laet, possibly because of the success of Marshall. Without trotting out the usual cliches, but players that could form the heart of our team for the next 7-8 years.

We didn't all get excited by the prospect of these players joining.

Go back through the posts at the time. I was questioning the Beckford signing from the start.

Vassell was at the twilight of his career and I knew nothing about Johnson or much about Fernandes.

[ScouseFox]

Did Southampton, Reading and West Ham have a target man last season in their matchday squad? The answer is yes. I'm not saying Futacs is quality because he's 6ft 5, but there is a place for a striker with good aerial ability at this level. It is important Pearson went out of his way to mention Futacs has good technical ability, he's aware we can't go route one. I just hope he can teach Morgan and the new centre half to keep it down. SSL can pass a ball.

Can see what you're saying but I assume by target man for those three teams you mean Lambert, Roberts and Cole? Who scored 27, 6 (in less than half a season) and 15 goals respectively. They weren't just "flick on" men, they scored a lot of goals too. If Futacs can bag anything like that it's a great signing. If he does just win headers we could be in for a long, boring season.

[Grey Fox]

that's the thing you can have both, you don't have to be world beaters but 2 or 3 spells a game where we knock the ball around with ease and composure and actually build an attack isn't beyond a Championship side

It's not, and that's what I believe Pearson will be aiming for, despite opinions to the contrary.

[Jordan]

Since when does being Leicester City fans entitle us to be such snobs about the style in which our team plays?

[Grewks]

Im guessing we wont be playing 4-4-2 a lot this season, probably something like this.

---------------------kasper---------------------

De laet---St-Ledger--Morgan-----Konch

-----------Danns--------James--------------

-Waghorn------Marshall------Nugent------

-------------------Beckford---------------------

Bench: Logan, Peltier, Harry maguire?, king, drinkwater, vardy, futacs

Then you also have dyer, gally, kennedy, possibly schlupp.

I think the depth of this squad will look great if we can get a center back and a winger.

[Finnegan]

Since when does being Leicester City fans entitle us to be such snobs about the style in which our team plays?

I've never been elitist towards overseas fans before, Jordan, and I respect your right to an opinion. But in fairness, you don't sit there every other week paying to watch this shit.

To be fair, Pearson's top six season we were reasonably entertaining. Some hoofball but some tidy football too. So I do have some hope that, now he's had a summer to prepare, Nige can deliver. But if its anywhere near as bad as watching his team last season then god help season ticket holders.

[Fox92]

I didn't mean to start a massive debate

I don't like long football as much as the other fan (I can't stand watching Stoke on TV ) but we always needed a target man, especially after Howard left the club. Last season I watched Carlton Cole be the best target man I've ever seen at this level, I took back everything I've ever said about him because he was very good when Irons beat us 1-2. He held the ball up, flicked it on, had the pace and scored the goals. And this is what I meant with a target man, not someone who we just lump the ball to.

Last season Nugent and Beckford couldn't hold the ball up, just like England couldn't at the European Championships. As long as Futacs can hold the ball up, bring other players into play and score goals, I'm happy. And at least Kasper has something to aim at when he does one of them long goal kicks, which is annoying.

I'd rather us do what we did under Pearson last time; go to places and grind out 0-1 wins (such as Reading, Doncaster) but we didn't always do that. We won some games 3-0 (Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest), we beat Scunthorpe 5-1 (which was the biggest win since the O'Neill days), so I don't see how people always say it was boring. At times it wasn't entertaining (5-1 against Nottingham Forest, 1-2 against Reading) but throughout the season we were consistent, organised and motivated.

[Guest Col city fan]

I didn't mean to start a massive debate

I don't like long football as much as the other fan (I can't stand watching Stoke on TV ) but we always needed a target man, especially after Howard left the club. Last season I watched Carlton Cole be the best target man I've ever seen at this level, I took back everything I've ever said about him because he was very good when Irons beat us 1-2. He held the ball up, flicked it on, had the pace and scored the goals. And this is what I meant with a target man, not someone who we just lump the ball to.

Last season Nugent and Beckford couldn't hold the ball up, just like England couldn't at the European Championships. As long as Futacs can hold the ball up, bring other players into play and score goals, I'm happy. And at least Kasper has something to aim at when he does one of them long goal kicks, which is annoying.

I'd rather us do what we did under Pearson last time; go to places and grind out 0-1 wins (such as Reading, Doncaster) but we didn't always do that. We won some games 3-0 (Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest), we beat Scunthorpe 5-1 (which was the biggest win since the O'Neill days), so I don't see how people always say it was boring. At times it wasn't entertaining (5-1 against Nottingham Forest, 1-2 against Reading) but throughout the season we were consistent, organised and motivated.

Couldn't agree more....

[Mark_w]

I've never been elitist towards overseas fans before, Jordan, and I respect your right to an opinion. But in fairness, you don't sit there every other week paying to watch this shit.

I do, I agree with him.

[leicesterlad1989]

Im guessing we wont be playing 4-4-2 a lot this season, probably something like this.

---------------------kasper---------------------

De laet---St-Ledger--Morgan-----Konch

-----------Danns--------James--------------

-Waghorn------Marshall------Nugent------

-------------------Beckford---------------------

Bench: Logan, Peltier, Harry maguire?, king, drinkwater, vardy, futacs

Then you also have dyer, gally, kennedy, possibly schlupp.

I think the depth of this squad will look great if we can get a center back and a winger.

I'd swap Waghorn for Vardy (purely based on the fact im excited to see him, after he's being bigged up) but other than that spot on.

[Mark]

Since when does being Leicester City fans entitle us to be such snobs about the style in which our team plays?

As fleckney mike pointed out in another thread, maybe more fans are beginning to realise a certain formula doesn't work, 10 years out of the top division now it's the longest in the clubs history.

Like every pre season I'm hoping for something better, but Pearson's management style leaves a lot to be desired.

[Corky]

In the play-off season we played some really decent football. The Sven season was very entertaining.

If we could combine the defensive stability from Pearson's second season and the attacking presence of Sven's time then we'll enjoy this season.

[Jordan]

I've never been elitist towards overseas fans before, Jordan, and I respect your right to an opinion. But in fairness, you don't sit there every other week paying to watch this shit.

To be fair, Pearson's top six season we were reasonably entertaining. Some hoofball but some tidy football too. So I do have some hope that, now he's had a summer to prepare, Nige can deliver. But if its anywhere near as bad as watching his team last season then god help season ticket holders.

I'm willing to give Nigel the benefit of the doubt, but then again, I don't have to pay for a full season ticket before a ball has been kicked in anger. But I think City's dearth of creativity recently hasn't just been a symptom of Nigel's stubbornness. It has also been a reaction to having either an exhausted midfield (see their slump in 2009 before a couple of additions--Spearing and Solano--allowed Oakley, King and Wellens to breathe) or a cluster**** situation surrounding the club (we started the season with a million CMs and huge expectations, but then it got to the point where Sol Bamba was put forth as a serious option as a defensive mid).

I assume Nigel to go to his 4-3-3, but actually have two players that are comfortable on the wing playing on the wings, and have his players do a lot of work in the opposing half to put pressure on the opposition. Pearson's preferred style is direct, not dire, and it can certainly be effective and fun enough to watch to get us out of this division, finally. Of course I'm leaving my opinion open to criticism here. I think it's actually a positive sign that Nigel has gone out and signed a big man that may actually be able to trap a ball with his feet and maybe make a pass, too.

It would be wonderful to be able to pass every team off the pitch week in and week out, but teams don't always have to play romantically to be interesting to watch. There have been several well-rounded teams that have done very well in the Championship recently, but pretty-passing teams are still an anomaly and I think Swansea was an exception rather than the rule. Besides, besides some small stretches, City haven't particularly been known as a glamorous side... Hence my "snob" comment.

I think Futacs will fit in fine, but I can see him coming off the bench more often than starting.

[Walker]

Can't remember the last time I was this excited to see a Leicester team play. All felt a bit plastic last season, but this season it feels more like 'our' team

[5waller5]

But it is a positive? Think of how many fewer free kicks we'll give away in the last 8 minutes of a game!!!

YES!!!!! Finally we agree on something Babylon!!!

[Babylon]

YES!!!!! Finally we agree on something Babylon!!!

I believe it's happened once or twice before... probably once.

[5waller5]

I've read this thread with more interest than much of the stuff that's been posted recently ... And have two theories to test ...

One is that a few of the younger fans seem to want success and aren't too worried about style of football - and if i think back 20 years i was exactly the same - I enjoyed winning so much that i didn't care how it happened, maybe with age comes higher expectation for entertainment??

OR .... maybe it's due to the fact that with age you get a season ticket and probably sit in a more expensive area and therefore feel that you have more of a right to that entertainment.

I know these are gross generalisations, but may explain the differences of opinion.

And on topic - For me we do need a target man, I hope he doesn't play much as I'd prefer to resort to one when needed (during my 30 seasons of playing football I spent most of my time playing as a 6'3 centre forward - so know how crap they are!) .... I hope that we didn't pay much and NP doesn't expect him to play much - because if he's a first teamer then I'd be worried that he managed to get in Pompey's side just 12 times last season!!

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

6ft 5ins eh? Could be interesting, if he settles in quickly.