Population-1 Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 I am a new user to the site but a Leicester fan for the last ten years. I wanted to raise the point that although its still very early days in the Levein era I for one am greatly encouraged by the way in which he has streamlined the squad over the last 9 months. Three-year contacts, although always the risk of becoming a bind, DO provide you with a far greater opportunity of establishing spirit within a squad (so long as players are kept happy) and all Levein's signings so far have been players looking to prove a point in their career, for whatever reason. Paddy, Sylla, Gerrbrand, De Vries, Hughes etc all have personal targets for various reasons they know they can accomplish with us and I think this is the one main difference between the signings of CL and MA. Players in their 30's with little to prove and on one year contracts are far less likely to have any real hunger for the badge. After all, they know full well that they are likely to be shipped out in the event of promotion (or relgation) anyway. This for me was MA's biggest mistake. May I also say I think CL is 100% correct to ignore the loan market. I have never seen the logic in signing 2-3 loan players even if they do improve the side as its a false economy. If they perform well its highly likely they will be kept by the owning club or sold in an auction way outside our budget, and if they don't perform they add no value whatsoever. This is why I think Leeds are to struggle as their squad lacks consistency, much as we were becoming under MA. Lets hope this squad beds down and is given the time to acclimatise to what is bound to be a very challenging season. 2005/06 will be Stephen Hughes's season to shine by the way, mark my words. I look forward to the season with you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gené and Tonic Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 A great first post, and i agree with all the points made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lester LXXIV Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 ....Seconded!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 Good post I can't disagree with any of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STUHILL Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 SPOT On son!! I think CL is destined for great things!! Hopefully with Leicester! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hullfox Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 Agree pretty much with what you say but would make a couple of points. Firstly, money restrictions within the club menat that MA could in the main only offer short contracts. Notwithstanding that, there were several dubious signings amongst his shopping list. Secondly, three year contracts are for the same reasoning better. However, if we buy a lemon we are stuck with them. Last season saw the end of some contracts which had they been shorter, would have seen earlier exits for some players IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitesh Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 agree with you there mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 Agree pretty much with what you say but would make a couple of points.Firstly, money restrictions within the club menat that MA could in the main only offer short contracts. Notwithstanding that, there were several dubious signings amongst his shopping list. Secondly, three year contracts are for the same reasoning better. However, if we buy a lemon we are stuck with them. Last season saw the end of some contracts which had they been shorter, would have seen earlier exits for some players IMO. 139128[/snapback] MAs did have the choice of going down the CL route (lower wages + longer contracts) in fact he promised the board he would at least go some way towards that. Instead he bought expensive plums that bruised easily and went mouldy quite quickly where as CL may have bought some lemons but they are a lot cheaper than Micky's plums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationwider Posted 16 July 2005 Share Posted 16 July 2005 Paddy, Sylla, Gerrbrand, De Vries, Hughes etc all have personal targets So does Levein himself. He's made no secret of the fact he wants to manage in the Premiership. Lets hope this squad beds down and is given the time to acclimatise to what is bound to be a very challenging season. Absolutely... & welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supedaj Posted 17 July 2005 Share Posted 17 July 2005 MA was keen on having experience in the first team as much as possible so that it would be a team of people who had been there and done it over several seasons. It worked with the previous team he took up - Izzet, Elliott, Taggart, Deane, Dickov. So naturally when he came back down the first thing he looked at was experienced people. Also with the administartion issues and the debt teh club was in a few years ago he had also been told to keep the wage bill down and commitments as low as possible. These two scenarios obviously pushed him to buy experienced players and on short term contracts. As for CL, he understands that it wont be a quick fix - and to build something good it will take a longer time. Hence the investment into youth and for longer terms. As someone rightly said above, we could end up with plums on long term contracts and thats always a bad situation. Nevertheless its a risk that most clubs have to take - minimising the risk is difficult but thats the difference between a good manager and a bad one. Lets hope CL has seen enough of these players to see that they have the right attitude and the desire and skill to grow, and ultimately take the club forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonbluefox9 Posted 17 July 2005 Share Posted 17 July 2005 I've spoken to several family members of different academy players on our books and they all say the same things. They really like Levein because he takes an interest in the academy. They all say that they were glad when Micky Adams went because he wasn't bothered in the slightest about the young lads. Even if Micky didn't want to play them he could've at least made them feel like part of the club rather than leaving them out of the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 17 July 2005 Share Posted 17 July 2005 I am a new user to the site but a Leicester fan for the last ten years. I wanted to raise the point that although its still very early days in the Levein era I for one am greatly encouraged by the way in which he has streamlined the squad over the last 9 months. Three-year contacts, although always the risk of becoming a bind, DO provide you with a far greater opportunity of establishing spirit within a squad (so long as players are kept happy) and all Levein's signings so far have been players looking to prove a point in their career, for whatever reason.Paddy, Sylla, Gerrbrand, De Vries, Hughes etc all have personal targets for various reasons they know they can accomplish with us and I think this is the one main difference between the signings of CL and MA. Players in their 30's with little to prove and on one year contracts are far less likely to have any real hunger for the badge. After all, they know full well that they are likely to be shipped out in the event of promotion (or relgation) anyway. This for me was MA's biggest mistake. May I also say I think CL is 100% correct to ignore the loan market. I have never seen the logic in signing 2-3 loan players even if they do improve the side as its a false economy. If they perform well its highly likely they will be kept by the owning club or sold in an auction way outside our budget, and if they don't perform they add no value whatsoever. This is why I think Leeds are to struggle as their squad lacks consistency, much as we were becoming under MA. Lets hope this squad beds down and is given the time to acclimatise to what is bound to be a very challenging season. 2005/06 will be Stephen Hughes's season to shine by the way, mark my words. I look forward to the season with you all. 139052[/snapback] What a bonus to the forum you are. Lots of good reasoning there. Look forward to more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 17 July 2005 Share Posted 17 July 2005 MA was keen on having experience in the first team as much as possible so that it would be a team of people who had been there and done it over several seasons. It worked with the previous team he took up - Izzet, Elliott, Taggart, Deane, Dickov. So naturally when he came back down the first thing he looked at was experienced people. Also with the administartion issues and the debt teh club was in a few years ago he had also been told to keep the wage bill down and commitments as low as possible. These two scenarios obviously pushed him to buy experienced players and on short term contracts. As for CL, he understands that it wont be a quick fix - and to build something good it will take a longer time. Hence the investment into youth and for longer terms. As someone rightly said above, we could end up with plums on long term contracts and thats always a bad situation. Nevertheless its a risk that most clubs have to take - minimising the risk is difficult but thats the difference between a good manager and a bad one. Lets hope CL has seen enough of these players to see that they have the right attitude and the desire and skill to grow, and ultimately take the club forward. 139345[/snapback] So glad I campaigned very early on last season for the outing of MA. If you are manager of a football club the word "club" is encompassing. It means you are manager of other components as well as the first team. Everyone should feel they are important. Everyone should feel wanted and a part of what is going on. I remember a remark made about Mark McGhee being really abrasive to a member of the cleaning staff who wished him well and immediately thought "you won't last long". A manager is a big person. He should not make any of the little people feel small even if he has a point to make. If youth team players are feeling unhappy and unwanted they react like anyone else. They grumble. Before long the mood spreads and you've not a football club but various cliques and a recipe for disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonbluefox9 Posted 17 July 2005 Share Posted 17 July 2005 MA was keen on having experience in the first team as much as possible so that it would be a team of people who had been there and done it over several seasons. It worked with the previous team he took up - Izzet, Elliott, Taggart, Deane, Dickov. So naturally when he came back down the first thing he looked at was experienced people. Also with the administartion issues and the debt teh club was in a few years ago he had also been told to keep the wage bill down and commitments as low as possible. These two scenarios obviously pushed him to buy experienced players and on short term contracts. As for CL, he understands that it wont be a quick fix - and to build something good it will take a longer time. Hence the investment into youth and for longer terms. As someone rightly said above, we could end up with plums on long term contracts and thats always a bad situation. Nevertheless its a risk that most clubs have to take - minimising the risk is difficult but thats the difference between a good manager and a bad one. Lets hope CL has seen enough of these players to see that they have the right attitude and the desire and skill to grow, and ultimately take the club forward. 139345[/snapback] So glad I campaigned very early on last season for the outing of MA. If you are manager of a football club the word "club" is encompassing. It means you are manager of other components as well as the first team. Everyone should feel they are important. Everyone should feel wanted and a part of what is going on. I remember a remark made about Mark McGhee being really abrasive to a member of the cleaning staff who wished him well and immediately thought "you won't last long". A manager is a big person. He should not make any of the little people feel small even if he has a point to make. If youth team players are feeling unhappy and unwanted they react like anyone else. They grumble. Before long the mood spreads and you've not a football club but various cliques and a recipe for disaster. 139645[/snapback] Yes, that's why games like the one at Kettering are very good. The mother of one of the scholars said that he's now 18 and starting the second, and I think the last, year of his scholarship. His aim is to become a regular in the reserves this season and it must have boosted his confidence that he got a chance to shine infront of Kenny Black and Peter Houston who manage the ressies and Craig Levein who was watching from the stands. Instead of having a squad full of old players just playing out their days in the reserves we'll now have a small squad that are all competing for the first team and that'll leave the reserves open for some of the academy lads to show what they can do on a bigger stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted 17 July 2005 Share Posted 17 July 2005 great first post, and i can tell u know alot about football , welcome.. and i agree with most points, just i think Gareth Williams will be the shineing player next season tbth, he has the biggest point to prove beng rated forests best player, when they had dawson and andy reid :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hullfox Posted 18 July 2005 Share Posted 18 July 2005 Agree pretty much with what you say but would make a couple of points.Firstly, money restrictions within the club menat that MA could in the main only offer short contracts. Notwithstanding that, there were several dubious signings amongst his shopping list. Secondly, three year contracts are for the same reasoning better. However, if we buy a lemon we are stuck with them. Last season saw the end of some contracts which had they been shorter, would have seen earlier exits for some players IMO. 139128[/snapback] MAs did have the choice of going down the CL route (lower wages + longer contracts) in fact he promised the board he would at least go some way towards that. Instead he bought expensive plums that bruised easily and went mouldy quite quickly where as CL may have bought some lemons but they are a lot cheaper than Micky's plums. 139136[/snapback] Expensive plums for one year or cheap lemons for three - the sums are probably the same. But what about bad apples? Every barrel has one. Actually, I don't concede that CL has bought any lemons. I prefer to look upon MDV as a young tomato plant soon to blossom and bear fruit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supedaj Posted 18 July 2005 Share Posted 18 July 2005 I dont think all of MA's transfers and signings were bad. He did actually think he was getting several players who had a point to prove and would have the hunger to succeed in the premiership (bent, thatcher, ferdinand) & chmapionship (maybe dublin & williams) He had more bad signings than good so best not to ellaborate too much I think ;o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxing_Around Posted 18 July 2005 Share Posted 18 July 2005 Actually, I don't concede that CL has bought any lemons. I prefer to look upon MDV as a young tomato plant soon to blossom and bear fruit. 139777[/snapback] MDV will come good this season, 17 goals from the big man this season... B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hullfox Posted 18 July 2005 Share Posted 18 July 2005 Actually, I don't concede that CL has bought any lemons. I prefer to look upon MDV as a young tomato plant soon to blossom and bear fruit. 139777[/snapback] MDV will come good this season, 17 goals from the big man this season... B) 139898[/snapback] I sense a little wager in G2 this season young Jedi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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