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Thracian

Levein's Midas touch

By Thracian, in Leicester City Forum

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Thracian

Thracian

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Eight months or so into his Leicester career Levein supposedly has a reputation for signing value-for-money players. But is it really the case? What do you think?.

I'll go:

Douglas: 2/10 Just wholly unconvincing. Celtic barely need a keeper so he's been spoiled and Scotland have had a diabolical team for years.

Maybury: 8/10. Looks great. Hard-working, committed, capable and probably captain material.

McCarthy: 6/10: Combative but so hands-on, committed and compulsive he always looks likely to drop a clanger.

Johansson: 7/10: Looks a good defender generally.

Gilbert: 4/10. Cannot see any merit in his signing at all and can't see much merit in his game either

Gerrbrand: 6/10. Early days but seems alright.

Sylla: 7/10. Quick, skillful. If he's got the stamina and end product should be excellent.

Henderson: 5/10. Not convincing.

Kisnorbo: 0/0. Will he ever play?

Elvis: 0/0. Nothing of note to judge him on yet.

DeVries: 6/10. Creative. Nicew touch player. Hasn't functioned as a striker.

They seem to be the principal signings (I'm sure I have forgotten one or two) but were I a manager whose signings made this impression I wouldn't be in any way complacent.

Two out of 11 look categorically bad to me and Henderson possibly so, Kisnorbo, Elvis and Gerrbrand have yet to make any impact, leaving Maybury, Johansson, Sylla as the genuine successes and DeVries (as I always say) as the enigma but let's be charitable and say "matbe".

Let's hope the next month or so prove me wrong on one or two. I shall be more than pleased.

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Leicester_Mad

Leicester_Mad

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True we should get behind them but a few of these have been here longer than 1 game. Hughes, Maybury, McCarthy and De Vries were here last season dont forget..

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and out of them De Vries had a bad season last year - by his own admission. He played a lot better on saturday but because he didnt score 70goals he isnt good enough :smile:

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marko

marko

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Gilbert: 4/10. Cannot see any merit in his signing at all and can't see much merit in his game either.

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After 15 minutes, give the lad a chance to prove himself. He's not even fully match fit as he's not had much of a pre-season.

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supedaj

supedaj

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70 goals? he didnt even get 7, nor did he get 3... ultimately he has played over 20 games surely. So we as fans ar allowed to express our opinions having seen them in a decent run of games.

I dont think its fair to judge the others just yet - granted Douglas had a blinder on Saturday - but an outstanding performance from him would not have ensured his whole season was like that. They all need a decent run of games before we can really critisise (or praise for that matter).

Would rather have a fit DeVries scoring a goal in 3 games than have him score 3 in one game and then be abysmal in the following 2 games...

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Ric Flair

Ric Flair

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I don't know how you can say Henderson is bad aswell. He wasn't at fault for the goals against Inter and pulled off some good saves. I also doubt anybody watched him against Lillestrom, so we can't judge whether he's a crap signing or not.

I'd say the only player who hasn't strengthened our team has been de Vries. Douglas may well prove to be a liaibility aswell, but other than those two all of Levein's signings that i've seen play have looked better than the dross Adams signed for us.

Maybury is better than Makin and Canero.

McCarthy is better than Dabizas and Matt Heath

Momo Sylla looks quality, a damn site better than what Gillespie looked last season.

Douglas and Henderson both might struggle to match Ian Walker's talents, but it's early days and I doubt we could have kept Walker on anyway.

Johansson looks premiership class, something Dabizas and Heath obviously weren't.

Gerrbrand again looks class from what i've seen, he's got a good reputation for being one of Sweden's most talented youngsters and we've done well to get him. Better than Dabizas and Heath.

Stephen Hughes is better than Scot Gemmill, Joey Gudjonsson, Craig Hignett, Ricardo Scimeca and any other midfielder than Adams signed for us. He's young, talented and cheaper than the one's listed above.

Paddy Kisnorbo is another one I can't comment on, but we are desperate for a reliable ball winner and he was signed before the emergence of Wesolowski. Hearts fans say he isn't that talented and I feel he'll give us cover in positions that will come under strain over a 46 game season.

de Vries hasn't been good at all. He might come good, but the fact is he's been a poor signing. Is he better than Scowcroft, Benjamin and Blake? You'd say so, but we perhaps could have signed someone better.

All in all, Levein know's what he's doing

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Anish

Anish

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You have only seen Douglas, Gilbert etc play ONE competitive game. Give them a chance before you judge them for gods sake.

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Exactly.

And Gerrbrand and Henderson haven't even played one competitive game yet.

Give them a chance before writing them off.

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Chrysalis

Chrysalis

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Douglas was poor against sheff? yes

This makes him bad signing? dont know

I dont judge after 1 competitive game, this is a new team they need games to gel, they will have off games as well, lets hope that was douglas off game, if he has more bad games then henderson can be brought in so we have options.

For the most part I like the signings, remember this time last year our squad sale value was probably on par with a league 2 team. Now we have players on proper contracts at proper ages, so even if we decided to part with johansen this summer he will command a fee. Understand?

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Thracian

Thracian

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and you have forgotten the main man hughes - probably because he doesnt fit into the criticising routine. Get behind him and his **** signings rather than slating them ONE game into the season

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Smashing player when he turns out (and I can't wait to see that happen).

Forums are often about criticism but I was not intending to pre-judge anything on this thread.

I was asking for people's opinions with an utterly open mind and felt it was decent to express my own views first seeing as I was asking others to lay their opinions on the line.

I very often adjust my point of view as a result of comments on this forum which possibly explains why I post on here rather than elsewhere (and why I ask so many questions).

But, please don't mistake my enquiries/criticisms/questions/concerns etc for any negativity in relation to City.

I've been a fan (active and passive) for 45 years and half the time we sat exposed to rain and snow (around the pitchside running track) when I started. That doesn't make my views any more relevant than a young first season fan but it does, I hope, show a commitment to the cause.

I give credit when it's due, don't worry but City's result (I didn't say display) at Sheffield was woeful and you can hide behind all the excuses you like (what Sheffield do and what referees do doesn't really bother me) but we contributed to our own downfall and that is what I have criticised.

Bet Levein was critical too - both of himself and the players.

Bet the players were critical of themselves and each other.

Well I feel it just the same. I don't watch/listen like its another episode of the Archers. First game, last game, middle games I want us to win and if we don't I'll give my opinion as to why. Put all the opinions together and somewhere along the line it might help.

It's the same with individual players. If I think Douglas is a weakness and 10 members of this forum give reasons why I've got it wrong, I'll probably run a video or be watching next time to see if they've got a point.

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Thracian

Thracian

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I don't know how you can say Henderson is bad aswell. He wasn't at fault for the goals against Inter and pulled off some good saves. I also doubt anybody watched him against Lillestrom, so we can't judge whether he's a crap signing or not.

I'd say the only player who hasn't strengthened our team has been de Vries. Douglas may well prove to be a liaibility aswell, but other than those two all of Levein's signings that i've seen play have looked better than the dross Adams signed for us.

Maybury is better than Makin and Canero.

McCarthy is better than Dabizas and Matt Heath

Momo Sylla looks quality, a damn site better than what Gillespie looked last season.

Douglas and Henderson both might struggle to match Ian Walker's talents, but it's early days and I doubt we could have kept Walker on anyway.

Johansson looks premiership class, something Dabizas and Heath obviously weren't.

Gerrbrand again looks class from what i've seen, he's got a good reputation for being one of Sweden's most talented youngsters and we've done well to get him. Better than Dabizas and Heath.

Stephen Hughes is better than Scot Gemmill, Joey Gudjonsson, Craig Hignett, Ricardo Scimeca and any other midfielder than Adams signed for us. He's young, talented and cheaper than the one's listed above.

Paddy Kisnorbo is another one I can't comment on, but we are desperate for a reliable ball winner and he was signed before the emergence of Wesolowski. Hearts fans say he isn't that talented and I feel he'll give us cover in positions that will come under strain over a 46 game season.

de Vries hasn't been good at all. He might come good, but the fact is he's been a poor signing. Is he better than Scowcroft, Benjamin and Blake? You'd say so, but we perhaps could have signed someone better.

All in all, Levein know's what he's doing

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That's exactly the sort of considered assessment I was hoping to hear. I wouldn't always agree with the last line but the man who never made a mistake...

Anyway, thanks. The comparison between present and previous incumbents was valuable.

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Thracian

Thracian

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I'd give Levein 10 games to see how things pan out, if we start winning and moving up table then that's good. If last seasons form continues and we either draw or lose matches then inevetably Levein will be sacked. It's that simple!

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It certainly isn't that simple to me.

Many people have expressed the view on this forum that the present squad shows much more promise than the squad which Adams left us with (and I agree with em). Furthermore there seems little doubt that Levein is keen to bring young players through which I also agree with.

That being the case if we have a bad run of results is that a reason to sack the manager?

Not in my view. My own concerns have been expressed in the hope that improvements are made. Not in the hope that the manager gets sacked.

If we play well for 80 minutes then its the mistakes made in the last 10 need rectifying.

I know I understate things but if I want the manager sacked I think you'll know. :)

I don't. Not now. Not later. But he has got shortcomings and he'll need to deal with em like everyone else.

Personally I hope he's here in two/three years time by which time we're likely to be in the Premiership. So long as his playing policy is positive and he shows himself willing to improve the details as well as the broader picture then I'll just chip in to make sure he doesn't get complacent. :):):)

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Darth Fox

Darth Fox

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I don't want Levein to be sacked either but modern football is all about money and success so he will get sacked. It is so expensive to watch football these days that attendances will drop etc and the buck has to stop somewhere let's just hope we beat Stoke convincingly and win at weekend too. It's been a while.

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Ric Flair

Ric Flair

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The fact is we haven't had a settled side for years. Levein has talked about this and said it needs rectifying, but he's then been out and signed 10 players himself so although these players are better than the previous batch, we still have the problem that there's no continuity or rapport there. That takes time and i'm trying to be realistic. It's hard to use excuses like this though, the fact is on paper our team is one of the strongest in the league and that indicates that if we aren't up there near the top then we are under achieveing and the blame lies with the manager for not getting the best out of the players.

I think that it won't do this club any harm to stay in this league for however long it takes to build a team worthy of getting promotion. Aslong as we improve each season i'll be happy. It's the time in between games like today where it gets frustrating but once match day comes along i'll be as positive and passionate as i've always been. I just want to start enjoying watching Leicester and i'm starting to do that under Levein.

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