But he was our top scorer last season.

[Dan LCFC]

I don't think Nugent's a bad player, and there's a reason he keeps getting in - however I don't think he's at Vardy or Ulloa's level and if we're to go with two up front, I want it to be those two.

[ian_marshall]

That's the point isn't it? It got deflected. It's like saying 'that penalty would have been a goal if the keeper hadn't saved it'. He had a chance and he didn't score it. Yes it was on target, yes if the defender hadn't been in the way it would have gone in, but it didn't go in.

I appreciate that it wasn't a six yard tap-in which he blazed over the bar, that it was on target, that it wasn't a must-score match-altering balls-up, but you asked me for an example of a chance he'd had and had failed to convert, and I thought I'd start with one from today's game.

So by that logic Ulloa should also be dropped as he had a shot deflected wide from 5 yards today which was laid on a plate by Nugent. Oh and he also missed a one on one against Arsenal.

Nugent admittedly hasn't hit form and is very much a confidence player who drifts in and out of form, however his work off the ball is immense, vastly understated, and is a key cog in this Pearson team.

[MC Prussian]

I don't think Nugent's a bad player, and there's a reason he keeps getting in - however I don't think he's at Vardy or Ulloa's level and if we're to go with two up front, I want it to be those two.

Nugent is neither as blessed with a heading ability like Ulloa nor as quick as Vardy - he's more of an all-rounder, possessing a vast array of different talents at none of which he really excels.

That's why he hardly ever stands out on the pitch and his contribution goes often unnoticed.

 

But on his best day, he's unstoppable.

[maddog]

Shit today. Not seen the whole 11 and subs lack so much purpose for a full 90 minutes for a good while.

The 4-1 loss at home to Brighton springs to mind, complacent week...

Palace had 8 men behind the ball all first half, neither side looked like scoring then it was the tale of two set pieces and game over.

Hamer needs to be given more of a chance in goal. Kasper is motionless on the line for all set plays. Speroni claimed crosses in the same area as Palace's goals comfortably. Against sides like Palace/Stoke/QPR/Burnley/West Brom who are going to lump a lot of crosses in we need a commanding goalkeeper who can contribute to defending them.

I've said the same thing since before the season started and after each and every game, not just a fickle remark after a defeat.

Watch Kasper stand on his line motionless for all set pieces, ever since he flapped at a corner at Chelsea he's stood on his line (clearly been told to by Pearson).

Eventually it will become unstuck. Why can't he come off his line to try deal with some of the crosses? The defence can't clear the ball 100% if the time as shown twice today.

A toothless performance all round.

[Dan LCFC]

Nugent is neither as blessed with a heading ability like Ulloa nor as quick as Vardy - he's more of an all-rounder, possessing a vast array of different talents at none of which he really excels.

That's why he hardly ever stands out on the pitch and his contribution goes often unnoticed.

 

But on his best day, he's unstoppable.

 

Yep I can't disagree with that. It's a funny one and it's a good problem to have. I'm not doubting he's got ability, I just think Vardy and Ulloa are more effective at what they do.

[Oxfordfox83]

The position behind the striker requires the following....

-Good positioning

-Good touch

-Good passing

-Quick feet/thinking

Nuge exhibits all these. His weakness is his finishing.

Nuge has very little of the above, or at least very little compared to some of our other squad players such as Mahrez.

Mahrez, King, DD, Cambiasso. That's about all I can think of.

You can insult me all you want. All I have done is raised a point, and I believed I have raised it validly. Wrong, you've raised it like an arsehole with a personal agenda. I haven't gone around insulting players that's basically all you've done. , suggesting that unknown quantities like Powell are better than nugent. I haven't even suggested a replacement, with the exception of trying mahrez, someone quicker, with a killer pass, behind ulloa. No arguments that a 442 with Mahrez looked a better option to me. I think if we had, NP would have played Nuge behind Ulloa to start.

This isn't a scapegoating thread based on today's performances. It absolutely is. Nugent was one of the key reasons we beat Man United, played out of his skin against Arsenal, and has been a key part of an excellent team start to the season. Part way through the game today you threw your toys out and started dribbling about how Nuge doesn't score enough goals. Everybody, literally everybody but you knows that Nuge is in to link up, make assists and cut off their outlets. You seem to think the people who disagree with you believe because he was top scorer he's our chief threat. You're wrong, no one thinks this. Is he a winger? Absolutely not, no more than Mahrez is a 10. But the team played awfully, Nuge was given the task of playing in front of our worst midfield performance in months, in a formation that didn't suit the game, and his performance was no worse than the rest of the team. But a continuation from last season. Of course, penalties 'do count'....but when you don't win them yourself, and do not score many in open play, you are basically only on the field for penalties.

On the subject of rooney, who we all criticized for doing exactly what nugent has done so far this season (with the exception of netting in open play), is a great example of how someone in Nugent's role should play. He assists and scores many goals, unlike nugent. Players who play in that 'linking' role still score goals and create a lot of chances....nugent hasn't done either so far this season. Deluded or liar? He hasn't scored from open play, we get it. He's missed a couple of sitters. His all round game has more than justified his place in everyone's eyes but yours.

Cambiasso's comment about adapting to the pace of the English game was perfect...'No one can run as fast as the ball'. I am afraid for nugent, at this moment, the games are simply passing him by. Sorry, again you've looked at one game, decided he's the problem and come out with a bland contextless comment to pseudo-justify it.

His contribution so far this season, is just like hume in the championship. Lots of legs, limited quality. My main issue with all of this is somehow you've come to the conclusion that when we win, we win as a team, but when we lose, it's entirely the fault of one member of the team who has been ever present in our previous excellent displays. I don't even think Nuge was particularly bad today (Ulloa did little enough, DD was poor, the whole back 4 looked lost) but even if he had been bad it's one bad game. You decided halfway through that it was all his fault. You continue to be whiny and personal, with no sensible comments, just a pervading sense that Nugent has commuted some massive injustice on you. If he has, you need to get over it, because this forum is about football, and you are far too keen to gloss right over that.

[Dickov22]

How did Cambiasso play?

He was really poor and anyone suggesting otherwise is only doing so because he's Cambiasso. His corners were poor, he looked quite slow and gave the ball away a lot. He wasn't the only one who had a poor game and Drinkwater was probably worse.

Game to forget Col

[Dickov22]

I think it's really unfair to scapegoat Nugent, but it's also so strange how some on here also refuse to consider someone else's view point. Football is a game of opinions, and on here if you have one that goes against the majority, you're lambasted.

A couple of days ago I suggested Matty James should play if fit, and if that meant play instead of Hammond or Cambiasso then so be it. I stand by it. I think he has so much quality, and should play. I got hammered on here mind just for having that opinion. Why?

I'm mid ground when it comes to Nugent. I think he's done ok so far, but he wouldn't be in my best 11.

[foxfanazer]

Seriously though...What did he actually do against United?

It was a great team performance.....but I cannot remember him do anything except the penalty.....

I honestly cannot remember him touching the ball very often, If at all.

Palace were not negative...they just have a plan and it worked.

The way they broke was similar to what we tried at the bridge.

If you don't think he had a great game against United then you are seriously deluded. Broke up play so many times, won flick ons for Vardy and scored an important penalty.

If you are going to hang a player out to dry at least balance it fairly

[Charl91]

If you don't think he had a great game against United then you are seriously deluded. Broke up play so many times, won flick ons for Vardy and scored an important penalty.

If you are going to hang a player out to dry at least balance it fairly

 

Yeah, he did have a great game against United to be fair, as I said earlier, did a good job on blind. But it's not his defensive contribution which I believe is the problem.

[maddog]

Nugent has started every single game this season and has been largely ineffective in most of the minutes in every game.

Perhaps a spell on the bench might improve his performances when he has something to prove as a substitute.

[foxfanazer]

Yeah, he did have a great game against United to be fair, as I said earlier, did a good job on blind. But it's not his defensive contribution which I believe is the problem.

Just my opinion but I think Nuge gets given quite specific jobs to do in a lot of games which might make him look worse than he is. I know that might sound a bit strange but I've noticed it a few times now.

He's not going to be a 15 goal a season striker in the prem by any means but I think at the end of the season if you looked back at all our goals you'd see he was involved in a fair few

[Col city fan]

He was really poor and anyone suggesting otherwise is only doing so because he's Cambiasso. His corners were poor, he looked quite slow and gave the ball away a lot. He wasn't the only one who had a poor game and Drinkwater was probably worse.

Game to forget Col

If you suggest this, then I'll take it.

But there were posters in the Player ratings thread who gave him 8/10?

[Stadt]

I think people still see Nugent as a striker where he's more of a midfielder now, it still doesn't excuse missed chances but if you can't look past his goals scored figure then engaging in a debate about him isn't worthwhile.

[Dickov22]

If you suggest this, then I'll take it.

But there were posters in the Player ratings thread who gave him 8/10?[/quote

They wouldn't have done if he wasn't called Esteban Cambiasso

[StanSP]

If you suggest this, then I'll take it.

But there were posters in the Player ratings thread who gave him 8/10?

 

Laughable. I know I said he did alright earlier on in the thread but he, and perhaps the rest of the squad, deserved no more than 6.

[pazzerfox]

And so after a defeat....it begins....Sigh.

[Freesolo]

I like Nuge he isn't going to be a prolific goalscorer in the Prem but he works Hard to win the ball and is a very good player on the break he always looks like he is trying to create something when he has the ball

[Dan LCFC]

He was really poor and anyone suggesting otherwise is only doing so because he's Cambiasso. His corners were poor, he looked quite slow and gave the ball away a lot. He wasn't the only one who had a poor game and Drinkwater was probably worse.

Game to forget Col

 

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

[inckley fox]

If you suggest this, then I'll take it.

But there were posters in the Player ratings thread who gave him 8/10?

 

I saw it and thought Cambiasso was by some distance our best man on the field. Not that he, or anyone else, moved any mountains. We made chances while he was on the pitch and were completely nullified when he went off, and quite a few neutral pundits have pointed out that it was a strange substitution too. Hammond and Cambiasso have a serious lack of pace between them, but to take Cambiasso off in order to address this, as opposed to the ex-Colchester United stalwart, is eyebrow-raising to say the least!

[Dickov22]

I saw it and thought Cambiasso was by some distance our best man on the field. Not that he, or anyone else, moved any mountains. We made chances while he was on the pitch and were completely nullified when he went off, and quite a few neutral pundits have pointed out that it was a strange substitution too. Hammond and Cambiasso have a serious lack of pace between them, but to take Cambiasso off in order to address this, as opposed to the ex-Colchester United stalwart, is eyebrow-raising to say the least!

I think he came off because he took a heavy knock in the first half to be honest. However, he didn't play well. No one did though other than James

[inckley fox]

If you suggest this, then I'll take it.

But there were posters in the Player ratings thread who gave him 8/10?[/quote

They wouldn't have done if he wasn't called Esteban Cambiasso

 

Not necessarily true. He wasn't especially decent, but what does his previous career history have to do with anything? Are people still gunning for Morgan because he played for Forest? Let's not forget that plenty of people had it in for Cambiasso before he'd ever kicked a ball, because of the drawn out transfer. There are plenty out there who feel more allegiance to De Laet and Nugent than they do to Cambiasso (see the absurd Nugent thread where, as honourable as it is to defend your own players, there are plenty of fans who apparently rate Nugent more highly than Pearson does).

 

As plenty of non-Leicester fans have pointed out in the media, he was opening up play much better than our other midfielders and when we took him off we posed absolutely zero threat. And haven't we figured out yet that our problems with corners under Sven and Pearson aren't down to Gallagher, Knockaert, James, Waghorn, Cambiasso, Mahrez or Marshall, but with our approach to attacking them?

[inckley fox]

I think he came off because he took a heavy knock in the first half to be honest. However, he didn't play well. No one did though other than James

 

I wouldn't even extend that credit to James. He came on too late in the day to have any major effect.

 

But his reaction suggests that he didn't come off because of a knock.

[inckley fox]

So by that logic Ulloa should also be dropped as he had a shot deflected wide from 5 yards today which was laid on a plate by Nugent. Oh and he also missed a one on one against Arsenal.

Nugent admittedly hasn't hit form and is very much a confidence player who drifts in and out of form, however his work off the ball is immense, vastly understated, and is a key cog in this Pearson team.

 

I don't believe he's a key cog and I do believe some people on this forum will have little choice but to concede this when he's dropped, as he almost certainly will be, at some point in the coming games. The fact that Pearson has just brought in two players who fit precisely his role - and put them in our first team squad - suggests that he's well aware of his deficiencies.

 

And 'by that logic Ulloa should also be dropped' - how do you come to that conclusion? Ulloa has hit 5 goals in 6 games in the Premier League, whereas Nugent has hit ten in seventy-odd. Now I know that he isn't primarily a goalscorer, but when a player - and a forward at that - misses a key chance, you tend to put it in a very different context when his goals-per-game ratio is 5 in 6, as to when it's 1 in 6.

[inckley fox]

Erm, fkcing no, your being an utter clown on this score i'm afraid, he's outside the box for one and he's got several defenders in front of him including one trying to block the shot and the one that's deflected it, all in all it's a really, really good effort. And you want to class that as a "clear cut chance" ridiculous. He's done pretty much all he can do with that effort bent it round the man in front of him and probably beaten the keeper if it didn't take a nick.

 

As I said, amazing.

 

I always neglect to point out to you what an undeniable half-wit you are in these discussions, so I'd appreciate it if you'd afford me the same courtesy. Especially when I'm stating a straightforward fact.

 

It's a chance, he didn't score it. You asked for an example of a chance he hasn't converted and I gave you one. If you look back over the last match thread, as I did last night when you asked me to name the minute this happened in, then you'll find there were others of the same opinion.

 

There are more examples, of course. More examples, at least, than you can find examples of him having scored crucial chances this season.

 

Of course, the ultimate test will come in the coming weeks. I'd love Nugent to cement a place in the side, seizing and setting up crucial goals; but his record this season and over sixty previous matches at this level where, over time, he was considered not good enough for struggling and ultimately relegated sides suggests that there should be a question mark over his place in the side.

 

And Pearson appears to agree with me; though he's a solid enough professional not to admit it. After all, he has just signed two #10 strikers. Or maybe I'm an absolute fking clown for having noticed that.