Knockaert leaving in June - Signed for Standard Liège

[sylofox]

If he wants to leave he'll find a club. If he can't get a game why would we want to keep paying his wages?

Gally

[Babylon]

Even Mahrez, what has the guy done to make him so undroppable in the eyes of many? He flatters to deceive far more often than he has an end product.

But he still has more end product than Knockaert, as he showed last year in the few games he played at that level.

[The Railway Man]

Shame to see him go but didn't think he was good enough for this level from what I saw.

 

Although how he's spent so much time on the bench when Schulpp has been on the pitch is baffling.

[indierich06]

I'd imagine that Albrighton will want to play for almost any other team that one managed by NFP.

You didn't answer my question. I asked who would want him? No-one in the PL, surely. And who in the Championship is going to match his wages and give him a chance based on a few sub appearances for us and Villa and a couple of unsuccessful loans over the last two/three seasons?

People on here act like he's the second coming and its a crime that he hasn't been playing. Whenever he has played, he's looked bang average to me. I certainly can't see that he's that much better or worse than Schlupp or Mahrez.

[MPH]

Shame to see him go but didn't think he was good enough for this level from what I saw.

 

Although how he's spent so much time on the bench when Schulpp has been on the pitch is baffling.

 

 

Err what?

[adamlcfcbevo85]

I for one am not the slightest bit happy about this and I'm convinced now how blind NP is did alright for us but he's not great he's replaceable , talent like knockeart going for free is ludacruss !

[Babylon]

I for one am not the slightest bit happy about this and I'm convinced now how blind NP is did alright for us but he's not great he's replaceable , talent like knockeart going for free is ludacruss !

Answer me this... do you know whether Knockaert refused a contract / negotiations, or whether it was the clubs decisions?

 

Also, keep in mind his article stating we were a stepping stone and he'd give it three years here.

[Corky]

What if we offered him a new deal and turned it down? What if he'd played most games and still wanted to go in June?

 

As much as he's passionate, committed and all energy, there's always been the feeling he'll be off when a better offer comes along, this could be the case however many matches he's played this year.

[Babylon]

What if we offered him a new deal and turned it down? What if he'd played most games and still wanted to go in June?

 

As much as he's passionate, committed and all energy, there's always been the feeling he'll be off when a better offer comes along, this could be the case however many matches he's played this year.

Indeed. I would say it's more likely he had no interest in signing than the other way round. Even if Pearson only saw him as a squad player we'd still try and keep him as he's an asset.

[Fez of Mahrez]

I wrote this up recently when it looked like he was going on loan, just as a bit of writing practice. Not everyone will like it, but it sums up my thoughts.

 

---

 

Knockaert’s arrival harked back to the days before the internet when players would suddenly turn up at clubs without the faintest hint prior to their arrival. In contrast to the protracted negotiations and hundreds of column inches associated with the signings of Esteban Cambiasso and Andrej Kramaric, Knockaert was pictured at the training ground holding a City shirt before anyone had heard of him.

 

He had been spotted by scouts while playing for Guingamp in the French second division. What they saw was a short, tricky wide player with a low centre of gravity and excellent technical ability. City needed a winger but nobody was quite sure whether Knockaert would fit the bill. He soon demonstrated that he would and, despite fluctuations in form during his first season in English football, there was enough to get excited about.

 

To say there were highs and lows would be an understatement. Knockaert announced himself to a wider audience with an audacious second goal at Huddersfield three months into his City career, a barely describable backheeled volley from behind his head. It was the sort of thing that wasn’t really seen anywhere, let alone in a Leicester City match.

 

Entering the final moments of City’s last league game of the season at the ground of rivals Nottingham Forest and the score tied at two apiece, a goal for either side would mean a prized play-off place. Forest threw men forward but were hit on the counter attack. Knockaert ambled towards a baying away end with his unique running style like an Olympic walker on fast-forward, his limbs always doing more than seems necessary. Pace has never been Knockaert’s strong point but on this occasion he didn’t need to be any quicker. They weren’t catching him. He exchanged passes with Chris Wood and swept the ball into the net before whipping off his shirt and leaping towards the ecstatic City supporters behind the goal.

 

So those were the highs. The season was extended into the play-offs and the low was sadly yet to come. The score was again level at 2-2 at Watford’s Vicarage Road, this time on aggregate after 180 minutes of nerve-shredding action, City fans again found themselves watching Knockaert running towards them. This time he felt a touch and flung himself to the ground. Improbably, a penalty was awarded and Knockaert insisted on taking it. The sequence of events: Knockaert shoots. Saved. A chance on the rebound. Saved again. Cleared. A Watford counter-attack. Goal. Watford win. City’s season over, within thirty seconds of being a single kick from Wembley. Knockaert in tears, surrounded by jubilant pitch-invading Watford fans. Devastation.

 

There would be no lows in Knockaert’s second season in English football. On his return to Vicarage Road, he lashed the ball into the same net he had been unable to find earlier in the year as City bagged three without reply on their way to a magnificent league title.

 

City fans had enjoyed numerous flashes of Premier League class from Anthony Knockaert in those two seasons in the second tier, but would see very little of him at the top level. Whether this was down to his efforts in training, the form of his fellow wide players Jeff Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez or an interview given to the French media in which he was quoted as saying City were merely a stepping stone in his career, Knockaert’s time appeared to be coming to an end.

 

The reason a loan departure of an unfavoured squad member deserves comment is for that moment in Huddersfield when a Leicester City player produced a moment of quality you see once each decade. The nearest equivalent in recent history is Muzzy Izzet’s overhead kick at Grimsby in 2002.

 

It isn’t so much the moments of brilliance that Knockaert has given in a blue shirt that tinges his departure with sadness – it’s the emotion in the way he plays football and the effect he has on others. He both displays and provokes emotion far more than the average footballer and certainly more than most players who leave to fall down the league ladder.

 

Any goalscorer can create elation, but not all can create wonderment. Any footballer can show their disappointment, but not many are ever inconsolable with tears to the point where fans can empathise with them. This emotional quality should be cherished, especially in the modern game when so many players are seen as uncaring mercenaries who are force-fed statistics and programmed to be effective and efficient rather than volley the ball in off the crossbar with their heel from behind their head.

[little Brian]

its ok , weve got andy king for four more seasons lol  lol

[Matt]

The more I think about this the more it winds me, just another nail in Pearson's coffin as far as in concerned. I said it earlier in the season and I'll say it again, use him or lose him - he obviously chose to lose him.

[kingfox]

Nah, it's Pearson's fault.

 

If he prefers Schlupp to him then he needs no explanation for why we are so shit. It's that kind of decision making that has been our downfall.

 

Even Mahrez, what has the guy done to make him so undroppable in the eyes of many? He flatters to deceive far more often than he has an end product.

 

We're obviously going back to the Championship where Knocky is a top player. There has also been no evidence to prove he's not up to Premiership standard, he simply has not been given a chance.

 

This is just another reason why Pearson needed the chop weeks/months ago.

Well we all know you hate Jeff so no way your opinions turning, but one thing I'll say is that if he stays, I wouldn't be surprised if he tears some teams apart next season, I honestly think he will be one of our better players.

Tom Lawrence will only get better & better, he did well at Rotherham so will having him as a first team option be so depressing, in my opinion no.

Then we come to Albrighton, fans writing him off would be stupid, top flight experience and guaranteed assists, if Albrighton actually gets a chance he could become a key player next season.

Is Knocky really a top Championship player though? Two years ago I would of said yes, but after some performances last season he came across as a pretty average Championship player.

Finally you don't know who we will sign as possible replacements, they could do a far better job than Knockaert, a less greedy winger would be a good start.

[ScouseFox]

I wrote this up recently when it looked like he was going on loan, just as a bit of writing practice. Not everyone will like it, but it sums up my thoughts.

 

this should be in a spoiler titled NSFTEUAKF (not safe for the emotionally unstable anthony knockaert fan).

 

i can't remember the last time i was genuinely upset at the demise and now thought of losing a player. i'm not sure i ever really have been. but if (when?) tony goes i will be. 

[RedSoxUK]

Well we all know you hate Jeff so no way your opinions turning, but one thing I'll say is that if he stays, I wouldn't be surprised if he tears some teams apart next season, I honestly think he will be one of our better players.

Tom Lawrence will only get better & better, he did well at Rotherham so will having him as a first team option be so depressing, in my opinion no.

Then we come to Albrighton, fans writing him off would be stupid, top flight experience and guaranteed assists, if Albrighton actually gets a chance he could become a key player next season.

Is Knocky really a top Championship player though? Two years ago I would of said yes, but after some performances last season he came across as a pretty average Championship player.

Finally you don't know who we will sign as possible replacements, they could do a far better job than Knockaert, a less greedy winger would be a good start.

 

Bang on - plus Lawrence is supposedly going out on loan to Bournemouth, very attacking team, perhaps the attacking freedom and attack minded play he needs to progress at this stage.

[Steve_Walsh5]

I wrote this up recently when it looked like he was going on loan, just as a bit of writing practice. Not everyone will like it, but it sums up my thoughts.

---

Knockaert’s arrival harked back to the days before the internet when players would suddenly turn up at clubs without the faintest hint prior to their arrival. In contrast to the protracted negotiations and hundreds of column inches associated with the signings of Esteban Cambiasso and Andrej Kramaric, Knockaert was pictured at the training ground holding a City shirt before anyone had heard of him.

He had been spotted by scouts while playing for Guingamp in the French second division. What they saw was a short, tricky wide player with a low centre of gravity and excellent technical ability. City needed a winger but nobody was quite sure whether Knockaert would fit the bill. He soon demonstrated that he would and, despite fluctuations in form during his first season in English football, there was enough to get excited about.

To say there were highs and lows would be an understatement. Knockaert announced himself to a wider audience with an audacious second goal at Huddersfield three months into his City career, a barely describable backheeled volley from behind his head. It was the sort of thing that wasn’t really seen anywhere, let alone in a Leicester City match.

Entering the final moments of City’s last league game of the season at the ground of rivals Nottingham Forest and the score tied at two apiece, a goal for either side would mean a prized play-off place. Forest threw men forward but were hit on the counter attack. Knockaert ambled towards a baying away end with his unique running style like an Olympic walker on fast-forward, his limbs always doing more than seems necessary. Pace has never been Knockaert’s strong point but on this occasion he didn’t need to be any quicker. They weren’t catching him. He exchanged passes with Chris Wood and swept the ball into the net before whipping off his shirt and leaping towards the ecstatic City supporters behind the goal.

So those were the highs. The season was extended into the play-offs and the low was sadly yet to come. The score was again level at 2-2 at Watford’s Vicarage Road, this time on aggregate after 180 minutes of nerve-shredding action, City fans again found themselves watching Knockaert running towards them. This time he felt a touch and flung himself to the ground. Improbably, a penalty was awarded and Knockaert insisted on taking it. The sequence of events: Knockaert shoots. Saved. A chance on the rebound. Saved again. Cleared. A Watford counter-attack. Goal. Watford win. City’s season over, within thirty seconds of being a single kick from Wembley. Knockaert in tears, surrounded by jubilant pitch-invading Watford fans. Devastation.

There would be no lows in Knockaert’s second season in English football. On his return to Vicarage Road, he lashed the ball into the same net he had been unable to find earlier in the year as City bagged three without reply on their way to a magnificent league title.

City fans had enjoyed numerous flashes of Premier League class from Anthony Knockaert in those two seasons in the second tier, but would see very little of him at the top level. Whether this was down to his efforts in training, the form of his fellow wide players Jeff Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez or an interview given to the French media in which he was quoted as saying City were merely a stepping stone in his career, Knockaert’s time appeared to be coming to an end.

The reason a loan departure of an unflavoured squad member deserves comment is for that moment in Huddersfield when a Leicester City player produced a moment of quality you see once each decade. The nearest equivalent in recent history is Muzzy Izzet’s overhead kick at Grimsby in 2002.

It isn’t so much the moments of brilliance that Knockaert has given in a blue shirt that tinges his departure with sadness – it’s the emotion in the way he plays football and the effect he has on others. He both displays and provokes emotion far more than the average footballer and certainly more than most players who leave to fall down the league ladder.

Any goalscorer can create elation, but not all can create wonderment. Any footballer can show their disappointment, but not many are ever inconsolable with tears to the point where fans can empathise with them. This emotional quality should be cherished, especially in the modern game when so many players are seen as uncaring mercenaries who are force-fed statistics and programmed to be effective and efficient rather than volley the ball in off the crossbar with their heel from behind their head.

That nearly brought a tear to my eye.

Good write up.

[nettle]

I wrote this up recently when it looked like he was going on loan, just as a bit of writing practice. Not everyone will like it, but it sums up my thoughts.

---

Knockaert’s arrival harked back to the days before the internet when players would suddenly turn up at clubs without the faintest hint prior to their arrival. In contrast to the protracted negotiations and hundreds of column inches associated with the signings of Esteban Cambiasso and Andrej Kramaric, Knockaert was pictured at the training ground holding a City shirt before anyone had heard of him.

He had been spotted by scouts while playing for Guingamp in the French second division. What they saw was a short, tricky wide player with a low centre of gravity and excellent technical ability. City needed a winger but nobody was quite sure whether Knockaert would fit the bill. He soon demonstrated that he would and, despite fluctuations in form during his first season in English football, there was enough to get excited about.

To say there were highs and lows would be an understatement. Knockaert announced himself to a wider audience with an audacious second goal at Huddersfield three months into his City career, a barely describable backheeled volley from behind his head. It was the sort of thing that wasn’t really seen anywhere, let alone in a Leicester City match.

Entering the final moments of City’s last league game of the season at the ground of rivals Nottingham Forest and the score tied at two apiece, a goal for either side would mean a prized play-off place. Forest threw men forward but were hit on the counter attack. Knockaert ambled towards a baying away end with his unique running style like an Olympic walker on fast-forward, his limbs always doing more than seems necessary. Pace has never been Knockaert’s strong point but on this occasion he didn’t need to be any quicker. They weren’t catching him. He exchanged passes with Chris Wood and swept the ball into the net before whipping off his shirt and leaping towards the ecstatic City supporters behind the goal.

So those were the highs. The season was extended into the play-offs and the low was sadly yet to come. The score was again level at 2-2 at Watford’s Vicarage Road, this time on aggregate after 180 minutes of nerve-shredding action, City fans again found themselves watching Knockaert running towards them. This time he felt a touch and flung himself to the ground. Improbably, a penalty was awarded and Knockaert insisted on taking it. The sequence of events: Knockaert shoots. Saved. A chance on the rebound. Saved again. Cleared. A Watford counter-attack. Goal. Watford win. City’s season over, within thirty seconds of being a single kick from Wembley. Knockaert in tears, surrounded by jubilant pitch-invading Watford fans. Devastation.

There would be no lows in Knockaert’s second season in English football. On his return to Vicarage Road, he lashed the ball into the same net he had been unable to find earlier in the year as City bagged three without reply on their way to a magnificent league title.

City fans had enjoyed numerous flashes of Premier League class from Anthony Knockaert in those two seasons in the second tier, but would see very little of him at the top level. Whether this was down to his efforts in training, the form of his fellow wide players Jeff Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez or an interview given to the French media in which he was quoted as saying City were merely a stepping stone in his career, Knockaert’s time appeared to be coming to an end.

The reason a loan departure of an unflavoured squad member deserves comment is for that moment in Huddersfield when a Leicester City player produced a moment of quality you see once each decade. The nearest equivalent in recent history is Muzzy Izzet’s overhead kick at Grimsby in 2002.

It isn’t so much the moments of brilliance that Knockaert has given in a blue shirt that tinges his departure with sadness – it’s the emotion in the way he plays football and the effect he has on others. He both displays and provokes emotion far more than the average footballer and certainly more than most players who leave to fall down the league ladder.

Any goalscorer can create elation, but not all can create wonderment. Any footballer can show their disappointment, but not many are ever inconsolable with tears to the point where fans can empathise with them. This emotional quality should be cherished, especially in the modern game when so many players are seen as uncaring mercenaries who are force-fed statistics and programmed to be effective and efficient rather than volley the ball in off the crossbar with their heel from behind their head.

You've got this spot on mate excellent post.

[the-blue-wildabeast]

Do people honestly think he's good enough for the Prem? Honestly? 

How will we ever know from 1 start is it? Certainly technically a better player than Schlupp, end product is far more important than pace, really not sure why we are so obsessed with pace in this country, its the only reason the likes of Akinbyi and Tricky Trev get into professional football in this country.

[Matt]

How will we ever know from 1 start is it? Certainly technically a better player than Schlupp, end product is far more important than pace, really not sure why we are so obsessed with pace in this country, its the only reason the likes of Akinbyi and Tricky Trev get into professional football in this country.

 

3 Starts.

6 Substitute Appearances.

330 minutes

 

(1 F.A Cup start, 1 League Cup start)

 

But even so, it's not really alot of pitch time to judge whether he is good enough or not either way. I would have liked to have seen him given [more of] a chance though.

[ScouseFox]

3 Starts.

 

considering one was everton when he was clearly not fit, one was stoke at home (i didn't see that so can't really comment) and he was man of the match in a win against villa that is ridic. 

 

the amount of fans on here that wrote him off after one unfit hour in our first game of the season was absolutely mental. according to most after that hour it was proven that he wasn't up to this league and he should be gone. nuts. 

[Guest ttfn]

considering one was everton when he was clearly not fit, one was stoke at home (i didn't see that so can't really comment) and he was man of the match in a win against villa that is ridic.

the amount of fans on here that wrote him off after one unfit hour in our first game of the season was absolutely mental. according to most after that hour it was proven that he wasn't up to this league and he should be gone. nuts.

People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people Scouse.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

So much for the know alls, that reckoned our squad will stay the same basically, and that's why we will go straight back up.

 

Baloney!

[Matt]

considering one was everton when he was clearly not fit, one was stoke at home (i didn't see that so can't really comment) and he was man of the match in a win against villa that is ridic. 

 

the amount of fans on here that wrote him off after one unfit hour in our first game of the season was absolutely mental. according to most after that hour it was proven that he wasn't up to this league and he should be gone. nuts. 

 

Wow, and people lay into me for going over the top slagging players off who have consistanly shite, making stupid mistakes all season.

[Monsell1976]

A player who is clearly talented and offers something diferent, not given a chance this season and his contract has been left to expire.

Shame really, as I still think he has a bright future, shame it's not going to be here.

[Rob1742]

I don't like knocking Pearson for what he has achieved in the past, but am very disappointed the way he has handled Anthony.

I don't think he is the easiest to handle, but talent rarely is and we are seeing a player leave that is a one off find.

He genuinly loved this club. This isn't media bullshit, this is a fact and at the end of last season I know he would have stayed with us, even if we were to go straight back down as he enjoyed it so much.

One year on and I can't help but think he has been hard done too. Not given a chance, yet we have constantly struggled.

Happy for us to freeze out Danns, Milks, Beckford etc, but it's very difficult to buy talent that has his ability together with the genuine desire to play for our club.

Absolutely gutted that he will probably go. Should have been managed better and then he would have still been here next year for the battle in the championship.

Now where are we going to find another Knockaert? You can be sure Mahrez will be snapped up and that leaves us well short in quality in our squad that will try and regain promotion.

Reminds me of young Max Gradel. Lovely lad, great talent yet we lost him too as he had a bit of an edge.