Much Ado About Everything

So we’ve drawn to a conclusion this season with two games to spare. Some are optimistic for the future; some are relatively disappointed with the result of our season and expectations.

My opinion is that I’ve experienced a preview of the future of this proud club – Leicester City FC. If we get half of what we witnessed possible under the current team then we seriously will be considered a force to be reckoned with in the next season. We just must persist.

I can’t say I’m not disappointed to some extent, but I tried to pour water on my expectations when Sousa took over. I felt even under his helm that it was going to be a year of building a squad that could command the CCC and then push on without too much trouble staying in the Premiership.

Obviously things didn’t pan out that way, and Sven took over a team demoralised and thoroughly not ready for the fight ahead.

Sven had to work with the team that had done well under Pearson, but were coming out of a momentous year losing out in the playoffs, and heads were low as they struggled to play the type of football Sousa requested. Hard times got worse when the team ethic went out the window and transfer requests were put in.

Whilst it hasn’t been confirmed who these individuals were Sven settled the squad and played those who wanted to play.

It’s disappointing that Fryatt couldn’t put together performances either on the pitch or on the training ground, but if his heart was not in it then he had to go. It was no surprise he headed to the Humberside, but that’s for me, water under the bridge, and as a club we should simply move on. I don’t agree with those with the perception that he is now excelling himself in that team, as the statistics are misleading. He’s scored 3 penalties of the 9 goals scored. Another two of those goals were part of a hat trick against a very poor Scunthorpe. In 18 appearances, it just goes to show that he is blowing hot and cold there too.

So we’ve seen what Sven could do in the limited loan market. He shored up a defence that was leaking goals for fun. This hasn’t lasted, but it never was going to be a fool-proof plan. You rarely can find a player with that experience in January, and certainly won’t find any player on the cheap.

Things went off the rails at the end of February. We had the chance and it fell away from us in dramatic fashion. Players made errors, fans became disillusioned, and Sven made errors and admitted these publicly.

We’ve shown at times utterly fabulous football. Passing and movement and glimpses of sheer brilliance throughout the season. We’ve shown incompetence, naivety and laziness at times too.

Some have questioned the togetherness of the squad. The loanees watering down a squad, that has affected both morale and results.

For me what has affected the squad is inexperience. Inexperience for the defence, and inexperience for certain aspects of the CCC for Sven. It would be wrong of me to say otherwise.

But what I will continue to argue is that Sven has been hampered by the formations he has been able to put on the pitch but the type of players we have had available to us in the squad.

Sven has openly stated that 4-4-2 is his ideal formation and that he cannot adopt this due to the weakness in physical strength in the midfield, then forced to play 4-3-3/4-5-1, which doesn’t suit against all teams as we’ve seen.

I think at this stage whether you fall on one side of the Weale/Ricardo argument or other, that we have conceded too many goals fullstop. Whether they were down to goalee error or a lack of communication at the back. Sven tried to stick a plaster over this issue, but we can pretty much put money on seeing a new keeper between the sticks next season for sure.

So where does this leave us now? What kind of future can we look to? What kind of signings can we expect? How much money will be available? Perms, more loanees, or a mix of both? What will the competition for promotion be like? Will the expectation to succeed by even more intense and will the team and manager be under even more scrutiny?

Reserves

Sven probably has the forms already filled in ready for his signature. For me a reserve team is an absolute necessity. Whilst the aren’t real competitive games, they are a crucial place for a manager to try out new formations, partnerships, and keep players fresh for rotation and back-up to the team. More so than all positions, the strikers in the squad need this opportunity to shine and press for call up to the first team. This keeps complacency down in the first team, as the reserve team players have more opportunity to highlight their reasons to take their places.

I can’t stress enough how I believe this has affected our chances this season, and how important it will be for next season. This is of course my perception, and I’m happy to be corrected by professional footballers, or coaches/managers who think the reserves is a waste of time, or doesn’t make too big a difference. A strong performing reserve team, see West Brom in the Cup, will have quality in it. Our reserve friendly team have little or none at the moment. A brighter future awaits us in this regard. That I am confident and looking forward to.

Signings

Everyone will have their thoughts on this topic. More Championship players please Sven. No, more Premiership players Sven!

I’d say both the speculation and then the analysis of players that are brought in will be like nothing we’ve seen before. If we thought we were linked with every Tom, Dick, & Harry before, then we truly will be sick to death, or salivating at the thought of Johnny Bigboots, and/or Jimmy Dandyballs joining the squad, and the benefits or detriment this will have to the squad.

Will Sven take the cautious approach to signings, and not spend ridiculous amounts of money? Well time will tell. It’s difficult to hazard a guess at what the owners will hand him financially. If they are happy to fork out copious amounts for a friendly against Real Madrid, then how deep are their pockets?

My fear is that Sven will have options on the loanees, which I applaud. Outside of Bednar and Kirkland, my view is that all the loanees have been quality, and I would be happy to see them join the squad. That includes Bruma, who I feel has been called crap, when for me, it’s clear he has excellent qualities, and certainly has shown that if played in his strongest position (DM) he could be immense.

Sven has stated that he would like to discuss with all the loanees’ clubs about taking them onboard. This of course won’t be any time soon, until the respective clubs see where they stand, or Chelsea have someone in place who can respond.

I’d be saddened if we failed to get any of the players back whether that be on loan again, or on a permanent deal. Ideally we’d like some more than others, but we shouldn’t be held for ransom financially either. QPR and Mrs. Doubtfire would love to see Naughton in their team. We can only hope that the lad likes the future we have in front of us, and Sven’s management style. Just like the others. If we have the money for them, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll join us for one reason or the other.

So dependant on the money available, it’s clear we need a Goalkeeper, perhaps an experience CB, and a couple of midfielders, certainly an attacking winger who perhaps can switch from left to right or right to left to change things up in a game. We are in dire need of flexibility in the midfield with strength.

Also dependant on the loanee situation, I think Yakubu could do the trick for us next season should Everton and the player agree terms. We will have Waghorn, who I believe will come good with a preseason and a reserve team to play in should he be on rotation. Though my head tells me that Sven will definitely be on the look for another striker, even with Schlupp on the rise. Who that will be is a question at this stage I don’t want to hazard a guess about. Heskey is NOT the answer for me.

Staff

Will Sven be adding to the backroom? Staff are just as less likely to be available for approach during a season and certainly half-way through. Does Sven feel it necessary to bring in a couple of coaches who can add both experience and tactics to the team? For me this is just as crucial to the squad as any signings, and in fact should be a priority before a penny is spent on additions to the team.

I did add that during the season we should have a CE or DoF (Director of Football not Finance) that could grab the club by the scruff of the neck and be able to bring attention to the club for potential players to join us or simply to give the club a long-term plan that could allow Sven to focus on the team and the matches and leave the owners to handle other matters with the CE or DoF, thus negating any interfering form the owners about forcing signings on Sven, or playing matters.

The owners have shown that they are letting Sven to get on with it, but as pressure builds and expectations rise, I really do hope that they don’t get involved. I have already heard a rumour that isn’t unsettling, but it seems similar to something that has happened already that was in question. I can’t discuss it at this stage as nothing’s concrete at this stage. But I will be watching how it develops and will let you know when it’s the appropriate time.

Finance

Moving on to the support that Sven has received this season from the owners. It has been excellent. From the fees and wages paid for alone, I am grateful that they have dug deep. For the re-laid pitch that they forked out for, I am grateful. They have been generous to the fans too in their offers, two new large screen tellys for the stadium, and the mooted proposals for a stadium extension which is ready to start should we receive promotion.

It’s difficult to gauge what kind of money they will put on the table, as in some corners it has been said that they were not expecting to have to spend the amount they have already done so this season.

I have questioned whether this is a ruse to allow us to work in the transfer market without paying dearly or over the odds. If so then, I applaud their sneaky façade. And well done if that is the case. I thought maybe our minority shareholder is actually the one with the serious dough, and he’ll be the one loaning the money into the transfer equation. Because last time I checked knick-knacks, kit-kats, and flip-flops, don’t make as much money as oil and gas. I could be wrong of course. But it’s a serious question that we won’t have the answer to. I thought it silly of our owners to announce under Sousa that we had a particular amount of money to spend (£10mill) at the beginning of the season. Sunderland chuckled up their sleeve when we paid way over the odds for Waghorn. They quoted a silly price and our owners just said yes.

If we are in fact trying to keep an even keel and not drive the club into further financial mire, our owners may keep the purse tight until promotion, and insist that we can make a limited level of permanent signings and the rest shall be frees, and loanees. This is bound to upset some fans, and certainly doesn’t seem the best plan for the long-term. In fact it will be taking another gamble.

But our prospective financial muscle will count for nothing unless it’s spent wisely. But we are not the only ones with money at our disposal.

Competition

This season has been tough. No questions about it. Even QPR weren’t invincible when Scunthorpe made them look terribly rubbish with a 4-1 defeat! Though it could be argued that Taarabt didn’t play so it was inevitable. But I digress.

Teams have flown from promotion (as we did) into the contention for playoffs again this season. Leeds, Milwall, and Norwich. Leeds and Milwall fell by the wayside at the final hurdles, but their momentum was fantastic. They both have an outside chance should Nothingham Florist drop a bollock.

But not all of those in contention for the playoffs will make it. So who will it leave behind to fight it out next season, and will they be able to contend once more without that momentum, and inevitable misery of playoff defeat?

It could be even more open than this season not even taking into account those coming down from the Premiership.

Strong contenders in the CCC:

Portsmouth – New Russian owners with wealth looking to take over shortly. Good spine of players. Could afford to work the transfer market.

Ipswich – Good run of results and players will mean that they have a point to prove now Keano is gone. Ipswich have more money than is generally promoted. Keane was one of the best paid managers in the Football League. More so than the majority of Premiership clubs. They have money it just needs to be spent wisely. They have Jewell who is no slouch.

Leeds – May well fall flat, as they are actually exceeding expecattions. Tough season for them next, should they not spend some money. Fans will want glory though they should be content with consolidation out of League One.

Cardiff – Are owned by a Malaysian business consortium fronted by a man who is said to be worth over £800mill. They have shown that they are willing to spend money and attract quality to their squad beyond their means. Please see Bellamy. If they do not go up this season. I expect them to spend money on their loanees and strengthen even more.

Then we have the additions to the league. Brighton (for sure), and possibly Southampton/Hudderfield/Peterborough/MK Dons/Bournmouth/ and with an outside chance Leyton Orient.

Southampton- Seem likely to go up, and they are an unknown quantity financially, but they have spent a lot of money in League One terms. Their owner died but apparently they are financially assured. Momentum and Nigel Adkins at their helm might see them being a dark horse.

Brighton – have an excellent manager in Gus Poyet, and in my view while he is there they will be another dark horse riding the wave of momentum. I don’t think they’ll do a Norwich, but they’ll be scrapping for every point, with a new stadium, a trophy in the cabinet, they’ll fear no one.

Discussing the Premiership teams coming down is much more difficult than I thought it would be with contenders from 16^th Blackburn to 20^th West Ham. Anything could happen in the next few weeks.

All those in that battle could easily have the squads to put a fight on to return to the Premiership.

Blackburn – Have new owners and investment. If they did go down they could either bomb it, or destroy the league.

Blackpool – May have team spirit, but if they go down they could quite easily staty down. With a good few quality players, they may well be picked clean with no replacements or real money to attract them. The windfall is great but it’s not money in the bank.

Wigan – They have a decent manager and a squad full of talent. I feel they have the money and players to do a Newcastle.

Wolves – They are the same as above. Also the have a manager, should he not be fired or leave, who knows this league. They have young squad coming through should their best players be sold. However, I think they may have enough money to keep them.

West Ham – An intriguing dilemma. Huge stadium coming their way, with tetchy owners at the helm. Money can talk, and they may well have to buy a manager and team to do so. Players will be jumping ship like rats from a sinking ship methinks. With not much youth seemingly coming through, there could be a disaster on their hands. Again, I stand to be corrected, as I am going on appearances rather in an in depth research at this stage, of a club I care not for.

So with the standard of competition against us, the impending fortune of the Premiership about to shrink, and the financial pressure of our owners to make the promotion next season, what are the fans expectations?

Expectation

There have been expectations from some element of our fans that expected us to walk this season to promotion with the exact team that Pearson had, plus a couple of signings. Nothing more nothing less. We had the team last season to get us to the playoffs and with additions we should have contended for automatic promotion.

In my view these are the same people who are disgusted by the number of loanees that Sven has utilised to get us a whisker from the playoffs, have no faith in his managerial ability and question his ability to motivate the team, and expected when he took over to instantly turn lead into gold.

There’s been circles of fans who have over-scrutinsed the negative points of the squad, selection, and manager’s history to the point where it is impossible for them to back down and actually realise that we have made progress and the club is not stalling in it’s business, but is gradually building momentum and strength, as QPR started to do last season, and then into this one.

Sometimes it can be easy to be blinded by a dislike for a player. You state your case, provide the facts, but people disagree with you, so you stick to your gins even more. You seek vilification for your facts, and evidence of further atrocities to back yourself up. You become so ensconced in your own righteousness that you fail to see others points of view, and evidence to the contrary of your own. Even in full light of conflicting facts, it’s easy to become blinkered.

I’ve seen enough of this type of behaviour this season, and to say that it has had no ill effect on the players this season would be wrong. Some behaviour has been abhorrent and even those on the pitch have shouted back at the fans shaking their heads. How can the team remain engaged and motivated, if they are being picked at by groups and individuals amongst the crowd? I would say VERY difficult.

I’ll save the discussion about the media and their expectations for another article, but I will say that the influence locally on some of the supporter is evident in reinforcing the behaviour for ratings and coverage. This is not beneficial and is counterproductive to the future of the club and the team.

The team will have expectations of the support. The best that we can give them is support to each and every one of them that crosses the white line.

The Future

For me though this season has had what seems more lows than highs, in reality it hasn’t. It truly has been a preview of the future of Leicester City. We’ve got one hell of a road to go an it won’t all be perfect, but it’ll be the most exciting it has EVER been for me as a supporter. And I may even say the most reprehensible thing ever muttered by a Leicester City fan, but we might even surpass the history and excitement of the Martin O’Neil era and anything before it.

I’m going to enjoy every single kick and save made next season. I’m going to enjoy the sense of intrigue and wonder to every name we’re connected to, even the most ridiculous! Because we are destined for the Premiership, we just have to believe it, and next believe in the players and then the man at the helm – Sven-Goran Eriksson. The future is bright the future is blue and white!

Up the Foxes!

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