Grade our season - 2018/19

[Koke]

All things considered.

 

Positives:

 

9th is respectable but this team could do more. Seen the the emergence and maturity of Chilwell, Madisson and Ricardo. Barnes and Hamza developing nicely. Vardy scoring 18 PL goals. Johnny Evans proving to be an astute signing. Likewise Tielemans. Moved on old players and deadwood. We have evolved our football a lot since Shakespeare was sacked, thanks to both Puel and Rodgers.

 

Negatives:

 

Some shocking home defeat against poverty teams like Newcaste, Palace, Southampton, Cardiff. Ihenacho still not doing well 2 years after signing him. Question marks over Gray and Mendy. Fans abusing each other over Puel In/Puel Out. Had Europe within our reach but threw it away. 

 

7/10 for me. 

[Blue ROI]

7.5/10

 

4 points off Chelsea and 4 points from playing Liverpool and Man city. That's a very good return.

 

Young squad highly regarded and a new manager off to a solid start.

 

A lot of things to be worked on but given how most of the season has been in the aftermath of the tragic crash we did alright.

Edited 12 May 2019 by Blue ROI

[Jazzy_Jeff]

At the start of the season if you’d have offered me 9th place, a great squad full of young players and Brendan Rodgers at the end of it I’d of bit your hand off.

 

admittedly, we could have got 7th if not dropped some points we shouldn’t have but might not be the worst thing. A season for BR to get the squad he wants before a proper assault on the top 6!

 

onwards and upwards!

[Izzy]

You got it about right Koke I reckon.

 

Added bonus of the season for me has been the form of Evans. A brilliant bit of business and an absolute colossus at the back.

 

 

[ousefox]

A wasted season sadly by keeping Puel over the summer which surprised me a lot. There's no way this squad should not be finishing 7th -above a team that has just come up from the championship.

 

One of the most boring seasons we've ever had which led me to lose a massive amount of interest for the first time ever until Brendan came in. Hugely promising signs for next season though and I can't wait to finally be excited about watching us compete for something again.

 

5/10

[Grebfromgrebland]

Grade C, finished as expected could've done better, could've done worse.

 

Lost too many games through silly errors. Room for improvement.

[UPinCarolina]

7.75.

 

We’re a better side on and off the pitch than we were when last summer started. The past year has been very tumultuous and at times calamitous. It’s going to be a hot summer - I expect to lose one of Chilwell, Maguire, Ricardo or Ndidi and to see the arrival of at least 3 new players.

[lgfualol]

6/10

 

Too many poor frustrating performances and a lot of players only looked like they could be arsed in like half the games. Good stuff moving towards a younger side though.

[Fox92]

Average. 6/10 at best.

 

The summer was the best in years, though. Evans, Ricardo, Maddison.... all excellent signings.

Edited 12 May 2019 by Fox92

[chapero82]

I can’t grade this season as it’s too sad ☹️ 

 

RIP Vichai 

[urban.spaceman]

I think 7/10 is probably about right overall, considering what happened in October. Though I’ll probably give 6/10 to Puel and 9/10 to Brendan. 

 

Puel’s negatives probably go without saying but he does deserve credit for his recruitment and long term planning. Ricardo, Evans and Maddison are all outstanding signings, and while Ward was expensive as a backup keeper he did a decent job in the cups. Soyuncu and Benkovic were again expensive but should provide good competition in the future. Dierdre was just a weird signing. Tielemans was a terrific loan signing which exemplified for me that Puel could identify weaknesses and how to fix it with whom, which just Karen his persistence with Wilf and Mendy all the more frustrating and baffling. 

 

Overall we must take Vichai’s tragic death in account. That dressing room must have been a complete mess when it happened and I’m sure that affected us mentally for a long while. Puel deserves a lot of credit for his work behind the scenes during that time. 

 

Brendan fills me with so much excitement for the future. With some good recruitment I believe we could genuinely get 4th-6th next season. 

[Wolfox]

Lots to be positive about I’d say…. Consequently I’d grade highly - 8.5

 

a young talented motivated team…. You’ll look back on your LCFC supporting years and reflect on this era with great fondness I think…

[foxfanazer]

6/10

[StanSP]

45 minutes ago, Koke said:

All things considered.

 

Positives:

 

9th is respectable but this team could do more. Seen the the emergence and maturity of Chilwell, Madisson and Ricardo. Barnes and Hamza developing nicely. Vardy scoring 18 PL goals. Johnny Evans proving to be an astute signing. Likewise Tielemans. Moved on old players and deadwood. We have evolved our football a lot since Shakespeare was sacked, thanks to both Puel and Rodgers.

 

Negatives:

 

Some shocking home defeat against poverty teams like Newcaste, Palace, Southampton, Cardiff. Ihenacho still not doing well 2 years after signing him. Question marks over Gray and Mendy. Fans abusing each other over Puel In/Puel Out. Had Europe within our reach but threw it away. 

 

7/10 for me. 

Would agree with this really.

The other positive being how well we've ended the season. 2 clean sheets and 4 points from Arsenal/Man City/Chelsea games. The other thing being how our form picked up at the right time when there were slim doubts we could get sucked in to the relegation fight; we've picked up 20 points from the 11 games Rodgers has been in charge compared to 20 points from Puel's last 20 games.

 

We had some great positives in beating Man City and Chelsea and Everton around that festive period but sadly these moments weren't consistent enough. All that hard work was negated by the home defeats that you mention (the Southampton and Cardiff ones really annoy me). 

 

Tielemans has been simply just exactly what was needed in our team. Injection of enthusiasm and energy and taking the weight off Maddison to be the creator in the side. A feel-good factor about Youri. 

 

No point repeating the Vardy stats. They speak for themselves! One of the best strikers in recent Premier League years no doubt about it. 

 

Negatives were the Puel matches; really tried to back him til the end but it obviously became clear we could do better and that he wasn't good enough for his. Fully respect the challenge he had following October's tragedy and I feel this was overlooked by several fans in how hard it would have been to get the players galvanised again after that given the grief they must have all individually and collectively been feeling. Generally though the consistency wasn't there for him and the tactical stubbornness was probably his downfall - however can also fully appreciate his faith in youth and developing younger players which he tried to implement here as well as still trying to get results. It's clear to see how much better and exciting we are under Rodgers though.

 

Additionally, not having more goals in the team alongside Vardy. There's only so much we can rely on him for and I know Maddison has chipped in but we really are truly fvcked if Vardy gets a long-term injury. Love to have faith in Iheanacho but I can't see it clicking for him, at least not every game should it come to it. Definitely need a striker to complement and support Vardy when required.

 

[String fellow]

Regarding our cup exploits, Puel blew a good chance of us winning the Carabao Cup, and another opportunity was lost in the Newport disaster.

[David Hankey]

I wonder where we would be now had Brendan been here from Game 1. It's so easy to look back and see where we lost points but in reality with a bit more effort and having a manager who recognised the strengths of his squad throughout a full season there is no reason why we shouldn't be 5th or 6th spot. Given the tragic events of last year and the unfortunate experience of our previous manager 9th is probably about right but next season it won't feel as though we have achieved much if we're still in the same position.

Edited 12 May 2019 by David Hankey

[Sampson]

Does anyone else cringe when people use the word "poverty" as an adjective to describe football teams.

Edited 12 May 2019 by Sampson

[katieakita]

8/10 and think some need to take a step back. We are now established as a PL club and had a massive blow with the tragic helicopter crash and things could have gone very badly. Such a tragedy, but it has brought the club as a whole together having lost one of our own. The long term commitment from the Owners is clear to see. We have upgraded the Manager with someone we probably would not have been able to do at the start of the season and have one of the youngest squads and starting 11 in the PL. The value of the squad is as high as it has ever been along with the clubs profile. Taking one freakish season away we have not had many top 10 finishes and when we did under MON there was always the thought we had reached a ceiling and were punching way above our weight. More consistency and we could have/should secured European Football for next season but we now have another season to prepare for it. The English clubs success in the European Cups shows just how high a standard the PL is with all 4 finalists coming from the league and that does not include Man City. Yes we have made mistakes but every other team has and under the stewardship of KP the club has never been in a better or more stable position. Look around at the clubs around us in the Midlands we used to look up to and see just how far we have come. Stick together and a little bit more additions to the squad and next season can be even better

[AKCJ]

Just now, Sampson said:

Does anyone else cringe when people usetheword "poverty" as an adjective to describe football teams.

nah

[LinekersLugs]

BEFORE BR 4.5/10 

 

After BR 7.5/10

[AKCJ]

6/10 would be about fair.

 

Don't think anyone call really overstate just how utterly shit we were between about half 5 on Boxing Day up to the 24th of February.

 

On the same token the club deserves immense credit for the results and the way they all handed themselves after the crash.

 

Since Rodgers has taken over though we've looked absolutely phenomenal at times. There are still things to be ironed out but I honestly think we can have a seriously good push for European football next season. When you consider Man United, Arsenal and even Chelsea (post-Hazard) all have major surgery needed, there are signs that we can seriously push forward.

[LestaAl]

In Brendan we trust- well most of the time anyway if the excellent run into the last third of the season continues next campaign . The regular sense of frustration associated with the first part of this season for good and bad reasons Is best confined to history and for that reason it’s only 5/10 for me.

...hoping for better next season.

[cropstonfox]

4 oit of 10 .A wasted season under Puel.

In Brendon we trust-he realises that this is a results business.

[Otis]

7/10

 

Although looking very positive for next season

[Monsell1976]

Not going to grade this season as there has been to much turmoil and grief, but considering everything we are still in the premier league.

 

Praise for top, stepped in to make changes during the pain he was suffering, so this season is over, but boy am I excited about next season.

 

 I honestly believe with Rodgers and the signings he will attract, we will make top 6 next season, I couldn’t get excited last summer, but I am this, I think he will get the signings done early as he wants plenty of time to work with the squad.

 

 And for all the haters on here, Rodgers has seen something in nacho, and he’s going to prove a lot wrong, in Rodgers words, he’s a talent with no confidence.