Grade our season - 2018/19

[peterborofox]

6/10

 

I'll give our away form 8/10 tho and our home 4/10

 

I've enjoyed away games more this season than last couple. Imo only really shite ones were Bournemouth and also Palace where we played awful and got **** all. Didn't play great at Fulham or Brighton at times but still got a point. We won at Chelsea, played well at Utd, Arsenal, Spurs and City.

 

Home form has been wank. Losing to Cardiff, Palace, Newcastle, Soton, to name a few.

 

Think we wasted the season with keeping Puel for so long. Really feel like we should be the seventh best team in the league, and we've wasted it a bit. Do feel if he had Rodgers all season this could have been achieved.

 

[CosbehFox]

8 

 

It could have been a disaster post helicopter crash 

[Gazza M]

6/10. Some great results but overshadowed by the death of Vichai and a woeful FA Cup effort. We were sliding fast but Brendan has regalvanised us in recent weeks. 

I would like us to be harder to beat next year. 16 defeats in the league season is too many  Would like to think we could aim for nearer 10 next season. 

[Corky]

Probably best to split this- 

 

Puel- 5/10- Had spells of encouragement, most performances against the top teams were excellent to acceptable, but shocking home results and the Newport cup exit started the end of his tenure.

 

Rodgers- 8/10- Home form has been much better (4 wins and 1 defeat in six if you include Brighton), narrow away defeat at the champions and you can his style starting to take effect.

 

So, 6.5/10. Better than the last two seasons, clearly, but still a feeling we could've done even better. But to be finishing 9th with 52 points and still feel a sense of frustration should be encouraging, not damaging.

[StriderHiryu]

2 hours 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. 

 

Spot on for me. 9th is arguably underachieving given some of the players we still have but this was 100% a transition season for us. We lost Mahrez but gained more points and have successfully introduced a host of new players who are younger and talented. Under Rodgers at the end we also played some great stuff at times. 

 

Next season I’d like to see us close the gap to the top 6 teams. We are certainly capable of 7th but look how close the table was on the last day! It’s not a given that we’ll perform better than Wolves, Everton or West Ham. The potential is there though!

 

 

Edited 12 May 2019 by StriderHiryu

[Dan LCFC]

Positives:

- Recruitment. Yes, recruitment!!! Me, praising recruitment!!! Maddison, Ricardo, Evans and Tielemans were all excellent signings in different ways and all four have played a part in giving me faith for next season. Soyuncu and Benkovic are yet to be seen but they could join this category.

 

- Form under Rodgers. 3rd in the league. We seem weirdly good at first under new managers and I think it shows we have got it in us.

 

- Chilwell. Really kicked on this year, think he went off the boil slightly from January-March kind of time (then again didn't the whole team?) but he's become England's left back now and that's excellent for us and him.

 

- Choudhury. The kid keeps surprising me every time he plays. I thought he'd go the way of plenty that we had high expectations of that seemed to fade but he's hardly ever let us down when called upon. A genuine part of this side now for me and I like him a lot.

 

- Barnes. Has struggled on occasion to get into games but more his West Brom form really - really impressive and their form since he left backs that up. I think he's got work to do at this level but you'd say he's progressed.

 

- Taking points off two of the top three PL points totals ever in the same season.

 

- Relatively good away form.

 

- Relatively improved defence. It was genuinely shocking in 2017/18, now it's not brilliant but it's definitely better, and it's better than some of the bigger sides too.

 

- Vardy towards the end showing he's still got it and that he should still be our focal point.

 

- Holding onto leads. We threw away leads on only three occasions all season at any point in a game - two of them (Burnley A, Fulham H) we still went onto win anyway. Arsenal A the exception. This points to good game management.

 

- The handling of the tragedy. We've been spot on about it really.

 

 

Negatives:

- The very obvious one. Vichai. Simply the saddest event in my memory of Leicester and I'd imagine most of our history. A dark, dark time for the club.

 

- Home form. There were signs of this under Puel last year and it continued into this year. A frequent failure to beat weaker sides (evidenced by the league table) at home. It's gotten better under Rodgers.

 

- Going 1-0 down. This again is something that has improved towards the end but the frequency we'd go 1-0 down was almost scary, the regularity of it occurring early in the game (something you saw in pre-season, sure we went 1-0 down within 10 minutes in nearly every friendly, it wasn't a co-incidence). I think after the Crystal Palace home game we'd gone 1-0 down in something like 15 games out of 17 which is outrageous. This naturally put us at a disadvantage and does offset the stat about us holding onto leads somewhat - we hardly had it

 

- Puel ultimately not working out. I could see some of what he tried to do but he was never going to win the fans around and it was a chore in the end, you just knew it was going to fall apart eventually.

 

- The Newport loss. Nothing short of a disgrace in-particular for a club like us who had little else really to go for.

 

- The Man City cup exit. To go out in the quarter final of a cup competition by naming a side that was ever so slightly too weak to get past the weakened Man City side that would beat us on penalties, before going onto play a semi final against lower league opposition is bad enough. To have the exact same scenario occur again is absolutely unbelievable, and so frustrating. It is no exaggeration to say we could've made cup finals both this and last year.

 

- Iheanacho. It just hasn't worked and the longer it goes on the more damage you feel is being done. Fair play to Rodgers if he thinks he can get a tune from him but I fear he's too far gone with our fans.

 

- Gray. Hasn't kicked on for me and I've hit the point now where I just don't think he's ever going to. He needs to add more goals and creativity to his game but all I see is the same kid we signed three and a half years ago - pacey, does work hard (anyone who says he doesn't is wrong here) but lacking in too many areas to be effective at this level. I think if we want to kick on as a club to the next level, he's a bench player at most.

 

- Atmosphere. It's not good. The clappers I think have helped breed a laziness and now nobody knows how to get involved without them even away from home. The ground was a bit toxic for a lot of this year really, although I do get the football was often shite at home. But no, sadly the atmosphere is firmly in the negatives this year, the same as the last two.

 

 

6.5 / 10 - But it's very hard to grade it really because the Vichai situation skews everything.

[Babylon]

Bland. Got into 7th a few times under both managers and blew it by losing games you’d expect us to do better in. Ditto the cups.

 

Rodgers points gained 17, reverse fixtures  under Puel I think was 18 points. Blew my mind a little that one. The style improved no doubt but I’ve been a tad disappointed in how we approach the last two games. Both free hits and we’ve been quite negative.

 

Over all, you have to be happy with top 10 considering we’ve got such a young squad.

[Koke]

50 minutes ago, Babylon said:

but I’ve been a tad disappointed in how we approach the last two games. Both free hits and we’ve been quite negative.

 

 

Agree. Surprised we started with 2 DMs at home to a lacklustre Chelsea side. Man City away I somewhat get. But we gave Chelsea way more respect than they deserved.

[RowlattsFox]

7/10.

 

I think we've been pretty consistent all season, under both managers, in the sense that we've continuously struggled against defensive teams with the odd excellent performance. I don't think we've been massively different since Rodgers came in, the odd bit of improvements and we've won games I would expect us too and still lost the only home game we've played against a defensive team (Newcastle)

 

Interesting how Rodgers approaches the summer, hopefully he can see the problems and build his squad into the current talent because we're not miles away.

[Mickyblueeyes]

Very hard to grade the season. I would say there were far more positives then negatives this year. 

 

The signings this this season were excellent. The team we finished the season with were far better then the team we finished last year with. Perreira, Maddison and Evans were all excellent business. Add to that, the progress of our young players. I have been a city fan since 1993 and have been waiting for a youth team conveyer belt. In Chilwell, Barnes and Choudhury we have the start of that process. If these three continue to progress that is at least £100 million saved in finding players of similar ilk.

 

In terms of progress, we stayed in the same position but 5 points better off. That’s with losing our best player, Mahrez. We have areas to improve but we didn’t really miss Mahrez that much because the side adapted to create chances from other areas. Having said all that when you see where we lost points, it is a season of what ifs. We need to be better at breaking teams down while still punching above our weight against the top 6.

 

The progress in the cups were slightly disapointing. Not saying we should be winning them but just play the strongest 11. We have no reason to drop our key players in quarter finals against weakened opposition. I hope this changes next year. Legacy is built on trophy’s not on whether you finish 9th or 11th. 

 

The reaction of the club following the tragic events was impeccable. Add to that a manager change, we have done well to ensure we are still one of the top ten teams in the league. Either situation could’ve really derailed the football side but the players reacted really well.

 

I would give this season between a B and C.

 

Next season: progress is dependant on two things: 1) Who we keep; and 2) who we sign. We cocked up the summer after 2016 but have slowly improved to be in a position today (as strange as it sounds) to have a team better off then the title winning side. Would love all of our starting 11 to be there come August and that includes Tielemans. I would also like to see at least 4 new signings (a right winger, a striker, a midfielder and at least one full back). Genuinely believe if we get it right next season (ignoring the title winning season) could be our best yet - to keep the players Europe is a must. 

[Gerard]

7 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Positives:

- Recruitment. Yes, recruitment!!! Me, praising recruitment!!! Maddison, Ricardo, Evans and Tielemans were all excellent signings in different ways and all four have played a part in giving me faith for next season. Soyuncu and Benkovic are yet to be seen but they could join this category.

 

- Form under Rodgers. 3rd in the league. We seem weirdly good at first under new managers and I think it shows we have got it in us.

 

- Chilwell. Really kicked on this year, think he went off the boil slightly from January-March kind of time (then again didn't the whole team?) but he's become England's left back now and that's excellent for us and him.

 

- Choudhury. The kid keeps surprising me every time he plays. I thought he'd go the way of plenty that we had high expectations of that seemed to fade but he's hardly ever let us down when called upon. A genuine part of this side now for me and I like him a lot.

 

- Barnes. Has struggled on occasion to get into games but more his West Brom form really - really impressive and their form since he left backs that up. I think he's got work to do at this level but you'd say he's progressed.

 

- Taking points off two of the top three PL points totals ever in the same season.

 

- Relatively good away form.

 

- Relatively improved defence. It was genuinely shocking in 2017/18, now it's not brilliant but it's definitely better, and it's better than some of the bigger sides too.

 

- Vardy towards the end showing he's still got it and that he should still be our focal point.

 

- Holding onto leads. We threw away leads on only three occasions all season at any point in a game - two of them (Burnley A, Fulham H) we still went onto win anyway. Arsenal A the exception. This points to good game management.

 

- The handling of the tragedy. We've been spot on about it really.

 

 

Negatives:

- The very obvious one. Vichai. Simply the saddest event in my memory of Leicester and I'd imagine most of our history. A dark, dark time for the club.

 

- Home form. There were signs of this under Puel last year and it continued into this year. A frequent failure to beat weaker sides (evidenced by the league table) at home. It's gotten better under Rodgers.

 

- Going 1-0 down. This again is something that has improved towards the end but the frequency we'd go 1-0 down was almost scary, the regularity of it occurring early in the game (something you saw in pre-season, sure we went 1-0 down within 10 minutes in nearly every friendly, it wasn't a co-incidence). I think after the Crystal Palace home game we'd gone 1-0 down in something like 15 games out of 17 which is outrageous. This naturally put us at a disadvantage and does offset the stat about us holding onto leads somewhat - we hardly had it

 

- Puel ultimately not working out. I could see some of what he tried to do but he was never going to win the fans around and it was a chore in the end, you just knew it was going to fall apart eventually.

 

- The Newport loss. Nothing short of a disgrace in-particular for a club like us who had little else really to go for.

 

- The Man City cup exit. To go out in the quarter final of a cup competition by naming a side that was ever so slightly too weak to get past the weakened Man City side that would beat us on penalties, before going onto play a semi final against lower league opposition is bad enough. To have the exact same scenario occur again is absolutely unbelievable, and so frustrating. It is no exaggeration to say we could've made cup finals both this and last year.

 

- Iheanacho. It just hasn't worked and the longer it goes on the more damage you feel is being done. Fair play to Rodgers if he thinks he can get a tune from him but I fear he's too far gone with our fans.

 

- Gray. Hasn't kicked on for me and I've hit the point now where I just don't think he's ever going to. He needs to add more goals and creativity to his game but all I see is the same kid we signed three and a half years ago - pacey, does work hard (anyone who says he doesn't is wrong here) but lacking in too many areas to be effective at this level. I think if we want to kick on as a club to the next level, he's a bench player at most.

 

- Atmosphere. It's not good. The clappers I think have helped breed a laziness and now nobody knows how to get involved without them even away from home. The ground was a bit toxic for a lot of this year really, although I do get the football was often shite at home. But no, sadly the atmosphere is firmly in the negatives this year, the same as the last two.

 

 

6.5 / 10 - But it's very hard to grade it really because the Vichai situation skews everything.

i could have wrote that myself, I basically agree with every point of that. Great post. 

[Hammo]

Erratic in the extreme. Any adjective between sublime and ridiculous could probably be applied somewhere along the line during the course of the past nine months, but one, alas, stands out above all others:

 

Sad.

 

The tragic death of Vichai overshadowed everything.

[demon_dog]

For me it was a tale of 2 managers.

Puel season 4/10, fancy football with no bite.

Rodgers season 8/10, kept reasonably fancy but used our main asset (Vardy) to provide the bite.

[Stadt]

6.5/10

 

We’ve assembled a very tidy team, shifted quite a few players and trimmed the wage bill.

 

For a long time under Puel we were turgid and never looked like fulfilling the potential of the players he’d bought and integrated. Getting Rodgers in was a brilliant move and it’s exciting to see where this team can go.

[Bluearmyfox28]

A* considering everything the club has had to deal with this season. I’m massively proud of the boys for achieving 9th place. The way the club showed there support to Top & his family as well as the way our community got together to thank Vichai for everything he did for our club.

 

Looking back on this past season makes me one proud Leicester fan. 

 

Onwards & upwards.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

6 out of 10

 

as others have said much grief re Khun Vichai 

 

some poor Puel performances

 

but now much hope in Big Brendan 

 

Up The Foxes

Edited 13 May 2019 by Bob Weasel Fox

[DerbyshireFox]

Prediction at the start of the season was 10th on the view of this year being a season of transition with a change of emphasis to a younger side. Then of course we had the tragedy, which shook the entire club to the core. To come through that, be brave enough to make a change in management and bring in a top coach to hopefully progress us even further. This is a season that’s seen the emergence of Chilwell to become ours and England’s first choice left back. A season that has seen the recruitment of Evans, Maddison, Ricardo and Tielemans (on loan), some of the best business we’ve done in years. A season that will be under appreciated by some, but a season where we’ve shown exciting times are ahead

[sheffield_fox]

11/20 for me

Edited 14 May 2019 by sheffield_fox