Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
 Share
Happy Fox

Manager for the Championship rebuild - who do you want?

By Happy Fox, in Leicester City Forum

Recommended Posts

indierich06

indierich06

Posted
Posted

Sure, if you look on paper, two promotions look great. 


As others have said, if you bother to even slightly scratch below the surface, there are multiple red flags that appear around his negative, defensive football, general underperformance given squad quality, fallouts with players, fallouts with the board - it all screams to me that this is someone we should avoid.

 

But hey, the board know best I guess.

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
HankMarvin

HankMarvin

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

Here's just one example of what Fulham and Bournemouth fans are saying about him. And there are loads saying more or less the same thing:

 

 

It’s amazing how many people are still ok with Smith being appointed on the back of what happened at Norwich.

https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2022/12/27/the-final-straw-and-not-just-for-dean-smith/

 

“As I write, Dean Smith (as far as we know) remains in situ. Whether he will be by the time I finish this piece… who knows.

But if he is and, more importantly, if he is still here on Friday when we face Reading, then no one wins – unless, of course, you’re a stubborn, cornered sporting director who currently perceives getting one over the City fans as a win.

For every other party – the football club, those who are employed by it, those who love it, and, crucially, Dean Smith – there are no winners if he stays.

 

With his every passing word, it’s becoming abundantly clear he is not enjoying his time here – why would he? – and I suspect, deep down, he never has. At no point has he looked comfortable in the role, nor in the dugout, and now the dissenting voices are vociferous and loud, it must be miserable.

Equally, he’s a professional and with that comes professional pride and a CV that needs to be as unblemished as possible. There’s also the small matter of a contract that would need to be honoured by the club if it’s they and not he who calls time on his tenure.

 

But either way, last night’s humbling looks and feels like the final straw. The sight of fighting in the City away end only further magnifies the unrest and the need for decisive action to be taken to – at least in the short term – arrest a slide that’s pitting City fan against City fan.

It’s been the grimmest of seasons, but last night felt like a new low.

Whether Stuart Webber has the will to do the most humane thing is now the big question. So too whether the Club can actually afford for him to do the most humane thing. We know that money is very tight – as is the wont of a self-funded football club – and they may simply not have the funds to do so.

If so, another sorry indictment of this increasingly rotten (and rotting) regime.

Talking of which, any decision to relieve Smith of his duties will require Webber to admit he made a mistake in appointing him in the first place – not something the Webber of 2022 appears particularly comfortable in doing. But a misjudgement on such an industrial scale also brings into question his own position.

Let’s not pretend these things are easy though because they’re clearly not. Wind the clock back 13 months and most agreed Webber’s decision to pull the trigger on Farke was the right one, but where it went awry was when Smith was chosen as his replacement. Not only did it appear rushed, it also veered away from the Club’s masterplan.

It didn’t work and it can’t continue.

Nothing works anymore. Going to a back three doesn’t work; reverting to a back four doesn’t work; playing Josh Sargent alongside Teemu Pukki doesn’t work; reshaping the midfield doesn’t work.

We compete reasonably well and have, so far, remained free of those bruising Premier League-style thumpings that became our schtick last season because, on paper, we have better players than many opponents but, as a unit, there’s absolutely no pattern or cohesion.

Smith and Craig Shakespeare may give the players the freedom to problem solve on the pitch, which in a different time and place may be considered brave and bold, but that only works when you have players equipped to do so. And they’re clearly not.

While I have no doubt they are all working very hard on fields of Colney, there’s precious little evidence of it when crunch time arrives. It’s becoming increasingly shambolic. In the heat of battle, the thinking becomes muddled and the pre-match messages lost.

It’s a group of players bereft of belief, void of confidence, and without direction. That the coaching team has failed in its most primary of tasks is no longer up for debate.

But also, for this group to be so fragile that it shrinks rather than grows when faced with opponents who are down to ten, says an awful lot about its own lack of cojones.

Technically blessed some of them may be but, as we well know, it takes more than ‘tekkers’ to win games of Championship football.

Some of that steel comes from within, which is why recruitment is crucial – ie. signing the right type of character – but part of it comes down to how the players are prepared, fired up, and motivated. The Classes of 2018-19 and 2020-21 would have, as the saying goes, ran through brick walls for Daniel Farke.

I don’t see this lot running through wet paper bags for anyone anytime soon.

Yet, as we’ve discussed on these pages many times, the removal and replacement of Dean Smith would be only part of the reset needed. The problems run way deeper than a dysfunctional coaching setup.

But his has to be the first domino to fall. That one of the dominos to follow should be the sporting director is a major problem and is why Dean Smith, after several weeks of it being clear his race is run, is still here.

What a bloody mess.”

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ClaphamFox

ClaphamFox

Posted
Posted (edited)

In the past few minutes Jason Bourne and Owynn Palmer-Atkin have both confirmed on twitter that they've not heard anything credible which suggests we've appointed Scott Parker. Maybe there is some hope...

Edited by ClaphamFox
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
5waller5

5waller5

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, FoyleFox said:

 

The full reply if you don't have Twitter

 

Play it out from the back, pass it around the defence endlessly until you misplace a pass that leads to a goal or you bore the opposition into submission. Retain loads of possession to no good effect in the hope of snatching a goal. At such time as a goal is scored, regardless of what minute you score in, take off your best player and go to 5 at the back. Make all your subs defensive ones, particularly if it means you can play players out of position. Soak up pressure for the rest of the game and do not, under any circumstances, cross the half way line. Never consider coming from behind to win a game. Damage limitation at all costs. Make sure the players do not get carried away with ideas of individual brilliance. Slow and steady wins the race. If the players do not follow your instructions send badly written notes onto the pitch for opposition players to laugh at. Effort on the training pitch during the week is everything. Make sure the players know that no-one is more important than you. Improving players is for losers. Turn every player into a carbon copy of yourself. If things start to go badly engineer an exit that enables you to distance yourself from the shambles and maintain your aura of brilliance. Make sure everyone knows about your past achievements. Remember that results directly reflect the poise of your hair and quality of your cardigan. Your survival is more important than anything else. The Scott Parker must go on. #ffc


If ever we wanted a clone of Rodgers this is it.

 

I genuinely fear for the club if this goes ahead

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jobyfox

Jobyfox

Posted
Posted

Not so long ago when we were finishing 5th, 5th and 8th I’d have been horrified at the thought of Dean Smith as Manager

 

Now he shines like a bright beacon of managerial credibility when the alternative seems to be Scott Parker!! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pliskin

Pliskin

Posted
Posted

Fans will rarely be happy in this scenario…. We’ve had to sit through a slow painful downfall that some fans feared was happening 18 months ago, so it’s hard to be positive and offer constructive feedback when what you want doesn’t materialise. 
 

However, what we want and what we need are two different things.

 

Let’s take Parker for example, are Bournemouth’s fans argument valid? Or Fulham’s for that matter? Both of those teams were promoted under Parker, and that is exactly what the club are looking for. We’re at a very important period in this clubs history, if we get this wrong then everything falls apart. It’s okay some fans thinking we’re likely to remain in the championship for a while, but that’s the pessimism of last season still lingering.

 

The club will have no intention of staying in this league, they will want an instant return, so their next appointment needs to be necessary not sexy. To be fair I couldn’t give a shit if we’re boring, if we bore ourselves to 1st and get promoted I’ll be elated. Parker factually is a fairly safe option, he’s achieved promotions in recent times and that isn’t to be snuffed at, regardless of the grievances. As fans we will always feel entitled to more, especially us given our recent success, but it’s those entitlements that land you in hot water, because you’ll forever be lusting for what you want, over what you need.
 

We want good football? Exciting football? Well then JDT may provide that, but then ask why did they not go up? Yes they took us to pieces at the KP, but that’s no achievement based on last seasons home form.
 

Id prefer someone with a proven record and the club won’t take any unnecessary risks, McKenna looks like a fantastic prospect, but the reality is he hasn’t been tested at this level, so he’s a risk, as is JDT his Blackburn side were exciting to watch, but they’re still in the championship. 
 

The vision to rebuild will come when it’s right, this season will be a mixture of signing some steady players with promotion experience, and some young talent that we can take forward with us.

 

I’m not fussed about attractive football this season, I’m bothered about getting it right and getting back to the premier league. Everything we need to do this season needs to be done out of necessity, even if it’s not sexy. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
An Sionnach

An Sionnach

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, HankMarvin said:

It’s amazing how many people are still ok with Smith being appointed on the back of what happened at Norwich.

https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2022/12/27/the-final-straw-and-not-just-for-dean-smith/

 

“As I write, Dean Smith (as far as we know) remains in situ. Whether he will be by the time I finish this piece… who knows.

But if he is and, more importantly, if he is still here on Friday when we face Reading, then no one wins – unless, of course, you’re a stubborn, cornered sporting director who currently perceives getting one over the City fans as a win.

For every other party – the football club, those who are employed by it, those who love it, and, crucially, Dean Smith – there are no winners if he stays.

 

With his every passing word, it’s becoming abundantly clear he is not enjoying his time here – why would he? – and I suspect, deep down, he never has. At no point has he looked comfortable in the role, nor in the dugout, and now the dissenting voices are vociferous and loud, it must be miserable.

Equally, he’s a professional and with that comes professional pride and a CV that needs to be as unblemished as possible. There’s also the small matter of a contract that would need to be honoured by the club if it’s they and not he who calls time on his tenure.

 

But either way, last night’s humbling looks and feels like the final straw. The sight of fighting in the City away end only further magnifies the unrest and the need for decisive action to be taken to – at least in the short term – arrest a slide that’s pitting City fan against City fan.

It’s been the grimmest of seasons, but last night felt like a new low.

Whether Stuart Webber has the will to do the most humane thing is now the big question. So too whether the Club can actually afford for him to do the most humane thing. We know that money is very tight – as is the wont of a self-funded football club – and they may simply not have the funds to do so.

If so, another sorry indictment of this increasingly rotten (and rotting) regime.

Talking of which, any decision to relieve Smith of his duties will require Webber to admit he made a mistake in appointing him in the first place – not something the Webber of 2022 appears particularly comfortable in doing. But a misjudgement on such an industrial scale also brings into question his own position.

Let’s not pretend these things are easy though because they’re clearly not. Wind the clock back 13 months and most agreed Webber’s decision to pull the trigger on Farke was the right one, but where it went awry was when Smith was chosen as his replacement. Not only did it appear rushed, it also veered away from the Club’s masterplan.

It didn’t work and it can’t continue.

Nothing works anymore. Going to a back three doesn’t work; reverting to a back four doesn’t work; playing Josh Sargent alongside Teemu Pukki doesn’t work; reshaping the midfield doesn’t work.

We compete reasonably well and have, so far, remained free of those bruising Premier League-style thumpings that became our schtick last season because, on paper, we have better players than many opponents but, as a unit, there’s absolutely no pattern or cohesion.

Smith and Craig Shakespeare may give the players the freedom to problem solve on the pitch, which in a different time and place may be considered brave and bold, but that only works when you have players equipped to do so. And they’re clearly not.

While I have no doubt they are all working very hard on fields of Colney, there’s precious little evidence of it when crunch time arrives. It’s becoming increasingly shambolic. In the heat of battle, the thinking becomes muddled and the pre-match messages lost.

It’s a group of players bereft of belief, void of confidence, and without direction. That the coaching team has failed in its most primary of tasks is no longer up for debate.

But also, for this group to be so fragile that it shrinks rather than grows when faced with opponents who are down to ten, says an awful lot about its own lack of cojones.

Technically blessed some of them may be but, as we well know, it takes more than ‘tekkers’ to win games of Championship football.

Some of that steel comes from within, which is why recruitment is crucial – ie. signing the right type of character – but part of it comes down to how the players are prepared, fired up, and motivated. The Classes of 2018-19 and 2020-21 would have, as the saying goes, ran through brick walls for Daniel Farke.

I don’t see this lot running through wet paper bags for anyone anytime soon.

Yet, as we’ve discussed on these pages many times, the removal and replacement of Dean Smith would be only part of the reset needed. The problems run way deeper than a dysfunctional coaching setup.

But his has to be the first domino to fall. That one of the dominos to follow should be the sporting director is a major problem and is why Dean Smith, after several weeks of it being clear his race is run, is still here.

What a bloody mess.”

 

The removal of Smith saw little improvement , lack of quality players remained.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lillehamring

Lillehamring

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

Fans and the board have different expectations/desires though:

 

The board don't care about entertainment, only results. The fans care about results but are also paying £40 a match in a cost of living crisis and want to at least enjoy games, which by all accounts won't happen under captain scarlet and his shitty cardigan 

That's not strictly true - the football we played under Puel wasn't bad but it bored the fans so much they turned on him and the board acted - puel wasn't sacked for bad results but for bad football...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lillehamring

Lillehamring

Posted
Posted

If there ever has been any interest from the club in Parker - as was the case with Marsch - the negative feedback from fans to the idea will surely rule him out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HankMarvin

HankMarvin

Posted
Posted
Just now, An Sionnach said:

The removal of Smith saw little improvement , lack of quality players remained.

So nothing to do with the manager, that had the summer to lay the foundations.

Plus the squad squad was pretty similar to the one Farke got promoted minus Buendia

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Foxin_Mad

Foxin_Mad

Posted
Posted

Jesus Parker sounds like Rodgersball all over from the above comments.

 

No attacking intentent, 75% pocession, zero shots sounds the worst possible appointment.

 

The issue for us is Fulham and Bournemouth had decent attacking squads, with some confidence. We have zero confidence and a squad that can not defend. 

 

I actually think if we get Parker we will be relegated to League One, that is absolutely not what the club needs.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pliskin

Pliskin

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Foxin_Mad said:

Jesus Parker sounds like Rodgersball all over from the above comments.

 

No attacking intentent, 75% pocession, zero shots sounds the worst possible appointment.

 

The issue for us is Fulham and Bournemouth had decent attacking squads, with some confidence. We have zero confidence and a squad that can not defend. 

 

I actually think if we get Parker we will be relegated to League One, that is absolutely not what the club needs.

 

But what evidence is there to suggest that this will happen? With two promotions to his name?

 

We could easily all sit here and also Rodgers off… but equally we know he is capable of winning things…..

 

Fans harbouring grievances often don’t offer balanced opinions, they will focus on all of the negatives and that’s it.

 

Parker would be my personal choice, but the facts suggest he isn’t a bad one.  

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ClaphamFox

ClaphamFox

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

But what evidence is there to suggest that this will happen? With two promotions to his name?

 

We could easily all sit here and also Rodgers off… but equally we know he is capable of winning things…..

 

Fans harbouring grievances often don’t offer balanced opinions, they will focus on all of the negatives and that’s it.

 

Parker would be my personal choice, but the facts suggest he isn’t a bad one.  

There are far too many Bournemouth and Fulham fans who are absolutely scathing about Parker to put it down to a few 'harbouring grievances'. The fans of both clubs seem to loathe him. There are red flags all over the place - turgid football, falls out with players, blames everybody else when his horrible tactics don't work. The club needs a breath of fresh air, not more of the same foul odour that permeated last season under Rodgers...

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vindaloo FOX

Vindaloo FOX

Posted
Posted (edited)
44 minutes ago, LestaLad said:

But let’s give him a chance, ay @Vindaloo FOX :ph34r:

Well what else are we gonna do ? , hang him before he even gets a chance to get in the dugout, 

 

Look he's not my first choice not even my second or third but you can't ignore he got two promotions and that's the aim for this season.

 

I will back him till he starts failing hard.

 

 

Edited by Vindaloo FOX
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Verumex

Verumex

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Vindaloo FOX said:

Well what else are we gonna do ? , hang him before he even gets a chance to get in the dugout, 

 

Look he's not my first choice not even my second or third but you can't ignore he got two promotions and that's they aim for this season.

 

I will back him till he starts failing hard.

 

 

And if Leeds hire him? You seem so sold on the idea of backing him I get the feeling you'd follow him to another club. 

 

We haven't hired anyone yet. Wait and see who we get first, and back them instead.

Edited by Verumex
Link to comment
Share on other sites
DezFox

DezFox

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

There are far too many Bournemouth and Fulham fans who are absolutely scathing about Parker to put it down to a few 'harbouring grievances'. The fans of both clubs seem to loathe him. There are red flags all over the place - turgid football, falls out with players, blames everybody else when his horrible tactics don't work. The club needs a breath of fresh air, not more of the same foul odour that permeated last season under Rodgers...

100% this. Parker is in no way what this club and the supporters need right now. Need to be united, not more of a toxic mess of massive egos and negative football. 
 

Please not Parker!! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...