Ruud van Nistelrooy - New Manager - Official

[Tuna]

3 minutes ago, Jazzy_Jeff said:

As mentioned on some of the other posts, regardless of how we have performed the reality is that promoted clubs have a mountain to climb to compete.

 

West Ham are now 17th. Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Pacqueta, Kudus and Bowen would get into a number of the top half sides. The rest of their team is made up of solid pros and any of their bench/reserve players would get in our team.

 

The gap is huge and until the Premier League do something to level the playing field (financially) this is how it’s going to go from now on.

The question now isn't which promoted team can strengthen enough to survive, it is which of the 17 Premier League teams will have an absolute howler of a season to get anywhere near relegation. Wolves were shite up to December but will survive at a canter.

[LVFox]

3 minutes ago, Jazzy_Jeff said:

As mentioned on some of the other posts, regardless of how we have performed the reality is that promoted clubs have a mountain to climb to compete.

 

West Ham are now 17th. Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Pacqueta, Kudus and Bowen would get into a number of the top half sides. The rest of their team is made up of solid pros and any of their bench/reserve players would get in our team.

 

The gap is huge and until the Premier League do something to level the playing field (financially) this is how it’s going to go from now on.

You look at the sides likely to go up, and maybe Leeds if they hugely invest (can they?), but i don't fancy Burnley despite their good defensive record, and i don't feel any in the play offs could cope any better than us, saints and Ipswich have.

[Vazman]

1 minute ago, Jazzy_Jeff said:

As mentioned on some of the other posts, regardless of how we have performed the reality is that promoted clubs have a mountain to climb to compete.

 

West Ham are now 17th. Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Pacqueta, Kudus and Bowen would get into a number of the top half sides. The rest of their team is made up of solid pros and any of their bench/reserve players would get in our team.

 

The gap is huge and until the Premier League do something to level the playing field (financially) this is how it’s going to go from now on.

I can buy into this a little bit, and we can all blame money as the cause and it generally is, however we waste money and then some, our buisness model is shite, better recruitment, realistic wages for players, using academy players when ready, would alleviate the money excuse as the sole reason, we just need to be better, we were before and can be again, other clubs our size or smaller have managed to, we cannot keep on with this money excuse , as the sole reason we are all of a sudden shit.

[filbertway]

Can the premier league add a rule that allows fans to veto transfers? We'd have saved a tonne of cash if that was an option.

 

Ipswich should have struggled as they have done. Ourselves and Southampton absolutely should have been more competitive. Both have bought poorly and decided to play in a manner that reduces our chance of picking up points.

[Chelmofox]

20 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Can the premier league add a rule that allows fans to veto transfers? We'd have saved a tonne of cash if that was an option.

 

Ipswich should have struggled as they have done. Ourselves and Southampton absolutely should have been more competitive. Both have bought poorly and decided to play in a manner that reduces our chance of picking up points.

Not sure i buy into that. Southampton were pretty ropey in last season and were pretty fortunate to play a collapsing Leeds side. Always felt Southampton were going to ne the ones that struggled.

 

With ourselves, i always felt the only way we stayed up is if we scraped 17th. Palace and Wolves put an end to that with their recent form. We just don't have the current players to get 40+ points. 

[Finnegan]

23 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Can the premier league add a rule that allows fans to veto transfers? We'd have saved a tonne of cash if that was an option.

 

Ipswich should have struggled as they have done. Ourselves and Southampton absolutely should have been more competitive. Both have bought poorly and decided to play in a manner that reduces our chance of picking up points.

 

Every year journos and pundits tip the promoted teams to go back down and it very rarely if ever happens this way. Forest have only been up a couple seasons and they're Champions League. The gap between the divisions may be growing but  idea that it's an impossible chasm to bridge and all newly promoted sides are doomed is a huge myth. 

 

There's very obvious context why all three newly promoted sides are going down with a whimper this year. 

 

Ipswich have had to panic build a squad having had two promotions back to back. They've got a lot of League One still in the club, it was always a big ask. 

 

Leicester are still hamstrung by the financial problems that got us relegated last time, we lost our manager before the season started and then replaced him twice in a row with absolute clowns. 

 

And Russell Martin is just ****ing terrible and Soton let him stick around inexplicably long. 

 

[Chelmofox]

1 hour ago, Vazman said:

I can buy into this a little bit, and we can all blame money as the cause and it generally is, however we waste money and then some, our buisness model is shite, better recruitment, realistic wages for players, using academy players when ready, would alleviate the money excuse as the sole reason, we just need to be better, we were before and can be again, other clubs our size or smaller have managed to, we cannot keep on with this money excuse , as the sole reason we are all of a sudden shit.

The problem for us this season is we haven't had any that have been ready. For the PL, ready means at that level. Being ready takes time. We've seen Monga being introduced and Alves has started to show some decent form but in a relegation threatened loan team. Maybe Nelson is one that i would have considered ready but i also understand why he was loaned. But i dont think the Academy players have screamed 'ready to get 40+ points' this season.

 

I would like to see a 2-3 year plan for our team now, with Academy players as the focus. That may mean that getting promoted next season isn't the best thing for us. Also, our fans will have to cope with the fact that some of them may still be developing in year 1 and not always be at their best every week. I'd take mid table next season if it meant we developed our guys to a level that meant we could challenge over the following few seasons.

[The boy Linacre]

2 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Every year journos and pundits tip the promoted teams to go back down and it very rarely if ever happens this way. Forest have only been up a couple seasons and they're Champions League. The gap between the divisions may be growing but  idea that it's an impossible chasm to bridge and all newly promoted sides are doomed is a huge myth. 

 

There's very obvious context why all three newly promoted sides are going down with a whimper this year. 

 

Ipswich have had to panic build a squad having had two promotions back to back. They've got a lot of League One still in the club, it was always a big ask. 

 

Leicester are still hamstrung by the financial problems that got us relegated last time, we lost our manager before the season started and then replaced him twice in a row with absolute clowns. 

 

And Russell Martin is just ****ing terrible and Soton let him stick around inexplicably long. 

 

We could have given ourselves a much better chance if we hadn't been toxic to incoming managers by having PSR sit over us, that was always a turn off.

But as any promoted team will find, you almost have to get ALL your expenditure right.  We got Khannouss, as for BDCR, Ayew, Skipp & Edouard, well we might be relegated this weekend.

That was helped by giving Jannik & Hamza 3 year contracts last year when they had failed repeatedly in the top flight.  Money well invested indeed.

The manager, team spirit and the players kept us up in 2015, the owners & the Club infrastructure sent us down in 23 (thought we'd never go down) & 25 (damage done by PSR WASTE) and NOW we are a yo yo club IF lucky.

They haven't clue and no drive or ambition to do EVERYTHING possible to get us back up AND survive.

Marinakis (though a nutter), did whatever was required to keep them up, (don't care what happened this season, BUT they will be mid table next) and can kick on (like we did for 8 years).

Teams can stay up, but its VERY HARD

[stox259]

I have never hated a Leicester City manager before. Disliked plenty but in all other managers we have had I could see a plan. All previous managers i've thought had 'earned' the chance to manage this great club. Gained experience elsewhere and been successful and therefore (some more than others) deserved the chance to manage us. What on earth the board saw in RVN i'll never know. And why on earth RVN ever thought he was good enough to manage us i'll also never know. 

I can't stand Ruud. I can't see any method in his thoughts. I can't make sense of his formulaic substitutions and the fact he picks Patson Daka in the starting 11 loses any slight respect or thought I had for the man. I have seen worse Leicester City teams in terms of players, but i've never seen one so poorly coached and so tactically useless. Ruud is completely out of his depth. That phrase gets thrown around but its never been more evident than it is watching RVN manage in the premier league. 

 

He absolutely, unequivocally and without doubt must not be our manager next season.  

[Danizen]

4 hours ago, filbertway said:

Can the premier league add a rule that allows fans to veto transfers? We'd have saved a tonne of cash if that was an option.

 

Ipswich should have struggled as they have done. Ourselves and Southampton absolutely should have been more competitive. Both have bought poorly and decided to play in a manner that reduces our chance of picking up points.

It works both ways, though.

 

"An Algerian winger from Ligue 2? No, thanks. He'll be shit and we've already got Knockaert."

[Paninistickers]

3 hours ago, stox259 said:

I have never hated a Leicester City manager before. Disliked plenty but in all other managers we have had I could see a plan. All previous managers i've thought had 'earned' the chance to manage this great club. Gained experience elsewhere and been successful and therefore (some more than others) deserved the chance to manage us. What on earth the board saw in RVN i'll never know. And why on earth RVN ever thought he was good enough to manage us i'll also never know. 

I can't stand Ruud. I can't see any method in his thoughts. I can't make sense of his formulaic substitutions and the fact he picks Patson Daka in the starting 11 loses any slight respect or thought I had for the man. I have seen worse Leicester City teams in terms of players, but i've never seen one so poorly coached and so tactically useless. Ruud is completely out of his depth. That phrase gets thrown around but its never been more evident than it is watching RVN manage in the premier league. 

 

He absolutely, unequivocally and without doubt must not be our manager next season.  

Totally agree. He doesn't manage my club in my name.

 

i too have to check myself whether 'hate' is the correct word. There is a limit and we all have to keep perspective. But as football goes, he's mighty close to reaching that threshold. We're talking only Wise and that repugnant monster agent of his. So the Dutchman is in rare company. 

 

I'll never set foot in the KP again whilst he is here. 

 

 

[HankMarvin]

5 hours ago, LVFox said:

i don't feel any in the play offs could cope any better than us, saints and Ipswich have.

Not many people would’ve had Luton to do the best out of the 3 teams last season. Doesn’t always work how teams finish in the champ or how strong they were. We need another 8 points from 6 games to match their point total. 

[HankMarvin]

4 hours ago, The boy Linacre said:

But as any promoted team will find, you almost have to get ALL your expenditure right.  We got Khannouss, as for BDCR, Ayew, Skipp & Edouard, well we might be relegated this weekend.

That was helped by giving Jannik & Hamza 3 year contracts last year when they had failed repeatedly in the top flight.  Money well invested indeed.

Lucky we didn’t spunk 11m on the zaha loan that was close.

2 goals in 13 in 2025

Which were scored in the MLS 2/6

[jim5000]

5 hours ago, Tuna said:

The question now isn't which promoted team can strengthen enough to survive, it is which of the 17 Premier League teams will have an absolute howler of a season to get anywhere near relegation. Wolves were shite up to December but will survive at a canter.

Yep. If any promoted chance had or have a chance to survive it should have been us.

 

We had a bad season, but were a 10 year established PL side and bounced straight back up. We should have had enough that with some strengthening we could have survived.

 

While it looks like 40 to stay up this season, the bottom 3 have essentially been free points for everyone, whereas we should be challenging 16th-17th and potentially taking 3 points or at least denying them 4 points across the season.

[Guy]

7 hours ago, Tuna said:

I think we have more points under Cooper. Hard to assess how much of a springboard we gavevWilves with that loss at the KP. Think we would probably go down still though, unless we properly strengthened in Jan.

Yes, that damaging Danny Ward/Ruud related defeat to Wolves in December gave Wolves a springboard yet a month later we still managed to edge ahead of them out of the bottom three after that unexpected, last win to date at Spurs. That was a false dawn if ever there was though as we seriously regressed after that, whereas Wolves went totally the opposite way. Definitely agree with the prediction that we'd have needed 40 points or more this season to stay up......not with this team!! 

[Tuna]

8 minutes ago, jim5000 said:

Yep. If any promoted chance had or have a chance to survive it should have been us.

 

We had a bad season, but were a 10 year established PL side and bounced straight back up. We should have had enough that with some strengthening we could have survived.

 

While it looks like 40 to stay up this season, the bottom 3 have essentially been free points for everyone, whereas we should be challenging 16th-17th and potentially taking 3 points or at least denying them 4 points across the season.

Absolutely - should never have signed Skipp, Okoli, Ayew, BDCR, Edouard and got in 3 or 4 genuine quality players. Should have released Vestergaard as well and kept Nelson around.

[Jazzy_Jeff]

Not saying that would have signed for us but Okoli and Skipp cost the same as Milenkovic and Delap 

[filbertway]

2 hours ago, Danizen said:

It works both ways, though.

 

"An Algerian winger from Ligue 2? No, thanks. He'll be shit and we've already got Knockaert."

Does it....? lad for 400k who's an unknown talent. Why are people saying no to that?

 

Come on give me a better counter example than that

 

Oliver Skipp for £20m on the other hand....
 

[MGLCFC]

I can't think of a game this year that we have deserved to win, even our wins were fortunate. We were fortunate at Southampton that they had a player sent off, we somehow, more by luck than skill, stopped Bournemouth from scoring, West Ham dominated the game and had so many chances and Spurs did everything but equalise against us. Even our draws have been somewhat fortuitous. Both Brighton games we probably should have lost, Spurs at home they should have been out of sight by half time, a late goal against 10 man Ipswich was hardly convincing. Only Palace away could you say we were rather unlucky. 

Edited 15 April by MGLCFC

[Jazzy_Jeff]

16 minutes ago, MGLCFC said:

I can't think of a game this year that we have deserved to win, even our wins were fortunate. We were fortunate at Southampton that they had a player sent off, we somehow, more by luck than skill, stopped Bournemouth from scoring, West Ham dominated the game and had so many chances and Spurs did everything but equalise against us. Even our draws have been somewhat fortuitous. Both Brighton games we probably should have lost, Spurs at home they should have been out of sight by half time, a late goal against 10 man Ipswich was hardly convincing. Only Palace away could you say we were rather unlucky. 

Spot on. We should be grateful that we’ve beaten Derby’s points tally 

[when_you're_smiling]

On 29/11/2024 at 19:33, kingfox said:

Welcome Ruud 🇳🇱 

 

He’ll perch on my TV until he’s sacked.

Out of interest, is he still there?

[kingfox]

5 minutes ago, when_you're_smiling said:

Out of interest, is he still there?

 

On 16/03/2025 at 21:16, kingfox said:

Update.

Nope. 

[when_you're_smiling]

16 minutes ago, kingfox said:

 

Nope. 

At least you didn’t burn him. Not sure I could take the sight of his face melting. 🫠 

[Pliskin]

On 15/04/2025 at 11:47, Jazzy_Jeff said:

As mentioned on some of the other posts, regardless of how we have performed the reality is that promoted clubs have a mountain to climb to compete.

 

West Ham are now 17th. Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Pacqueta, Kudus and Bowen would get into a number of the top half sides. The rest of their team is made up of solid pros and any of their bench/reserve players would get in our team.

 

The gap is huge and until the Premier League do something to level the playing field (financially) this is how it’s going to go from now on.

I do somewhat disagree. 
 

The gap is considerable, but the quality of the league is shite, Brighton are dreadful, yet a comfortable mid table premier league team.

 

As I’ve said my opinion is that football as a whole is currently on its arse, largely thanks to Pep and his boring football ideology. Modern footballers are collectively technically better, and much better athletes, but they’re all the same, with no real stand out individuals. Players like Monga if he was to join Man City would just become another product of the Pep passing machine……

 

My point being, it’s poor recruitment that’s shafting some teams. Bournemouth, Fulham and Brentford have all managed to come up and build stable sides, I don’t think any of them are actually that good, they’re average compared to seasons gone before, but they’ve recruited fairly well and have built decent young squads that have matured together. 
 

Our recruitment has been disgustingly bad this season, and we’ve spent about £80m….. on shit like Ayew, BDR and ****ing Edouard…… Ipswich have been clever and have built a team that if it goes down, will piss the championship and come back up, similar to Bournemouth and Fulham recently. Southampton have also recruited poorly…. Forest on the other hand have done a bit of a **** you and spent what they wanted, got a slap on the wrist and carried on. 

 

We could have spent £80m much better than we have, we’ve pissed away the KDH money and built a team weaker than the one we came up with. 
 

It’s this that will be our undoing, continual poor recruitment. It will be interesting to see how this develops next season. 
 

You either recruit cleverly, and future plan, or you over spend, build a squad capable of surviving and accept a nominal punishment. 
 

There are ways around it, but it’s down to who’s prepared to take the risks. 

[winteriscoming]

Not saying we’d of comfortably stopped up with someone else but an experienced manager similar to who Wolves got would have given us imo at least 2 or 3 more wins and a few draws. Instead of this dreadful 16 defeats out of 17 or whatever it is. We’d of given ourselves a fighting chance of at least taking it to the last couple of games.