Why the optimism?

Hi longtime,

See my depressed post which you just beat me to publish while I was composing. You have'nt helped my mood but I've always thought us as favourites for champions is ridiculous given the changes in the team personnel and style.

I'll admit it's crazy with the bookies placing us so high up on a promotion pedestal but one pre season loss isn't really causing myself any major concerns, in fact when ever we have a dodgy pre season we seem to do better when the real footy starts!

I'm sure NP will be hurting just as much and will get it right come the Posh game, keep smiling

Lots of Championship teams lost to lower league teams yesterday and even Real Madrid lost 5 - 2 in a friendly with Benfica. Lower league teams are ahead of Championship teams in terms of preparation as they start earlier. When Newcastle won the league with 102 points, they lost 6 - 1 to Leyton Orient in a pre - season friendly with a full squad. I bet the Toon Army had the same pessimism as some Leicester fans. Ultimately all that matters is what happens over the 46 league games.

I'm not sure what the question is here; why are we optimistic or not as fans or why the bookies are optimistic aftwe we lost to Shrewsbury in a friendly?

As a fan, I am around as optimistic/pessimistic as I was yesterday lunchtime. It always stings to lose any game, but one pre-season loss against a Div 1 team is not enough to change my opinion either way radically (just as much as a win yesterday or indeed at home to Sunderland will not have me jumping for joy).

If the question is why are the bookies so optimistic after we lost yesterday - firstly they devised their initial odds weeks ago and secondly I don't think they base their odds on subjectivity such as optimism or pessimism.

They are generally pumped out by a computer which includes lots of variants and potential for further bets, as opposed to somebody sitting down and considering how optimistic they feel about Leicester going up.

Favourites is a little extreme after last season, but I really wouldn't pay too much attention to title winning odds in our division, we are around 7-1 and Forest 10-1 for example. If you think about it objectively (not as a dedicated Leicester fan) and it was your money you were risking as a bookie, there probably would only be a handful, at most, of teams you'd put down as favourites over us.

We were favourites / second favourites with the bookies last season.

Enough said !

Not too bothered abolut the 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury. Would rather win than lose but it was just a pre-season friendly. But I am baffled why we are so strongly fancied for promotion when not much has changed since last season. Defenders are OK, strikers were sharp. Midfield is the key. Are the players good enough in that area?

I don't understand all the optimism either

Longtime, I think you'll find a sizeable percentage of LCFC fans have been anything but optimistic this pre-season, and with good reason. Personally, this is the least optimistic and most pessimistic I have EVER been about a forthcoming season and frankly I could gladly wait another 3 months before Pearson's mediocre army come along again to ruin my Saturday afternoons. I spoke to a mate of mine at the weekend, who doesn't support Leicester, and he agreed with me that we have gone backwards since they end of last season. He expects us to finish about 14th - same as me. What the bookies motives and logic behind having us as favourites is known only by them - but it's a view that is not shared regularly outside the Nigel Pearson Fan Club, I can tell you/

With the news that beckford has been told to go then that's our slim promotion chance gone - lets get hume back as he runs all day and is a Pearson type player who runs all day but offers nothing!

Pearson shoud have gone at the end of last season especially after some of the dirge football we played since his return.