Pretty Depressing

And BS - I know that makes zero financial sense. I’m just stupidly principled, and stupidly stubborn!

i agree with Dunge -

I'm with BS - agreeing to disagree!

Did he turn up then, is he training today?

He's turned up to train with the reserves
but there was nobody there. He didnt realize
we havent got a reserve team.

Any talk of new contracts or release clauses might provide a neat solution, but it is fanciful to think that Mahrez would sign. A release clause might protect the price that LCFC want - and give Mahrez the visibility and guarantee of what that fee is - but the reality is that he wants to leave Leicester at any price and any fees negotiated are not his concern. He, and his agent, just wouldn't see it being in their best interests.

He'll now leave in the summer and probably at a knockdown price to what we might have wanted in the January window. People forget that transfer fees are not static and are driven by many factors so it's difficult to predict what a good price will be, but I'd be surprised if we get more than £50m and wouldn't be that surprised if it was less than £40m.

The background to all of this though is, whatever happens, the stance taken by Leicester City is probably the right one. If we roll over with our legs in the air every time a team with vast amounts of money comes in for one of our players we'll just become another Southampton. I wouldn't currently have enormous faith in our recruitment team to manage to backfill as successfully as they have historically managed to do.

Extremely tricky one for the owners to handle.
Ultimately though I think our owners stubbornness will be severely challenged by their passion for making money.
If offered again in the summer, are they really prepared to turn down a straight 50-60m in the bank (for a player they paid 400k for) and replace him with probably a player in the 25-30m and instead continue to pay Riyad for another 18-24 months at 100k a week, before letting him go for free? hmmmm I'm not so sure.
Do agree though that Riyad needs to put his dummy back in his mouth and get a grip on this situation. The longer this goes on his own reputation will begin to be tarnished (if not already so) I'm sure his agent is not helping matters either and having quiet words in his ear.
That said though, I think the situation at our club is far from depressing. Not like we are in the bottom 3 or something.
We have an excellent squad now with quality in depth, a manger that in a short space of time is already having us play some lovely football and shown he is willing to give the younger players a shot, 8th in the Prem, good possibility of reaching the FA Cup quarters, I'd say its far from Depressing.
That said, the sooner this Riyad fiasco is cleared up the better for all concerned
Looking forward to a good end to the season and then Puel can work his magic with a full pre-season and some quality additions. bring it on

"We have an excellent squad now with quality in depth, a manger that in a short space of time is already having us play some lovely football and shown he is willing to give the younger players a shot, 8th in the Prem..."
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Whilst I agree that our current situation is far from depressing I'm not so sure that I'm as confident as you are about our depth of squad.

There is currently not much to chose between the clubs from 7th - 20th. We had a little run where we won a few on the bounce and it's largely kept us safe despite indifferent form either side. I fear that almost any of these sides (7-20) are capable of a winning or losing run, although we're probably safe for this season.

We have good players (no doubt about it): Schmeichel, Maguire, Ndidi, Vardy and Mahrez (ha ha) would all be coveted by clubs with more resources (I get a bit irritated by the phrase "bigger clubs" ) . I'm not sure, however, that we've really got strength "in depth".

Without Mahrez we lack creativity and are reliant on the inconsistent Gray or the unproven Diabate. We have no solid back up for the goalkeeper or right back positions and are not yet sure whether Ian would consistently score if Vardy was out for any length of time.

Elsewhere I'm not sure about the longevity of Morgan and Huth and Dragovic is still only a loanee. Ironically the midfield suddenly looks one of our stronger areas, although I'm still not completely convinced that James is a top half PL midfielder.

Under Puel the club does seem to have a better focus and direction in terms of youth development. There does seem to be some proactive investment in youth and, in Puel, a manager who is prepared to bring it through.

It's still a work in progress for me and, in an extremely competitive mid-lower PL table, I still fear that we're only two or three injuries (or transfers/loss of form) away from a relegation fight. Maybe not this season, but we need to keep building.

fair point Joby, I think most of the above will be addressed in the summer....though I have been expecting a new right back for the last 3 transfer windows now!!!

.... in addition I don't think Puel has necessarily improved the youth focus and direction, that was good and pretty established before his arrival, however it is refreshing to see him actually willing to give some of them a try.