I think the next couple of days will probably decide if we stay up or go down. At this point it seems blindingly obvious that Rodgers is taking us down, yet it feels as if Top, Whelan, Rudkin etc are reluctant to pull the plug and want to give him every last conceivable chance to turn things around.
I doubt we will hear anything today and they won't make an announcement tomorrow for obvious reasons. If we don't hear anything by COB Tuesday, we can probably assume that they have decided to stick with him. Which would be absolutely madness and would send us closer to relegation.
I really hope Top steps up to the plate here. The way he continued his father's legacy under such tragic circumstances has been genuinely brilliant. I think he loves the club and still has big ambitions. But he cannot allow himself to be blinded by any loyalties he might have to Rodgers. His father was a ruthless operator, and he needs to be one too, otherwise he risks jeopardising his legacy. His reputation would be severely damaged if we go down and he didn't have the bravery to make the change, which would be painfully sad for everyone.
Romano (who broke the above)
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comment by Ole dirty Baztard - penited and penandes (U19119)
posted 57 minutes ago
Romano (who broke the above)
—
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Is he?
comment by Foxello (U6985)
posted 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
I think the next couple of days will probably decide if we stay up or go down. At this point it seems blindingly obvious that Rodgers is taking us down, yet it feels as if Top, Whelan, Rudkin etc are reluctant to pull the plug and want to give him every last conceivable chance to turn things around.
I doubt we will hear anything today and they won't make an announcement tomorrow for obvious reasons. If we don't hear anything by COB Tuesday, we can probably assume that they have decided to stick with him. Which would be absolutely madness and would send us closer to relegation.
I really hope Top steps up to the plate here. The way he continued his father's legacy under such tragic circumstances has been genuinely brilliant. I think he loves the club and still has big ambitions. But he cannot allow himself to be blinded by any loyalties he might have to Rodgers. His father was a ruthless operator, and he needs to be one too, otherwise he risks jeopardising his legacy. His reputation would be severely damaged if we go down and he didn't have the bravery to make the change, which would be painfully sad for everyone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I just think Top is being badly advised and the people in charge of the day to day operations of the club have got more influence since Vichais passing. Vichai would have done away with Rodgers as soon as he started gobbing off about a lack of investment after spending £220m.
It’s time to go, he has to go. The team are absolutely shot under him. We have enough talent to stay up but the mentality disease that has spread through the team is irreparable.
We need him gone and a new manager in who can drop whoever needs dropping and get us organised. I’d happily see us grinding out 1-0 wins from a Maddison free kick if it meant we look like a team.
Rodgers has to go and right now.
Big test for the board Mersey. Can they unwind the last 18 months of damage they’ve done through very poor decision making and financial gambles and make the right call needed to save the club? That’s how serious it is for us right now. Poor planning and poor decision making has got us to this point - the board now need to show proper leadership before the damage done is irreversible
comment by 99 Problems (U12353)
posted 11 minutes ago
Big test for the board Mersey. Can they unwind the last 18 months of damage they’ve done through very poor decision making and financial gambles and make the right call needed to save the club? That’s how serious it is for us right now. Poor planning and poor decision making has got us to this point - the board now need to show proper leadership before the damage done is irreversible
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totally agree. They need to act decisively and show real leadership so the players know where they stand.
They need to remove Rodgers and appoint the right man to get us out of this mess. They then need to back that manager to make tough decisions. Some players need to be dropped and we need to play the ones that are with the club now and for the long term.
It will be bumpy, but action is needed.
This is a crucial time. It could already be too late. I hope it’s not.
Agree with everything you say 99 & Mersey! Especially the comment about needing to be ruthless and I am wondering if Top has inherited that from Vichai or is too soft hearted. Let's hope it's the former!
I remember how quick Vichai was to sack Ranieri, which was a very tough call, a bit like shooting your favourite uncle. Oh how I wish Vichai was around today.
Let’s hope so Albert! If Vichai was around today there’s no way the club would have got into this state financially in my personal opinion. If it did then heads at board level would roll and that’s what needs to happen as well as Rodgers imo
Daily Record reporting that the compensation issue is already being discussed as an issue that makes sacking Rodgers complicated. He still has backers at the club apparently and it’s clear that the club is now in a real mess because they just didn’t see the writing on the wall
A £10m pay off is required and that will see Leicester fall foul of FFP. That’s how comically run this club is
I read that the two favourites to replace Rodgers, should he be sacked, are Sean Dyche and Thomas Frank. The latter has distanced himself from the position and Dyche is now favourite to get the Cardiff job.
Does make you wonder who on earth is out there.
There'll be no announcement today so we are all holding out breath for Tuesday. I will bite my tongue for now but anything less than Rodgers' sacking will be a dereliction of duty by the board and Top.
If we are discussing the compensation, then I hope that means they are further down the line. At this stage, they just need to get on with it. Lose £10m+ now or £120m+ in May. Fvck FFP - what are the Premier League going to do, deduct us points? We are going down anyway! And we aren't going to be qualifying for UEFA comps anytime soon either, so they can get stuffed too.
This is now a matter of whether we survive in the Premier League. Anything and everything else is irrelevant. Get it done.
Absolutely spot on Foxello. The whole FFP tightening of the purse strings is to fall in line with UEFAs rules - if we fall foul of them then we risk being banned from European football for a limited time. There could also be transfer sanctions. Against the backdrop of relegation and even potential administration if Top can’t put more in (should we find ourselves in the championship) then it’s a risk we now have to take
I’m personally astonished at the mismanagement of the club financially since Vichai passed. To go from FA cup winners and earning lucrative european football revenues to fighting to survive in the PL with no money left in the bank in less than 18 months is so astonishing someone needs to make a documentary on it.
Dyche will likely be appointed which is almost as embarrassing as it is necessary
"The whole FFP tightening of the purse strings is to fall in line with UEFAs rules - if we fall foul of them then we risk being banned from European football for a limited time."
As I say, right now I don't think that should be coming into the owners thinking - not something we will be mourning over if we're away to Rotherham on a Tuesday night
I'm not as pessimistic as you are about the financial situation, 99 - it's not great and we need to get this gargantuan wage bill down over the next month's and years, but from what I can tell a lot of this financial prudence is to get in line with rules, rather than us being 'skint'.
Has there been mismanagement? Absolutely, but I don't think it's on the scale of a Derby or Bolton. We have tried to push the top 6, succeeded in some respects but then wasted a lot of that with successively bad transfer windows where we increased the wage bill but didn't improve the team. The hasty Schmeichel sale and loan for the stadium did set off alarm bells, though.
One reason why I think things are better than they seem is our stance on outgoings this summer. We pushed Chelsea for every penny for Fofana and eventually got close to our asking price. We also rejected softball offers for Maddison, Praet and Soumare and gave Vardy a new extended contract. None of this seems to suggest that we are skint, rather that we want to hold our assets and only intend to sell on our terms, for our valuation.
The good thing is that we do have lots of assets that we can sell should we need to. We have a lot of good, young players who we can sell and we could bring in £100m-£200m in transfers. Heck, we could even sell off Seagrave and move back to Belvior Drive if we really, really were in the brown stuff. Relegation, of course, changes things and there would be a real pressure on us to come back up straight away, but I'd fancy our chances with a good manager, the players who were left and some decent recruiting.
One other thing I'd add RE financial issues - now is the absolute worst time to be going ahead with the stadium redevelopment. With the UK and global economy being in a bleak state, cost of materials through the roof and uncertainty about the status of the football club, we shouldn't be laying a single brick or placing a single steel beam.
I know it's a long-term ambition for Top and his intentions to make us financially stronger, but it's too much of a risk at this stage. We won't need a 40,000 seater stadium in the Championship. We need to get the club on a stronger footing, both on and off the pitch.
If it was up to me, I'd be putting this on hold until at least 2024, possibly longer or until it becomes feasible. Use the Macquarie loan to either invest in the squad or pay it back early if possible.
Agree with all of that Foxello. I don’t think we’re at risk financially, but we are at risk of sanctions and I think we’ve tried to adjust the finances to be sustainable and it’s backfired in the short term.
There was no reason why it should. We have enough quality to adjust. But for whatever reason it’s imploded.
Good points Foxello. From my perspective, while you’re right, we have a lot going for us in terms of assets, the reason I’m so pessimistic right now is the way we are being run since Vichais passing. Having assets is key but how you manage them and financially maximise them is the all important part. For example we had two financially valuable playing assets in Tielemans and Soyuncu who remarkably are going to leave this club for nothing in the summer.
18 months ago we could have cashed in handsomely on both if they weren’t committed to signing new deals. In Soyuncus case we should have been actively trying to sell him anyway as he’s been struggling for ages. Letting those two players walk for nothing is just alarming levels of poor management
When I use the word skint - I don’t mean in the Derby or Bolton sense of the word. We’re not facing the administrators, however we’re skint from a PL perspective. You can’t hope to stay in this division without investing in the playing squad.
This squad needed seriously refreshing 2 years ago. The end of the title winning cycle has been on the cards since Puels days. Instead new contracts were given to aging players on relatively high wages and not enough was done to start building the next team. Let me put it another way - despite spending £220m in 3 years we STILL look like a team in desperate need of a refresh. That’s unacceptable
I believe there’s more to this than meets the eye. You don’t reach a financial cliff edge like this without things going wrong behind the scenes. We’re not just being prudent, we’ve financially gambled and have no room to give the squad the investment it needs. To be recording losses higher than Manchester United for a club our size is almost as bad as what Moshiri has done at Everton. At least Everton have got some decent players to show for it - we’ve recently been fielding a 36 year old striker, Daniel Amartey in defence, Soumare, Luke Thomas and Danny Ward!
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 5 minutes ago
Agree with all of that Foxello. I don’t think we’re at risk financially, but we are at risk of sanctions and I think we’ve tried to adjust the finances to be sustainable and it’s backfired in the short term.
There was no reason why it should. We have enough quality to adjust. But for whatever reason it’s imploded.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that’s a slightly revisionist assessment Mersey. We’ve spent beyond our means chasing European football while recruiting very badly. The perfect recipe for an implosion when you’re a small club.
We haven’t adequately addressed the refresh needed to the squad over the last few years, leaving a situation where over £220m has been spent on the playing squad and we still look like we need an overhaul in key areas. We don’t have a propert no.1 for goodness sake, no strength in depth in wide areas at all and absolutely no quality depth in centre back positions
I’m no saying that there isn’t quality in this squad and we are definitely better than relegation, but it’s threadbare in key areas and there’s nothing left in the kitty to do anything about it
I don’t disagree in the main 99. My view is we took a risk chasing European football and that risk backfired due to poor recruitment and poor integration of players like Daka into the squad.
Fans would have complained if we’d been frugal and not invested for growth after winning the league and qualifying for Europe. I understand why the mistakes were made. What I’m not understanding is why it’s gone so badly wrong so quickly. Some major things I don’t understand must have gone badly wrong behind the scenes. Whatever they are, we need to fix them quickly.
Mistakes were made and it’s quickly unravelling. We need to get a grip on the situation and quickly.
In terms of unravelling so quickly, there will be many theories on that, but for me it feels like we’ve been papering over some cracks for a while. I think the underinvestment into refreshing the squad, which should have taken place in earnest when Puel was here, has finally caught up with us. Basically we have no money left to keep plugging the holes. That’s what we’ve been doing with our signings really - Fofana aside, reacting in the market without fully addressing the needs of the squad.
We should have been looking to recruit a replacement for Vardy (which I know isn’t easy) long before Daka came to the club. We should have been thinking about the system we need to play as we phase Vardy out and how we are going to set up and what players we need to suit that system. Essentially we needed to be building a new team 2-3 years ago and we didn’t. We carried on looking for bargains, giving aging players new contracts, spending on luxury players like Perez and not focussing enough on the academy in my view.
The way we’ve been operating is just about sustainable while your recruitment is spot on. The moment it fails then it’s a domino effect and you’re left with average players, an underperforming team who fails in Europe, lost revenue and then you run out of money. It spirals from there
I’m not 100% aligned there 99. Outlets recruitment strategy was held in high regard only very recently with top European teams coming to understand what we do.
We had a strategy to let players go when we have a replacement. Maguire upgraded to Fofana. Ndidi in for Kante. Justin and Castagne when Chilwell left (lol, Chilwell). All whilst holding on to key players.
We never replaced Mahrez but otherwise I think we’ve done well.
Where it went wrong was last summer for me. We built an expensive squad of highly paid players on top of the first team to compete in Europe. And we either recruited duds in Vestergaard, or players that Rodgers just failed to integrate like Daka and Soumare.
Daka looks a top player, but like Vardy, in a Rodgers team he’s pointless. Vardy managed to somehow take his 1 chance every other game the last couple of seasons but that was never going to last.
So this issue was that our squad quickly became bloated with unhappy players. Then Rodgers started to isolate some of them. Then Rodgers started to drop good players to make a point. Then he changed tactics that didn’t suit Maddison, Vardy or Ndidi. 3 players you could argue are our most influential on form.
So for me, that summer of recruitment and then Rodgers’ handling of the situation has accelerated everything. But to me it feels quick, like something went on that broke a strong squad.
Hi all.
I agree with the constructive criticism of those at the top of the club, but in the main because they have not managed expectations.
TBF to Top, his reported wealth has dropped from £4.5bn to £1.5bn because of the effect of covid on the hospitality industry. King Power's business is underpinned by duty free shops and hotels in Thailand - all of which will have suffered catastrophic and unexpected losses due to the pandemic. I know Vishai was a great man and businessman but I don't think even he could have managed much better than Top.
Where Top, Whelan and Rudkin have erred in my opinion, is that they have not come out late last year or early this year and told everyone (and I include Rodgers and the team in that) that we need to be braced for some tough times, that they have suffered terrible losses in their core businesses, and whilst they will never abandon LCFC we are going to have to pull together and operate in a vastly different way. That would have managed everyone's expectations and maybe instigated a Dunkirk spirit to see us through the bad times.
Top is clearly not the massively experienced businessman his Dad was, but he's a loyal, dedicated and honest owner who I have every confidence will do his best to deliver the wishes of the fans and his father.
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Page 1 of 2
posted on 18/9/22
I think the next couple of days will probably decide if we stay up or go down. At this point it seems blindingly obvious that Rodgers is taking us down, yet it feels as if Top, Whelan, Rudkin etc are reluctant to pull the plug and want to give him every last conceivable chance to turn things around.
I doubt we will hear anything today and they won't make an announcement tomorrow for obvious reasons. If we don't hear anything by COB Tuesday, we can probably assume that they have decided to stick with him. Which would be absolutely madness and would send us closer to relegation.
I really hope Top steps up to the plate here. The way he continued his father's legacy under such tragic circumstances has been genuinely brilliant. I think he loves the club and still has big ambitions. But he cannot allow himself to be blinded by any loyalties he might have to Rodgers. His father was a ruthless operator, and he needs to be one too, otherwise he risks jeopardising his legacy. His reputation would be severely damaged if we go down and he didn't have the bravery to make the change, which would be painfully sad for everyone.
posted on 18/9/22
Romano (who broke the above)
—
Copy and paste merchant
posted on 18/9/22
comment by Ole dirty Baztard - penited and penandes (U19119)
posted 57 minutes ago
Romano (who broke the above)
—
Copy and paste merchant
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Is he?
posted on 18/9/22
comment by Foxello (U6985)
posted 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
I think the next couple of days will probably decide if we stay up or go down. At this point it seems blindingly obvious that Rodgers is taking us down, yet it feels as if Top, Whelan, Rudkin etc are reluctant to pull the plug and want to give him every last conceivable chance to turn things around.
I doubt we will hear anything today and they won't make an announcement tomorrow for obvious reasons. If we don't hear anything by COB Tuesday, we can probably assume that they have decided to stick with him. Which would be absolutely madness and would send us closer to relegation.
I really hope Top steps up to the plate here. The way he continued his father's legacy under such tragic circumstances has been genuinely brilliant. I think he loves the club and still has big ambitions. But he cannot allow himself to be blinded by any loyalties he might have to Rodgers. His father was a ruthless operator, and he needs to be one too, otherwise he risks jeopardising his legacy. His reputation would be severely damaged if we go down and he didn't have the bravery to make the change, which would be painfully sad for everyone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I just think Top is being badly advised and the people in charge of the day to day operations of the club have got more influence since Vichais passing. Vichai would have done away with Rodgers as soon as he started gobbing off about a lack of investment after spending £220m.
posted on 18/9/22
It’s time to go, he has to go. The team are absolutely shot under him. We have enough talent to stay up but the mentality disease that has spread through the team is irreparable.
We need him gone and a new manager in who can drop whoever needs dropping and get us organised. I’d happily see us grinding out 1-0 wins from a Maddison free kick if it meant we look like a team.
Rodgers has to go and right now.
posted on 18/9/22
Big test for the board Mersey. Can they unwind the last 18 months of damage they’ve done through very poor decision making and financial gambles and make the right call needed to save the club? That’s how serious it is for us right now. Poor planning and poor decision making has got us to this point - the board now need to show proper leadership before the damage done is irreversible
posted on 18/9/22
comment by 99 Problems (U12353)
posted 11 minutes ago
Big test for the board Mersey. Can they unwind the last 18 months of damage they’ve done through very poor decision making and financial gambles and make the right call needed to save the club? That’s how serious it is for us right now. Poor planning and poor decision making has got us to this point - the board now need to show proper leadership before the damage done is irreversible
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totally agree. They need to act decisively and show real leadership so the players know where they stand.
They need to remove Rodgers and appoint the right man to get us out of this mess. They then need to back that manager to make tough decisions. Some players need to be dropped and we need to play the ones that are with the club now and for the long term.
It will be bumpy, but action is needed.
This is a crucial time. It could already be too late. I hope it’s not.
posted on 18/9/22
Agree with everything you say 99 & Mersey! Especially the comment about needing to be ruthless and I am wondering if Top has inherited that from Vichai or is too soft hearted. Let's hope it's the former!
posted on 18/9/22
I remember how quick Vichai was to sack Ranieri, which was a very tough call, a bit like shooting your favourite uncle. Oh how I wish Vichai was around today.
posted on 18/9/22
Let’s hope so Albert! If Vichai was around today there’s no way the club would have got into this state financially in my personal opinion. If it did then heads at board level would roll and that’s what needs to happen as well as Rodgers imo
posted on 18/9/22
Daily Record reporting that the compensation issue is already being discussed as an issue that makes sacking Rodgers complicated. He still has backers at the club apparently and it’s clear that the club is now in a real mess because they just didn’t see the writing on the wall
A £10m pay off is required and that will see Leicester fall foul of FFP. That’s how comically run this club is
posted on 18/9/22
I read that the two favourites to replace Rodgers, should he be sacked, are Sean Dyche and Thomas Frank. The latter has distanced himself from the position and Dyche is now favourite to get the Cardiff job.
posted on 18/9/22
Does make you wonder who on earth is out there.
posted on 19/9/22
There'll be no announcement today so we are all holding out breath for Tuesday. I will bite my tongue for now but anything less than Rodgers' sacking will be a dereliction of duty by the board and Top.
If we are discussing the compensation, then I hope that means they are further down the line. At this stage, they just need to get on with it. Lose £10m+ now or £120m+ in May. Fvck FFP - what are the Premier League going to do, deduct us points? We are going down anyway! And we aren't going to be qualifying for UEFA comps anytime soon either, so they can get stuffed too.
This is now a matter of whether we survive in the Premier League. Anything and everything else is irrelevant. Get it done.
posted on 19/9/22
Absolutely spot on Foxello. The whole FFP tightening of the purse strings is to fall in line with UEFAs rules - if we fall foul of them then we risk being banned from European football for a limited time. There could also be transfer sanctions. Against the backdrop of relegation and even potential administration if Top can’t put more in (should we find ourselves in the championship) then it’s a risk we now have to take
I’m personally astonished at the mismanagement of the club financially since Vichai passed. To go from FA cup winners and earning lucrative european football revenues to fighting to survive in the PL with no money left in the bank in less than 18 months is so astonishing someone needs to make a documentary on it.
Dyche will likely be appointed which is almost as embarrassing as it is necessary
posted on 19/9/22
"The whole FFP tightening of the purse strings is to fall in line with UEFAs rules - if we fall foul of them then we risk being banned from European football for a limited time."
As I say, right now I don't think that should be coming into the owners thinking - not something we will be mourning over if we're away to Rotherham on a Tuesday night
I'm not as pessimistic as you are about the financial situation, 99 - it's not great and we need to get this gargantuan wage bill down over the next month's and years, but from what I can tell a lot of this financial prudence is to get in line with rules, rather than us being 'skint'.
Has there been mismanagement? Absolutely, but I don't think it's on the scale of a Derby or Bolton. We have tried to push the top 6, succeeded in some respects but then wasted a lot of that with successively bad transfer windows where we increased the wage bill but didn't improve the team. The hasty Schmeichel sale and loan for the stadium did set off alarm bells, though.
One reason why I think things are better than they seem is our stance on outgoings this summer. We pushed Chelsea for every penny for Fofana and eventually got close to our asking price. We also rejected softball offers for Maddison, Praet and Soumare and gave Vardy a new extended contract. None of this seems to suggest that we are skint, rather that we want to hold our assets and only intend to sell on our terms, for our valuation.
The good thing is that we do have lots of assets that we can sell should we need to. We have a lot of good, young players who we can sell and we could bring in £100m-£200m in transfers. Heck, we could even sell off Seagrave and move back to Belvior Drive if we really, really were in the brown stuff. Relegation, of course, changes things and there would be a real pressure on us to come back up straight away, but I'd fancy our chances with a good manager, the players who were left and some decent recruiting.
posted on 19/9/22
One other thing I'd add RE financial issues - now is the absolute worst time to be going ahead with the stadium redevelopment. With the UK and global economy being in a bleak state, cost of materials through the roof and uncertainty about the status of the football club, we shouldn't be laying a single brick or placing a single steel beam.
I know it's a long-term ambition for Top and his intentions to make us financially stronger, but it's too much of a risk at this stage. We won't need a 40,000 seater stadium in the Championship. We need to get the club on a stronger footing, both on and off the pitch.
If it was up to me, I'd be putting this on hold until at least 2024, possibly longer or until it becomes feasible. Use the Macquarie loan to either invest in the squad or pay it back early if possible.
posted on 19/9/22
Agree with all of that Foxello. I don’t think we’re at risk financially, but we are at risk of sanctions and I think we’ve tried to adjust the finances to be sustainable and it’s backfired in the short term.
There was no reason why it should. We have enough quality to adjust. But for whatever reason it’s imploded.
posted on 19/9/22
Good points Foxello. From my perspective, while you’re right, we have a lot going for us in terms of assets, the reason I’m so pessimistic right now is the way we are being run since Vichais passing. Having assets is key but how you manage them and financially maximise them is the all important part. For example we had two financially valuable playing assets in Tielemans and Soyuncu who remarkably are going to leave this club for nothing in the summer.
18 months ago we could have cashed in handsomely on both if they weren’t committed to signing new deals. In Soyuncus case we should have been actively trying to sell him anyway as he’s been struggling for ages. Letting those two players walk for nothing is just alarming levels of poor management
When I use the word skint - I don’t mean in the Derby or Bolton sense of the word. We’re not facing the administrators, however we’re skint from a PL perspective. You can’t hope to stay in this division without investing in the playing squad.
This squad needed seriously refreshing 2 years ago. The end of the title winning cycle has been on the cards since Puels days. Instead new contracts were given to aging players on relatively high wages and not enough was done to start building the next team. Let me put it another way - despite spending £220m in 3 years we STILL look like a team in desperate need of a refresh. That’s unacceptable
I believe there’s more to this than meets the eye. You don’t reach a financial cliff edge like this without things going wrong behind the scenes. We’re not just being prudent, we’ve financially gambled and have no room to give the squad the investment it needs. To be recording losses higher than Manchester United for a club our size is almost as bad as what Moshiri has done at Everton. At least Everton have got some decent players to show for it - we’ve recently been fielding a 36 year old striker, Daniel Amartey in defence, Soumare, Luke Thomas and Danny Ward!
posted on 19/9/22
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 5 minutes ago
Agree with all of that Foxello. I don’t think we’re at risk financially, but we are at risk of sanctions and I think we’ve tried to adjust the finances to be sustainable and it’s backfired in the short term.
There was no reason why it should. We have enough quality to adjust. But for whatever reason it’s imploded.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that’s a slightly revisionist assessment Mersey. We’ve spent beyond our means chasing European football while recruiting very badly. The perfect recipe for an implosion when you’re a small club.
We haven’t adequately addressed the refresh needed to the squad over the last few years, leaving a situation where over £220m has been spent on the playing squad and we still look like we need an overhaul in key areas. We don’t have a propert no.1 for goodness sake, no strength in depth in wide areas at all and absolutely no quality depth in centre back positions
posted on 19/9/22
I’m no saying that there isn’t quality in this squad and we are definitely better than relegation, but it’s threadbare in key areas and there’s nothing left in the kitty to do anything about it
posted on 19/9/22
I don’t disagree in the main 99. My view is we took a risk chasing European football and that risk backfired due to poor recruitment and poor integration of players like Daka into the squad.
Fans would have complained if we’d been frugal and not invested for growth after winning the league and qualifying for Europe. I understand why the mistakes were made. What I’m not understanding is why it’s gone so badly wrong so quickly. Some major things I don’t understand must have gone badly wrong behind the scenes. Whatever they are, we need to fix them quickly.
Mistakes were made and it’s quickly unravelling. We need to get a grip on the situation and quickly.
posted on 19/9/22
In terms of unravelling so quickly, there will be many theories on that, but for me it feels like we’ve been papering over some cracks for a while. I think the underinvestment into refreshing the squad, which should have taken place in earnest when Puel was here, has finally caught up with us. Basically we have no money left to keep plugging the holes. That’s what we’ve been doing with our signings really - Fofana aside, reacting in the market without fully addressing the needs of the squad.
We should have been looking to recruit a replacement for Vardy (which I know isn’t easy) long before Daka came to the club. We should have been thinking about the system we need to play as we phase Vardy out and how we are going to set up and what players we need to suit that system. Essentially we needed to be building a new team 2-3 years ago and we didn’t. We carried on looking for bargains, giving aging players new contracts, spending on luxury players like Perez and not focussing enough on the academy in my view.
The way we’ve been operating is just about sustainable while your recruitment is spot on. The moment it fails then it’s a domino effect and you’re left with average players, an underperforming team who fails in Europe, lost revenue and then you run out of money. It spirals from there
posted on 19/9/22
I’m not 100% aligned there 99. Outlets recruitment strategy was held in high regard only very recently with top European teams coming to understand what we do.
We had a strategy to let players go when we have a replacement. Maguire upgraded to Fofana. Ndidi in for Kante. Justin and Castagne when Chilwell left (lol, Chilwell). All whilst holding on to key players.
We never replaced Mahrez but otherwise I think we’ve done well.
Where it went wrong was last summer for me. We built an expensive squad of highly paid players on top of the first team to compete in Europe. And we either recruited duds in Vestergaard, or players that Rodgers just failed to integrate like Daka and Soumare.
Daka looks a top player, but like Vardy, in a Rodgers team he’s pointless. Vardy managed to somehow take his 1 chance every other game the last couple of seasons but that was never going to last.
So this issue was that our squad quickly became bloated with unhappy players. Then Rodgers started to isolate some of them. Then Rodgers started to drop good players to make a point. Then he changed tactics that didn’t suit Maddison, Vardy or Ndidi. 3 players you could argue are our most influential on form.
So for me, that summer of recruitment and then Rodgers’ handling of the situation has accelerated everything. But to me it feels quick, like something went on that broke a strong squad.
posted on 19/9/22
Hi all.
I agree with the constructive criticism of those at the top of the club, but in the main because they have not managed expectations.
TBF to Top, his reported wealth has dropped from £4.5bn to £1.5bn because of the effect of covid on the hospitality industry. King Power's business is underpinned by duty free shops and hotels in Thailand - all of which will have suffered catastrophic and unexpected losses due to the pandemic. I know Vishai was a great man and businessman but I don't think even he could have managed much better than Top.
Where Top, Whelan and Rudkin have erred in my opinion, is that they have not come out late last year or early this year and told everyone (and I include Rodgers and the team in that) that we need to be braced for some tough times, that they have suffered terrible losses in their core businesses, and whilst they will never abandon LCFC we are going to have to pull together and operate in a vastly different way. That would have managed everyone's expectations and maybe instigated a Dunkirk spirit to see us through the bad times.
Top is clearly not the massively experienced businessman his Dad was, but he's a loyal, dedicated and honest owner who I have every confidence will do his best to deliver the wishes of the fans and his father.
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