Review of the 2012/13 Season – Leicester City

The football season is over, players have gone on holiday and the tedium of transfer rumours have officially started, if not prematurely, with the transfer window not actually until July 1st. So, what to do until August when it all kicks off again? Spend time with loved ones? Take up a new hobby? Me and Mat – who is the subject of this very interview – were going to take up fencing over the summer, but that idea seems to have fallen by the wayside. Instead, maybe you could sort out that home improvement that you’ve been needing to finish, but haven’t had the time to do so?

Of course, the answer to the above questions is a resounding “no.” Now that the 2012/13 season has passed and we’ve lived and breathed its every emotion, it is time to review what happened and chew on every little incident from every team. Now, I’m only one man, I can’t talk about every team as that would be impossible. Instead, for the next month, we shall be hosting fan reviews on here, where we interview a willing volunteer who answers our questions about their team. Fifth in line to be interviewed, is Mat Batchelor, a Leicester City supporter and co-owner of this very blog, who will be talking about “that” match against Watford, Anthony Knockaert’s goal against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, Lloyd Dyer’s six pack and a lot, lot more. This is what Mat had to say:

1) On a scale of farce to ten, how has this season ranked for you?

I would have to say 6. Yet again Leicester City failed to achieve their target of promotion. Despite some very memorable moments (mentioned below), I don’t think these detract from the fact the club is now many more millions of pounds in debt and in my eyes no further on as a team. I’m not saying the team is “that bad” but I don’t see where that investment has gone? Players’ wages I guess…

2) On paper, Leicester had maybe the most potent strike force in the league last season. David Nugent is a classy player as we’ve seen and Chris Wood looked sensational when he arrived in January. Where have things faltered?

Nugent is an excellent player and in my opinion Premier League quality when given the correct service. I think this was lacking towards the end of the season possibly explaining his ‘dry spell’. Chris Wood was acquired in order to add something different to what Vardy / Waghorn offered. He was on fire after his first few games and even scored on his debut. Sadly, he, along with the rest of the team lost form at the wrong time. Towards the end of the season he looked lethargic and half the player that we signed in January. That said, he has only been with the club for a few months, so I am hopeful he can start the 2013/14 campaign all guns blazing!

3) Jamie Vardy, Marko Futacs and Jermaine Beckford all look likely to leave this season. Which strikers would you look at not to just improve the strike force superficially, but for reasons relating to squad depth as well?

The three strikers mentioned below have one thing in common. At this level they aren’t proven goal scorers. Beckford is perhaps the only exception to this, given that his goal tally in his Premier League campaign with Everton reached double figures. In my opinion we need a striker that has bite and tenacity. Billy Sharp is a personal favourite of mine. Give him the correct service and he will score goals.

4) … and where else would you strengthen the squad?

Everywhere! No, in all seriousness I think we certainly need another solid centre back, especially now ST Ledger will be departing the King Power in the summer. I also think we need a left back as soon as possible. How Paul Konchesky manages to hold down a first team place is beyond me. I might need to get Prof Brian Cox on the case to explain this one to me. I love Brian. I also think we need a forward thinking midfielder, someone who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and take it to the opposition. Someone like Neil Danns would do nicely! Oh wait…

5) Nigel Pearson is in his second spell at Leicester. After failing to get promotion, should he stay or should he go?

This is indeed Nigel’s second spell with Leicester. I think he deserves more time, at the very least 15 games. While we didn’t set the league on fire last season we did finish in the top 6, albeit in an unconventional manner. At times we played some very nice football and with one or two signings and we shouldn’t be too far away!

6) If you could combine the best components of each player at Leicester to turn them into a super player, what would you pick? You’re allowed two components per player, so for example: Nugent’s finishing, Knockaert’s technical ability, Wes Morgan’s forehead, Kasper Schmeichel’s massive hands and so on.

My ‘Leicester City Super Player’ would consist of Andy King’s footballing brain, Ben Marshall’s kicking ability, Wes Morgan’s strength, Jeff Schlupp’s speed, David Nugent’s goal scoring ability, Knockaert’s trickery and Lloyd Dyer’s 6 pack.

7) Anthony Knockaert has enjoyed a good start to life in England, even drawing admiring eyes from clubs in the Premier League. With a bit more refinement, he could be one to build a team around. His end to the season in the play-offs visibly gutted him. How important is it that the manager keeps faith with him, and do you see Leicester eventually playing to his needs? Is he that good?

Anthony Knockaert is without doubt the most exciting player to join Leicester City in many years. He gets the ball out wide and had one thing in mind, dribble and run forward. It is so refreshing to see someone of his ilk at the King Power Stadium. I have been watching so-called “wingers” cut inside or turn back on themselves for too long and not just for Leicester City, I can’t help but find it immensely frustrating! Theo Walcott’s performance against Brazil recently springs to mind.

Knockaert has bags of technical ability that’s for sure, but he certainly knows how good he is. He is cocky and arrogant but loveable all the same. His only downfall is that he does lack pace and relies solely on his quick feet and trickery to beat players. I think this is why he isn’t playing in the Premier League (yet). As a measure of his ability, I couldn’t see him being poached by a top 6 Premier League club but I could definitely see a Premier League club perhaps a Sunderland or Villa making a cheeky offer.

8) It may still be painful, but can you describe the emotions of those last minutes against Watford? Who were you with, where were you, what was the atmosphere like where you were?

The last few minutes at Watford were the strangest in my time supporting Leicester City. I would start by saying that on the night Watford were the better side and deserved to go through. However, when we were presented with a penalty in injury time, I like every other Leicester fan went into meltdown, complete pandemonium. We were one kick away from reaching Wembley, where we would of course slaughter either Palace or Brighton 7-0 and complete our return to the Premier League. How wrong we were, it took under a minute for Knockaert to miss the penalty and for Watford to score. Never have I felt an emotional swing like that one. Fortunately I couldn’t get a ticket and had to watch the game on T.V. with my family. I had to go for a long walk and practice deep breathing exercises. It’s unbelievable to think that there is so much emotion involved in a stupid game of football. I guess this is why we all love the beautiful game so much!

9) On a happier note, what was your best moment of the season?

The best moment of the season without doubt was Anthony Knockaert’s winning goal against local rivals Nottingham Forest on the last game of the season. I genuinely have goosebumps writing this as I reflect on that moment. Both teams had to win to secure a place in the play-offs which made it feel so much more special.

It had been 20+ years since Leicester beat Forest in their back yard. To do so under the circumstances made it very special indeed. A moment I will look back on in 20 years’ time and remember with great delight. Thank you Anthony!

Onward and upward for 2013/14 – “When you’re smiling…”

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Craig in Championship, England Leave a comment

West Ham Keep Pressure On Southampton / Why I Hate The Play-Offs

The Boleyn Ground, NOT Upton Park

Good morning!

For a lot of football fans this time of the year brings about so much heartache, copious amounts of pain, measured out with a dose of delight. From teams fighting for promotion, a title, scrapping to avoid relegation and competing in cup finals, there is so much riding on every single game now. Take Manchester United v Manchester City next Monday, the 35 games each team has played upto now will count for nothing depending on the result, it’s such a massive game and just one example of the excitement which football brings us.

Another example for climactic season, is last night’s Championship fixture between Leicester City and West Ham United. Leicester City have nothing to play for now, having been ruled out of contention for a play-off spot at the weekend. West Ham United on the other hand are just two points behind second-place Southampton, with the Saints on 85 points and seemingly destined for automatic promotion.

With Southampton left to play an already relegated Coventry City at home this Saturday, it would seem they have a pretty simple task ahead of them in beating pitiful Coventry. In football however, one must never count their pigeons and West Ham’s 2-1 victory over Leicester will create an area of uncertainty amongst Southampton fans and players. Southampton’s end to the season hasn’t been as comfortable as they’d like and David Norris’ 90th minute strike to equalise for Portsmouth at the beginning of April could be such a crucial goal in deciding Southampton’s destiny.

Sam Allardyce will be looking for Coventry to capitalise on Southampton’s nerves this Saturday as West Ham entertain Hull City at the Boleyn Ground.

Last night was probably as consummate a performance as you’ll see all season from West Ham United, yet a string of missed chances very nearly cost West Ham.

Leicester City opened the scoring through Jermaine Beckford in the 34th minute. Ben Marshall had beaten the attentions of his opponent and measured a great cross to the back post for Jermaine Beckford to head home past a helpless Robert Green. You know it’s a good cross when the striker barely has to lift his feet off the ground to plant a header on goal. It was soft for West Ham to concede when you take into consideration their manager is Sam Allardyce, a manager who concentrates on the defensive aspects of his team’s game.

It didn’t take West Ham too long to draw level, just five minutes infact when Winston Reid capitalised on a low Matty Taylor cross. It was such an immature goal for Leicester to concede. Mark Noble had possession on the edge of the area to the left hand side, faced up by a Leicester City full-back. Matty Taylor made a run on the outside Noble and Taylor received a simple pass from which he drilled across the area for Winston Reid to tap home past Kasper Schmeichel.

There was barely any effort required in working that move. Leicester’s centre-back - I think it was actually Konchesky who was inside the box – failed to read Taylor’s run and had Konchesky read this situation, he could have run to the byline to stop any potential cross, it was so simple to read. Taylor simply had to tuck his cross into a dangerous area, it was that simple a chance. Taylor knew there would be someone waiting to pounce on his pass and Winston Reid pounced for such an easy goal.

This has been Leicester City’s downfall all season: Their back four. Apart from Sol Bamba, who was only signed in January of last season, none of Leicester’s defenders were plying their trade at the Walkers Stadium last year. You cannot throw a team together at the last minute and expect promotion. It’s a management skill-set required on computer games, not real life and Leicester have paid the price this season for poor management from the Thai owners and down.

As I said earlier, West Ham controlled this match and it was somewhat of a surprise that West Ham had to wait 58 minutes for their second.

Cutting a long description very short; a loose ball fell to Jack Collison and from around 25 yards out, the midfielder smashed a clean volley past a once again helpless Schmeichel. Collison’s strike was so clean and powerful, that the fact Schmeichel got a hand to the ball didn’t matter.

Collison’s goal proved to be West Ham’s winner. Kevin Nolan missed a golden opportunity to put a third past Leicester but dithered on the ball, ignored Henri Lansbury in space and shot straight at Schmeichel and Nolan was very nearly made to pay for his error.

Kasper Schmeichel launched a long ball into the West Ham penalty area, where Wes Morgan met Schmeichel’s long punt with a flicked header. There wasn’t enough power in his header, but Winston Reid had tried to deny Morgan through attempting to clear the ball with his foot. Anywhere else on the pitch, a high boot is deemed a free-kick as such a move is classed as dangerous. Why a high boot can be a free-kick but not a penalty is beyond me. Is kicking somebody suddenly not dangerous inside the penalty area? Does it not hurt inside the 18 yard box?

Whoever makes second spot, West Ham United or Southampton, will thoroughly deserve it as they’ve played their hearts out all season long. Frustratingly, one of the two will be condemned to the play-offs, where 6th place Cardiff City on 72 points could produce three magnificent performances and deny West Ham promotion.

Encouraging 6th place as success is hideous, 6th place should not be the ambitions of any team to get promoted. The top three are the teams who deserve promotion, not 4th, 5th and 6th. I hate the play-offs, I can’t stand the notion that a bang average team like Middlesborough could potentially make the play-offs on the final day of the season and tear away a great season from West Ham based on one display. It’s disappointing that football fans talk of trying to reach 6th so they can pin their season on three games and deny a better team than them.

That’s me done for today, see you tomorrow!

Follow @J4goalpostsblog

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England Leave a comment

Fernando Torres / Daniel Sturridge / Leicester City

Morning all!

Apologies for the lack of a post yesterday evening, it just didn’t happen. The reasons behind a no-show were to do with a redesign of this blog, so it wasn’t as if I was scratching my arse, doing nothing and not thinking of any of you.

As for the redesign, it should happen in the next week or two, I’m very excited as the site will look so much better than what we currently have and there will be so much more we can do to the site. We’re even having our own logo which is pretty cool! It’s going to be that big a facelift, Jackie Stallone would be envious…

Anyway, to the football and as we’re all aware, Fernando Torres has ended his five month goal drought, which spanned over twenty-four games. Speaking to ESPN after Chelsea’s FA Cup tie with Leicester City, Torres described ending the drought as a, ‘relief’.

Fernando Torres scoring goals again was never in doubt, class players just do not lose that kind of quality, it stays with them forever. As the old saying goes, ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’, this is certainly applicable in the case of Torres, but having watched Chelsea v Leicester at the weekend, couldn’t the team be doing more to supply a striker who, on his day, is miles ahead of Didier Drogba in terms of technique, pace, vision…everything?

Daniel Sturridge is a striker currently being asked to play on the wing for Chelsea, much in the same way Theo Walcott is at Arsenal. For me, Walcott is more winger than striker, but the term applies as both wish to play centrally for their clubs. On the one hand, Theo Walcott has a real grasp of how to use his pace and vision to lay assists for other players, having made eight assists this season, compared to Sturridge’s paltry effort of two. On four or five occassions against Leicester, all Sturridge had to do was play a square ball for other players, but he had to try something spectacular. At the moment, Sturridge is playing for himself and his own ego, not Chelsea Football Club.

It’s not just me who is frustrated by Sturridge, but large sections of the Chelsea support, too. Whenever Sturridge played for himself on Sunday, you could see the reaction of the crowd and having read the comments section on Chelsea Daft, it becomes apparent that whilst fans have very little time for Sturridge, they are delighted with the selfless talents of Torres.

For Chelsea’s fifth goal, it would have been easy for Torres to shoot and claim his hat-trick, but having noticed Raul Meireles in a better scoring position, Torres passed to the Portuguese midfielder, even though Chelsea had won the match by this point. In that moment, Torres demonstrated the difference between a world class player and an immature, futile novice. Sturridge is too much an individualist and unless that changes, Sturridge will never become a leading striker, but more of an impact substitute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4RyAHl9h_A

If Torres was indeed being supplied by the aforementioned Theo Walcott, just how many goals would the Spaniard have? It’s widespread for people to criticise Theo Walcott, even Chris Waddle has said he lacks a brain, but people seem to forget that Walcott had only just turned twenty-three and come September, Walcott and Sturridge will be the same. Robin Van Persie has mentioned how good Walcott is hundreds of times, claiming it’s crazy just how quick people turn on Walcott. Does Sturridge receive similar acclaim from his peers? No, and for good reason.

As I said two paragraphs ago, Sturridge will never become a class player until he learns to pass and with the reportedly poor attitude which emanates from the striker’s every pore, the day Sturridge learns to pass seems a day we will never see.

Leicester City

Whilst Fernando Torres was making the news for ending his goal drought against Leicester City, his victims did show glimpses of their future potential.

Despite being hammered 5-2 and largely outclassed by Chelsea, this match was pivotal for Leicester City in continuing their growth under Nigel Pearson. I’ve moaned countless times before over Leicester’s ridiculous affinity for hiring and firing managers for sport and the equally ludicrous buying and selling of players in languid fashion. This behaviour has resulted in Leicester City making no progress in three years, despite a hideous amount of money spent on players and coaching staff.

A fully-fit Leicester City side, on paper, is a lower mid-table Premiership side and with a more settled team, Leicester could easily be spinging shocks on teams such as Chelsea, but only if their erratic Thai owners allow Nigel Pearson some time.

Having offered Thai holidays to fans as part of a match-day programme prize and landed in the stadium via helicopter before another match, such implausible behaviour makes it seem unlikely they’re people who like to sit around on their hands, waiting for things to happen.

Vichai Raksriaksorn, Leicester City’s owner, has spent a staggering £53 million on running Leicester City. Raksriaksorn (it’s as much a bitch for you to read that name as it is for me to type it) recently ploughed a £26 million loan into Leicester City Football Club through the holding company, Asian Football Investments. This is a loan at 8% and is not interest-free, suggesting that Raksria…Eric Clapton (Leicester’s owner will be referred to as Clapton for the duration of this post) is not looking to sit on his backside waiting for Leicester to achieve success, which could have devastating effect on the club long-term if they do not achieve promotion to the Premiership in the next season or two.

That however, is looking at things in a negative light and since it’s fantastic sunshine as I type, I can only think positively. Eric Clapton can only have been impressed by Leicester’s enthusiasm to attack Chelsea and their ability to really worry Chelsea when they attacked was commendable.

In defence, Leicester had real worries, all too often cut apart by Chelsea and whilst you would expect Chelsea to break down all Championship teams, it shouldn’t be allowed with such ease. Another season with the same back five would see Leicester improve dramatically and only then, would Eric Clapton be able to realise his ambition of Premiership football

That’s your lot from me today, I’ll see you in the comments!

Follow @J4goalpostsblog

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, Premiership Leave a comment

Sheffield Wednesday Keep Pressure on Sheff United / Man United Eclipse Man City / Don’t Sack Pearson!

Good morning one and all!

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed watching Norwich City v Wigan Athletic yesterday, I couldn’t help but think that the real action was concerning Manchester United v West Brom and Swansea City v Manchester City. I appreciate that both Manchester clubs were orignally scheduled to play on Saturday, only being moved to Sunday due to their Europa League committments, but surely a brand such as Sky Sports could have snaffled the TV rights for that one?

Was really anything preventing Sky Sports from televising both matches yesterday? Showing Manchester United live on Sky Sports Two, (let Norwich and Wigan have their original arrangement) with a red button option on the Manchester United match to view the Manchester City game. What with the ‘relatively big’ matter of a title to be decided, that would have been a great idea and what with Manchester City losing to Swansea as United won, would have provided great entertainment.

Anyway, that was my only gripe from the weekend. Oh, no it isn’t actually. I spent a good twenty minutes yesterday on hold waiting to talk about a quote for insurance on a new car. Bare in mind that yesterday was Sunday, a day of the week I hardly regard as being busy for car insurance. As much as I lik ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ by The Verve, it was only an instrumental version and I was getting very bored.

Anyway, that’s three paragraphs of me moaning, like a woman. I’m joking, of course, women are very tolerable and rarely whing about things of no importance. I on the other hand, moan about being put on hold for a car insurance quote. Maybe I’m ‘moaning like a Craig’.

Getting into the thick of it now, starting with Sheffield Wednesday and their shiny new Manager, Dave Jones, once of Cardiff City if you remember. You may also recall that Jones replaced the sacked Gary Megson, who had just claimed victory in a hotly contested Sheffield derby, something that I didn’t agree with.

Reading that back, it may seem that I disagreed with Sheffield Wednesday winning the ‘Steel City Derby. I have no problem with that. I meant Milan Mandaric deciding to sack the Ginger Mourinho (Gary Megson) straight off the back of a victory over Sheffield United. Has any Manager in world football ever been sacked following a victory over their biggest rivals? I somehow doubt it and for many reasons, I criticised Mandaric for his decision, I still do.

Whilst I disagree with Mandaric sacking Megson at such a crucial point of the season, I am a fan of Dave Jones, Megson’s replacement. Dave Jones is essentially an upgrade on Megson and the man will get results, of that I’m absolutely sure.

Following Jones’ appointment, he’s overseen a 0-0 draw with a pretty poor Rochdale side from the stands and as Manager, has directed Wednesday to a 4-1 and 3-0 victory over Bury and Bournemouth respectively. Having looked as if they could face the serious prospect of falling out of the play-off places, Sheffield Wednesday now look to have consolidated third, just as Sheffield United in second place begin to choke.

To reiterate, I don’t agree with sacking Gary Megson, I rarely accept Manager’s getting the sack mid-way through a season. Only in certain circumstances will I accept it, otherwise, do it in the summer.

Taking Megson out of the equation now, Sheffield Wednesday are looking very strong and Dave Jones’ appointment had to be made with Mandaric absolutely certain that Jones could achieve promotion this season. Now in the final run-in, Wednesday look great money for promotion but for true success, Jones now has to be left alone by Mandaric. There can no interference on Mandaric’s part and only then will Sheffield Wednesday be allowed to flourish, it’s not as if the potential isn’t there.

Going from Sheffield to Manchester now, we can’t do anything but look at the Premiership title race, which yesterday, took another gigantic twist.

In Manchester, Wayne Rooney was commandeering Manchester United to a 2-0 victory over West Brom. Shown to have twenty attempts on goal and the lion’s share of possession, there was never anything but a Manchester United win on the cards here. Sir Alex Ferguson churns out team after team, all capable of securing results as they approach the season’s final stretch.

Over in Swansea, Manchester City were playing Swansea City, who so far this season, have lost just once at home and that, unsurprisingly, came against Manchester United. Swansea have beaten Arsenal and drew with Tottenham Hotspurs at home this season and have looked impressive all season long, so it was always a tough nut to crack for Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City side.

In comparison to Manchester United’s consummate, all-conquering victory over West Brom, Manchester City never looked capable of putting the game away from Swansea’s reach and for all the possession Manchester City boasted around Swansea’s penalty area, they found it tough to break Swansea down and whilst City looked for an opening at one end, they found that Swansea would go close as well just as fast.

Everything about Manchester City’s performance yesterday was too open and if Mancini allows that to happen just once more this season, then Manchester United have had the Premiership title dumped on their plate by their inner-city rivals.

Manchester City conceded late on yesterday through a Luke Moore header and never looked capable of responding to that goal with ten minutes still left to play.

Whilst Manchester City lost silly points, Manchester United picked theirs up with ease and that is the key difference between a club used to winning titles and one that, with respect, is alien to the sensation. Not in a millon years would Manchester United have lost to Swansea yesterday.

People can claim that Manchester United are lucky, that Sir Alex Ferguson is best mates with every referee on the FA’s rota but come on, take your head out of the sand for a second. Can anybody really say that SAF has been lucky in the league nineteen times? No, because nobody has that amount of luck, it’s all down to being a strong, intelligent person, one who knows how to manage expectations and capable of achieving results in the most high-pressure situations.

Manchester City aren’t fortunate enough to have a Manager capable of performing in those situations. Roberto Mancini is a fantastic Manager, don’t get me wrong. I personally think Mancini has done an immense job as City Manager, but he has never had to win a title like this. In Serie A it was maybe a little easier mentally, but competing for the Premiership is like living in a pressure cooker and Mancini is new to this sensation, whilst SAF seems to love habituating in high-pressure cooking pots and that, will be the difference to success this season.

Finally, I must finish with Leicester City and their troubles. Yesterday I round at Mat’s house and his computer was open on the Foxes Talk page, where I saw the headline, ‘Nigel Pearson, should he be sacked and who could replace him?’ Straight away, I was silently screaming, pleading for Leicester’s Thai owners to keep faith with Pearson.

I’ve said it many times on here before, and I’ll say it again: Leicester desperately familiarity to be successful. Stick with Nigel Pearson and Leicester will go up next season, if not this season. If yet another Leicester Manager bites the dust, then this season will be repeated for years and years until it clicks that sticking with the same Manager brings success. Obviously, I don’t mean appoint anybody, for example you couldn’t appoint Ronald McDonald and say that keep faith with him for two seasons and you’ll achieve guaranteed success, as that’s absolutely ludicrous.

Leicester City’s player turnover in the past few years goes over the fifty mark and that is far too much, considering the different Managers Leicester have employed in that period in Pearson, Paulo Souza, Sven Goran Eriksson and Nigel Pearson once more. One Manager a season is not healthy and until Leicester stick with one, it’ll be groundhog day for years to come. Leicester have the resources, the players and a very good Manager, but do they have a Chairman with substance between his ears?

That final question is my last input for this post, so I will see you in the comments…

Follow @J4goalpostsblog

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, League One, Premiership Leave a comment

Leicester Take A Walk At Pride Park

Morning all!

First of all, being an Arsenal fan who attended to Derby County v Leicester City match last night, (with Mat, the other owner of this site) I’m used to sitting in luxury for a football stadium. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Emirates Stadium, but everything about the ground is well spaced out and even the basic seats are padded. For this privilege, I pay about £50 a ticket, not forgetting I take my little brother, so it does mount up pretty quick!

Normally, I’d have a good moan about how much it costs to see The Arsenal play football but having stood/sat last night, packed like a tin of cheap Tuna, I can honestly say I will never complain about ticket prices again for as long as I live. (I probably will moan, actually) The difference in quality between paying £20 and £50 is huge and something I’m willing to pay so as to avoid getting whacked round the head every time a goal is scored, or a corner is won etc.

For those of you that have never been to Pride Park, is does all feel a little tight, whilst at the same time, managing to look tidy. Derby County employ a ‘fake’ two tier look, which does separate the ground quite nicely, but it’s obvious there are no first and second tiers at Derby, aside from one stand where there are Boxes built, which separates the first and second tier at Derby. Whilst a tidy ground, it is cramped and whilst aesthetically pleasing, it isn’t the most enjoyable place to be a spectator of football.

With duly noted, I should probably inform you of last night’s match!

After a scrappy ten minutes of football had been played, with both teams feeling their way into the game, Leicester had, predictably, taken the lead through Neil Danns after Lloyd Dyer had ripped the Derby defence apart. Dyer’s run had tore the defence apart and that was the first sign of what was a very naive, ‘young’ looking performance from Derby. Up against pure pace in the form of Lloyd Dyer, Derby had positioned Paul Green, a combative midfielder by trade, at right-back due to an injury ruling out John Brayford for the season. For whatever reason, Green, an experienced player, was insistent on getting tight to Dyer, which was a massive mistake as it left a massive hole behind for which Dyer could run in to.

On that point, you Derby fans could probably point to injuries as a key reason to why they lost last night (and have now not scored in four) but for me, that excuse never washes. Don’t get me wrong, of course losing players to injury effects a team, not only for quality, but familiarity amongst players and when a batch of players are missing, teams do tend to struggle. With that said, the best squads will be able to call upon quality players for every position if needed. Manchester United had major injury problems earlier this season but coped with ease and that should apply to every club, at every level. Derby County have a fairly big squad, but it seems as if Nigel Clough has opted for quantity over quality when it comes to buying squad players and had Derby been able to call on more quality back-up this season when injuries started to strike, then maybe Derby would be nearer the play-off positions. Not building a good, all-round squad is the manager’s error and that needs to be amended in the summer.

Leicester City on the other hand, have no such problem. Leicester’s best player last season, Andy King, is currently injured, as is Paul Gallagher whose been a regular this year. To cope with that problem, Danns moved into the centre and Ben Marshall, a £1 million signing from Stoke City in January, filled the void left by Gallagher. Another example of Leicester’s strength in depth is the departure of Sol Bamba to the African Cup of Nations, where Wes Morgan was brought to the club to fill the gap.

Again, Derby fans may point to Leicester’s vast resources, but having resources and utilising them properly are two separate factors. It takes a bad Manager to sign players irrelevant to the needs of his squad, but a good Manager knows how best to utilise the resources at his disposal. Whilst Nigel Clough of Derby doesn’t have the money Leicester have, he does tend to invest his money in young, un-established players. Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of buying young and cheap, then selling high for a profit, but as a result the club tends to suffer performance wise, however good it looks on the club accounts.

Performance wise last night, I felt Leicester were very commanding, they never looked threatened by Derby in open play, bar one move right at the beginning of the second half, where Derby had Leicester beaten all ends up but for a poor final ball, something Nigel Clough cited as ‘needing improvement’ in his post-match interview.

As expected, with the score at 1-0, there was a feeling of anxiety amongst the Leicester support, which is understandable given Leicester’s record of four away wins all season away from home before last night’s fixture. As an impartial observer of the match, I never felt Leicester were going to be troubled and if a goal was to be conceded, then a set-piece looked to be Derby’s best bet, but even those were dealt with through consummate ease with the Leicester defence.

All in all, I felt Leicester were terrific value for the win, they were never threatened and for more clinical finishing on the break, Leicester could have beaten Derby 5-0 on another night. For Leicester to realise their potential of the play-offs, these results are needed on a more consistent basis than what has been given.

Meanwhile for Derby County, much improvement is needed if the Rams are ever to realise the potential they consistently deliver in the early stages of a season. All too often Derby tail off as the season goes on, which is again down to injuries and again, down to a squad built to satisfy the accounts, not match day results.

That’s your lot for today, I’ll see you here on Monday!

Follow @J4goalpostsblog

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England Leave a comment

Good Week / Bad Week. Sunderland Beat Arsenal, Leicester Defeat Norwich & Stevenage Hold Spurs

Good Week

Stevenage Borough

Drawing 0-0 with a team placed third in the Barclay’s Premier League is always a good achievement for a Championship team, never mind one fighting for a play-off spot in League One. Stevenage are enjoying a pretty good season in League One and currently sit 6th in the league, with two games in hand on most teams around them, apart from Sheffield Wednesday, who they have four games in hand on. Clearly, Stevenage hold a pretty enviable position in League One and could soon overhaul third place Sheffield Wednesday once Stevenage have caught up with their fixtures.

Despite such a good position being held in League One, it’s normally the case that when a Premiership team plays a side from a lower league, the lower league side will match their Premiership opponents for around an hour through sheer willpower and organisation. After that 60 minute mark, extra fitness and quality shows, meaning that more often than not, the Premiership team will dominate the final half an hour and claim victory.

For Stevenage, this wasn’t such a problem. In midfield, Luke Freeman looked brilliant on the ball, doing all the simple things to help Stevenage keep the ball. Freeman looked great in Arsenal’s reserves, I always liked him when I saw him play for the reserves, so I’m perplexed as to why exactly Arsenal let him go on a permanent transfer after yesterday’s showing from Freeman. All over the pitch, Stevenage seemed able to draw up a little bit of quality to help them through against Spurs and they’ll need to call upon it again in midweek for the replay at White Hart Lane.

Leicester City

The last two results in Leicester City’s fixture list illustrates Leicester’s season perfectly. A 3-2 defeat by the hands of Watford lead to my eternally optimistic Leicester City supporting friend claim ‘their season is over’ after what truly was an awful result for a team wanting to get promotion. If Leicester had won, they’d now be on 45 points, just 6 points off a promotion place, which is truly frustrating when you look at the potential Leicester City possess.

Players such as David Nugent, Jermaine Beckford, Matt Mills, Kasper Schmeichel, Andy King, Richie Wellens and the rest look, on paper, like a Premiership team. If that side was to be playing in the Premiership, they’d be in the top half. For certain, Leicester (again, on paper) have a better team than Stoke City for example.

So why are’t Leicester not higher up the table? Simply, it’s because of a ridiculous amount of players coming and going at the Walkers Stadium over the past three or four years, as well as Managers. Leicester have such a high turnover of playing staff and backroom staff, as well as management, that it’s hard to create a single vision for Leicester to strive toward. Even if it’s universally accepted at the club that promotion is always the target, it becomes equally hard to achieve that when the staff trying to achieve that goal is continually changing.

This is a criticsm, but mainly born out of frustration because I know how good Leicester can be, I know how big the club is and if Nigel Pearson is to keep everything together, Leicester will go a long way.

However for all the Watford results that come Leicester’s way, there is still an obvious abundance in quality and when Leicester do strike a chord, they can sweep most teams out of their way, in particular, a strong Norwich City side who have done very well in the Premiership this season. If Leicester continue Saturday into the rest of their matches this season, the Foxes could make a real push for the play-offs and finally achieve their goal of promotion. (though I personally feel they’re best having another season in the Championship to gel)

Sunderland

Martin O’Neill is some sort of miracle worker. We’re not talking small miracles here, I mean large miracles to the scale of turning the atmosphere of a whole club around and bringing them to the cusp of a Wembley appearance if Sunderland are to beat Everton in the FA Cup Quater Finals. O’Neill (MON) has started to get the best out of players who looked as if their careers were stagnating and that’s not down to any voodoo Doctor, but thanks to MON’s ability to get the best out a player by using the best motivation techniques.

Sunderland’s performance against Arsenal on Saturday was typical of a MON side, fighting to the last to ensure a win was secured. It wasn’t a ‘pretty’ performance from Sunderland and nor did the Mackems dominate, they realised they couldn’t compete openly with Arsenal, so stuck to a plan and carried it out to perfection.

A tactical master as well as a magician of a motivator, MON could well carry what were an infuriating Sunderland side to the next level.

Bad Week

Arsenal

If a 4-0 loss against an AC Milan side still in transition under Massimiliano Allegri (no idea if I spelt that right!) wasn’t bad enough for Arsenal, a result which effectively knocks them out of the Champions League then a 2-0 loss to Sunderland in the FA Cup, Arsenal’s only realistic chance of winning any silverware, is truly the stuff made of disasters.

Against Arsenal, Milan’s defence must have been laughing as they claimed the entire Arsenal side in their back pocket. Despite the Lion’s share of possession against Milan, Arsenal were woeful in the final third and looked awfully short of any initiative. Any initiative was provided by a 34 year old Thierry Henry (who has now returned to New York Red Bulls) and an isolated Robin Van Persie. This was imitated against Sunderland, where again, Arsenal just looked shorn of any clue as to how to break teams down.

It’s been a painful week for me, so I don’t wish to digest both games against AC Milan and Sunderland, but I do wish to share with you just why Arsenal are suddenly so painstakingly shit. Having sold both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the summer, Arsenal have replaced two world class midfielders with Aaron Ramsey and Gervinho.

First and foremost, I must say I think both Ramsey and Gervinho are good players. What they are not, however, are ready made replacements for two quality midfielders. Ramsey for example is still young and at that, a year behind in his development and being asked to perform in the Fabregas role serves as brutal punishment. Ramsey is doing the hardest job at Arsenal and that is to keep things ticking over, which can’t be done with a player still learning his trade, whipping Ramsey in this role will only damage him and Arsenal either need Wilshere back, or another midfielder of a truly world class stature to be able to perform in the hole vacated by Fabregas to get Arsenal tickin again.

As for Gervinho, he’s already made more assists than Samir Nasri did in his entire Arsenal career. Gervinho however is an out and out winger unlike Nasri, whose preference was to come inside, meaning Arsenal have now adopted a new style reliant on pacy wingers, rather than playing with dedicated playmakers on the wing. With Gervinho still adapting to the English game, there will be inconsistencies in Gervinho’s performances and it’s this constant period of transition in Arsenal’s teams since 2005 which is killing the club’s chances of silverware.

There is one person responsible for this and that is Arsene Wenger. That story however, remains untouched for another article…

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Posted on February 20, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, League One, Premiership Leave a comment

Good Week / Bad Week

Good Week

Arsenal

Talks of a planned protest consisting of budget bin liners placed over empty seats at Emirates Stadium were filled with nothing but hollow threats. Arsenal fans growing continually frustrated with this season, and the six that have preceded it, are beginning to snap at the slightest thing, such as subsitutions.

As has been the unusual case for Arsenal fans, there are many factions which give a voice for a fan’s needs at the Emirates, which maybe explains the reason as to why there seems to be a civil war amongst fans at time during matches. As you know, I myself am an Arsenal fan and I lay strongly against booing during matches, meaning I was engaged in online arguments last week with fans who thought it okay to boo Andrey Arshavin for merely wearing an Arsenal shirt.

Much online ire during this tough period for Arsenal has been directed at Theo Walcott, with fans growing ever more frustrated with Theo’s lack of consistency. The thing is, we all seem to forget just how old Theo is, he’s only 22, despite it seeming as if Theo has been around for much longer than his age would suggest.

Players under the age of 24, in general, have very average stats, it’s not until they reach 24 and over that their talent is reflected in goals and assists. Unless you’re a Cesc Fabregas, Leo Messi or a Cristiano Ronaldo, this is not the case, but do remember they tend to operate in a more central position, as opposed to the wide positions which Theo takes up. Theo was 21 last season when he started to score goals and make assists (9 goals and 7 assists) on a regular basis, which is very natural progress and if I were Arsene Wenger, I’d be very happy with Theo’s progress. Admittedly, Theo is supplying the best striker on this planet, so it could be argued his assist ratio would be lower if he were delivering to say, Marouane Chamakh. That however, would be being incredibly anal and is merely an assumption based on opinion, not a hard fact, so I’m not giving that theory any light of day.

Theo delivered three assists yesterday as Arsenal destroyed Blackburn 7-1 with consummate ease. Arsenal desperately needed such a win and with difficult away trips to Sunderland and AC Milan, seven goals in a game should spark a real run of form for Arsenal and consequently, a rich vein of form on Theo’s part.

Norwich City

It may be too early to say anything as to what Norwich might achieve this season, with promoted Championship teams always liable to a drop in form at some stage in the season, but things sure look promising for Norwich City thus far. Placed in ninth, the highest of all three promoted sides, Norwich are six points off of Liverpool in seventh place, which is Europa League territory.

Imagine what a run in Europe could potentially do for Norwich financially? Increased revenue from featuring in the Europa League, as well as the rewards a decent run could reward Norwich’s bank account.

Of course, I’m merely speculating, but by even doing that it’s a sure indicator of how far Norwich have progressed under Paul Lambert since they were trounced 6-1 two years ago by Colchester United. Happy days.

Wolves

A few weeks ago, after Wolves had frustrated Arsenal to a draw, Mick McCarty had stated that it wasn’t those matches that would decide Wolves’ future, but those against teams around them, such as QPR. To emerge victorious, away from home, against a tough to beat QPR at Loftus Road, is a huge achievement for Wolves, especially as they went a goal down.

Admittedly, QPR had only ten men, but on QPR’s pitch, which is so small, going a man down doesn’t make a difference. Only on a large pitch does going a man down really make any difference and the psychology within a team when they go down to ten men is one of a siege mentality, making it so hard to break said team down. That Wolves managed to break down a resolute QPR, on a crap pitch, against ten men, in a hostile arena, is an amazing result for Wolves.

Bad Week

Blackburn

It’s not really hard to justify just why a team should be categorised in this particular section. Conceding seven goals is a pretty good indicator of a bad day at the office and when you’re nineteenth in the league.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Steve Kean ever since Blackburn ‘fans’ flew a plane over Ewood Park on match day demanding Kean be sacked from his position.

Leicester City

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to carry on saying, ‘ah, Leicester are only eight points off of the play-off positions, they’ll make it, no worries’. The thing is, we’ve been saying this for some time now and we are yet to be proved right. Why? A large turnover of players in the past two years is the reason, no other, it’s not as if Leicester have been blessed with bad Managers. Did you know over forty players have arrived and departed since the 2010 summer transfer window? A staggering amount, meaning no Leicester side has ever managed to gain an identity, resulting in inconsistency and if this assault on promotion via high player turnover persists, Leicester will be steeped in debt, something no fan wishes to see.

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Craig in Championship, England, Premiership Leave a comment

Making or Breaking

Good Morning Sports Fans!

My post this morning or my question this morning is concerning the large teams playing in lower leagues that have hopes and ambition to reach the promised land. My question is this, at what cost either financially, morally or ethically would we accept to see our beloved teams reach the Premier League. I ask this as my team Leicester City are rumoured to make more signing in the January transfer window, having already spent an estimated £30m in the last two seasons alone; at what cost do we pursue the dream? What also lead me to this topic was Leciester’s game against Southampton on Monday night. Leicester convincingly beat the Saints at home which led to the home crowed booing their team off at both the interval and full time, despite the fact Nigel Adkins’ men are second in the League and have been on a cracking run so far.

The scenario applies to many teams with the ambition of playing top flight football, no doubt fans of Leeds, Derby, Nottingham Florist, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and don’t forget teams like Bradford playing in League two all feel the same (there are many more!). So for sake of argument say our teams make the Premier League and begin another shot at the big time. I ask, what can we realistically expect? Unless Bill Gates has been announced as new owner what’s the most you can hope for just avoid relegation? maybe 16? 15 at a push? Maybe have the promotion syndrome and finish even higher who knows. But never in a million years are teams that get promoted going to challenge for anywhere near the top 6/7 keeping the spot light again on the teams that need it the least!

Watching Leicester this season who have spent, spent and spent some more, (it was rumoured we spent so much we were steering the nation away from recession) we have massively underachieved but I look now just over half way through the season, it could go either way – we could finish a lonely 15/16 or we could still easily make the play off’s the same applies for all the teams in the football league except the Premier League that’s what makes our leagues so exciting!

Even though my side were winning, it shocked me and saddened me to hear Southampton fans booing their team who up until that point have been magnificent all season and some would say they have overachieved! I think to be second or even competing in any over our leagues which are undoubtedly some of the most competitive in the world is worth cheering about! And, from a ‘clubs’ perspective the exposure is surely more positive than getting relegated from the Premier League?

What could be better than an away trip to Elland Road the City Ground or the King Power stadium but name a few – needing 3 points to get back on the promotion push! It’s what football is all about I think some fans don’t realise how lucky they are Your thoughts?

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Posted on January 27, 2012 by Mat in Championship, England Leave a comment

Sven. Sacked. What?!

Morning!

So we’re thirteen games into the new Championship season, a stage where we’re able to sort of visualise how the league table will look come the season’s finale. At this particular stage, teams pulling on the curtain tails of fellow sides occupying the top six positions can consider themselves doing a good job.

Generally speaking, if a team like Leicester City for example are only two points off of the play-offs after thirteen games, they can consider themselves pleasently satisfied. With a heavy turnover in players throughout the summer, time needed to be allowed for players such as Nugent, Beckford, Danns and all ninety-nine other players who joined Leicester in the summer, to settle in to their new surroundings. To help this transition period flow much quicker, it’s imperative the manager stays and anybody in football will say that if you stand a mere two points away from a play-off position, yet still to hit top form, then a bloody good job is being done.

The above paragraph would indeed apply in a normal, happy, Sven-friendly world, but when your owners are from Thailand, give fans free trips to their home country on their first day of being in charge and importantly, did I tell you the owners are from Thailand, a country holding a FIFA ranking of 113? Hardly a football-minded country is it? Can they really be relied upon to make a steadfast decision? I was present at Walkers Stadium when they handed out trips to Thailand to fans present in a lottery draw, with your ticket acting as, well, the ticket! The second they pulled off that publicity stunt to appease nervous fans, you knew there was going to be some difficult times to be had.

For evidence of Leicester still trying to find their feet following such a high turnover, just look at their results:

Leicester 3-2 Southampton
Leicester 1-0 Brighton
Leicester 4-0 Derby

Of course, there is a flipside to these results…

Barnsley 1-1 Leicester
Leicester 1-2 Bristol City
Leicester City 0-3 Millwall

So far this season, Leicester have been inconsistent in all areas, partly because Sven never knew his best side, mainly due to his players not having settled in. LCFC’s Thai owners wanted investment into their side and they got it, but they must have known so many players both arriving and departing would result in inconsistencies, it’s just an inevitability that would happen.

As I said, a highly strange decision and hopefully it won’t be one to cost Leicester too much in the coming weeks as I do like them. Would you have sacked Sven? No, nor I, we should all maybe send in applications for role of Leicester City CEO. Just a thought…

In other news, it was a bad Monday for Manchester United fans globally as a torrent of debate (and jokes) fell upon the table’s of every pub, every counter in every corner shop and… basically everywhere is what I’m trying to get at here. One angry Manchester United fan claimed City to be buying the title?! Oh purr-lease! Manchester United have continually exercised their financial clout over the rest of their competition for years. Remember seeing that surly Bulgarian striker on United’s bench on Sunday? Yep, he cost £30 million from Spurs, Rio Ferdinand cost £30 million from Leeds United years back, Wayne Rooney cost £30 million and a host of other starts have been in the £20-30 million price bracket down the years, constantly blowing the opposition away.

On what is a short post today, I’m going to call it a day. What’s been your favourite Manchester United joke or headline in the papers? Let me know in the comments!

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Posted on October 25, 2011 by Craig in Championship, England, Premiership Leave a comment

What The Papers Say!

Thursday morning’s newspaper gossip…

Daily Mirror

Tottenham Hotspurs are linked with a January loan move for LA Galaxy midfielder, David Beckham. Personally, I don’t see what he can bring to Spurs now apart from novelty, I’ve been one whose sat on the Beckham train for a while, but there comes a time when you have to concede he’s simply not got the legs for it any more. Beckham would sell thousands of Spurs shirts with his name on the back and if he had indeed joined Leicester last season, I would have purchased a Leicester shirt with his name on, purely because it’s an abnormal name to have on the back of a Leicester shirt.

Former Sunderland midfielder, Steed Malbranque is eyeing a return to the Premiership in capacity of a free agent, after terminating his contract with St Etienne. Originally, it was stated that Malbranque had cancelled his contract because of a will to look after his cancer-stricken son, though Malbranque came out and denied this, stating he had no son and his family were fit and healthy. Malbranque’s crazy…

The Sun

Fabio Capello is planning a dramatic shake-up of his England squad in anticipation of Euro 2012 by dropping the likes of James Milner, Gareth Barry and Rio Ferdinand from his squad altogether and replacing them with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Tom Cleverley and other young prospects who remain untainted by previous, failed World Cup and Euro bids with the England national team. I’ve long called out for the introduction of fresh blood into what is a stale England side and for that, I applaud Fabio Capello, I just wish he hadn’t left this decision so late.

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Posted on September 8, 2011 by Craig in What The Papers Say! Leave a comment

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