FIF
Well-Known Member
and me, musa is a horrible winger.
but the rest of the players were fantastic.
and me, musa is a horrible winger.
I wonder how the sales of his horrendous t-shirts are goingHas Fuchs tweeted yet?
I wonder how the sales of his horrendous t-shirts are going
One of my friends picked one up very cheap the other day. Coincidence?I wonder how the sales of his horrendous t-shirts are going
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/leicester-couldnt-wait-watch-claudio-9908571
So what were Leicester’s owners supposed to do?
Stand by and watch their multi-million pound investment go up in smoke?
Stare adoringly at Claudio Ranieri , wistfully recalling memories of last season while the club boasting the current Footballer of the Year, the Player’s Player of the Year and a clutch of new signings goes down with a whimper?
The idea that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the Leicester board should have kept Ranieri on is madness.
He’d had 25 Premier League games this season to shake the players out of their title euphoria and get them focused again.
That away goal at Sevilla, the consolation that gives them a chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, is not enough.
During their latest top-flight surrender, a 2-0, white-flag waving exercise at Swansea, Leicester were a mess. They’d taken over from the Welsh club and Hull as being the easiest team in the Premier League to play against.
They remain winless in the Premier League in 2017, without a goal in their last six league outings and just a point off the relegation zone. With resurgent Liverpool to come they were there for the taking with Ranieri in charge.
The players spouted all the right clichés about the spirit still being there in the dressing room and all being behind the manager.
But behind the scenes they were moaning behind Ranieri’s back about his constant tinkering, the chopping and changing of his team selection, the fact that they’d had no clue from one game to the next which formation he would play until hours beforehand.
They’d got precious. They moaned about the changes in their diet. They stopped putting in the effort that took them to the top of the table last season.
Pieces were written after the Swansea defeat suggesting they were in freefall. Back pages were dominated by the slow demise of the defending champions.
They’d already been put out of the FA Cup by League One Millwall and should have been beaten by a hatful in the Champions League at Sevilla.
What on earth were Leicester’s owners supposed to do?
In what other business with the hundreds of millions of pounds of a Premier League place at stake would Ranieri have kept his job?
Words like shock and inexplicable were used to describe the decision. Was it really? Nobody who has watched Leicester this season could possibly be surprised at any level that Ranieri was sacked.
The axe was painted as another blow for faith in football. But at what other club would Ranieri have kept his job?
The owners clearly wanted to keep him, which is why he was given two thirds of the current campaign.
But the idea that he should have had a free pass for what he did last season while the club went up in flames is lunacy.
He’d lost the players. The spotlight should actually be on them but it won’t be, because we have seen time again again that it is far easier to replace the man in the dug out rather than the underachievers when they down tools.
Jose Mourinho discovered as much at Chelsea. Roman Abramovich held out for as long as he could before he was forced to pull the trigger on the man that had delivered the title for him just eight months earlier. Keeping players onside is a manager’s job. When you stop doing that, you have to go.
So criticise the club for giving him that dreaded vote of confidence when they’d clearly lost faith in him. Criticise them for trying to sneak the news under the wire, timing it for just before the Spurs game against Gent kicked off.
Call for Ranieri to be given a role upstairs by all means. He will forever be a Foxes immortal for what he did last season and he remains one of the nicest guys in the game.
But the 65-year-old Italian, veteran of 15 managerial roles, had to go.
His incredible achievement will never be forgotten. But in the brutal world of football business, Leicester's owners had no other option.
I was thinking of another Bowie track FIF, reference your earlier quoted post.
Panic in Detroit.
So the players did not like Ranieri's methods?
They respond to that as professionals by working a 'go slow' on the pitch.
Obviously they believe that will get them sympathy.
Seems a very childish and petulant way to behave, and does nothing to enhance their reputation with the fans, the club, or any other club they might want to to be involved with.
This part from that statement from the chairman is interesting, "And also thanks for the one who keep complaining me and management team."
He added: "There was a lot of frustration because of the results, but he had not lost the dressing room. A lot of the talk of unrest has been speculation.
"I always feel sorry when people lose their jobs. I'm not aware of the club having spoken to any candidates. My relationship with Claudio has been fine all along.
"I spoke to him last night and he thanked me for my support throughout. It was not brief and we exchanged views. A lot of what we said will stay private."
So Shakey says Ranieri had not lost the dressing room.
So why have the players been playing like a bunch of tossers for the last six months if they still respected their manager?
P | Pld | Pts | |
1 | Liverpool | 11 | 28 |
2 | Manchester C | 11 | 23 |
3 | Chelsea | 11 | 19 |
4 | Arsenal | 11 | 19 |
5 | Nottm F | 11 | 19 |
6 | Brighton | 11 | 19 |
7 | Fulham | 11 | 18 |
8 | Newcastle | 11 | 18 |
9 | Aston Villa | 11 | 18 |
10 | Tottenham | 11 | 16 |
11 | Brentford | 11 | 16 |
12 | Bournemouth | 11 | 15 |
13 | Manchester U | 11 | 15 |
14 | West Ham | 11 | 12 |
15 | Leicester | 11 | 10 |
16 | Everton | 11 | 10 |
17 | Ipswich | 11 | 8 |
18 | Palace | 11 | 7 |
19 | Wolves | 11 | 6 |
20 | Southampton | 11 | 4 |