Match Thread RC Lens v Leicester PSF

[Miles Away]

It’s basically “broken windows” theory for me. Little things indicate big problems

There have been a couple of bits recently that have stuck out:

1. Significant increase on ticket prices
2. The Card fiasco
3. The PPV model for the preseason games
4. The lack of coherent plans around celebrating the league win

In isolation these are minor, minor crimes, some of which I personally don’t have an issue with - but they are all clearly being made by a leadership more focused on short-term (marginal) financial gain than fostering fan and brand loyalty. I guarantee you that their decision to charge for the preseason matches will cost them far, far more than the 20k or whatever they made on sales. It disenfranchised fans and will lead to reduced loyalty - which will in the long term have a large financial impact.

 

[Miles Away]

Well, it's a comprehensive answer. I disagree that the club is any different to any other and in lots of ways it's better but I think you raise some definite improvements that could be made. I guess I just see them for what they are; a business offering a product. I don't therefore need that antiquainted 'fan' connection, or at least not the one that used to exist at football clubs. I get that others want that though.

Good response. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that treating the fans this way is ultimately bad for business. They will lose money and fans if they continue down the path they are on.

I view it in a slightly different lens than most - a healthy and happy fan base is good for business.

 

[popillius]

Villa are having it both ways right now. So are Brentford and Brighton - continued Premier League football and pushing for Europe.

I don't know why you think our only option would be to sell to someone penniless. Premier League football clubs are regularly being valued in the billions.

They aren't though, are they. Measure the successes we have had and enjoyed compared to those of the clubs you have mentioned. I'd take our last decade over their's every ****ing minute of the day.

Is there anything to suggest that fans of these clubs feel somehow 'more connected' to it than ours? Probably not. These clubs are on their highs but their lows will come and we shall see how they are dealt with. If for example, Brentford went down next year, could you see them investing well enough to come straight back up? I don't know the answer of course but my guess would be probably not.

 

[Micky]

Okay. I can see why, I'm not criticising. Stability is important. I just think we need to assess the season critically and think about what we could do to make things better. If we're rock bottom and playing dreadful, disorganised football, that's all on Cooper. If we're rock bottom but there's evidence of a plan, flashes of decent stuff, points deductions then I could see a case for sticking with the management team.

I'm just fed up of mercenaries that are here for one minute and gone the next. I want a manager that wants to settle here and be part of a long lasting legacy. Even if that is an up and down legacy.

 

[popillius]

Good response. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that treating the fans this way is ultimately bad for business. They will lose money and fans if they continue down the path they are on.

I suppose I view it in a slightly different lens than most - a healthy and happy fan base is good for business.

I totally agree. I think they are in a business where they will always have plenty of people wanting their product which doesn't help in terms of the effort needed to sustain good PR but I don't think, as big business goes, they are terrible at customer relations.

I do get the ticket card payment thing; that was a ludicrous idea, badly enforced and even more poorly explained.

 

[City Fan]

I watched them play.

We were hardly great when we had that awful run in 14/15. And the rest is history.

If they’d have kept Cooper they might be Premier League champions this season.

 

[popillius]

I'm just fed up of mercenaries that are here for one minute and gone the next. I want a manager that wants to settle here and be part of a long lasting legacy. Even if that is an up and down legacy.

It's a perfectly sound desire. The problem is that most successful managers who win things are ****ing mercenaries. I get it though, I really do.

 

[Fox Fan]

They aren't though, are they. Measure the successes we have had and enjoyed compared to those of the clubs you have mentioned. I'd take our last decade over their's every ****ing minute of the day.

Yeah me too, but ultimately, the way this club is being run has fundamentally changed since we won the EPL.

This seems to be the main difference between your view and mine - which is to say that you think past performance is an indication of future performance, whereas I think we've had a brilliant decade, but we are now being run by the wrong people.

 

[popillius]

We were hardly great when we had that awful run in 14/15. And the rest is history.

If they’d have kept Cooper they might be Premier League champions this season.

We were absolutely better than you're remembering. There were flashes of what we could do, there were some really good performances, it just didn't seem to fit together until the end. Forest looked done for. I don't remember there being many people calling for Pearson to be sacked (although I've probably got a touch of the Bocs here) but most Forest fans could see the inevitable would happen if they didn't get rid of Cooper and they wanted him gone.

Don't get me wrong, overall he did an excellent job at Forest for the most part, but it wasn't working at all towards the end.

 

[Blaarev]

We were absolutely better than you're remembering. There were flashes of what we could do, there were some really good performances, it just didn't seem to fit together until the end. Forest looked done for. I don't remember there being many people calling for Pearson to be sacked (although I've probably got a touch of the Bocs here) but most Forest fans could see the inevitable would happen if they didn't get rid of Cooper and they wanted him gone.

Don't get me wrong, overall he did an excellent job at Forest for the most part, but it wasn't working at all towards the end.

Thread 'Pearson Out'

Nov 8, 2014

No goals in 4, not picking the best 11, doesn't know his best 11, time to go. Tony Pulis in to stop us going down.

• jas123
• Replies: 550
• Forum: Leicester City

 

[popillius]

Yeah me too, but ultimately, the way this club is being run has fundamentally changed since we won the EPL.

This seems to be the main difference between your view and mine - which is to say that you think past performance is an indication of future performance, whereas I think we've had a brilliant decade, but we are now being run by the wrong people.

I don't think last performance is any indicator of future performance in this instance, I just don't think out future performance would be improved by our owners walking away.

I don't think we changed having won the PL. In fact, I think we should have but didn't which is why we went balls deep to try and replicate it the following season instead of just sitting back and creating a foundation for lasting success. The ambition was still there but it was too much too fast.

I think last season, we handled relegation and promotion remarkably well and returned to some of our best work in the transfer market.

 

[Miles Away]

We were absolutely better than you're remembering. There were flashes of what we could do, there were some really good performances, it just didn't seem to fit together until the end. Forest looked done for. I don't remember there being many people calling for Pearson to be sacked (although I've probably got a touch of the Bocs here) but most Forest fans could see the inevitable would happen if they didn't get rid of Cooper and they wanted him gone.

Don't get me wrong, overall he did an excellent job at Forest for the most part, but it wasn't working at all towards the end.

I wanted Pearson sacked.

 

[popillius]

I wanted Pearson sacked.

I can't remember if I did or not to be fair!

 

[Brown Nose]

I can't remember if I did or not to be fair!

Well City Fan loves Big Nige and won't hear a word against him so I think we can deduce what your view was.

 

[pork pie fox]

Thread 'Pearson Out'

Nov 8, 2014

No goals in 4, not picking the best 11, doesn't know his best 11, time to go. Tony Pulis in to stop us going down.

• jas123
• Replies: 550
• Forum: Leicester City

There are some cracking posts in there, it's great fun.

 

[popillius]

There are some cracking posts in there, it's great fun.

**** me pink, was BN sponsored by Tony Pulis?

 

[camberwell fox]

Interesting debate and good to read.

The thing is (for me), I have an attachment to LCFC borne out of a miserable childhood where Saturday @ 3:00pm was my escape from the hell that was my life. Now distant from Leicester and living in London I just couldn’t remove the emotional umbilical cord that I have with the club and I certain I am not in the minority, perhaps not for this reason but for many others such as fond memories of going to the match with family who may now have passed. So as much as football is a product, people don’t necessarily have an easy choice to “walk away.”

We are fortunate to have great owners (perhaps historically more so than right now) but in terms of investment and success they stand on their own against most of the other clubs in the four divisions.

It’s interesting to discuss engagement as historically we have been “spoilt” during the majority of the current ownerships reign. We are probably somewhere in the middle right now as better than some and not so good as others but don’t forget there are many owners out there fleecing clubs and really taking the piss out of their fans.

Could we do better and should we, probably but there are perhaps greater priorities ATM.

Brentford are a great example of a club exceptionally engaging their fans, free football shirts on milestone birthdays and so on, the problem is, why would we do this?

We have a sellout stadia virtually every week and fan engagement isn’t going to fill the non existent fan void. Along with this decent fan engagement takes a decent amount of cash and considerable time.

Perhaps at the moment we are, where we are?

 

[popillius]

City desert their identity as duo's bewildering omissions raises questions

Analysis from Leicester City's 3-0 loss to Lens, looking at the performance, the starting line-up, Ricardo Pereira and Stephy Mavididi's omissions, out-of-position players, and more

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

This is the worry. The complete lack of any sort of plan. We are too far removed from what was working at the moment. We have to bring done of those ideas back to stabilise things.

 

[SimonW]

I’m loving this discussion guys. Nice and insightful.

Agreed, makes a nice change.

 

[popillius]

Interesting debate and good to read.

The thing is (for me), I have an attachment to LCFC borne out of a miserable childhood where Saturday @ 3:00pm was my escape from the hell that was my life. Now distant from Leicester and living in London I just couldn’t remove the emotional umbilical cord that I have with the club and I certain I am not in the minority, perhaps not for this reason but for many others such as fond memories of going to the match with family who may now have passed. So as much as football is a product, people don’t necessarily have an easy choice to “walk away.”

We are fortunate to have great owners (perhaps historically more so than right now) but in terms of investment and success they stand on their own against most of the other clubs in the four divisions.

It’s interesting to discuss engagement as historically we have been “spoilt” during the majority of the current ownerships reign. We are probably somewhere in the middle right now as better than some and not so good as others but don’t forget there are many owners out there fleecing clubs and really taking the piss out of their fans.

Could we do better and should we, probably but there are perhaps greater priorities ATM.

Brentford are a great example of a club exceptionally engaging their fans, free football shirts on milestone birthdays and so on, the problem is, why would we do this?

We have a sellout stadia virtually every week and fan engagement isn’t going to fill the non existent fan void. Along with this decent fan engagement takes a decent amount of cash and considerable time.

Perhaps at the moment we are, where we are?

Really good post.

It's difficult isn't it, separating sentimentality from logistics. I don't think our fan engagement is terrible but it also isn't something I don't worry about too much. I do get peeved when we are told that just because some of us don't want to vent our spleen and be abusive towards the club and its owners, that we are somehow all wimps and sheep or whatever other nonsense is aimed at us.

I do get people wanting more and I do understand that this comes off the back of an experience of football from years passed but it just isn't like that now. Even at clubs like Brentford and Brighton, there will be very unhappy fans who crave a history they remember but one that is no longer possible.