Until the start of the season. No managerial appointment. Reportedly not close to making one yet. 7 players have left, other players futures to be decided. A full squad refresh needed with a pre-season vital for a new manager and time to bed in the players. Southampton moved quickly and decisively, Leeds unable to due to the sale of the club.
So we have absolutely no excuses. The circus remains in charge despite everything that’s happened in the last 12 months - it would seem, exactly as we said last year, it will be more of the same in the championship.
What are we playing about at? If it’s to wait to speak to a first team coach (purely because he sits next to Pep on a match day) who has absolutely no experience other than a rotten stint at Parma, then it will show we’re in more trouble than even I thought. Appointing that guy would be another reckless gamble and we’ve gambled plenty of times and lost in the last 3 years.
Something needs to change at this club. And I’m beginning to draw the conclusion that it’s now no longer the DoF - it’s the whole ownership
Less than 8 Weeks
posted on 11/6/23
It’s not a worry yet 99 but if we still don’t have our manager in place in 2 weeks it’s a massive problem.
We’re clearly waiting or wanting to speak to 1-2 candidates. The owners might comically still believe they can convince Potter as no Premier League teams will be in for him now Spurs is done.
I’d rather we took the time to find the right appointment but the longer it goes on the worry is we won’t get the right appointment, will just go with Smith and we’ve wasted weeks of preparation time.
Who knows. Not inspiring confidence and leadership though is it.
posted on 11/6/23
But we’ve got a whole squad build to do Mersey and we start pre-season in 3 weeks. We need to sign what - 8-10 players? That can’t happen until a manager is appointed and Southampton are already weeks ahead of us
posted on 11/6/23
No way was Potter in for the Spurs job or at any other 'big' club. He's probably waiting for the first sackings in the autumn in the lower part of the Premier League.
I find these discussions really depressing. It's evident that Rudkin, and therefore Top, remains a massive part of the problem, with chasing improbable managerial targets as 'the plan'; if they settle on Deano they will have wasted precious weeks of time and what will that tell him about their confidence in him?
posted on 11/6/23
comment by 99 Problems (but Rodgers ain’t one) (U12353)
posted 7 hours, 56 minutes ago
But we’ve got a whole squad build to do Mersey and we start pre-season in 3 weeks. We need to sign what - 8-10 players? That can’t happen until a manager is appointed and Southampton are already weeks ahead of us
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Yeah, as I said, it is concerning if it’s not sorted in the best couple of weeks.
posted on 11/6/23
* next couple of weeks
posted on 11/6/23
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
comment by 99 Problems (but Rodgers ain’t one) (U12353)
posted 7 hours, 56 minutes ago
But we’ve got a whole squad build to do Mersey and we start pre-season in 3 weeks. We need to sign what - 8-10 players? That can’t happen until a manager is appointed and Southampton are already weeks ahead of us
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Yeah, as I said, it is concerning if it’s not sorted in the best couple of weeks.
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Its concerning that’s it not sorted NOW
posted on 12/6/23
Becoming equally concerned, 99 - think you've nailed it and whilst there could be brilliant (silent) work going on behind the scenes at the club - I simply just don't buy it. If Rudkin isn't replaced (or just sacked) then clearly Top is buying into his nonsense and I hate to appear knee-jerk and do 180's following previous posts, but we may benefit from new ownership.
That said - new ownership won't happen without another interested investor (and existing owners being "willing" to sell). So... back to what I said in previous threads - it doesn't really matter what we want when it comes to ownership, because they're the ones with the decision-making powers.
At this stage, I'd even take Dean Smith and give him a remit of recruitment and sales. Get some control over the pre-pre-season (yes before pre-season) and identify players who can come in, with anticipated sales / values for those we want or need to sell... when the bidding wars commence.
I also heard on the grape vine that our very own "Leicester through and through" Luke Thomas could be off to Forest for £5m?... If true, that would be a disgraceful decision on his part! Very ill-considered indeed. Also makes me wonder, if even he is off, who we actually might be left with in 3-4-5 weeks' time?!
I'm going to switch my attention to cricket and the Ashes I think, (and maybe British interest, basically Andy Murray) in the tennis grass court season).
[UTF...]
posted on 12/6/23
Thanks YWF - it’s good to see it’s not just me that’s worried!
The latest is we’re in discussions with Carl Hoefkins - a guy who has managed 27 games in his career and I believe is being spoken to because of his champions league experience!
If this is the case, I suspect there is something fundamentally flawed and very worrrying happening. My theory is that Leicester have not accepted the situation they are in. I believe the hierarchy still think this is a club that’s 2-3 seasons away from European football again and therefore we need to be targeting managers with those credentials to build a squad for Europe.
The flaw in that theory is that as we’re in the championship - you will be left with managers who have had fleeting success at small Belgian or Turkish clubs for example - because no one with any actual pedigree is going to want to touch us
I think they’re also being hoodwinked by the Vincent Kompany example - not understanding how incredibly lucky Burnley were to land him (he had family in the north west) and that they carefully considered his style of play and methods during at 90 game spell at Anderlecht.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. We shouldn’t be taking more unnecessary gambles based on a return to a romantic European pipe dream. That is over for now - we’re not that club anymore. We should be focussing on managers with a track record at this level and/or managers who can build a successful team.
Promotion is the aim - not planning for anything else. Start doing that and you end up in Sven Goran Erikssen territory or even Paulo Sousa
posted on 12/6/23
Paulo Sousa... what a flop that appointment turned out to be... I remember us looking very slick going forward in one home friendly, or maybe a League Cup first round match... I want to say Macclesfield or Mansfield, but totally rubbish at the back... (this sounds familiar).
I don't think I want Hoefkins either.
My Monday outlook just got gloomier.
posted on 12/6/23
Not sure what my thoughts are on Scott Parker. I mean he has 2 promotions, albeit he took a very good Fulham side up through the play offs rather than automatic. Seems to come apart at premier league level and you have to say his spell at Club Briugges was a total disaster
I think he’s a pretty limited manager that needs a very good squad. Not a terrible appointment not an amazing one either