Leicester Hire Claude Puel To Replace Craig Shakespeare

[Dave]

On 14/12/2017 at 10:11 AM, Stan said:

 

 

 

 

 

you absolute muppets (yes, I do include myself in this).

 

Early days, of course, but certainly proving many wrong so far.

8 games. 5 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss.

More importantly, we're playing some really good football and he's getting the best out of Mahrez once again. Talking 15/16 shades of form. He's got us playing a nice attacking style combining the likes of Mahrez, Gray, Albrighton, Okazaki behind Vardy.

Things are looking promising so far. 

Worst team we've played all season. 

[Stan]

3 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said:

Worst team we've played all season. 

Couldn't agree more from your point of view. 

Worst I've seen us in a while. Terrible from us. 

[Dan+]

We were appalling. I did think it'd be typical of us to blow it but that was a calamitous effort by us.

[Honey Honey]

It's @Stan's fault for tempting fate 

[Dan+]

It really is the most Leicester thing I've ever seen. Our best away performance in nearly two years followed by our worst home performance in years in the space of three days.

I'm calling it a blip. We've played well under Puel a lot more often than we haven't, although we hit a low I didn't think we would under him. Kudos to Palace and on we move.

[Dan+]

15 league games, 7 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats. 18th when he took over, 7th now. Puel's made a very good start here and deserves credit.

[Danny]

19 minutes ago, Dan said:

15 league games, 7 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats. 18th when he took over, 7th now. Puel's made a very good start here and deserves credit.

That's not bad at all, did see you're up in 7th place. Could be a season in the Europa in it

[Dan+]

5 minutes ago, Danny said:

That's not bad at all, did see you're up in 7th place. Could be a season in the Europa in it

I said pre-season that should be our target and with Everton faltering I think it's a glorious chance for us to get back into Europe, on the assumption a top side wins the FA Cup too.

He's done very well so far. He's got us playing some really decent football at times, brought Mahrez back into form similar to two years ago and really improved the squad rotation. It was far too predictable under Shakespeare.

25 points from 15 games that include all bar Arsenal of the top six is a great effort. A win over Tottenham, a draw with Man Utd and a draw at Stamford Bridge where we were the better side.

I really like what he's doing with us and I think we should finish 7th. We've got a kinder run in than most teams too. I think we're better than Everton and Burnley and will finish above them both.

Got a lot of time for this bloke and think Southampton have made a mistake. History repeating itself maybe? They let Pearson go to us as well and were relegated the following year.

[Dave]

4 hours ago, Dan said:

15 league games, 7 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats. 18th when he took over, 7th now. Puel's made a very good start here and deserves credit.

& so it happens again. The Puel thread gets bumped. I feel I'm doing Roy a bit of an injustice here by not doing the same thing every time we go on a good run. 

[Guest]

I think he's a decent manager my shelf. Look at how Southampton have done after getting rid of him.

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said:

& so it happens again. The Puel thread gets bumped. I feel I'm doing Roy a bit of an injustice here by not doing the same thing every time we go on a good run. 

Hodson has done well as well. You won't go down now

[Stan]

2 hours ago, The Palace Fan said:

& so it happens again. The Puel thread gets bumped. I feel I'm doing Roy a bit of an injustice here by not doing the same thing every time we go on a good run. 

I think I did it for you after the last round of Premier league games. Said he doesn't get enough praise for the job he's doing then get smashed by Arsenal. 

[Panna King]

3 hours ago, Stan said:

I think I did it for you after the last round of Premier league games. Said he doesn't get enough praise for the job he's doing then get smashed by Arsenal. 

Yea and Palace made Iwobi look world class. 

[Dan+]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/12/21/claude-puel-clinging-job-jamie-vardy-voices-frustration-leicester/

Looks like he's clinging onto his job again. I have turned on him myself and think we can do better, but we are picking up a quite unwanted reputation here.

He came very close to getting the sack last year but held on by virtue of no significant upgrade available. That he got another chance, a decent backing (granted lost his best player too) and we still have nearly every concern from last year valid tells me that the progress isn't there and we need to look elsewhere.

I don't think he sees this time next month, but I said that back in April.

This season's a bit of a write-off in all honesty. No way we get Europa League and even less chance we go down. We'll just drift through it now.

[Dan+]

On 22/01/2018 at 01:10, Dan said:

I said pre-season that should be our target and with Everton faltering I think it's a glorious chance for us to get back into Europe, on the assumption a top side wins the FA Cup too.

He's done very well so far. He's got us playing some really decent football at times, brought Mahrez back into form similar to two years ago and really improved the squad rotation. It was far too predictable under Shakespeare.

25 points from 15 games that include all bar Arsenal of the top six is a great effort. A win over Tottenham, a draw with Man Utd and a draw at Stamford Bridge where we were the better side.

I really like what he's doing with us and I think we should finish 7th. We've got a kinder run in than most teams too. I think we're better than Everton and Burnley and will finish above them both.

Got a lot of time for this bloke and think Southampton have made a mistake. History repeating itself maybe? They let Pearson go to us as well and were relegated the following year.

Sadly this was right, but not for the same reason.

[Smiley Culture]

Obviously I don’t watch Leicester live or ever see the full 90 minutes of their games  but I was a bit shocked to see in the papers yesterday that Puel is “fighting for his job”. 

Two league defeats since the chairman’s death is pretty good, I think. The core of that Leicester team have been there for a number of years and we’re told they were particularly close to the chairman, so his loss was surely, you’d have thought, had an effect on them. Some also travelled to and from Thailand in the immediate aftermath of his death so they’ve had a pretty gruelling, physically and emotionally, few months. 

I don’t see any disgrace in losing to Tottenham. They’re a quality side and you’d probably expect Leicester to lose that. Palace, yeah, that’s one you’d probably cast your eye over and think Leicester should win that but away from home, I’d be more forgiving. 

Presumably, it’s the style of football that’s the issue at Leicester and the number of draws can sometimes be looked upon negatively but Leicester are 9th in the Premier League. Ninth. They’re not going to win the league and there’s six or seven teams better than them, at least, so 9th is pretty respectable for me. They’re thirteen points clear of the bottom three and are definitely not going down. Beaten by City on penalties in the League Cup is no disgrace, as I said above and Newport County is most definitely a banana skin, especially at Rodney Parade, but you’d fully expect Leicester to have the quality to see them off. 

No disrespect to the Leicester lot on here but it seems as though the expectations of fans at Leicester, whether these are new fans or fans who’ve been around for a long time, I’m not sure, has become vastly exaggerated based upon winning the Premier League a few years ago. 

[Stan]

@Smiley Culture good post to be honest.

It's the start of the 4th paragraph which is the sticking point - the style of football. We have players that are used to playing high intensity, high press, quick counter attacking football. It's what we're used to seeing for the past few seasons. Puel doesn't bring that so although I can agree that it's effective given he's got us to 9th, it's not the best football to watch. 

The frustration which arises from the Man City defeat is that they were there for the taking and we had a real chance to qualify for a semi final. It's not that we were undone by great quality of theirs, but we were undone by our own naivety (the penalties) which was hard to take on the night. We responded brilliantly though against Chelsea. 

Which brings me on to my other point which is inconsistency. And that can be said for most teams outside the top 6 and who are fighting to be the 'best of the rest'. 

The loss of Vichai will always be used as one reason for wherever we finish, whether it's good or bad. To only lose 2 in 10 since his passing is a good record. I agree about some fans perspectives is heightened because of the Premier League win and that can be annoying as well because you're trying to drill in to them as well as other fans that it's not every Leicester fan that thinks like that. I'll be happy with 7th and I don't expect us to win the league again because the game has changed even from a few years ago. The top 3 at the moment are miles ahead of anyone else in the league, let alone us so it'd be silly to think we can compete again with them. 

The general feeling is that we could do so much better if we were more consistent and took teams on a bit more, instead if being the ones to sit back and chase a game. The one big positive that screams out with Puel in charge is his belief in youngsters and developing them - Chilwell and Maddison have been good since their signings and that is definitely partly down to Puel. Same with Choudhury who's made a couple of appearances and performed well too. 

The potential is there to be a really good side with a good mix and blend of youth and experiences. We just have to realise it and if we did win any silverware) the FA Cup this season, it'd be totally typical of us given we never have and it would solely be dedicated to Vichai. 

[Marc]

Yeah I don't really get it either. Anyone outside of Leicester fans i think would say you're having an alright season and are about par for the course. There are 6 teams that are miles ahead, Everton are or should also be ahead with the money they've spent. That leaves Leicester aiming for 8th or maybe 7th if you're optimistic and that's about where you are.

The football seems ok to me too. It's a different style but it's still an on the floor passing game. It just takes longer to get the ball forward, which as Vardy has said maybe doesn't suit him, but that does suit Maddison more. Your two best players are Vardy and Maddison. A counter attacking game suits Vardy but a more patient build up suits Maddison. Vardy is 30+, Maddison is 21 or something.

 

[Stan]

2 hours ago, Marc said:

Yeah I don't really get it either. Anyone outside of Leicester fans i think would say you're having an alright season and are about par for the course. There are 6 teams that are miles ahead, Everton are or should also be ahead with the money they've spent. That leaves Leicester aiming for 8th or maybe 7th if you're optimistic and that's about where you are.

The football seems ok to me too. It's a different style but it's still an on the floor passing game. It just takes longer to get the ball forward, which as Vardy has said maybe doesn't suit him, but that does suit Maddison more. Your two best players are Vardy and Maddison. A counter attacking game suits Vardy but a more patient build up suits Maddison. Vardy is 30+, Maddison is 21 or something.

 

Maybe on paper, but based on this season so far, I'd say it's Chilwell and Mendy/Pereira.

Vardy is taking time to transition and Maddison is still young so still needing to find consistency, which will come with time. Not to say they've not played badly at all, though.

[Dan+]

I'll reply in detail to that Smiley and agree with Stan that it's a good post. Fair criticisms.

I'd largely dispute the point about it suiting Maddison though @Marc, he's often not in the game for me, whether that's just the player he is I don't know but he often drifts out of games and I think the formation is pretty much the reason, I do feel like in a 4-2-3-1 you do carry the 10 a bit too much and that's my main criticism with it.

I get wanting to play a different style of football (although I still think it's risky, and I'll explain why) and frankly if the hierarchy were expecting any different then they're culpible, arguably even more so than Puel as they should've known what he was about. For me we've tried to transition a bit too quickly and there've been too many players who look frankly awkward playing for us at the minute.