Leicester City

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Only listening on the radio and following comments on here. Interesting how davo/pratley can have a good game in some eyes and be crap in others views. These are people actually watching the game.

I totally agree with BWFCi though from what i've managed to pick up. KD started and played 90 because there were no better alternatives and Pratley did a good job and is improving. Had Ngog been available then I'm sure you'd have seen the change. I doubt KD will be playing 90 mins or starting every week once Ngog is available because Ngog is and always has been the best 451 striker we have and if he gets his eye in and starts scoring he will get more game time than KD.

It's quite possible at Blackpool that a different system may be used. Blackpool play a very open attacking game and concede a lot. Strikes me as the sort of team where you want to break up their attacks when theyve been drawn forward rather than forcing them into long balls which will encourage them to keep some shape. So who knows Spearing may well come in for Pratley and Eagles may get a freer role. Petrov may not start but may well be involved earlier and it may be the sort of game where there is more space and sordell can play a part.

Should be interesting. I cant believe some of the comments here though. We've kept a clean sheet and matched two top level teams picking up 4 points. We finally have a manager who sees the value of not conceding and doesnt make mad changes that leave us wide open.

Petrov on the right and afobe left I can only assume is down to where Freedman believed leicester were weakest. He clearly didnt believe getting to the byline and and firing it across for KD was a better option than Petrov/afobe cutting in and having a crack. Eagles had one of his off nights so why should he stay on for the full 90?

Whatever the reasoning it's a big improvement on coyle. At least there is now a recogniton that we need to stop opponents rather than just blindly go into games believing our"flair" will allow us to outscore them.And there is evidence that the manager is looking to identify weaknesses in opponents and trying to set up to exploit them.

Would be nice to think all players could be seen as having a fresh start by fans now they have a more professional management team.

Sadly there is a culture now that is rampant at the Reebok, and even on forums internet sites that is fans not prepared to give anything a chance.

They want instant results, and not only that, they want instantly thrilling attacking performances (with clean sheets as well).

When Freedman took over we were 18th in the championship, which suggested things were not rosy. He's had two games against the top 4 sides in the division and we get 4 points. Thats a decent start. We've got another hard game on Saturday and anything from that will be excellent at this stage. We are 5 points off the play-offs.

We have a manager who has clearly instilled some organisation. I'm not sure at this stage what more he could have done.

If our wingers had performed yesterday we may well have won the game. As it is both were disappointing and their delivery into the box was incredibly poor.

The system is set up for LCY/Eagles to shine out wide and create chances. They didn't on the whole. But at least we have a system now that will let our "flair" players have a platform, when they are on form.

I'm sorry but that is bollocks. Giving the manager time and not expecting instant success is not the same as saying we played well when we patently didn't.

Listening to some you'd think we gave a masterclass in defending. Did you not watch the first half, where a team comprising David Nugent, Martin Waghorn, Anthony Knockeart (who is a proper FIFA-playing skillz lover's dream) and pissing Lloyd Dyer cut us open at will down the flanks? The centre halves were brilliant, and the midfield tracked runners, and we also defended about a million corners without even looking like conceding, so there are certainly good parts. On the flanks we were pish though. That's the right order to go about it, and I'm hopefull we can sort that out too, but
I'm concerned by what Andrews said too. I thought when he said we let them get to within 30-45 yards then close them down he was just being lazy with his numbers. 30 yards is waaaay fecking to close. Halfway line or at the latest the edge of the centre circle are good 'triggers', not convinced after that.

I'm not sure anyone is trying to claim we played well last night.Dodgy start and improved 2nd half,probably just about deserved the draw. Not sure there is much can be done about struggling down the flanks. We already have the best full backs available there. Eagles and Cyl will have bad days,it happens. Eagles may even be affected more than others by coyle going. He was certainly performing for him. I still dont get the anyone but KD /Pratley attitude when they are reportedly doing well and the alternatives are pretty iffy.

we were by no means particularly brilliant last night. Just a loooot less shit.

Sounds like reasonable progress to me

[BL3]

How is a 0-0 draw at home against a team with a fairly average away record, a 'lot less shit' than say, a 2-2 draw at home to Forest, a team with one of the best away records in the league? Shouldn't we be trying to win games like that, rather than just trying to avoid losing them?

[truewhite15]

How is a 0-0 draw at home against a team with a fairly average away record, a 'lot less shit' than say, a 2-2 draw at home to Forest, a team with one of the best away records in the league? Shouldn't we be trying to win games like that, rather than just trying to avoid losing them?

I think somebody's starting to get a complex about this.

Let me spell it out for you. Coyle was shit. He conceded, on average, two goals per game. The very fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet against Leicester is proof of our progression. Trust the evidence of your own eyes. Against Derby, we looked dodgy, and were fortunate to come away with a two goal win, having been largely shite for 70 minutes. Against Forest, time and time again it looked like we were going to concede as the opposition waltzed through the middle of the park. Against Watford, we had a decent first half and then went to shit in the 2nd, nearly leading to conceding an equaliser. Against Palace, we were shit for 90 minutes. Against Leeds, we were lucky to come away with a draw, having been under the cosh and hardly threatened.

As a comparison; against Bristol, we went two goals down. This could easily have happened under Coyle. What hasn't happened under Coyle since his first full season in charge is the dramatic turn around in the 2nd half. We changed formation, we tried something different, and we came back to win. Against Cardiff, we were playing one of the form teams in the league, a team at the top of the division. They hardly threatened at all in the first half, and looked distinctly 2nd best to us in the second half. Could you really have seen that happening under Coyle? We went out with a game plan, we stifled the opposition. When have we ever done that under Coyle? We made substitutions that changed the game for the better. When have we done that under Coyle, since the Blackpool game two full seasons ago? Again, against Leicester, we came up against one of the better teams in the division. Form be damned, under Coyle, they'd have run all over us, as would Cardiff. All those attacks down the flanks would have resulted in goals, because our midfielders would have had no organisation, and our defence would have had no support, and no outlet. Instead of losing, we came out with a very good draw, and a clean sheet. A clean sheet - a very rare thing over the past couple of years, because COYLE HASN'T A FECKING CLUE HOW TO COACH A TEAM TO DEFEND.

[Prufrock]

How is a 0-0 draw at home against a team with a fairly average away record, a 'lot less shit' than say, a 2-2 draw at home to Forest, a team with one of the best away records in the league? Shouldn't we be trying to win games like that, rather than just trying to avoid losing them?

Jeeeezus. No-one said it was a lot less shit than just that Forrest game. I happen to think we played pretty well that day, if you'd got those sort of performances out of them regularly you might still have a job. What it was was a lot less shit than the Palace game where they waltzed round the back, through the middle and down the flanks and got on the end of crosses. A lot less shit than Millwall away, a lot less shit than Hull away where they got behind us constantly and looked dangerous from crosses, balls in behind and shots from distance. A lot less shit than Burnley away. A lot less shit than pretty much every home performance last season. Etc, etc...

[BWFC_Insane]

For me, and without trying to provoke BL3 at all here, its that last night, (as Pru quite rightly points out) we didn't play particularly well. In fact in some respects going forwards we were very poor. However, we still managed to dig a result out. As I've said before, WITH the platform we had last night, a good performance from Eagles or LCY or even just 1 decent fecking cross could have won us the game.

Thats not to say Leicester didn't create chances and we could just as easily have lost. BUT we showed a measure of control at times in that game and even when under pressure from corners looked like we could stop them scoring. Which means that we might only need one chance to win some games.

I don't think we've had that platform for a long while, and as said scoring 2/3 under Coyle was no guarantee of a win.

If we can restrict teams better (and Bogdan saving shots is part of that) I feel its a hell of a lot easier to make a small step in terms of creating chances and scoring goals.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

It's busy on the fish dock today

[BWFC_Insane]

Pratley has his say....

Darren Pratley speaks about his return to the first team fold
Darren Pratley has seen notable improvements in the team’s resilience since the arrival of new boss Dougie Freedman, which culminated in the Whites securing their first-clean sheet since August against Leicester City on Tuesday night.

A string of impressive saves from Adam Bogdan, and some excellent defending in front of goal, ensured the scores remained goalless against the fifth-placed Foxes in front of a vocal home crowd at the Reebok.

Pratley, who started his second successive game under Freedman, has been boosted by his recall to the first team and believes Wanderers can now build on the solid defensive structure laid out by the new management team.

Speaking after Bolton’s goalless draw against Leicester, Pratley said: “When the new manager came in I could see straight away why Crystal Palace are where they are in the league.

“The training has been high-tempo and everyone knows what their jobs are. He has come in from his first job at Palace and his technical awareness has been spot on. Alongside Lennie Lawrence it has made the team better structurally.

“We are now more solid. We have played two of the top four teams and got four points, I think a couple of weeks ago we would have ended up losing that game. That’s no disrespect to anyone, but we have got more of a solid structure now.”

Pratley is now aiming to maintain his position within Freedman’s starting line-up, and hopes he can help his side produce another good performance when they travel to Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

“I didn’t really play as much as I would have liked, but now the new manager has come in and given me the opportunity,” added the former Swansea and Brentford man. “I have worked my way back to match fitness and I am enjoying playing.

“In that position, most of the time as an attacking midfielder people will look at the goals, and I would like to add more to my game.

“I think that a lot of my work does go unnoticed, for example the tracking back and keeping the holding midfielder quiet. All I can do is just carry on working hard and if the manager and my team-mates are happy then I am happy.

“I have played against Blackpool before and it will be another tough game as Bloomfield Road is a hard place to go. They play in a central way, similar to the way that Swansea used to play, and they have got some good attacking players who can score goals.

“But if we stick together, like we did on Tuesday night, and soak up that pressure, then hopefully we can come away with a good result.”

[BL3]

The very fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet against Leicester is proof of our progression.

Leicester had taken 4 points from the previous 12. They also have a remarkably average away record for a team in the top five. A point at home to an out-of-form team isn't 'proof of our progression'. You've also conveniently overlook Bogdan turning in a MOM performance, without which we could have been 0-3 down at half-time.

[thebish]

Owen Coyle averaged 1.1 points per game this season.

Since he's gone over the 5 games we've averaged 1.6 points per game.

End of statistics and BL3's bollocks.

Go away and check the stats for the home games. Better still, just go away.

Ok, under Coyle this season we averaged 1.6 ppg at home.

Since he's left we average 2.3 ppg at home.

so - "statistically" we wouldn't have lost under either...

I wonder if BL3's problem is simple the word "statistically". It irritates me a bit too - but even I wouldn't have spent two pages arguing about it - and that's saying something!!

It is a bit irritating (to someone like me who has a degree in maths/statistics and economics) to see people adding in supposedly mathematical words like "statistically" as if it proves something or makes it more bona fide...

to say "statistically we would have lost that game under Coyle" is simply meaningless.

either way, though - I'd rather have had Freedman in charge last night than Coyle.

[m_taylor]

The very fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet against Leicester is proof of our progression.

Leicester had taken 4 points from the previous 12. They also have a remarkably average away record for a team in the top five. A point at home to an out-of-form team isn't 'proof of our progression'. You've also conveniently overlook Bogdan turning in a MOM performance, without which we could have been 0-3 down at half-time.

But we didn't concede and Bogdan is there to make those saves! I think Leicester have scored in every game this year!

Schmeichel also make some great saves from Lee, Pratey, Mavis and Eagles!

Could of gone either way and a good platform if we go on from this. If we win the next 5 this will be a good result! If we lose the next 5 it will be seen as a bad result!

[BWFC_Insane]

Owen Coyle averaged 1.1 points per game this season.

Since he's gone over the 5 games we've averaged 1.6 points per game.

End of statistics and BL3's bollocks.

Go away and check the stats for the home games. Better still, just go away.

Ok, under Coyle this season we averaged 1.6 ppg at home.

Since he's left we average 2.3 ppg at home.

so - "statistically" we wouldn't have lost under either...

I wonder if BL3's problem is simple the word "statistically". It irritates me a bit too - but even I wouldn't have spent two pages arguing about it - and that's saying something!!

It is a bit irritating (to someone like me who has a degree in maths/statistics and economics) to see people adding in supposedly mathematical words like "statistically" as if it proves something or makes it more bona fide...

to say "statistically we would have lost that game under Coyle" is simply meaningless.

either way, though - I'd rather have had Freedman in charge last night than Coyle.

Though it wasn't actually me who did that......

As for the rest, agree with what you say!

[BL3]

we didn't play particularly well. In fact in some respects going forwards we were very poor. However, we still managed to dig a result out.

Against Derby, we looked dodgy, and were fortunate to come away with a two goal win, having been largely shite for 70 minutes.

Against Forest, time and time again it looked like we were going to concede as the opposition waltzed through the middle of the park. (drew 2-2)

Against Watford, we had a decent first half and then went to shit in the 2nd, nearly leading to conceding an equaliser. (won 2-1)

So in other words, playing poorly but managing 'dig a result out', is a good thing, whilst at the same time playing poorly but managing dig a result out, is evidence that the manager doesn't know what he's doing. Glad we've cleared that up.

[thebish]

I'm sorry but that is bollocks. Giving the manager time and not expecting instant success is not the same as saying we played well when we patently didn't.

Listening to some you'd think we gave a masterclass in defending.

I think the black&white tinted internet glasses often tempt posters to declare that something is either utterly ace and awesome or utterly shit and worthless... with no ground in between. Sadly, most things in life inhabit the ground in between those two extremes.

[thebish]

Though it wasn't actually me who did that......

As for the rest, agree with what you say!

I don't believe I said you did.

and - yes - of course you do - because I am right!

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Pratley has his say....

Darren Pratley speaks about his return to the first team fold
Darren Pratley has seen notable improvements in the team’s resilience since the arrival of new boss Dougie Freedman, which culminated in the Whites securing their first-clean sheet since August against Leicester City on Tuesday night.

A string of impressive saves from Adam Bogdan, and some excellent defending in front of goal, ensured the scores remained goalless against the fifth-placed Foxes in front of a vocal home crowd at the Reebok.

Pratley, who started his second successive game under Freedman, has been boosted by his recall to the first team and believes Wanderers can now build on the solid defensive structure laid out by the new management team.

Speaking after Bolton’s goalless draw against Leicester, Pratley said: “When the new manager came in I could see straight away why Crystal Palace are where they are in the league.

“The training has been high-tempo and everyone knows what their jobs are. He has come in from his first job at Palace and his technical awareness has been spot on. Alongside Lennie Lawrence it has made the team better structurally.

“We are now more solid. We have played two of the top four teams and got four points, I think a couple of weeks ago we would have ended up losing that game. That’s no disrespect to anyone, but we have got more of a solid structure now.”

Pratley is now aiming to maintain his position within Freedman’s starting line-up, and hopes he can help his side produce another good performance when they travel to Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

“I didn’t really play as much as I would have liked, but now the new manager has come in and given me the opportunity,” added the former Swansea and Brentford man. “I have worked my way back to match fitness and I am enjoying playing.

“In that position, most of the time as an attacking midfielder people will look at the goals, and I would like to add more to my game.

“I think that a lot of my work does go unnoticed, for example the tracking back and keeping the holding midfielder quiet. All I can do is just carry on working hard and if the manager and my team-mates are happy then I am happy.

“I have played against Blackpool before and it will be another tough game as Bloomfield Road is a hard place to go. They play in a central way, similar to the way that Swansea used to play, and they have got some good attacking players who can score goals.

“But if we stick together, like we did on Tuesday night, and soak up that pressure, then hopefully we can come away with a good result.”

I think a couple of weeks ago we would have ended up losing that game.

See BL3 even praters says youre wrong

“In that position, most of the time as an attacking midfielder people will look at the goals, and I would like to add more to my game.
“I think that a lot of my work does go unnoticed, for example the tracking back and keeping the holding midfielder quiet. All I can do is just carry on working hard and if the manager and my team-mates are happy then I am happy.

And this is prats role when he plays that system. It's a role which suits his game. Doesnt mean he'll play every week or we'll use that system every week.

[BL3]

We didn't look particularly 'solid' last night. Incidentally, we may have played 'two of the top four teams' but both of them have worse away records than anyone else we've played at home this season, with the exception of Bristol City. So if we're so much better prepared now, i'd have expected us to take all 6 points off them.

[bobo the clown]

... another 'accidental' dig at Coyle's training & coaching.

“The training has been high-tempo and everyone knows what their jobs are. ....his technical awareness has been spot on. Alongside Lennie Lawrence it has made the team better structurally.

We are now more solid. ..... I think a couple of weeks ago we would have ended up losing that game. .... we have got more of a solid structure now.”

[TANGODANCER]

... another 'accidental' dig at Coyle's training & coaching.

“The training has been high-tempo and everyone knows what their jobs are. ....his technical awareness has been spot on. Alongside Lennie Lawrence it has made the team better structurally.

We are now more solid. ..... I think a couple of weeks ago we would have ended up losing that game. .... we have got more of a solid structure now.”

Roughly translated as "Thank fxck Boggers was on form"

[thebish]

it's the language of hope. I suspect that if we were honest with ourselves then had we witnessed that game last night - with the same players - same game - same substitutions - same result - and the only difference was that Coyle was manager - we would NOT have said - ahh - that's better, now we have something positive to build on.... we'd have said he was fecking lucky to get a point and it wasn't really good enough at home..

nowt wrong with the language of hope - but let's recognise it for what it is!

[BWFC_Insane]

it's the language of hope. I suspect that if we were honest with ourselves then had we witnessed that game last night - with the same players - same game - same substitutions - same result - and the only difference was that Coyle was manager - we would NOT have said - ahh - that's better, now we have something positive to build on.... we'd have said he was fecking lucky to get a point and it wasn't really good enough at home..

nowt wrong with the language of hope - but let's recognise it for what it is!

We did have a similar sort of performance and result against Arsenal last year. Plenty of hope around then that he'd learned. Sadly next game he went and fecked up at Norwich when we were holding on for a point.

So I think it's fair to have hope when a new guy comes in and shows he can organise and structure......but not when a guy who has shown he will continually revert to type whenever he stumbled upon something that vaguely worked!