Leicester City v Manchester City - 7:45pm - BT Sport 1

rob316

Darkglasses wrote: »

The richest clubs in the PL always have to pay a premium, and I'd say we've done better than Chelsea and United (our competitors in the market) all things considered.

At half-way through the season with the dreadful injury lists we've had, I think Pellegrini's results have been OK. Wouldn't quite rush a change yet at least.

No need to change ye will stumble to the title again the best squad almost always does. My point was ye should be blowing teams away that's all. I don't think ye have bought bad just Pellegrini doesn't know how to get the maximum out of it.

UrbanFret

rob316 wrote: »

The squad and resources man city have they should be running away with this league but they never seem to even when they gave won it. Stumbled over the line up against united and liverpool handed it to them.

Ah the bitterness. :rolleyes:

rob316

UrbanFret wrote: »

Ah the bitterness. :rolleyes:

No bitterness whatsoever just highlighting for all the big fees man city have paid the title shouldn't even be in question. When you can drop 50m on 2 players each in the same window you are operating on a different level to your competition.

Liam O

Darkglasses wrote: »

The richest clubs in the PL always have to pay a premium, and I'd say we've done better than Chelsea and United (our competitors in the market) all things considered.

At half-way through the season with the dreadful injury lists we've had, I think Pellegrini's results have been OK. Wouldn't quite rush a change yet at least.

Of those 5 the only that I'd have spent that kind of money on are KdB and Sterling and that's accounting very generously for the premium. There's nobody who Chelsea or United have signed in the last couple of years for 25+ million odd who you could really say didn't make sense. Other aspects of management have let them down but their list of signings aren't very wasteful imo.

UrbanFret

Large transfer fees guarantee you nothing especially when there is an idiot in charge. A decent manager should and most likely would win with citys squad. Pellegrini is a charlatan, the sooner he departs the better.

user2011

For the plaudits vardy and marhez get (rightfully so) what the lad kante? He looks like he could run 2 marathon's in 90mins seems handy enough with the ball at his feet too.

Berserker

user2011 wrote: »

For the plaudits vardy and marhez get (rightfully so) what the lad kante? He looks like he could run 2 marathon's in 90mins seems handy enough with the ball at his feet too.

Leicester are going to struggle to hold onto all three of them in the summer.

user2011

Berserker wrote: »

Leicester are going to struggle to hold onto all three of them in the summer.

Don't know about kante he could slip under the radar a bit longer but he'll be spotted no doubt. The other two it's near a given they'll be else where next season.

Dirty Dingus McGee

user2011 wrote: »

Don't know about kante he could slip under the radar a bit longer but he'll be spotted no doubt. The other two it's near a given they'll be else where next season.

I wonder will Vardy move to a much bigger team.Only a move to a champions league calibre team would be a step up for Vardy.He might be better off (for footballing reasons) to stay with Leicester

He's going to be 29 in January and strikers tend to age badly compared to other positions so he probably may only have another couple of good years if even that in him.

He's playing great this year but I think it might be a case of a player undergoing an unbelievably good spell and he won't be the same next season.

Remember Marcus Stewart,Michael Ricketts,John Stead etc

Berserker

user2011 wrote: »

Don't know about kante he could slip under the radar a bit longer but he'll be spotted no doubt. The other two it's near a given they'll be else where next season.

Yeah, Vardy will be at Liverpool, I think, as a replacement for Sturridge, if Leicester don't get CL football. They'll cough up a small fortune for him. Not sure how successful he will be though. He could be another English, one season wonder. Hope he isn't, I really like the guy.

user2011

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I wonder will Vardy move to a much bigger team.Only a move to a champions league calibre team would be a step up for Vardy.He might be better off (for footballing reasons) to stay with Leicester

He's going to be 29 in January and strikers tend to age badly compared to other positions so he probably may only have another couple of good years if even that in him.

He's playing great this year but I think it might be a case of a player undergoing an unbelievably good spell and he won't be the same next season.

Remember Marcus Stewart,Michael Ricketts,John Stead etc

For me I'd love to see him stay and finish his career with them see where they can go together (I'm an old romantic lol).

On the aging side of it, there was a preview type of thing the other day sky/BT can't remember were vardy was saying he thinks he'll play well into his mid 30's with the speed because he hasn't had the rigours of training as a professional his whole career.

rob316

Vardy will go to the highest bidder, 5 years ago he was in the 8th tier making £30 per week, I cant imagine he has amassed a huge fortune from his playing career so far so will be looking for a payday and he is dead right too.

Granted he will be 29 soon I actually think the fact he hasn't played football at a high level for long will give him a bit more longevity in his career.
I do however see him as a one hit wonder considering his age and career up to date and I am absolutely dreading Liverpool breaking the bank for him.

blueser

user2011 wrote: »

Don't know about kante he could slip under the radar a bit longer but he'll be spotted no doubt. The other two it's near a given they'll be else where next season.

Don't forget Drinkwater. He hasn't grabbed the headlines like some of the other Leicester players, but he's vital in their midfield.

fuzzydunlop85

Don't get the love in for Vardy at all, wasn't he caught mouthing off racial abuse at some poor Asian fella in a casino.

user2011

blueser wrote: »

Don't forget Drinkwater. He hasn't grabbed the headlines like some of the other Leicester players, but he's vital in their midfield.

In the games I've watched 5/6 hasn't stood out but I'm not trying to take anything away from any player who has played their part at the end of the day it's a team that wins or losses. But nice to see credit being given to a united graduate (given the talk in the united thread about the youth structure : ).

Corholio

user2011 wrote: »

In the games I've watched 5/6 hasn't stood out but I'm not trying to take anything away from any player who has played their part at the end of the day it's a team that wins or losses. But nice to see credit being given to a united graduate (given the talk in the united thread about the youth structure : ).

I'd say he's learned more since he's been out of United, which is quite a while ago, then he did while he was there. Pretty thin for anyone to claim his good form in anyway connected with United's youth structure.

Andre 3000

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Don't get the love in for Vardy at all, wasn't he caught mouthing off racial abuse at some poor Asian fella in a casino.

Well what he achieved was pretty special. But the whole social media hype is mainly down to the fact teenagers and those lacking brain cells are fawning over the whole "chat sh*t get banged" thing.

user2011

Corholio wrote: »

I'd say he's learned more since he's been out of United, which is quite a while ago, then he did while he was there. Pretty thin for anyone to claim his good form in anyway connected with United's youth structure.

Yeah i wasn't looking to take all the credit for United, but I think you really knew that.

Berserker

Berserker wrote: »

Yeah, Vardy will be at Liverpool, I think, as a replacement for Sturridge, if Leicester don't get CL football. They'll cough up a small fortune for him.........

Too old for Liverpool to buy, Benteke was 24 when Liverpool bought him, he'll be worth at least 2/3s of what they paid for him for the next two years barring injury, should he sign an extended contract that value extends.

Vardy is 29 in a few days, Liverpool won't be paying what Leicester would want for him.

Realistically as Leicester are rumoured to be offering him an £80k/week deal he'll be looking for at least that off any club that wants to sign him so that coupled with the transfer fee required and his age would mean that it's Chelsea or Man City only.

Although Utd might splash the cash too, it worked for Fergie with Van Persie.

I expect the goals will dry up quite quickly too, 15 goals in 16 PL games is a fantastic haul but completely non continuable.

Damien360

Vardy is a speed merchant. Tonight he met his match. I still like him because he is tough as nails. Not a whole lot more to his game.

Mahrez is a better player but Kante is someone I missed and good god he is brilliant. Lovely touch, little bit slight but good feet.

They have two no nonsense centre backs and that is why they are where they are. A team built on their defence and a quick counter attack.

EuropeanSon

Liam O wrote: »

Of those 5 the only that I'd have spent that kind of money on are KdB and Sterling and that's accounting very generously for the premium. There's nobody who Chelsea or United have signed in the last couple of years for 25+ million odd who you could really say didn't make sense. Other aspects of management have let them down but their list of signings aren't very wasteful imo.

Martial???

The most unjustified splurge by any club, ever, possibly.

blueser

EuropeanSon wrote: »

Martial???

The most unjustified splurge by any club, ever, possibly.

Or Di Maria. Or Depay. Or Falcao (both United and Chelsea). I doubt there's too many of the elite clubs that haven't wasted a boatload of money on players who have turned out to be duds. City certainly have, but they don't hold the monopoly on it.

Hank Scorpio

Martial a dud? He's going to be a superstar

Paully D

Agree with the comments on Kante. I can't say I'd ever watched him before he signed for Leicester, but he has been superb this season. Though I would urge caution on him after just 1 season. The list of players who have looked fantastic in their first season in the Premier League and then completely tailed off is much longer than those who turn out to be consistently brilliant season after season.

I don't think Vardy will have many suitors from higher level clubs. He'd have Liverpool written all over him for a silly fee under the previous regimes, but I doubt Klopp (or any other of the sides who would be an improvement and able to offer more money than he'd be on at Leicester) would be interested. He'll be 29 in a few weeks, will have no resale value and his main attribute is his fantastic workrate. It's important, but you need more than that to be an improvement on the type of player the big clubs can attract, especially when you're 29 years of age and they're not buying into potential.

Liam O

blueser wrote: »

Or Di Maria. Or Depay. Or Falcao (both United and Chelsea). I doubt there's too many of the elite clubs that haven't wasted a boatload of money on players who have turned out to be duds. City certainly have, but they don't hold the monopoly on it.

Di Maria you could hardly call a waste. Pretty much got back what was paid. Falcao was a 6m loan deal, well worth the risk and Depay cost around £20m and has played about 15 games so not sure how anyone can call him a waste yet.

As for Martial I think United have given Monaco £25m or so for him so far with another 10m incoming. Everything else is incentive based so if anymore after that goes out I doubt you'll hear many United fans complaining. Hardly outrageous considering the money spent on Sterling.

United's problems atm are more based around the ones that got away rather than what was signed.

EuropeanSon

Hank Scorpio wrote: »

Martial a dud? He's going to be a superstar

The guy had 15 goals in senior football in 72 games mostly in Ligue 1 when they paid somewhere between £36 million and £58 million for him, depending on how you label it. (Source https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Martial)

He doesn't have to wind up a dud for that to be insane. That money puts him somewhere in between Alexis Sanchez and Angel di Maria. Two top tier, world class players.

Hank Scorpio

I'm aware how much he cost and I fully agree it's an insane amount of money. But for people to insinuate he's a dud is just wrong, he's consistently been in United's top 2/3 performers all season and has shown genuine world class potential, he's probably the only one in United's squad to do so along with Shaw + DDG. He was 19 when he was signed and fecked in at the deep end. I have no doubt he`ll end up a world class player.

Richard Hillman

Kante could be a bolter for the French Euros squad. I reckon he would be a fantastic extra-time player

Shanotheslayer

Hank Scorpio wrote: »

he's consistently been in United's top 2/3 performers

So he's just less sh1t than the others ? :pac:

gosplan

Liam O wrote: »

Di Maria you could hardly call a waste. Pretty much got back what was paid. Falcao was a 6m loan deal, well worth the risk and Depay cost around £20m and has played about 15 games so not sure how anyone can call him a waste yet.

As for Martial I think United have given Monaco £25m or so for him so far with another 10m incoming. Everything else is incentive based so if anymore after that goes out I doubt you'll hear many United fans complaining. Hardly outrageous considering the money spent on Sterling.

United's problems atm are more based around the ones that got away rather than what was signed.

I don't think you can judge Depay or Martial yet. Loads of people were saying they were world class, especially after Martial's debut goal.

You can't tell either way yet though. They're not playing great but neither is anyone else so you can't really judge if there's more available.

And Di Maria was a waste. Of time and reputation if not money.

Dots1982

Am I the only one that thinks Leicester should make a bold move in the winter transfer window. Try and offer huge money for a loan move for a proven goal scorer like Tevez.

No point dying wondering.

Paully D

Dots1982 wrote: »

Am I the only one that thinks Leicester should make a bold move in the winter transfer window. Try and offer huge money for a loan move for a proven goal scorer like Tevez.

No point dying wondering.

The thing with that is no-one will want to risk upsetting the applecart while things are going so well. They might naturally start to fall away a bit (and to be honest I think they will) but if they make a huge move it'll be pinned on that.

Of course it could go the other way and cement their place in the top 4, but I highly doubt they'll be willing to find out.

Richard Hillman

Not a big name but Charles Austin wouldn't be a bad shout. He has scored a fair few PL goals in his last stint.

Dots1982

Paully D wrote: »

The thing with that is no-one will want to risk upsetting the applecart while things are going so well. They might naturally start to fall away a bit (and to be honest I think they will) but if they make a huge move it'll be pinned on that.

Of course it could go the other way and cement their place in the top 4, but I highly doubt they'll be willing to find out.

That's a pretty conservative viewpoint I would say. A load of signings could upset the applecart but one real quality signing even on loan like Tevez or a Hulk (probably impossible since Zenit are still in the CL and he's on mad money) would give their whole squad a lift. If i was Leicester's board this is what I would be looking out for.

Dots1982

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Not a big name but Charles Austin wouldn't be a bad shout. He has scored a fair few PL goals in his last stint.

Doesn't really suit their way of playing. Could give them a plan B though that is better than Ulloa.

Paully D

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Not a big name but Charles Austin wouldn't be a bad shout. He has scored a fair few PL goals in his last stint.

Austin gets brought up a lot (and it's obvious why) but the injury rumours regarding his knee won't go away and he has missed almost than half of this season already through injury.

He has a fantastic record when he has played (9 goals in 12 starts) but I'm not sure any team will be willing to risk it, especially when he's out of contract at the end of the season.

I'm sure a lot of teams would take a punt on him for free, so I'd expect he'll have a lot of interest in the summer, but aside from that the only teams I could see going for him in January would be one of the relegation threatened sides who take an expensive flyer in the hope he can propel them to safety. He'd be smarter to just hold on to until the summer however.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

rob316 wrote: »

50m on KDB
50m on sterling
30m on oatamendi
40m on man gala
30m on bony

The fees paid out are astronomical and should be able to cover for 3 players.

Pellegrini just isn't that good of a manager his tactics are very one dimensional.

YAWN....I don't get the money argument all that matters is whether they are at Silva/Kompany/Aguero level and they aren't. Maybe one day for 2/3 of the above but not right now. Money also doesn't factor in character/leadership and how important these players are in the starting line up for that alone.

EuropeanSon

Hank Scorpio wrote: »

I'm aware how much he cost and I fully agree it's an insane amount of money. But for people to insinuate he's a dud is just wrong, he's consistently been in United's top 2/3 performers all season and has shown genuine world class potential, he's probably the only one in United's squad to do so along with Shaw + DDG. He was 19 when he was signed and fecked in at the deep end. I have no doubt he`ll end up a world class player.[\b]

You should. There's always a doubt. The lad has 4 league goals, I don't see how he could've done enough to remove all doubt.

I never said he was a dud, or wouldn't turn out to be a good player. I just said the price paid was utterly ludicrous, which it was.