[Archived] **Leicester City v Rovers** Tuesday 26th February

[thenodrog]

The response to this is Venkys appear to already have put the 25m into the club. VLL recently issued 24,388,000 shares at 1 each. Presumably this is to cover current operating losses. How next season will be dealt with is anyone's guess.

I'd agree we need to clear out many highly paid players but this realistically means paying up their contracts. How many on here would accept a 50% or more pay cut to leave Ewood?

The REALLY BIG question which needs answering is where has the 24m come from?

The Raos own pockets?

Outside investors? A new shareholder would have to be registered

Mortgaging the parachute payments?

http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/mar/04/football-league-premier-league-payments

I believe this is our situation. I think we have borrowed against the next two years parachute payments, 24m as it happens, to fund the current operating losses.

Rhodes will be sold this summer to begin funding next season's operating losses.

Happy days. Forget sorting out the midfield, the bank account needs fettling first.

Just another chapter about the naivety of our naive owners and a manager and certain individuals on the make / take. The legacy of sacking a good management team and replacing them with a swindler and a ne'er do well chancer is far reaching and anyone who thinks we became free of the stench of corruption earlier this season is wrong. The effects will go on for many years.

But all this will have been read and instantly dismissed by most on here Paul. No one who has experience of life in the Premier league can be arsed with financial prudence and common sense any more. "I want, never gets" is a thing of the past. Time for you to cut the cord and get out of the madhouse perhaps? The only thing that will purge this club is a plane crash.

[thenodrog]

There is a massive rebuiding job needed at this club because at the moment we are light years away from having a promotion challenging squad. With the play-offs now a distant memory surely it's time to try some of the kids and see who is worth keeping and who can be released rather than bringing more players in on loan.

We have been rebuilding since Allardyce left! Fat lot of good it's done too. We've replaced men with boys, takers and cheats. With way too much support from noisy goons on the terraces we replaced players with character and mental strength with surrender monkeys and disinterested foreign dross.

Resorting to 'trying kids' with our massive squad and wage bill is drinking in the last chance saloon and doomed to failure.

[Mike Graham]

This was a dreadful performance by a bunch of players who have clearly given up on the season in terms of the League. We look a million miles away from potential Premier League challengers. Quite frankly he could have replaced all ten outfield players at half-time such was the level of the display. The travelling fans, and there weren't that many of us, had clearly had enough and turned on the players who quite frankly never looked remotely interested. At half-time we looked like we were happy to leave with a 0-2 defeat and the second half was played out with the home side having to do very little to retain their lead. The third goal at the end was the very least that Leicester deserved to make the score look respectable. Without Jake Kean I dread to think what the score might have been.

There is a massive rebuiding job needed at this club because at the moment we are light years away from having a promotion challenging squad. With the play-offs now a distant memory surely it's time to try some of the kids and see who is worth keeping and who can be released rather than bringing more players in on loan.

I was expecting your report to be on the basis of "signs of positives from Appleton" (of which incidentally I believe we had in earlier games under him); however your report is as depressingly true as the game itself.

We are in a dire position and need major surgery. Unfortunately we do not have the funds, support nor overall fitness to undergo the surgery.....what do we face? A slow lingering death perhaps?

[Howler]

This was a dreadful performance by a bunch of players who have clearly given up on the season in terms of the League. We look a million miles away from potential Premier League challengers. Quite frankly he could have replaced all ten outfield players at half-time such was the level of the display. The travelling fans, and there weren't that many of us, had clearly had enough and turned on the players who quite frankly never looked remotely interested. At half-time we looked like we were happy to leave with a 0-2 defeat and the second half was played out with the home side having to do very little to retain their lead. The third goal at the end was the very least that Leicester deserved to make the score look respectable. Without Jake Kean I dread to think what the score might have been.

There is a massive rebuiding job needed at this club because at the moment we are light years away from having a promotion challenging squad. With the play-offs now a distant memory surely it's time to try some of the kids and see who is worth keeping and who can be released rather than bringing more players in on loan.

100% bang on. This is the first of Appleton's games I have seen, I've been to a few other aways earlier in the season and we looked better with Black in charge to be honest.

It could have been 6-0 at half time. Kean made some great saves. We forced one proper save all game, which was a mishit Pedersen drive that someone (Murphy?) deflected on target.

I went with a mate who is a neutral and plays at a decent level. He couldn't believe how little hunger and drive there was from Rovers. Leicester were first to almost everything, Pedersen and Rekik were disastrous down the left. I don't think we committed a "proper" foul or got a booking. Leicester had an easy ride and in the second half took their foot off the pedal (bringing on Henley and Olsson down the left did tighten things up a bit though).

Leicester are by no means a great team but they did things that Rover's can't. Like compete. Like running fast. Like passing to a team mate. Like making space and showing for the ball. For a laugh I told my mate that Murphy had been class this season and never gave the ball away. After about 20 minutes he had given up trying to count how many routine passes had gone astray and was p*ssing himself at how poor he was. There is no way he should be captain, sets such a bad example with his attitude. Apparently Bentley started the game but I only noticed him after an hour. Some nice touches but nowhere near the player he was. Lets hope he can improve because he has more talent than the rest of the squad put together.

The only positive for me was that I'm now up to 31 league grounds visited.

[blueboy3333]

We have been rebuilding since Allardyce left! Fat lot of good it's done too. We've replaced men with boys, takers and cheats. With way too much support from noisy goons on the terraces we replaced players with character and mental strength with surrender monkeys and disinterested foreign dross.

Resorting to 'trying kids' with our massive squad and wage bill is drinking in the last chance saloon and doomed to failure.

Nice post. You've slagged the fans, foreigners, young players and monkeys, then finished with a collection of cliches. You also seem to have a serious crush on 'Big' Sam. You do realise the 'big' is a reference to his height and weight and not what you'd like it to be. I blame the moustache.

[USABlue]

We can resign ourselves to Championship football next year now, any one know when we might score again? Interesting all the opponents goals from headers, again. Maybe I'm fickle but after the Arsenal game I began the think I'd got it wrong. I said lets see how he looks by the end of February when we've played a few proper teams. Well he doesn't look very good does he. I can't even share some folks optimism for next season. Posh at the weekend won't do anything to make amends, one of those can't win deals. I'll keep the daggers in for a bit due to the injuries we've picked up and a very sneaky feeling the FA Cup is a distraction Just seen Notlob have gone above us.

[G Somerset Rover]

We can resign ourselves to Championship football next year now, any one know when we might score again? Interesting all the opponents goals from headers, again.

Well we won't get a better chance to score than at home to Peterborough, but this is some run we're on and i for one wouldnt bet against us not creating a chance, let alone scoring. 290 minutes without a goal, 1 goal in 4 games, 6 goals in 8 in the league under Appleton. Not. Good. Enough.

[cesus]

Chatted to my mate who's a Leicester fan this morning, always good to get a view from the opponents ... Not this game!!

He said they loved Lowe and Murphy being on the ball as they had the highest pass completion for Leicester, he said Rekik was embarrassing too. The most angering thing for me was when he mentioned no fight, no heart etc.

After flicking through the last few pages on here and seeing our managers comments the lack of heart and fight are now accounted for!

[RibbleValleyRover]

To be fair to Bentley he has hardly played in the past few years, he might be getting that match fitness back but in terms of match sharpness I don't think its there yet. It didn't help last night that he had to keep moving inside because of our central midfield.

[den]

We have been rebuilding since Allardyce left! Fat lot of good it's done too. We've replaced men with boys, takers and cheats. With way too much support from noisy goons on the terraces we replaced players with character and mental strength with surrender monkeys and disinterested foreign dross.

Resorting to 'trying kids' with our massive squad and wage bill is drinking in the last chance saloon and doomed to failure.

Dead right Theno. The way to avoid the current position was to avoid it in the first place. We're back now to where we were 30 years ago. We had everything right two years ago, yet the owners and even many of our fans saw no danger in changing things.

If Venky's had used their finances to replace the poorer players in the squad, rather than the better one's and had stuck with the excellent structure we had, we would still be a PL club.

The surprise is, that so many are surprised by where we are. It's really a bit late to be whingeing now.

[broadsword]

The surprise is, that so many are surprised by where we are. It's really a bit late to be whingeing now.

Hughesy's still hoping for a Bollywood Casino in a Riverside redevelopment.

[Paul]

But all this will have been read and instantly dismissed by most on here Paul. No one who has experience of life in the Premier league can be arsed with financial prudence and common sense any more. "I want, never gets" is a thing of the past. Time for you to cut the cord and get out of the madhouse perhaps? The only thing that will purge this club is a plane crash.

That would be my expectation

[DE.]

Nice post. You've slagged the fans, foreigners, young players and monkeys, then finished with a collection of cliches. You also seem to have a serious crush on 'Big' Sam. You do realise the 'big' is a reference to his height and weight and not what you'd like it to be. I blame the moustache.

His post is spot on, maybe you should read it again.

[Mercer]

Nice post. You've slagged the fans, foreigners, young players and monkeys, then finished with a collection of cliches. You also seem to have a serious crush on 'Big' Sam. You do realise the 'big' is a reference to his height and weight and not what you'd like it to be. I blame the moustache.

Very harsh and surprised coming from you given the stick about Rovers you've dished out on here and Twitter.

Think thenodrog has pretty much hit the nail on the head.

[onlyonejackwalker]

Nice post. You've slagged the fans, foreigners, young players and monkeys, then finished with a collection of cliches. You also seem to have a serious crush on 'Big' Sam. You do realise the 'big' is a reference to his height and weight and not what you'd like it to be. I blame the moustache.

I suspect you will be in the minority disagreeing with that post. Many have said the same things for months and I am not sure what there is to disagree with.

[CapeTownRover]

Something is very wrong with this team, but you have to wonder why our players just look so poor, when in theory they should be miles ahead of their opponents.

[roversfan99]

Why should they?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Just two from our current squad would have got into Souness's squad which achieved promotion last time around and none would have made the starting eleven.

So true Theno,so true.Highlights perfectly for me how far this team/club has fallen...its really discouraging.

[LeChuck]

Something is very wrong with this team, but you have to wonder why our players just look so poor, when in theory they should be miles ahead of their opponents.

You mean like Wolves and Bolton should? "In theory" their players are just as good as ours.

Underestimate this division at your peril.

[patrickvalery]

Was always likely really. When the club made high wages the incentive for incoming summer targets they set themselves up for this lethargy. There was a very good reason why the likes of Murphy and Gomes were only offered one year deals elsewhere.

But Appleton isn't to blame for this. He has shown enough for me to give him a fair crack of the whip. There may come a time when that patience runs out but it would be crazy to write him off this season.

[CapeTownRover]

Something is very wrong with this team, but you have to wonder why our players just look so poor, when in theory they should be miles ahead of their opponents.

You mean like Wolves and Bolton should? "In theory" their players are just as good as ours.

Underestimate this division at your peril.

Fully understand that, but its not about underestimating this league, but a bunch of players who cannot string a few passes together. Some of them cant cross a ball properly, in other words some of them cannot even do the basics right. No manager should be showing professional players, the basics at training, instead they should be looking at how to improve the overall performance where once again we were poor in all facets of the game last night.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Surely its hard to underestimate a league poor enough to have a Kean-managed side flying high in it early on? A lot of fans like to put every aspect of those first 7 games as being down to luck but what I was seeing was our superior quality players over-riding Kean's inferior quality management. I hate to say it but, as devoid of tactical nouse as Kean was, he was getting the best out of the squad in that early period. Which is all it took because in my opinion the rest of this league except perhaps Cardiff is mediocre in the extreme. There's only 2 truly excellent players in it from what I can see, Bellamy and Zaha. However there are plenty of very good managers, and unsurprisingly its mostly the usual suspects and old hands up there at the top. Mackay, Bruce, Holloway, Pearson and Mowbray occupying 5 of the top 7. This is exactly the type of manager I went on and on about us going for to replace Kean, and it got not a few pompous responses about them being rubbish and boring. Well give me boring over this living hell any day, its not wanting it under Sam that started this whole sorry wreckage.

[thenodrog]

Nice post. You've slagged the fans, foreigners, young players and monkeys, then finished with a collection of cliches. You also seem to have a serious crush on 'Big' Sam. You do realise the 'big' is a reference to his height and weight and not what you'd like it to be. I blame the moustache.

Touched a nerve have I?

Let me guess.... you were a gormless Facebook warrior who welcomed Ince, hated Allardyce, bent over when the Venkymob flew in and thought that under Kean that we'd finish top 4 and woul be playing Champions league before the ink was dry on their cheque. Did you walk his dog too?

[jim mk2]

Surely its hard to underestimate a league poor enough to have a Kean-managed side flying high in it early on? A lot of fans like to put every aspect of those first 7 games as being down to luck but what I was seeing was our superior quality players over-riding Kean's inferior quality management. I hate to say it but, as devoid of tactical nouse as Kean was, he was getting the best out of the squad in that early period. Which is all it took because in my opinion the rest of this league except perhaps Cardiff is mediocre in the extreme. There's only 2 truly excellent players in it from what I can see, Bellamy and Zaha. However there are plenty of very good managers, and unsurprisingly its mostly the usual suspects and old hands up there at the top. Mackay, Bruce, Holloway, Pearson and Mowbray occupying 5 of the top 7. This is exactly the type of manager I went on and on about us going for to replace Kean, and it got not a few pompous responses about them being rubbish and boring. Well give me boring over this living hell any day, its not wanting it under Sam that started this whole sorry wreckage.

Good post. McCarthy will have Ipswich nearer the top next season too.

[47er]

Nice post. You've slagged the fans, foreigners, young players and monkeys, then finished with a collection of cliches. You also seem to have a serious crush on 'Big' Sam. You do realise the 'big' is a reference to his height and weight and not what you'd like it to be. I blame the moustache.

Everything he says is true though. You've attacked him but you have not even attempted to refute what he is saying.

PS. Great post SK Hypnotoad!