What would you class as progress next season??

[nasser95]

Nasser, you're a great poster and a good sport mate. However I think you're just over-analysing what I wrote. All I was doing was giving my opinion as to what I feel progress would be. That's it. Just a personal opinion, like the OP asked for. It was never intended as a criticism of JFH and his style of play, now or projected on to next season. As a fan of course I hope he succeeds with his approach, whether it's to my personal taste or not.

Is that ok with you now?

hahaha don't worry mate, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. Probably have been overanalysing to be honest, gotten into that mood with exams and all. Apologies if i've come across a bit of a tool, not my intention mate

[Stanley]

hahaha don't worry mate, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. Probably have been overanalysing to be honest, gotten into that mood with exams and all. Apologies if i've come across a bit of a tool, not my intention mate

No worries mate. I actually found your analysis of Atletico and Leicester's style interesting to read, with the emphasis on high intensity over possession. If Jimmy achieves something similarly successful next season I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

[Macca]

Play offs at worst, but I doubt it with this bunch of idiots in charge, should have done better this year 2 points off the play offs when JFH arrived just got worse with the crap that was dished up week in week out, I hope they prove me wrong, but with the players that are leaving the club, and what they intend to bring in we will have a side that would struggle in division one.
We have a chairman who seems to have not a lot of intrest now that he has wasted millions on player's that were only intrested on collecting their wages, but will carry on making poor decisions, although he says he has learnt by mistakes, which remains to be seen.

[Kit]

When you look at play off scenario this year there is no reason why we shouldn't get nearer to them next season and that to me will be seen as progress. Think we will be very hard to beat but if Rafa stays as is suggested then both Newcastle and Norwich will probably be top two.....although the Championship is not an easy ride.

[jmelanie]

When you look at play off scenario this year there is no reason why we shouldn't get nearer to them next season and that to me will be seen as progress. Think we will be very hard to beat but if Rafa stays as is suggested then both Newcastle and Norwich will probably be top two.....although the Championship is not an easy ride.

There are lots of rumours about other teams wanting Newcastle players (Townsend to West Ham for instance) so even if Rafa stays it won't be easy for him.

[Hove Ranger]

There are lots of rumours about other teams wanting Newcastle players (Townsend to West Ham for instance) so even if Rafa stays it won't be easy for him.

Do you not think he will only stay on the proviso he has a large budget or keeps the players he wants? IMO he wouldnt risk his reputation managing Newcastle in the championship unless things were in his favour

[hal9thou]

It was never intended as a criticism of JFH and his style of play, now or projected on to next season.

God forbid eh? ;)

I'll take care of the critique.

[Pinkie]

No worries mate. I actually found your analysis of Atletico and Leicester's style interesting to read, with the emphasis on high intensity over possession. If Jimmy achieves something similarly successful next season I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

Keep seeing this high tempo malarky,yet as a kid it was just the best way the english teams played,& what i was always brought up to do pressing,why is it being talked about as something new it was the english way of playing pressing & even better when you had the whole team pressing as a unit!

[stanistheman]

No idea yet, lets see what we do in the transfer market over the next 2-3 months.

Probably be signing more League 1 players and having another mid table season ....at best.

[stanistheman]

When you look at play off scenario this year there is no reason why we shouldn't get nearer to them next season and that to me will be seen as progress. Think we will be very hard to beat but if Rafa stays as is suggested then both Newcastle and Norwich will probably be top two.....although the Championship is not an easy ride.

Now that Villa have been bought and the next manager is likely to be Di Matteo with a transfer budget, I wouldnt be surprised if they are top 6 too.

[Shepherds Mush]

Now that Villa have been bought and the next manager is likely to be Di Matteo with a transfer budget, I wouldnt be surprised if they are top 6 too.

Can see Brendan Rodgers or Martinez rocking up at Villa.

A LOT to sort out with that squad before they are going up though IMO

[Shania]

Ok obviously you are not understanding each point and then pull them out of context to make it look like it makes no sense.

At the moment, there are two very clear ways of playing: Possession and counter. That's something that we can be clear on. Both can be done high tempo but only possession can also be a slow game. However high tempo teams playing possession as well have to have really top class players, something we will not have in the next season.

However, counter attacking teams (teams who don't need to keep the ball all the time to play their game) have to be able to play without the ball. That means hustling well when the opposition has possession, closing quickly, forcing errors while maintaining your shape. That is playing without the football. So it does make plenty of sense to play without the football at high tempo.

Your aim in high tempo is to get the ball from one end to the other as quickly as possible. Thus, you can afford to play risky passes more and accept that you will lose the ball more often than not (thereby forgoing possession) as long as you are good at playing the game without the ball.

This is the philosophy that are keeping Atletico so close to the top 2 in Spain as well as the reason Leicester won the league. It also tends to be the more exciting football in my opinion as you're generally getting the fans pumped every time you win the ball back because the fluidity is so good that the ball just keeps moving forward and fans can push for that.

So you do not need the ball all the time or more often than not (Ie Possession football) to play high tempo. You also need to be able to play intelligently without possession (Ie in defence and closing down intelligently) in order to play high tempo so that when you lose possession, you gain it back quickly. If you want an example of a team who plays possession football while being high tempo, the best examples are Arsenal, Spurs and Barcelona, with the latter in particular famed for their 6 second closing down rule which allows them to play intelligently off the ball in every phase. If they win it back in 6 seconds of heavy closing down, they can attack quickly. If they don't, they can simply return to their standard shape and win the ball back with their world class talent.

Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that we will have this world class talent next season and the most likely way of getting exciting football at LR while winning is to play fast but not necessarily possession oriented football. Not to say we won't keep possession, but saying that it isn't the key priority.

Also, adding no offence intended to a statement doesn't exactly eliminate the offence, albeit not relevant to this case so much haha

Leicester play something I would call explosive football