CHALLENGE: Do a Leicester City - within 2 years ! (FM15)

[BallHogging]

Beginnings

It's 9:00am, the 8th July 2014.
 

Earlier on in the small hours of this morning the daily papers sent their stories to press. Rumour has it that last night the bosses at Leicester had a meeting with a fortune teller whose crystal ball could only see as far ahead as 21st March 2015.

...'Strange that', thought Mr King Power himself, but continued to listen. "On this date your useless team will be rooted to the bottom of the table and Mr Pearson will start throwing wobblies". 'Well we can't be having that can we?' thought Mr KP, and subsequently had Pearson gaffled and shipped away. Now managerless and wondering where to turn he decided to sleep on it.

That night Mr KP had a blurred vision in his sleep that seemed to start spelling out a name: .... C-L-A-U-D- .... when suddenly he awoke in a sweat. After a moment to gather himself he exclaimed aloud "Who the bl**dy hell is Claud?!"

Ignoring the vision Mr KP lay his head back on the pillow and drifted off when after some time he had another vision. A booming echoing voice was repeating a name. Muffled at first but slowly becoming clearer the voice was saying: ".....T-h-e B-a-l-l H-o-g-g-e-r !!!.... THE BALL HOGGER!!!!"

As a man of superstition Mr KP upon awaking decided to do some due diligence on this name. It turns out this name, this person, was someone who purported to be a man of great footballing knowledge; a manager with no managerial or playing experience beyond one Sunday League appearance... at right back... for 5 minutes ...and 2 touches, before being shredded by a filthy winger. Boot split, bone broken the referee waved play on and did a Wenger, 'I did not see it,' he said, suddenly sporting some sort of French accent.

For some unknown reason not at all wholly related to speeding this intro up...Mr KP decided that this man of unfortunate consequence was the man to avert the fortune teller's glum prophecy. "Get him in" he told his assistant *tea maker*, and so on this morning of the 8th July 2014 Leicester City F.C's future was in the hands of the one who calls himself Sir Ball Hogger.

Reclining in his office after sealing the deal Mr KP swivelled his chair to look outside when suddenly on the wall appeared some writing:
 

..........................YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED CLAUDIO RANIERI..........................

"Claudio?......ARGHHAHAHAHAHA" he retorted. "ahhhhhh" he sighed, "good one...you so funny Mr Wall."

[BallHogging]

First Day In The Office - part 1: - Getting to know each other

 

And so it's time for Sir Ball Hogger to get to work. First things first let's talk targets. As I'm still on FM15 the season upon me is 2014-15. That gives me two seasons to emulate Claudio's fantastic success starting with the squad that Nigel Pearson shaped following promotion from the Championship.

Now...let's be honest..it's going to take some almighty miracle for me to achieve this; and to be fair I'm not sure whether the miracle needed was bigger for Claudio to win in real life or bigger for me to win the Premier League on football manager! But this is my target and I'll see how this story goes and enjoy it along the way, I hope!
 

Philosophy 
Let's talk about The Ball Hoggers tactical philosophy and managerial style. As a fan of Manchester United I obviously pine for the days of Ferguson once more and as far as my method of dealing with players goes Sir Alex and I share a similar trait....we take no prisoners. A quick google brings this up regarding the saying:

This is a term associated with war, where it literally means 'do not waste resources and slow yourself down with the capture and management of enemy combatants'.

Exactly...if a player begins to work against the team spirit and myself I do not take kindly to it. Like Sir Alex's, my players can be needed one minute and ruthlessly discarded the next no matter how key a cog they were.

Beyond Sir Alex, a few other managers whose careers I respect are Mourinho, Klopp, Allardyce, Wenger and Redknapp to name a few. Multi-lingual Mourinho's tactical nouse and ability to create a siege mentality and undivided loyality. Klopp's charisma and approach to management and football. Allardyce's longevity and success in operating with clubs in trouble. Wenger's undying belief in his ways, the football his teams have played, his refusal to jeopardize a club financially or be pressured into signings. Redknapp's straight talking style, motivation of his players, and most importantly his thrifty wheeler dealing. In particular throughout this Leicester journey you'll probably see a mixture of 3 of those, Sir Alex's ruthlessness, Wenger's pretty football and financial management, and Harry's wheeler dealing.

As far as the football goes, I as my name suggests, love possession football. A managerial despot who does not smile upon players' freedom. My aim wherever possible is to end up having had at least 55% possession and ideally rather, between 60 and 70%. I do not like my players attempting to dribble past people other than doing them for pace, and prefer clever movement that leads to scoring chances. Simply put, a la Arsenal...I like to walk the ball into the back of the net. I do not subscribe to the likes of David Moyes' 80 failed crosses bonanza, nor the tump it up to Fellaini approach.

Whether or not I'll be able to fulfil my vision with our playing squad is another matter. But I'm very likely to try!

 

(If you've enjoyed reading at all and would return to see updates, just leave me a " " in response, quick and easy, or say hello, and I'll continue feeding the foxes!)

[BallHogging]

First Day In The Office - part 2: - Getting To Work: Squad Analysis & Budget

 

So sitting in my office at our training ground on Belvoir Drive it's time for me to take stock of various aspects of the club. I'll need to consider the following:

* The First Team - quality or lack thereof in each position, any not worth their contract, contract expiries - renew/sell
* The U21's & U18's - are any fit to bolster the first team now, do any need to go on loan, ones to watch in the coming years.
* The Budget - how much do i have to play with, do I have to sell to buy
* The Formation - do I have the personnel to play my preferred style of formation, or will I have to adapt to what I've got
* Pre Season Schedule & Objectives - any friendly arranging
* Training Schedule - manage preparation, focus, intensity, rest days, individual training
* Back Room Staff - scouting team, coaching team
* First Meeting With The Players - expectations, spy out any unprofessional players

The First Team Squad - Initial Thoughts:

Well looking at the squad I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. The Leicester board's expectations are to fight bravely to avoid relegation, with no specific philosophies to follow. In short: they don't care how you do it, just save us. The bookies have Leicester down as 200-1 to win the league, not quite 5000-1 huh! So even they think I've got a better chance than Ranieri. Yet these odds leave us sandwiched between Burnley and Palace in the bottom three.

Usually with this sort of expectation and billing I expect a squad lacking in quality in at least one area as far as the starting 11 is concerned, and then surely lacking in a range of areas regarding cover. But this Leicester team is very well balanced with the right mix of brawn and brains. There's a lot of hardworking individuals, strength, pace, quality utility players, and those with an eye for goal both up front and in the midfield. All in all putting it into perspective, for once there is nothing jumping out at me to fix. This roster is good enough in my eyes to employ any number of tactical approaches. I could happily start the season with no changes if I was forced to. If anything I'll be trimming the squad, promoting any youth prospects, and perhaps picking up one or two players of better quality in one or two areas if possible.

Let's break the squad down, and add a rating relative to Leicester for both the board's expectation and also this challenge target of winning the league inside 2 years, which will obviously be a lesser rating but will give us an insight into where I feel I need to strengthen, sooner rather than later. I only have 2 seasons!
 

Goalkeepers: Well we have some real quality here. We have Kasper Schmeichel coming into his prime and a very experienced Mark Schwarzer who is still so good it'll take a tough man to tell one of them they're benched. Hamer & Logan as backup.
Avoid Relegation Rating: 10
Champions Rating: 8

Centre Backs: Huth, Morgan, Wasilewski, Moore...strong, tall, aggressive, just what's called for in the Premier League.
Avoid Relegation Rating: 9
Champions Rating: 7

Full Backs: Simpson, De Laet, Schlupp, Konchesky...a good mixture of defensive stability with some ability upfield too. Konchesky is getting on though and Schlupp needs time to mature. Possible room for improvement
Avoid Relegation Rating: 6
Champions Rating: 3

Defensive Midfielders: Cambiasso, James, Drinkwater, Hammond...the experience of Cambiasso will be vital, still a very good player. James & Drinkwater both versatile players with decent across the board ability, technical, mental & physical.
Avoid Relegation Rating: 7
Champions Rating: 4

Attacking Midfielders: Knockaert, King, Taylor-Fletcher. Knockaert is young and very capable across the width of the pitch, King an intelligent player with an eye for grabbing goals via movement. Taylor-Fletcher a journeyman of 33 with decent all round ability.
Avoid Relegation Rating: 6.5
Champions Rating: 4

Wide Midfielders: Mahrez, Albrighton. Others can do a job out wide but these two are naturals. Mahrez as we know by now is a great prospect. Albrighton a hard working and pacey player who will surely have a role to play.
Avoid Relegation Rating: 7
Champions Rating: 5

Strikers: Well we seem a little overloaded here. Vardy, Kramaric, Nugent, Ulloa, Wood. Tactically but perhaps strangely I have been known to prefer either 1 or 3 striker formations, rarely two. Depending on which way I go we could make some use of all, or perhaps some culling is needed. Kramaric has good quality dribbling and finishing and is both footed, Vardy pacey, Nugent versatile and steady, Ulloa & Wood target men with fair abilities.
Avoid Relegation Rating: 7
Champions Rating: 4

 

Conclusion
The two lowest rated areas are full backs and attacking midfielders, although to be fair I think these are fine for avoiding relegation. To win the league I feel I'm going to need additions in every area barring Goalkeepers and Centrebacks. So I'll get my scouts to work shortly.

 

The Future: U21's, U18's

Hamza Choudhury - a 166cm ankle biting 16 year old LB/DM already with good aggression, bravery, work rate and tackling. not far off some sub appearances at 16!
Kristian Scott - a 19 yr old tall attacking midfielder with all round promise
Jack Barmby - an ex Man Utd player, 19 year old winger with more than just pace - now promoted
Tom Lawrence - another ex Man Utd player, 20 year old attacking mid with all round promise - another pleasant find promoted

 

Budgets:
The board start by offering me a transfer budget of £2,000,000 and a max wage budget of £759,423. At present we're spending £728,346 on wages, so truth be evident we've not got a lot of movement. Just over £30,000 to spare for any potential £2,000,000 signing.

To be fair the club has been active in the market prior to my arrival: Ulloa 8m, Kramaric 9.5m, Simpson 2m. But it looks like I'm either going to have to find some fantastic freebies, or do some financial moving and shaking to drum up some funds of my own.

Looking briefly at the current wages within the squad has me thinking the average wage is too high for my liking. The average wage of 28 players is just short of £24,000 per week. I consider that too high (...I feel the Redknapp twitches coming on). I think a maximum of 18 players should have that sort of average, which means 10 players are on too much money.

The top 3 wages in the squad are £42,000 - Cambiasso, £37,500 - Huth, and 4 players on £35,000 - Albrighton, Kramaric, Schmeichel & Schwarzer. Albrighton & Schwarzer concern me.

Schwarzer is a fantastic keeper still, but Schmeichel is the future, so we cannot be paying anywhere near £35,000 on a backup keeper. However I do believe we'll struggle to shift him. What Championship club are going to have him on those wages, or what difference in earnings would Schwarzer want us to pay him to move? But £35,000 a week for a year is 1.82 million, which is the cost of one very shrewd signing that could make the difference, as opposed to warming up a piece of plastic for 90 minutes each week.

Albrighton is a decent player with his best abilities agility, vision and crossing, but viewed as a rotation option to me I have sufficient alternatives out wide, all on much lower wages. Problem is he's injured for nearly 2 months yet and we have only just signed him. Unhappy player in the making I think. And again, can't see us shifting him on those wages.

Looking down the contracts list I cast a beady eye over others too; Konchesky and Nugent. All in all shifting these four players could save me £6.76 million in wages and bring in circa 3mil in transfer fees. That's almost 10million we wouldn't otherwise see until next years TV money.

Once I've gotten together with the scouting team I'll consider any possible targets and see then how to proceed about financing them.

For now it's time for me to get to the drawing board and plot a primary tactical approach to achieve our goal, along with a potential plan b, and c...maybe we'll need them!

[BallHogging]

First Day In The Office - part 3: - Getting To Work: Plotting a Formation

 

Team strength considered it's time for me take to the magnetic tactics board and knock up a formation and approach suitable for the players.

As mentioned previously I seem to have a very balanced squad in each area of defence and attack: strength, pace, technique. So actually I feel that my team could adjust to a variety of formations. It's for this reason that I'm tempted to force them, being the dictator I am, to play in my preferred fashion as opposed to being a typical bottom half Premier League team, overly cautious and playing on the counter. I sound just like Ian Holloway, and what happened to him and his team?!

My preferred approach then is that of excessive ball possession, crosses kept to a minimum, goals from multiple sources via good movement, aggressive pressing high up the pitch. A recipe for disaster with a newly promoted team? Is it even possible? Ranieri won it with the absolute opposite tactic. How might I fare? Well in theory the longer I have the ball the less likely it is that all these teams with greater attacking strength can score. And believe me they'll score!

 

So I spoke of having a primary tactic, plus a plan B and maybe C. Well I'll also add a plan D and think I'll have them like this:

Plan A = Home games
Plan B = Away games
Plan C = Chasing a game
Plan D = Shutting up shop

And here straight from that tactics board are those plans in all their glory, with accompanying team instructions:

 

PLAN A : Home Games

PLAN B: Away Games

PLAN C: Chasing A Game

PLAN D: Shutting Up Shop

Yes indeed. Let the fun and games begin.

[BallHogging]

Formation Folly

 

It's only been a matter of hours since I left the tactics board in the office on display and already it seems Mr KP has been alerted to my rather unorthodox tactics; a mole! Not knowing a great deal about football Mr KP took his tip off quite seriously and got in touch with me to query my approach, this despite earlier imploring me to get the job done in whichever way I please.

Well I wasn't happy about the questioning being the tactical totalitarian that I am, but we settled our issue without too much ado. I was just warned that Mr KP would be taking on our friendly fortune teller as a consultant and possibly Director of Football.

'God', I thought, but it could be worse...it could have been Joe Kinnear, or Dennis Wise, or a chicken expert from overseas. Count your eggs...er..I mean blessings.
 

[BallHogging]

Pre Season: The Long Road Ahead - Schedule, Training, Objectives

 

So I had my first meeting with the players who all for some strange reason seemed to be a little down. Whether it's because of the almost inexplicable extraction of poor Nigel from his role or not I'll never know, they didn't say anything, nor did they worry when they never received a well wishing text from him. They also didn't complain about my qualifications and reputation or lack thereof to take on this position.

Look at those coaching abilities!!

Wes Morgan and his cohorts simply agreed that we had what it takes to avoid relegation and he rallied his inferiors accordingly. Lovely, I thought. Little do they know what I have in store for them. Why set the bar too high huh? No need to pressure their fragile souls just yet. I mean, they've only had a 6 week break within which to spend their £30,000 a week earnings from the past year, kicking a football, kicking others on the pitch, breathing in fresh air every day, whilst I sit at my damn desk looking over their statistics, forging an empire, and shouting for tea from my assistant. Give me my first player to fall out with! I need to feel the powerrr!

 

2014/15 Objectives

So what does this season have to be? It doesn't have to be the year we win the league, next year certainly does to meet the challenge. But for this year firstly, I obviously want to avoid relegation! Beyond that these are my goals:

* I want to see some consistency in our performances.
* Identify weaknesses in the squad.
* Iron out issues in my tactics.
* Build a togetherness in the squad.
* Put in the groundwork for next pre season signings as they are going to be the important ones that will need to be good enough to hit the ground running.

To go some way to getting started we have a fairly busy pre-season to get through. We have a home friendly with Lech Poznan, followed by four away friendlies at Koblenz, Stuttgarter K, Chesterfield and Ternana. This before we open our Premier League campaign at The King Power with the visit of perennial failures Aston Villa. Their Chairman obviously has no dreams in the night to help him. Oh well Randy...things can only get better huh.

 

Pre Season Objectives

From pre-season I would like the following:

* 4 wins out of 5
* I want to concede no more than 7 goals worse case scenario.
* I would like to score at least a goal a game
* Have the players comfortable with the main formations
* All transfer ins and outs completed prior to the Villa game.

 

Backroom Business & Team Training

Now that we've got the tactics and objectives planned it's time to speak with the backroom staff and set a training schedule.

We don't have long to work with in preparation so we decided to ramp up the expectations in training by raising the intensity to high, doubling match preparation, and giving no rests before or after matches. The lads have had a 6 week holiday and are lucky to have a footballing career. You can rest when you're 35, for now it's 7 days a week! We work on team cohesion for a couple of weeks, with fitness training scheduled for the week after, and ball control the week after that. Four weeks at a time planned.

We've also allocated training assignments to the backroom staff. It seems the previous regime wasn't focused enough and so we've put some new drills in place and split up the work accordingly. Besides myself we only have 7 backroom staff, 2 of which are fitness coaches, so I really feel that we need to get together as a team and see who we can bring in to better spread the workload and improve the training output.

However upon approaching the board with my request they assert that there is enough in place at the club for the players to receive high quality coaching. Now I seriously beg to differ and we have a back and forth about how important I feel this is and that we could be left behind by our rivals, but they're having none of it telling me I can ask as much as I like, I'm not having. So a negative outcome and I proceed to scrutinize the staff set-up. It seems with 'Other Leicester Staff' advised at 6 that we actually have 8. Who are these these people? I terminate an U18 physio (literally, to see if that gets the board's attention.....ok, fabrication of the truth) to see if he was in the accounts as 'Other Leicester Staff'...he wasn't. Sorry Guy Rogers, it was nothing personal.

Having spent a bit more time on looking over my staff I decide I have a few ways forward. I release both fitness coaches to free up space for a real technical coach that can also cover the fitness coaching aspect. I attempt to dismiss Steve Walsh who I notice after a few training sessions doesn't seem to be very modernised with his coaching methods and is therefore struggling to impact positively on the players. However, despite the benefits of mutual termination he still asked for 1.3 million. Yes, 1.3 and five zeroes. Is he crazy? And finally I should have one space for 'Other U21's Staff' who I can hopefully set to multi-task with the 1st team. Therefore that's three additions to make a real difference until our tight Thai owner wakes up and sees the light.

We end up approaching John Murtough and Phil Cannon to man the two available 1st team positions. And finally for the U21's role we open our doors to Julian Monk, a fair all rounder coach to help the U21's, but who specialises in fitness, and that is what he will take control of for the 1st team squad.

Elsewhere we release some bloating from the backroom by saying goodbye to some physios and U18's coaches.

I earlier promised the media that there wouldn't be upheaval......it seems I lied!

[BallHogging]

Early Transfer News

 

I'm only two days into the job and by 1:00pm in the afternoon the axe had all but been wielded on the futures of 4 players.

Schwarzer, Konchesky, Hammond and Nugent have had their names added to the transfer list. As previously mentioned these gentlemen's wages are too high bearing in mind I probably won't use them and have started getting active as far as new arrivals are concerned. We await formal interest with bated breath.

Also my scouts and I have been sifting through various player databases to see if there are any players out of contract that could possibly add something to our squad. After many hours we had contacted all the relevant agents and offered a 3 week trial to the following;

Goalkeepers: Nash
Defence: Antonio Lopez, Arzu, Faye, Knight, Lucio, Marchena, Mensah, Olembe, Perea
Midfield: Cabral, Alou Diarra, Mahamadou Diarra, Chris Eagles, Fabio Lopes, Leigertwood, Misimovic, Nazarenko, Pennant, Riera, Simao, Vicente
Attack: Adriano, Bothroyd, Cassano, Kamara, Mutu
 

It's going to be busy around Belvoir Drive's training pitch and gym!

[BallHogging]

Leicester City vs Lech Poznan - Sat 12th July 2014 - 3:00pm

 

So the day arrives, our first test of pre-season and a nice home fixture to warm us up, raise our spirits and start the hard work in earnest. There will be much to learn and adapt to for the playing squad this year, not least my request that they learn what most would find a very uncomfortable formation.

So my opponents, the back turning fans of Lech Poznan, approach this match in a 352 formation. It's one that is typically hard to break down as the 8 men that stay behind the ball tend to be very compact with not much distance between their defensive and midfield lines. Unless I'm prepared to release the Kraken, i.e. runners and direct balls at least some of the time in counter, which I'm not, then it's probably going to be a long day at the office as far as scoring is concerned. The team's familiarity with their new tactic is currently at 'sorry...come again?' level. I've only been here 4 days, so they probably haven't remembered my name yet.
 

Football in Poland is so bad they'd rather get naked and check each other's backsides out

The players know we'll generally have a different approach for home and away games and with this being our only home friendly of pre-season they're aware of the importance of focusing carefully on translating training into real performances. It's early days but these are Premier League players, I expect them to impress.

To note that there are two trial players in the matchday squad today as we look to learn more about their abilities in order to make a decision on their future at Leicester. Simao starts, we're looking for technique and guile in tight spots from him. Antonio Lopez is on the bench and will see some action at leftback in the second half as I look to make a decision about strengthening the full back ranks. We've also put Schwarzer in the shop window today...that is if anyone is watching...the Poznan fans don't seem to be.

Here's the pre match preview:

Game on!

We had kick off and started with my usual TI's as from the formation section earlier in the thread. But within 20 seconds a poor touch from Mahrez just beyond the centre circle led to a Poznan break straight down the middle and our players scrambling to get back into defensive shape. Only a good pretty much last ditch tackle on the the edge of the area averted early blushes and only 30 seconds gone Poznan had a corner.

In the minute or two that followed the players didn't quite seem to collect themselves and with barely any minutes on the clock I felt I had to make a change. I had asked the players to fizz the ball around with as much pizazz as they could muster, keep the opponents on their toes, be confident. As this didn't work I was down on the touchline instructing the lads to play a 'Much Lower Tempo'. I wanted them to really slow it down and for each player in each position after receiving the ball to take some time to familiarise themselves with where each other will be on the pitch. Yes attacks can become laboured and readable but I felt the real importance in this game was the players understanding of the tactic on a matchday.

It seemed to do the trick and for the remainder of the game I was very pleased with the team's ball retention and decision making. Only a minute after I made the change we had gone 1 up. A calm and collected move probing the final third led to a good pass out wide right to Danny Simpson, who took a touch, looked up, picked out the face of Ulloa 12 yards out, and the ball found it's way sweetly into the near post top corner.

As the players found confidence in stroking the ball around the possession stat crept up pleasingly. Ok, Lech Poznan defended strongly and didn't allow us too many clear sights of goal but the patient way in which we went about our business was pleasing and by the end of the game it seems we may have stumbled across quite the combination, as Simpson found Ulloa once again from out wide, his noggin once again connecting sweetly with the ball and subsequently the back of the net. Poznan did create their fare share of dangerous positions with quite the physical presence, but we stood strong and promptly returned to dominating possession.

Final Stats

Average Positions

Final Ratings

Shots

So in line with my philosophy this was a very pleasing game:

* At least a goal a game - check.
* No more than 1 conceded per game - check.
* Possession over 55%, preferably 60 to 70% - damn right = 71%!

There were some encouraging performances so early on in the team's evolution.

* Simpson indeed looked good with two assists and agility on the wing.
* Huth looked composed even in the more advanced half back position.
* Cambiasso alongside him looked calm in possession and committed in defence.
* Simao did show some nice touches and a glimmer of what he could bring.

But on the negative side other than Wasilewski coming off with injury early on, Poznan created too many dangerous situations for my liking, striking the woodwork an incredible 3 times. Twice from dead balls, and once from what would have been a worldie from range. We found that instructing the lads to slow it right down was an inspired decision which aided decision making and led to calm, focus, control, and ultimately the win. Whether teams in the league will allow us such time on the ball is another matter, but we have something to build on. From now it's four games away from home to continue our pre season. The boys must stay focused...so I won't be falling out with our attractive lady doctor any time soon.

[Deisler26]

Good start. Your formation is baffling to me, in that it seems like you give up so much middle ground.

[BallHogging]

Reader Response

Good start. Your formation is baffling to me, in that it seems like you give up so much middle ground.

Hi gent, and thanks for reading. (Your name brought back memories of the fantastic Sebastian Deisler from Championship Manager days!)

It looks like it should certainly. Away we add the CM-A as a link which helps. But at home there's a few things that work. In 'playing out of defence', with a 'much lower tempo' in conjunction with allowing the AM-A's to roam (bringing them deeper), we're provided a way to build moves up the pitch. Playing Contain constantly also has the AM-A's start a little deeper I believe. But mainly we advance in the first instance through the goalkeeper's distribution to the FB-A's, their overlap, and then usage of the Half Backs if it all gets a bit hot up field. It certainly has it's issues which I'm sure I'll encounter and adapt to over the course of the season!

[BallHogging]

Our First Signing!
 

Pen to paper, signed and dated:

Date: Sunday, 13th July 2014, 7:00pm
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Simao Pedro Fonseca Sabrosa
Position: Amr/l/c
From: Without club
Wage: £8000 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015
 

Behind closed doors there's cautious jubilation, if there is such a thing, as we secure the signing of the intelligent and skilful Simao who has had a playing career with some of the best, Sporting/Benfica/Barcelona/Atletico. He brings experience at the highest level, and from out wide will hopefully contribute to our cause despite his advancing years.

Both footed with an ability to play across the entirety of our attacking positions this is a fantastic deal for Leicester and another opportunity in a top league for Simao.

[BallHogging]

At Loggerheads

 

Friday, 18th July 2014, 9:00am. People are barely starting their days at work and the office at Belvoir Drive has seen fireworks already.

Three players were called in prior to training this morning to have a chat about their futures. Schwarzer, Konchesky and Hammond. All three have had their names placed on the transfer list and subsequently touted around for about a week to no avail. Not a single club is even showing minor interest. I imagine with them all closing in on the end of their contract that they are very happy to take their wages until 2015, a la Wayne Bridge. That's three wages of £35,000, £30,000 and £12,500. Now I don't expect any money from their transfers out, but I do want them gone and not hanging around the squad.

So the meeting with each lasted only about 3 minutes. Just enough time for me to repeat the lines of "I think we both know your time here has come to an end, I need you to actively look for somewhere else", to which all three replied that they're happy to see out their contract. After reaffirming that I don't see a future for them here and they won't be used, they still supposedly respectfully advised me they don't care and won't be seeking a move, before leaving the office of their own accord.

Obviously this displeases me, but it's not something I didn't see coming. These are the modern day problems of overpaying players who become parasites, barnacles, limpets, leeches who are happy in their lack of pride, sat collecting a wage packet for nothing ...Hang on, well you can't blame them really. But we have a problem here. I now either have to try and get some return on investment with these players by actually using them if we're going to pay their wages, or try and make them so unhappy that they do end up via their agent speaking with other clubs being prepared to accept lower wages. So I put all three in the U21's and 'rest' them for a week as I ramp up the alienation process in hope of expediting their exit.

 

In other news after a lot of back and forth offering the man out, Nugent has finally attracted some interest from Swansea. Their offer is less than his possible value but we decide that we have sufficient backup in the squad and that despite his qualities his wage really would represent a waste of resources. £2.5 million, plus £1 million after every 40 league appearances, and 20% kickback from the next sale. As an average 29 year old we may not see much by way of next sale percentages, nor is he definite to make 40 appearances during his time at Swansea. But a guaranteed £2.5 million and the removal of a £30,000 wage from the payroll seems sensible right now.

[Deisler26]

Reader Response

Hi gent, and thanks for reading. (Your name brought back memories of the fantastic Sebastian Deisler from Championship Manager days!)

It looks like it should certainly. Away we add the CM-A as a link which helps. But at home there's a few things that work. In 'playing out of defence', with a 'much lower tempo' in conjunction with allowing the AM-A's to roam (bringing them deeper), we're provided a way to build moves up the pitch. Playing Contain constantly also has the AM-A's start a little deeper I believe. But mainly we advance in the first instance through the goalkeeper's distribution to the FB-A's, their overlap, and then usage of the Half Backs if it all gets a bit hot up field. It certainly has it's issues which I'm sure I'll encounter and adapt to over the course of the season!

Thank you for sharing and yes, he was my favourite player

[BallHogging]

Our Second Signing!
 

Pen to paper, signed and dated:

Date: Sunday, 20th July 2014, 11:15am
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Albert Riera Ortega
Position: Lb
From: Without club
Wage: £8000 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015

 

More work behind the scenes this week as the finishing touches were put to paper for Albert Riera's deal to join the squad at The King Power Stadium. We felt that we needed to strengthen at the LB position and Riera is a cultured player at 32 years of age having seen a range of clubs in his time; Mallorca, Bordeaux, Man City, Espanyol, Liverpool, Olympiakos, Galatasary. He's seen it all and signed on a 1 year contract he offers us ability both defending and going forward whilst making use of his considerable height and frame suited to the Premier League.

Wondering why Riera is feeling abysmal right now? I've upset him already in my press conference:

Journo: "What's your relationship with Albert and why did you want to bring him here?"
Sir Hogger: "There's no relationship to speak of, he's just one of my players."
Albert:  : '(

Sorry A, never knew you felt that way!

[BallHogging]

Koblenz vs Leicester City - Sunday, 20th July 2014 - 5.30pm

 

Not long after our work on Riera's papers our second pre-season friendly is played today, an away game that gives us our first opportunity to apply our away tactics to a competitive game.

The players adapted well over 90 minutes last time, but this formation is aimed at shoring up the defence to repel opposition attacks. Gone are the wandering full backs, replaced by two additional narrow centre backs. This formation ensures more players behind the ball whilst we attack to cut down on being exploited should our attack break down. But in attack we have lost the defensive forward from the home tactic to play a CM-A who gets into box on the overlap, but who is another player to protect our back line.

In an attacking sense we retain the idea that we should slowly build up play with the primary goal to maintain possession for as long as possible, keeping the ball out of their hands or more pointedly, their feet. Goal opportunities will be even more few and far between when playing away, but for me away points are vital. It's time to go to work.

Pre Match Lineups

Well from start to finish in this game we had complete control. It was a fantastic days' work. Again instructed to play at a much lower tempo the players took advantage of the security in numbers in playing out from the back. With no strikers loitering between defenders hoping for a world class incisive pass (which generally never comes), there was always someone available for a pass to help us up the pitch despite the lack of a no.9.

Maintaining our patience I can't say we were ever sure where our goals would come from as Koblenz defended deep in their 4411, and as we were lacking the width provided from our home tactic we couldn't stretch them as much as we would maybe like to. But we were content with that and wanted to see how the game panned out.

Koblenz committed 20 fouls throughout and these presented us with ample opportunity to put the ball into the box. Simao isn't part of the training camp squad but he will surely relish this sort of dead ball situation in future games. And it is from one of these that our solitary goal was scored. Freekick lofted in from deep by Drinkwater, Wasilewsi toward the back post rose to head down for Kramaric just off the penalty spot who fired it home with aplomb. I felt that dead balls should be something to our advantage, as despite playing away I do still allow the centre backs forward for free kicks. If we can create chances like this in each away game I think with defensive soundness that we could go a long way. It's not pretty, nor risky, but it's controlling, smart and resolute.

Here's the info:

Final Stats

Overall Positions

Final Ratings

Shots

So it's philosophy check time again:

* At least a goal a game - check.
* No more than 1 conceded per game - check.
* Possession over 55%, preferably 60 to 70% - yes, again = 61%

 

Performances to note were the defensive unit in general. The unit of 5 of Morgan, Huth, Wasilewski, Cambiasso and Drinkwater stood up strong to a range of attacks, but also were a key component in our recycling and maintaining possession across the pitch. Schlupp, a second half sub as a W-s showed pace and control and an ability to turn back and protect the ball at the right time. I'm interested now in seeing more from him.

It should be noted that there was some tactical tweaking going on throughout the game. Both Cambiasso and Drinkwater who started as halfbacks in line with the usual home tactic shape and role, were switched to Registas who were allowed further forward and were instructed to run wide with the ball to help with the lack of width. They could do this carefully from time to time whilst in possession thanks to the 3 centre backs behind them. This had them slightly further up the pitch in moving the ball around the final third, but also and more obviously had them start their press higher up the pitch. Not too much, but a noticeable amount. The Halfbacks tended to stay deeper before identifying a target to press and then moving out toward them aggressively. As Regista's they were already in the area of the target. So there is a little more space behind them at times, but all in all it was a change that faciliated our keeping possession when playing without the defensive forward.

The other tactical change was having the Raumdeuters changed to Winger-supports (in the same advanced wide slot). Later in the game I felt there was a need to show for the ball more and stretch play as Koblenz were really pressing hard now and had changed to a 4-1-4-1 which looks like a more defensive shape than what they started with, but they were playing it with an attacking mentality which pushed all of them up the pitch further than they were before.

 

Another positive pre season game here and we switch our focus now to the next game at Stuttgarter K in 6 days. I have much work to be done in the meantime though and am glad of the time between fixtures.

[BallHogging]

The Season Draws Near: - Squad Win Bonuses

 

Well, I'm not gonna hide from it, I'm a cheap skate. I don't imagine the players will all remain oblivious to this, but to be frank, I don't care.

In what sort of world where players are paid not only a weekly wage, but on top of that appearance and subs bench fees also for either doing or not doing your job respectively, then excuse me for saying the games gone mad. But wait, I'm not finished...as part of their personal contracts they request bonuses for the likes of league and cup survival/success/european qualification. ...What's that? You want paying AGAIN besides the above? AND THEN.....we have squad win bonuses!

Are you having a giraffe in a bubble bath?

[BallHogging]

A Third Signing!

 

Pen to paper, signed and dated:

Date: Sunday, 25th July 2014, 10:00pm
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Emmanuel Ledesma
Position: Amr/l/c
From: Middlesbrough
Cost: £1,400,000 / 24 months
Wage: £10,000 per week
Term: to 30/06/2019
 

A late night in the board room and terms were finally completed. We didn't have too much problem at all with club or agent here. Both were very amicable. Middlesbrough seemingly letting go of a good quality player on the cheap without much fuss, and the agent keen to get the deal done without asking extortionate terms for his client or himself. A refreshing change.

Ledesma himself has had quite the nomadic career, starting off at Defensor y Justicia in Argentina before bobbing around Genoa to QPR to Salernitana, Crotone, to Walsall, back home to Argentina, Middlesbrough and now Leicester. Usually moving on loan deals or a free, in fact I'll correct that, always having moved on a loan or a free he has finally been adjudged worthy of a transfer fee. Let's hope he offers a return on that faith, because at this club ambitions are ludicrously high!

So now, we've strengthened across the attacking midfield quartet with Simao and Ledesma, both of whom can play anywhere side to side. And we've strengthened that left back slot with Riera. Net wages £26,000 per week between them. I feel we've strengthened well for not a lot of money.
 

Looking Ahead

The rest of this season the scouts will be working in earnest to uncover players that could be available for our next season, the pivotal one. The only thing is with just six scouts we may struggle to scour the globe adequately. And with the board's refusal to fund anything beyond the PG Tips my assistant brews me, it looks like I'm going to have to join in with a concerted effort of my own to watch my targets and keep my ear to the ground for regional footballing news.

[Ceching You Out]

Your tactics certainly catch the eye! I'll be following along to see how they pan out and how the challenge goes.

[BallHogging]

Number Four Falls Through

A mild tongue twister.

Monday, 26th July, 11:15am

 

Just over twelve hours later and I'm back in the office twiddling my fingers in trepidation, anticipation, whilst eagerly awaiting the phone call from the work permit appeals committee. Instead they just send me a boring black and white fax emblazoned with their 'rejected' stamp. Not even a phone call. It's like getting dumped by text, or via the grapevine. I think this appeals committee should grow some cojones.

So we nearly got this one through, but apparently 52 appearances for your country isn't enough to get a work permit these days. Sergiy Nazarenko was nearly our fourth signing, a third to bolster the guile and creativity in the attacking quartet. A man of good ability in vision, passing, dead ball situations, long shots, using both feet and a penchant for doing the unexpected, it's a real shame this one fell through. Yes he's 34, but as a lot of our play aims to revolve around intricate passing at the right time we didn't need great pace. But we let it go and move forward. Someone else can reap the rewards of his skillset.

[BallHogging]

Reader Response

Your tactics certainly catch the eye! I'll be following along to see how they pan out and how the challenge goes.

Much appreciated, thanks for reading! And I like the Stamford Bridge story. You know what to do next time you want managerial blood! (Just no turning up at The King Power whilst I'm there)

[BallHogging]

We Add The Fourth!

 

We may have failed on Nazarenko, but 45 minutes later we're busily reaching for the diamond fountain pen again to put the Finance Director and my signatures to paper.

Date: Monday, 26th July 2014, 12:00pm
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Abdoulaye Faye
Position: Cb/Dmc
From: Without club
Wage: £3,800 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015
 

Yet another free signing on a short term contract. We're enjoying the out of contract market this year as we pluck another player of great experience who I feel still has plenty to offer a squad, especially considering the deal we struck. Yes at 36 many would expect such a low wage packet, but I feel at only £3,800 per week that this is such a low risk deal that surely by June 2015 we'll look back on this deal with positivity. 

Faye has plenty of Premier League experience which can only help us and whether makes appearances into double figures or not, Abdoulaye's ability to play centre back or half back/regista is what had us conclude this deal. What stands out about his skillset is his versatility for a fairly big man. At 36 he seems to have retained much of his quality and exhibits good all round centre back ability, supported by a fantastic first touch along with a desire to play his way out of trouble. Just what I want. Aside from this he has more vision and passing ability than your usual centre back. With this in mind I feel I'll be using Faye as part of home and away fixtures in numerous positions. Even if he only gives us 5 good performances, there'll be no complaints.
 

[BallHogging]

Stuttgarter K vs Leicester City -  Saturday, 26th July 2014 - 3.30pm

 

It's the last day of the pre-season training camp and training has gone well so far. Unfortunately two of our new additions haven't been able to be included in the training camp squad so they're training with the U21's to build up some fitness and tactical understanding in the meantime. My U21's manager is well drilled on and is instructed to train the first team tactics. So there's no worries there.

But Ledesma gets his first appearance for us today on the right wing, which shifts Mahrez inside one to AMCR. We're hoping for an encouraging showing today to make us feel better about actually spending some money on a transfer for once.

Stuttgarter look to setup today in a defensive 442, protecting their backline with two deep lying midfielders. They are the home team and perhaps their style is to counter with regularity but we shall see and shall have to be watchful of their wingers and strikers.

We line up similar to how we finished the last game, with the Halfbacks operating instead as Registas. Our wide attackers though start the game as Raumdeuters, which I plan to change to winger-supports once we have scored. And I instruct the team to play at a much slower tempo to take time to acclimatise themselves to the oppositions style of play.
 

Well Stuttgarter did indeed sit deep and counter, except they countered by hitting it long regularly to the two strikers. This immediacy of their long ball caused us problems as the ball came straight after we lost possession at which point our centre backs were wider on the pitch and perhaps the registas were a little too high. At first I told the front quartet to dribble less and try less dangerous passes, all with the idea of not turning over possession as often, trying to shield the ball more. But this didn't change the danger of their counter. 

After 20 minutes we decided to change the registas back to half backs. As the registas left more of a gap behind them, i felt it was time to drop them back and sacrifice their contribution higher up the pitch for the greater good. we had to hope that the front quartet supported by the CM-A could maintain possession and create things for themselves

By 30 minutes in we'd cracked it as far as keeping possession was concerned. I settled on player instructions all round of dribble less and fewer risky passes, but with a team instruction of run at defence. I felt that this allowed the individual players to run at the defence in more favourable conditions as opposed to acting by their player instruction to dribble more which would probably have them dribble toward danger on almost any possible occasion. It seemed to work just so. Back at 25 minutes in, possession was split in a rather fraught game at 50/50. By half time it was 60/40 in our favour.

 

The second half began with Stuttgarter pressing a lot higher up the pitch and they changed to a 4123 with inside forwards. So I expected the danger of direct balls in between our centre backs to subside, but for new problems to develop with them pressing us fervently in our own half seeing as we attempt to play out from the back. I experimented with a few changes throughout the remainder of the game and ended with Inside Forwards instead of Raumdeuters.  It created more moments of possible danger but Stuttgarter defended well and aside from a few half chances there wasn't much of note to shout about.

Positives from today include our ability to defend a range of attacking styles and keep a clean sheet, and then our being able to maintain possession and pick our way through a midfield under a high press, though no ones performance stood out today.

Overview

Average Positions

Final Ratings

Shots

 

Once again it's time for a philosophy check:

* At least a goal a game - fail
* No more than 1 conceded per game - check. 
* Possession over 55%, preferably 60 to 70% - yes.

 

 

[BallHogging]

And Now Ladies & Gentleman, We Have A Fifth

 

Pen to paper, signed and dated. And what an interesting deal this one is. Destined for failure...or a masterstroke? 

Date: Wednesday, 30th July 2014, 11:15am
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Adriano Leite Ribeiro
Position: St
From: Without club
Wage: £5,500 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015

 

The beast himself has risen. It's not been fun in a footballing sense over recent years for this once monstrous striker. But in another sense altogether it has probably been too much fun that caused this man to so early in his career effectively throw the towel in. Well I am, with a serious portion of reservation, willing to offer the man, the legend, the beast, one last foray into football. It doesn't look to me like the man has achieved much for..ooooh approximately 5 years!? But the way this guy is built and the way we are trying to play at home with one striker who links up play, then Adriano, if I can eek some performances out of him may well be a masterstroke bearing in mind the physicality of the Premier League. 

With aerial prowess still, strength, finishing, dead ball striking, a good first touch, and dangerous snap shots Adriano potentially has a lot to offer even if he doesn't move. We just have to style our approach play around him. He can be our Akinfenwa. Mr Beast Mode himself has competition once again. 

Profile Of The Beast

A Lot Of Football In Recent Years....not

The Beast Himself

..Ahh, wrong pic..

He can be our alternative to Mr Beast Mode himself..

 

[BallHogging]

You know what that means. It's number six...

 

Although this one doesn't come with much associated fanfare as it's one for the future. 

Mr 1.3 million, Steve Walsh himself brought this man to my attention simply saying he is a good prospect without giving me much as far as abilities were concerned. Well Steve has been proving himself with his recommendations recently, so I simply offered our now new signing a trial. Once he arrived at the club the other staff recommended him whilst I still had no idea of his talents. At 16 it was as simple as offering him a youth contract. So I did. 

Like Ferguson with Bebe am I with this guy.

Date: Wednesday, 30th July 2014, 17:00pm
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Dino Halilovic
Position: Amc
From: Without club
Wage: £80 per week youth contract
Term: to 30/06/2016

 

[BallHogging]

Harry Redknapp Syndrome
 

Yes, it has well and truly set in. The amount of discussions going on behind closed doors between Leicester City and agents across Europe is unbelievable, Jeff. 

Some would not believe the type of player that some of these discussions revolve around. But for now all are sworn to secrecy whilst negotations are ongoing. 

The English media have started to proffer their rumours as to the type of player Leicester might be interested in. 

But the main questioning is focused on speculating as to just how much more business Leicester City are actually looking to do prior to matchday 1. And as will surely be necessary, who would leave to make room?

Updates to follow.

[BallHogging]

More Fox Activity In The Neighbourhood
 

Leicester fans are wondering what the club's latest signing will bring to the table. Only a temporary loan deal struck with Liga Adelante club Valladolid, but one we hope will provide the team with strength in depth throughout the season.

A player we had some knowledge of and partial interest in who we found out was available for loan simply by covering a small amount of wages.

Date: Sunday, 3rd August 2014, 09:00am
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Lluis Sastre
Position: Cm
From: Valladolid (loan)
Wage: £2,800 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015
Option to Buy: £100,000

 

[BallHogging]

When will it end?
 

Well here we have our 7th permanent signing after the Redknapp Syndrome set in and became pandemic. The media have been questioning our unbelievable mecca-esq pilgrimage wondering just exactly when it will end. 

But I'm excited about this one. There's a certain amount of romanticism at the heart of this deal, even more than the deal for the beast. But the transfer doesn't come without value on the pitch as we put pen to paper, signed and dated:

Date: Sunday, 3rd August 2014, 11:00am
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Juan Carlos Valeron
Position: Amc
From: Las Palmas
Cost: £135,000
Wage: £11,250 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015
 

 

[BallHogging]

There's Something About August

In August 1588 the Spanish Armada sailed to invade England. One hundred and thirty ships with intent to anchor down and enter. 

Now, on this day of Sunday, 3rd August 2014 it seems history is repeating itself. Leicester City F.C. has been descended upon by, ok not one hundred and thirty, but three Spaniards all looking to take the Premier League by storm. (Not sure they came in by ship either but that's besides the point)

Once again, and fanfare for the EIGHTH full transfer, it's pen to paper signed, dated and witnessed:

Date: Sunday, 3rd August 2014, 1:00pm
Club: Leicester City F.C
Player: Roberto Trashorras
Position: Amc
From: Rayo
Cost: £170,000
Wage: £13,250 per week
Term: to 30/06/2015

 

[BallHogging]

Chesterfield vs Leicester City -  Monday, 4th August 2014 - 7.30pm

 

And so we're off to League 1's Chesterfield for our penultimate pre season friendly. The fans are excited about catching a first glimpse of the new signings, and seeing where they'll fit into Sir Ball Hogger's plans. Knowledgeable fans will indeed be able to see the wood for the trees, the fire near that smoke. All they need do is consider Hogger's philosophy before then considering the natural ability of the latest new signings to appreciate why these players fit in so well. Blessed in abundance with intelligence on the pitch and a passing accuracy to exploit their vision, they may not be built like Cersei's Mountain, but they have a godly first touch and an ability to complete 6000 revolutions a minute on the turf upon the slightest contact, ensuring our award of multiple dead ball opportunities to place a ball on Huth's face.

Today's friendly sees us giving a chance to the new players, some of the squad players, and also the players on the transfer list in a vain attempt to put them in the shop window. There has been minimal interest, correction - none, and so we really need to show the world their talents in beating the colossal Chesterfield.

In attack today, as far as our away approach is concerned, we line-up pretty much what I consider to be full strength. It's time for me to test them out together. We line up with right footers for the left side's Raumdeuter and AM-A, and left footers for right side's Raumdeuter and AM-A. Playing away without a striker I feel this is a good setup that should provide for plenty of incisive runs from the Raumdeuters cutting inside to shoot, along with some sneaky reverse balls from the AM-A's. All in all at every opportunity effectively doing the opposite to what the opposition might expect from each player. Sounds good in theory.

Chesterfield line up in a 4411, so I expect them to have a quiet first half followed by a sudden change in the second. So I feel the first half might be my best chance to lay the pressure on.

Half way through the first half the front four had settled very nicely into calm and patient approach play. Moving up the pitch as a team together as opposed to needing a striker with back to goal to move forward. I feel that the players were gradually getting used to how they could craft openings after each other's movement became more apparent. 

Still though barring a few opportunities of little note I felt it was time to change it up slightly. Raumdeuters became Inside Forward supports. Although they dribble more by default I wanted some players to be making specific movements towards goal more regularly. It did seem to create a few decent positions and I would say the chances created were better. 

On 35 minutes Lesdesma's game was over. After taking a battering across the pitch by the Chesterfield brutes he was stood there on 50% condition. Go take an early sea salts bath son. And who came on? No one other than the beast himself. Yes, Adriano. I mulled over changing up the formation to get Adriano as perhaps a DLF or TM. But in the end I didn't want to sacrifice the way we worked up the pitch. I left him a direct replacement for Lesdesma in AMCR. I told him he could close down much less and not to roam so that he was in my eyes a sort of false target man in that he would be in space (albeit deeper than a TM) to receive the ball. 

And what a difference he made. He came on when we had a freekick. He took it and instantly slotted Sastre through who nearly scored. Afterward, no one could take the ball from him. He drove at the heart of the defence and blasted narrowly wide, and he continued to play the team in and play his part. At half time it was 0-0, but I was looking forward to the second half.

 

Moments after the restart the Chesterfield brutes struck again. Valeron gaffled, it was time for him to join Lesdesma for that homeopathic bath, some tapas, and a massage by the lovely club doctor from Brazil. What a life eh.

In replacement I decided to follow the blueprint of the beast and brought on Chris Wood, another target man by nature, playing alongside Adriano as an AM-A. Chesterfield have been pretty aggressive so it's time to up the resistance. 

A few moments later a move of twelve patient passes gracing the entire pitch and finishing with Simao, to King, to Sastre our CM-A, led to the scoring being opened. After this, apart from having to stay alert for Chesterfield's long ball attack we saw the game out well, created a few more chances and were generally impressive. Well, as impressive as waxing lyrical about beating Chesterfield can be. The strength and height of Adriano and Chris Wood in a non greedy AM-A role was crucial, as they time and time again under intense pressure back to goal protected the ball and successfully brought others into play around them. It's certainly given me something to think about for the without striker away tactic. Perhaps I should replicate this approach for away games, returning to the guile, technique and vision in AM-A for the home games when we use a striker.

And what a first game for loanee Sastre. From CM-A he was our main danger as our attacking moves entered their final phase. He could have had two and besides his chances he kept our play moving with good decisions, nullified opposition attacks showing his willingness to tackle, and took home the man of the match award. Let's hope he can have this sort of impact when the real battle gets underway.

Final Stats

Average Positions

Final Ratings

Shots

Philosophy check:

* At least a goal a game - check
* No more than 1 conceded per game - check. 
* Possession over 55%, preferably 60 to 70% - check = 69% and 844 passes!

 

[BallHogging]

Man On Trial

 

It's late at night 11:45pm on Tuesday, 5th August and I get word that our tentative request of Atletico Madrid to trial one of their unwanted players as opposed to loaning or purchasing has indeed been accepted. We've a two week trial period to get a further look at this man:

Atletico insisted we provide him with accommodation whilst he's here so I gave my tea maker a job to do and she's booked him in to the glorious Hilton Leicester in an attempt to show him just how upmarket this football club is.

Oh Lovely

Night Time Swim

And ohhhh what a quality breakfast..... 

This guy better be good...Straight out of our transfer budget this hospitality!
 

[BallHogging]

Planning For The Future
 

Not long ago I mentioned how the remainder of this season was a very important time for certain individuals; our scouting team. Headed up by David Mills as Chief Scout the team will have to work fast and efficiently if we are to not just identify targets but to come to understand and sift through the pro's and con's of those targets with a fine tooth comb. 

This pre-season's buys have indeed been many and may have been seen as a little 'scattergun... because we can' sort of deals. Part of my approach to squad building relies upon my finding my own funds with which to improve the squad. At any club I ply my trade there tends to be a few surprising decisions which perplex the media, disappoint the fans, and sometimes ruffles the squad's feathers. To me though those decisions are never taken without just consideration and forethought.

As next season begins to draw near I will want to be sure of having an adequate budget with which to open negotiations with clubs and agents. Therefore I do like to cash in on players that have value today in the here and now. Picking these players is made especially easier if they are one of the squad's top earners. Most in the Leicester squad though are of similar salary and so the decisions must become a little more thorough.
 

With this said I have made the decision to attempt to cash in on Danny Drinkwater - despite my favouritism shown to all things the red half of Manchester! Danny is an above average Premier League midfielder who presents as comfortable across the width of the pitch and from defensive through attacking midfield. You will see his main abilities below. If you consider my tactics though and then consider the sorts of player I would use in an ideal world then you will see where the problem with Danny lies for me. 

Danny neither excels in the attacking midfield areas nor in the defensive areas where I use Half Backs. Up the pitch I require circa a 15+ first touch, vision, agility, dribbling and passing ability, the sort of skillset you would expect from a hole player or a wing forward. At Half Back I practically want the player to be a natural defender who is comfortable in the DM strata, as I expect them in the home formation to drop back into a 5 strong defensive line. Drinkwater is better as a central midfielder who can receive the ball and look ahead to his options as opposed to being under the sort of back to goal pressure my attacking troops will encounter. 

So at a supposed value of £7.5million I felt Danny, although I would make use of him throughout the season, is a good example of one of the players I sacrifice for the greater good of the club in order to reshape the playing squad. And I would like to try now, not just later to attract interest in him if that meant wage saving and money in the bank attracting interest. Subsequently then discussion between ourselves and West Ham has been toing and froing but without making any serious headway. We will continue to work to our goal but may pull the plug if West Ham or others do not meet our minimum accepted valuation: 

* First Year Cost: £2,000,000
* Future Costs: £1,500,000 upwards
* Percentage Of Next Sale: 15%

We feel his purported valuation of 7.5 million is absolute best case scenario for someone other clubs know is available. But we will wait a season if necessary, attempting to increase his value in the eyes of others.

Worth a mention is another reason why Drinkwater is the first victim of my business first mindsight. We have Matty James, would you believe also of Manchester Utd heritage, who plays not only in the positions Drinkwater does but has an ability to play centre and right back also. Immediately you can see why I would prefer him. Besides, looking at his attributes also reveals him to be a better tackler. One or both of them would be seeing the bench all season and so jettisoning one of them is a shrewd move. 

We also applied the same logic to Andy King (DM through AM) who despite being integral to Leicester's promotion success last season is now further down the pecking order in AM due to our recent signings. Currently without interest and valued at £5.25million and on £25,000 per week we are pro-actively searching for suitors, although I suppose we have to accept that our likely market for these previously Championship players is one and the same. Until these individuals have played some Premier League games I doubt we will drum up the sort of interest from PL clubs we would like, and that is where the money is!

Also Today
We confirmed our captain and vice for the season. I decided to leave my penchant for upheaval by the bedside this morning and left Wes Morgan and Kasper Schmeichel in their roles. Morgan is apparently a fan favourite which must filter to the dressing room too, and if Schmeichel is anything like his father then the decision is a no brainer. 
 

[forzalazio87]

I hope Adriano does well haha. He was truly one of the best back then

[BallHogging]

Reader Response

1 hour ago, forzalazio87 said:

I hope Adriano does well haha. He was truly one of the best back then

Me too.. A huge risk but just look at those attributes! Love his natural fitness of ....1. (Thanks for passing by!)

[BallHogging]

Ternana vs Leicester City -  Monday, 11th August 2014 - 8.45pm

 

And so we head to Serie B's Ternana for our final pre season game. Ternana who have a local rivalry with Perugia have been steady survivors in Serie B in recent years after being somewhat a yo-yo disaster club over the decades. So not quite Premier League quality but it's a fixture that once again tests our ability to get results away from The King Power, and it's an opportunity to garner some final pre-season positivity prior to our opening league fixture.

Today we put in the shop window some of the newly designated fringe/unwanted players, but perhaps it's also a final opportunity to perform in such a way that leads me to ask of myself the question 'am I making the right decision'. The first question though is are those players of the mindset to approach this game in that fashion? We shall see.
 

Team News
Although not comfortable there, we play Konchesky as our left centre back. Andy King who says he can play defensive mid is our Half Back or Regista despite my viewing him as a purely attack minded centre midfielder. Drinkwater plays alongside him. Schwarzer plays in goals once again. Elsewhere Trashorras gets his first performance at CM-A in place of the previous game's man of the match Sastre. Riera replaces Simao as left wing forward. Mahrez retains his place. And I start this match how I ended the last, with physicality in the AM positions. Adriano and Wood get to stake their claim and prove my musings true on the benefits of back to goal specialists for the away games. Our trialist from Atletico Madrid is on the bench and will have a good portion of the second half to impress.

Let's get to it:

Seeing Ternana's line-up pre game had me thinking our defensive soundness would be in for a test. And I couldn't be more correct. They attacked with everyone bar the central defenders. It was our sternest test yet by far. And it couldn't be more conclusive that by half time we had failed in this test. Their first goal came from a speculative snap shot from outside the area. Past Schwarzer's despairing dive the strike hit the inside of the post and bounced back toward the penalty spot where a Ternana player responded first. The second, a world class strike following a partially cleared corner hit from outside the area that flew into the top corner despite the packed box.

In the dressing room I laid into the players who seemed surprised that I cared so much about this fixture.

I considered how I could change this situation. They pressed us high up the pitch with their 3 forward players, backed up by their defensive high line. We therefore struggled to maintain possession and find passes. We were dangerous from set pieces, especially corners. We ended the half with 51% possession and 9 shots, 4 on target. Once we got through their final third barricade we could create. But driving through that barricade was the problem.

Now 0-2 down I had to make a decision as to whether we could continue with this level of chance creation and possession, hoping that time would tell whilst hoping no more worldy snapshots occurred, or indeed whether I had to make a change. Whilst I believed there was some merit in the former I decided to go with the latter, considering now to be the ideal time to test out our Plan C: Chasing A Game  formation for the first time. It looks to bypass intricate creation in the hole and go direct to Target Men sandwiched by a Shadow Striker and an Advanced Forward. We already had the personnel on the pitch to try this, so I imparted the plan to the players and told them in no uncertain terms I expected better considering this was our final game in preparation for the season ahead. At least win the second half.

But we didn't. Ternana continued to attack in exactly the same fashion, never relenting. This was something we could accept if we were making inroads ourselves, but we really weren't. If you look at the Action Zone indicator at 45 minutes and then at 90 minutes you'll see that we increased our activity in their final third from 8% to 13%. Considering the tactic employed for that second half that difference is not enough and shows something wasn't working. Also confirmed is how we attempted to bypass the creative aspect, as their ownership of the midfield see-sawed completely. They weren't necessarily in our final third any great amount more, but any foray there held more danger due to our lack of defensive numbers. 

Their third came from an overload through the middle and a sweet finish inside the area. Otherwise the ball was mainly going back and forth in the air as their defenders won battles with regularity. We had chances but lacked the quality at the right times. On another day I think we would have scored to make it look closer, and perhaps we wouldn't have had to chase the game so much playing low percentage balls.

Final Statistics

Final Ratings

Pre Season Philosophy check:

* At least a goal a game - fail 
* No more than 1 conceded per game - fail. 
* Possession over 55%, preferably 60 to 70% - 1st half fail / 2nd half not applicable

There's always something to learn from days like this, and these days are best suited to pre-season! First there are some more tweaks to the roles in our Chasing A Game formation I would like to test out, along with variations of TI's. We didn't seem to hit long balls that were actually long enough! And when we did get in behind we were offside or lacked that final product. To be honest, hopefully I won't have a need to test out chasing a game this much again!

Secondly, the plan to go with physicality in AM today didn't pay dividends as the amount of wayward passes when approaching the final third under pressure was very evident. They were the sort of passes I would expect my other line-ups to complete. 

 

A few things could have gone differently today, and perhaps a few slightly square pegs in round holes didn't help, but my overriding opinion of today is that it was absolutely not good enough, but that I feel the buck doesn't just lie with the players. One things for sure, I'm booking Ternana in for retribution next year!!
 

[Northernpilgrim]

[BallHogging]

Abdoulaye's torn hamstring

 

And just to add insult to injury this morning we learn that our new signing, the sprightly 36 year old Abdoulaye Faye has injured himself in our loss at Ternana. 

It's disappointing news because I did have plans to use Faye rather regularly despite his advancing years. His composure and technical ability would have been well used amongst our defensive charges. But we must accept his loss for now. 

Thankfully this is not a long term contract, £3800 per week for one season. It's a loss we can take. 

 

[BallHogging]

Capital One Cup Round 2

 

Whilst being no where near my priority this season, and with knockout football being rather the lottery, I would like to if at all possible perform well. Next season you may find me knocking cup football on the head in order to protect our main battle objective of attempting to compete for the league *lol*. But Capital One Cup success can lead to our being in Europe which finances permitting enables us to attract players of a finer quality. Something more akin to shopping in Marks & Spencer's for your wine as opposed to Oddbins, Bargain Booze, Quality Save, B&M's or the like. You catch my drift.

And so, although ridiculously early days, we are cautiously pleased with our round 2 draw of Championship side, Wolverhampton Wanderers, who secured promotion last season.

 

 

[BallHogging]

Pre Season Objectives Revisited

 

It's time to take a moment to consider how we performed over pre-season in relation to our objectives. 

At the outset I wanted the following:

* 4 wins out of 5
* I want to concede no more than 7 goals worse case scenario. 
* I would like to score at least a goal a game
* Have the players comfortable with the main formations
* All transfer ins and outs completed prior to the Villa game.

The results:

* 3 wins out of 5
* 3 goals conceded
* 2 games without scoring
* as comfortable as they're going to be at this juncture!
* primary business complete

Reaction

* We nearly matched our 4 wins out 5 requirements with one game being a 0-0 draw. It wouldn't have taken much for that to be different. 
* The 3 goals we conceded were all in 1 game. For the most part our defence was encouraging.
* I'm ok with not scoring in a 0-0 draw but not when losing 0-3. Overall we scored 4 goals in 5 games, 4 of which away fixtures. Mildly acceptable.

Final Word

Pre-season has been informative. We have encountered certain amounts of adversity and therefore made adjustments in-game, giving us experience for future occasions. I have formulated opinions on much of my squad and their capabilities. And we have shown that to some positive extent we are capable of playing in line with my preferred philosophy. Whether it is the best way to proceed as we look toward the long season ahead is another matter. The tools at my disposal and the approach of our opponents may dictate otherwise in due course.
 

[BallHogging]

Inability To Move On Unwanted Players

 

Well it looks like no one had any money left for this pre season. As the back and forth discussions between our football club and potential suitors ended with us testing out whether they would be interested in taking our more valuable players for free. Yes. That's right, without charge. The answer. "Can you not do any better?".

We will not do business with these viruses.

So unless something interesting occurs prior to the that hefty triple glazed transfer window being shut, we're going to have to find a way to incorporate those that we attempted to alienate and move on back into the team. A loan offering may be a possibility, but I will look into that as and when the time comes.

Unwanted Players List:

Name        Value        Wage        Contract Remaining
Schwarzer    £550k            £35,000pw    2 years
Konchesky   £105k            £30,000pw    1 year
Hammond   £600k            £12,500pw    1 year
King               £5.0million    £25,000pw    4 years
Albrighton   £3.5million    £35,000pw    4 years
Drinkwater  £7.5million    £25,000pw    4 years
Wood           £2.7million     £20,000pw    2 years
7 players    £19,955,000     £182,500pw = £9,490,000 yearly
 

[BallHogging]

Final Squad Registration

So the time has come for us to declare our 25 man squad for the season. Players can be added afterward up until the transfer window shuts, as long as spaces were left free at point of declaration.

Due to our inability to shift more than 1 of our players identified for sacrifice we are now left with too many players and a tough decision was to be made as to who made the cut and who goes home...for 9 months. After some interesting decisions our final registration looks like this:

REGISTERED
Goalkeepers:          Schmeichel, Varnham (U21)
Defenders:           Huth, Wasilewski, Morgan, De Laet, Simpson, Riera, Schlupp, Moore (U21)
Defensive Mids:  Cambiasso, James
Attacking Mids:   Sastre, Taylor-Fletcher, Trashorras, Valeron, Ledesma, Knockaert, Mahrez, Simao, Barmby (U21), Lawrence (U21)
Forwards:            Vardy, Kramaric, Ulloa, Adriano, 

TOTAL:     22 (9 home grown)

UNREGISTERED
Goalkeepers:       Schwarzer, Hamer, Logan
Defenders:           Faye, Konchesky, Upson (inj)
Midfielders:         King, Drinkwater, Albrighton
Forwards:            Wood     

With 3 spaces left I can re-integrate 3 players of my choosing back into the squad when I feel I am able to make a definitive decision. Until the transfer window has passed I won't make that decision as some may still attract late interest, and I may even venture out into the market again. There is nothing in the pipeline, but you never know.
 

[BallHogging]

Competition Expectations Review

As a final reminder before we embark upon our season the board remind me of my expectations:

Perhaps the board know more than I regarding our Premier League hopes but at least they leave me leeway to pleasantly surprise them as I think they'll be delighted if we finish 17th!

They expect a little more from our cup exploits however asking us to negotiate 2 rounds of both the FA and Capital One Cup. 

May the gods of the draw be kind.  
 

[EvilDave]

Judging by your signings, I'd say you're well on course to win the 2004 Premier League title! 

I'm curious to see how those tactics work out in practice - they certainly look interesting! 

[BallHogging]

Reader Response

51 minutes ago, EvilDave said:

Judging by your signings, I'd say you're well on course to win the 2004 Premier League title! 

I'm curious to see how those tactics work out in practice - they certainly look interesting! 

 Proper lol here. I skimmed over the year at first then realised. Completely. You need experience for a relegation battle they say!  Cheers for reading!

The age of our signings: 16, 26, 28, 32, 32, 33, 34, 36, 39

[BallHogging]

Opening Day Results

Just to celebrate the start of a new footballing season I'll share the opening day's results which kick start the season for some, but leave others looking to set things right in gameweek 2.

 
Liverpool will be very disappointed to hand the points to their top four rivals Manchester City in injury time. Come the end of the season this could be viewed as a six pointer

Crystal Palace will be delighted with their first performance but they too will rue the late goal.

Not a great deal to note elsewhere but we hope that come Monday evening we will be able to look forward to gameweek 2 with positivity.

[BallHogging]

Leicester City vs Aston Villa - Matchday 1

 

It's here, the opening fixture, the start of Leicester's rise, or perhaps their journey through mediocrity. The Ternana game was certainly not ideal preparation heading into this. Prior to that I was wondering whether it would be a good idea to squeeze in one more home friendly to further acclimatize the team to the tactic and get some more feel good in the system. Well we never did and now I wonder whether the extra opportunity to work with the team to fine tune aspects of our play has been missed. But, there's no time like the present and the players turn up at The King Power a few hours before kick-off looking focused, excited at the buzz around the ground after months of off-season quiet. But I can tell that they're not particularly match fit. Only two players are over 80% for match fitness and if we are not sharp and mentally alert in this game we will be punished. 
 

Aston Villa line up in that old boring formation 442. Willing to take their chances in defence and play direct to the pace of Agbonlahor and Weimann, they don't seem interested in parking the bus 451, 541 or the like. No respect is shown to the newly promoted team! As my formation for home games was created to maintain a constant probing pressure on visiting teams that play cautious, perhaps up to just one striker, Villa's lineup could cause a problem and an enforced change midgame. 

We carry on regardless despite my view that conceding just one goal can be enough to take away chances of victory. The longer a game is kept to 0-0 the more chances you have to smash and grab. Defensive strength is one of my key objectives, so ignoring Villa's counter strength could be my downfall here today.

Pre Match Lineups

The first 5 minutes of excited Leicester fans' Premier League experience was a fraught one where Villa had 75% possession and lived in our territory. It was like the first pre-season friendly where the team were rushing things, under pressure, panicking. And I just sat there watching on like someone who whips out their camera phone to youtube something when they should perhaps just grow some and do something about it! I'm not proud, no. Nonetheless, I decided to sit on by for a few more minutes and things did indeed change. Players remembered how to be calm and pick their way through. 

The battle was rather back and forth after that. It was around 60/40 in our favour on possession, but most of their forays forward did as feared come with a real danger. By 35 minutes in I decided I had to change approach, as with our lack of chance creation so far I felt that going 0-1 down could actually be terminal. So FB-A's became CD-X, and HB's became Registas who take the baton in supporting attacks. Sounds more secure.

Well 5 minutes later they score regardless. Cross weakly headed away by Wasilewski and Weimann takes it in the air like an eagle and volleys one into the top corner and apparently 'we might be seeing that goal for some time'. For once, just once...can you lay off on these goals of wonder please Mr Match Engine?

But we respond well and a minute into two of injury time at the end of the first half we snap into action. Mahrez receives the ball and attracts the attention of two Villa defenders. They force him away from goal but with a deft reverse ball he plays Ledesma into the box who should have passed to Ulloa or at least shot but didn't, was tackled, with the ball trickling out to Trashorras on the edge who graciously snapped up the opportunity and with good technique powered the ball home. The ball barely moved in the air such was the sweetness of the strike. He'd been shooting all game as it's one of his player preferred moves (PPM's), but as long as 1 in 5 has a chance of producing this, then I can allow him an air of freedom.

Half Time

I calmly tell the team that they can still come out of this with a win today and for the second half I decide to yoink off 8 million signing Ulloa who has looked a little laboured and poor in his link up play. Adriano gets his first Premier League appearance at 32 years of age. 

3 minutes into the second half Ledesma was played through by Trashorras and should have scored but it was on his right foot and it was weakly 'directed' into the near post side netting. That's two great opportunities for him now. I'm watching Emmanuel, yes I am. But I was hoping this was the way we meant to go on.

Trashorras really was orchestrating affairs and went on to create two gilt-edged opportunities for Kramaric and Mahrez showing a great passing range at the right time. Kramaric took his time in shooting and Mahrez, whose chance was even better after bursting through the offside trap from the right wing, somehow conceived to hit the ball with his right foot nearer the corner flag than the goal...under no pressure. There'll be some lashes after this game for Ledesma and Mahrez I think. We should be 3-1 up.

 

And unfortunately for us we were made to rue those missed opportunities as Aston Villa went on to punish us with intense pressing, countering with pace, and clinical finishing, taking advantage of our having to chase the game. From 1-1 and opportunities for us, the match ended 1-4. A corner where Bacuna rose above Trashorras was 1-2. A counter with the pace of Grealish down the right side and a cross to Weimann at the back post heading back across goal was 1-3. And then at 91:59 of 90+2 when we were Overloading (evident by our end formation below) Agbonlahor wrapped up the baptism of fire.

It was an exceptionally disappointing day upon which much reflection will be necessary. There's only so many times I can have myself say this but for now I will; on another day Weimann wouldn't have scored his wonder volley for 0-1, and then corner lottery goal for 1-2 wouldn't have happened. We then wouldn't have had to chase the game and by remaining patient in possession things may have been different. 

Other points: I am disappointed at the quality of finishing when we were on top of the game early in the second half. Replacing Ulloa with Adriano was justified as Adriano linked play better and had moments of promise. I hope with time that the team will mould together better. But a glaring home defeat to start the season is certainly not what we wanted, and next up......Stamford Bridge....ugggh

Full Time Stats

Final Ratings
Shots

[BallHogging]

Post Mortem, Gameweek 1! - Monday, 18th August 2014, 9.30pm

 

So we've had a bad 8 days really. You can let a pre-season defeat go from your memories quite quickly after the fact. A home trouncing from a team who should really be drawn into a relegation battle of their own at some point cannot be forgotten, especially as it was the season curtain raiser. 

I'm mainly ponderous of this point; despite the amount of possession we have at times and the chances we create we're not clinical nor lucky. I'm getting itchy feet regarding my formation with Leicester. In my previous careers I have played with teams more capable of certain styles of football. I've managed Espanyol and had good success, albeit yes with a different formation 4132, but the same philosophy overall. I've managed Tottenham & Newcastle, two capable teams with potential for top 8 finishes, both with their own formations 433 and 532/352 respectively. And I've taken the reigns at Manchester Utd playing the formations set out earlier in this thread. Now Sir Ball Hogger is indeed aware of the likely instant riposte to the last point, 'how can I expect Leicester to replicate the performance of Manchester Utd with this formation'? 

That would be a good point, and.. it is a question I ask of myself. I feel that the additions I have made to the squad here are of sufficient quality to help us produce results under the current tactic. With more experience, cohesion and perhaps a little fine tuning I feel we can make use of the possession we have and begin to obtain results and build for the future. Remember, one of my objectives for this season was to work toward consistency. I didn't expect it immediately. 
 

With all this said I have made the decision to start training the team in an alternative formation. It still relies on patience, building from the back often, and bodies upfield with sufficient support to craft moves as opposed to playing direct hit and hope. Accordingly after a meeting with my coaching team we have settled upon a training plan for the coming weeks, effective from tomorrow.

The formation shall be kept under wraps until such time that it is released upon an opponent!
 

[BallHogging]

Great Success! - Leicester Awarded Already
 

Success in the face of adversity. It seems not all is doom and gloom, although rather than individual success we would much prefer team success. However, congratulations to our new signing for making his mark on the world's greatest league on his very first performance.

 

[BallHogging]

Chelsea vs Leicester City -  Sunday, 24th August 2014, 1:30pm

 

I toyed with the idea of sending an U21 lineup to their grisly death here. There's been much talk of savagery at various times throughout this thread and my time at Leicester so why stop now. Or what about the U18's with all them 16 year olds, they'd enjoy a 'run out' against FM15's strongest Premier League team no? 

I really did see no point in playing this fixture. We could have won against Villa and I would have said the same. They've got god mode dribbler Hazard who could evade an army of ants with a little two step shuffle. They've had bricklayers build a wall on the goal line and simply hung a picture of Cech in the middle of it. They've got Fabregas who despite being your standard Spaniard of about 3' 2" and 23lbs manages to out jump any giant at corners to dispatch a cross with a forehead of thor. Simply put, this morning I'd rather tell the boys to stay in bed and console themselves with the wonders of their wags.

But unfortunately I wasn't that brave. I sent our seniors to their death. There won't be much to talk about here...I'll see you next week.............

As you can see I decided to register Drinkwater and Scharzer in the squad. No matter what team or tactic I put out here, we lose, simple. So I thought it would be a good idea to at least have Match Of The Day pundits do some marketing for our marked men by talking about their performances under adversity. Here's to hoping for some bids in the coming days.
 

Well do you know what.. we performed well, if you consider performing well as going to battle and coming back with one leg and a finger. 

They battled valiantly out there...we maimed Hazard after 19 minutes the scaly *******. Champagne for the aggressor tonight. We also managed to muster 7 shots and 45% possession. Magnificent. 

Listen, I've had enough, you've had enough....here's some screenshots. On to the next one! Don't tell no one about what we're trying to achieve here ok?

Final Stats

Final Ratings

Average Positions

 

[Cannes]

Great idea and awesome read!

Can't wait for more installments!

Best of luck with the challenge!

[BallHogging]

Reader Response

19 hours ago, Cannes said:

Great idea and awesome read!

Can't wait for more installments!

Best of luck with the challenge!

Much appreciated man. Another to share my pain with!