Who is responsible for Recruitment (7 Viewers)

[Legia Sky Blue]

The way he has started this season I wish we had taken a punt on Lankshear. Given Simms great goal at Boro last season they might have been tempted to go for him instead, but hey ho that ship has sailed now!

 

[biggymania]

In fairness, you can't dismiss questions on the recruitment just because the players aren't playing. The fact that they are not, because they are unfit or unfavoured, is not a great advertisement as it stands.

It's still too early either way. For me, the disjointed outgoings, and the fact we've ditched the preferred system after two games, makes me question the logic. We have still signed some good players, but I suspect we were caught napping in champagne upon promotion.

It's going to be a 'can we be better than the sum of our parts' if we want to stay up. That requires some cohesion and graft, as well as a seige mentality. We haven't seen that yet.

I don't think Doug is dumb enough to be "caught napping". I think if anything he has probably been very aggressive, rigid and constrained and wants to make his money back either way - that necessitates spending a lot of money on prospects and not so much on proven talent. He'll have been all over Dean & Frank making that very clear how he wants to do business. It's on Dean & Frank to work within those constraints. He's the CEO and he is signing their paychecks (and promotions/extensions) and those are his terms.

The outgoings were definitely an issue, but I think again most of that is because the incomings were a struggle - most likely due to Doug's very clear constraints on fees and wages. That had a knock-on effect and resulted in us allegedly shopping BTA and Simms out to champ teams and then having to de-register Bidwell just to make space for Ghobo (my interpretation).

It's also worth considering that Frank, despite his stints at other clubs he's never gone through promotion and if anyone has been caught in anything it might be him in the euphoria of last season. It may be he hasn't pushed back on Doug enough because perhaps he believed - and maybe still believes - that many of the squad can step up. Doug can be forgiven for being naive on the footballing side, but Frank / Dean, less so.

It's all still too early to judge, but it has definitely been a bad and very confusing start.

 

[Paul Anthony]

Exactly why we are in the current mess. What other “business” would be 100% owned and operated by one person who knows little about it?

I don't think it's necessarily something unique to us, though. While I don't know for a fact, I'd be willing to believe a lot of people who actually bankroll football clubs don't necessarily know the game inside and out, they're advised and act based on whatever that advice is.

 

[long way home]

Dean Austin is hired to recommend players, FL is hired to coach the players and will have a big say and be involved in talks. Doug is the one that negotiates and signs off on the deals.

If anyone thinks Doug has the hours in a day to scout, coach and negotiate you are a idiot. He hires people to do a job can he get it wrong yes, has he time will tell.

 

[Esoterica]

I have always assumed the manager has the ultimate say over transfers in and out but ive seen some suggest thats not how clubs generally operate which if true makes no sense to me at all .

Our recruitment has been catastrophic. Not one new signing was significantly better than what we already had. In 4 years Yirenka Amenda Tchoumna Cherif may well be upgrades on what we already had but thats not much fucking good to us now is it. Whoever signed off on these transfers needs sacking as not one player was Premier League ready. The players who came from PL clubs were deemed not good enough and they were at middle of the table clubs, not top clubs, im referring to Awoini Pinnock (in what world is he now any better than Kitching) Onyeka and Rushworth. 26 million for Rushworth was criminal.

The other absolutely mental thing is the players were brought in with a view to the system being 4-2-3-1 but then we go to a back 5 v Brighton and stick a half fit Central attacking midfielder in Rudoni on the right hand side when we have two wingers sat on the bench one of whom cost 20m.

If people cannot see the absolute dire position the club is in they really are too starstruck by Kings sales pitches and Lampards celebrity status. If the idea was to make a quick profit on the new signings ,i.e the Cov Way, then King needs to give his quiff a wobble as if we beat Derbys record, which looks likely even at this early stage, none of the new signings will increase in value. This season has the makings of a total disaster and i can see us ending up like Huddersfield and Blackpool from a few years back who had a brief stint in the PL but now are languishing in L1. Luton another example.

But if we get relegated, take the parachute payments, sell the majority of the current PL squad for a profit, reinvest in a squad with pace and power beyond championship levels of investment? We haven’t signed Ross Barkley.

 

[SBAndy]

But if we get relegated, take the parachute payments, sell the majority of the current PL squad for a profit, reinvest in a squad with pace and power beyond championship levels of investment? We haven’t signed Ross Barkley.

This is my rationale tbh, it’s a hedge that we’ll go down and can plug the loss of TV revenue with player sales revenue.

 

[Esoterica]

This is my rationale tbh, it’s a hedge that we’ll go down and can plug the loss of TV revenue with player sales revenue.

I mean we need to be putting up a helluva better fight than we are. Lampard is starting to look like he doesn’t have the balls to make the big decisions needed to even give us a chance of survival. But people were talk about Chelsea buying Yirenkyi for 60+ million a week ago and complaining we still have 8/11 players who cantered to the league title

 

[snowy97]

CWR reported the row on the balcony between Doug King and Dean Austin (which I also witnessed) yesterday and this evening, mentioning pointed fingers. It was about 45 mins in for those with BBC Sounds

As u witnessed this, how animated was it. I have some sympathy for King as its blatantly obvious these signings are not worth what we paid for them and he must he absolutely livid. Yirenki in particular looks atrocious. Talented no dount but nowwhere near PL level and definitely not worth 25 millionor whatever it was in that region. Tchoumna another one and Cherif doesnt really inspire confidence albeit he has limited game time.

While many say it takes time for new signings to bed in, many of our best players from back in the day were outstanding from game 1. The worry here is literally every single one looks like a championship player and id think King may have been making that point perhaps.

 

[snowy97]

This is my rationale tbh, it’s a hedge that we’ll go down and can plug the loss of TV revenue with player sales revenue.

If we get relegated on say 15 points not one player we brought in will be worth anywherw near what we paid.

 

[snowy97]

I mean we need to be putting up a helluva better fight than we are. Lampard is starting to look like he doesn’t have the balls to make the big decisions needed to even give us a chance of survival. But people were talk about Chelsea buying Yirenkyi for 60+ million a week ago and complaining we still have 8/11 players who cantered to the league title

Yirenkyi for the money has been shocking. He cannot do some basics such as hold his position. He runs around like a lunatic then loses the ball. Anyone thinking he shpikd replace Grimes is deluded. Yirenkyi hasnt the discipline to play that role.

 

[snowy97]

But if we get relegated, take the parachute payments, sell the majority of the current PL squad for a profit, reinvest in a squad with pace and power beyond championship levels of investment? We haven’t signed Ross Barkley.

How woukd we sell a load of players for a profit if relegated putting in oerfomancws like we have so far? Who woukd pay 20m for Tchounma? Who pays 17m for Amenda?

 

[Ccfcisparks]

How woukd we sell a load of players for a profit if relegated putting in oerfomancws like we have so far? Who woukd pay 20m for Tchounma? Who pays 17m for Amenda?

We paid £12m for Tchaouna from relegated Burnley

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

Get Hamer in, he has at least played at the highest level

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Get Hamer in, he has at least played at the highest level

Brilliant

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

Brilliant

Who would you suggest is given game time in midfield apart from Grimes, Yerinki and Onyeka

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Who would you suggest is given game time in midfield apart from Grimes, Yerinki and Onyeka

Yerinkyi and Onyeka.

 

[ajsccfc]

As shit as we've been, it does seem pretty premature to be writing any of the new signings off in September.

 

[TomRad85]

As shit as we've been, it does seem pretty premature to be writing any of the new signings off in September.

Well yeh especially as Lampard won't fucking play them.

 

[snowy97]

We paid £12m for Tchaouna from relegated Burnley

What? Im sure it was reported around 20m? At the moment 12m looks too much.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

What? Im sure it was reported around 20m? At the moment 12m looks too much.

£20m is when all bonuses are hit.

I think hes looked alright and not sure why he isnt starting

 

[TomRad85]

£20m is when all bonuses are hit.

I think hes looked alright and not sure why he isnt starting

I have a feeling it may be Boosh haha

 

[Earlsdon-Loyal-Blue]

As u witnessed this, how animated was it. I have some sympathy for King as its blatantly obvious these signings are not worth what we paid for them and he must he absolutely livid. Yirenki in particular looks atrocious. Talented no dount but nowwhere near PL level and definitely not worth 25 millionor whatever it was in that region. Tchoumna another one and Cherif doesnt really inspire confidence albeit he has limited game time.

While many say it takes time for new signings to bed in, many of our best players from back in the day were outstanding from game 1. The worry here is literally every single one looks like a championship player and id think King may have been making that point perhaps.

I couldn’t hear the argument word for word but Doug King was for sure venting and using the F word pointing across the pitch - Dean was very much on the receiving end and saying little in response

 

[TomRad85]

You all did this with the players when Robins was shitting the bed and it turned out, well, Robins was just shitting the bed. Lampard is heavily responsible for what's going on right now and needs to find a way to correct it, preferably by dropping untouchables that aren't up to it.

 

[SHUNT31]

I couldn’t hear the argument word for word but Doug King was for sure venting and using the F word pointing across the pitch - Dean was very much on the receiving end and saying little in response

I find this absolutely mental. Don’t see how it’s helpful for anyone either, does not look good. DK well within his rights to be pissed off but publicly venting at your DoF is not a good look imo.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

All of King, Austin, Johnson and Lampard are responsible to varying degrees, but it's difficult to know exactly to what extent as each club will set up differently. For example abroad it's very common for a head coach to have pretty much no say in which players are bought, which is the decision of the chairman and those players are foisted on the coach and told to do something with them.

I think the recruitment team of Austin and Johnson are in the middle with constraints put on them by King in terms of fees, wages etc. while Frank sets out out what kind of players he wants and in what positions.

Going by the profile of our signings (especially the most expensive ones) I would hazard a guess that King has the most say, as we've bought young inexperienced players that we think can be developed and sold for a decent profit, while their current fees and wages aren't as high. I just can't see Lampard asking for the kinds of players we've bought, even though there has been noises that he personally requested certain players. I just feel these are players he may have 'ok'd' but not necessarily who he would personally have wanted.

What is getting me the most is we've got 7 CM's and I don't think a single one of them could be described as even average at PL level at this point. Given Lampard's experience at PL level as a midfielder, surely he must have known that Grimes was not going to cut it, yet he seems adamant to use him as the lynchpin of our midfield. Also Rudoni. Sure he's not a bad player, but he plays in Lampard's old position so Lampard should know he's nowhere near his standard. He might well still develop but he's not near the level yet.

 

[robbiekeane]

I have always assumed the manager has the ultimate say over transfers in and out but ive seen some suggest thats not how clubs generally operate which if true makes no sense to me at all .

Our recruitment has been catastrophic. Not one new signing was significantly better than what we already had. In 4 years Yirenka Amenda Tchoumna Cherif may well be upgrades on what we already had but thats not much fucking good to us now is it. Whoever signed off on these transfers needs sacking as not one player was Premier League ready. The players who came from PL clubs were deemed not good enough and they were at middle of the table clubs, not top clubs, im referring to Awoini Pinnock (in what world is he now any better than Kitching) Onyeka and Rushworth. 26 million for Rushworth was criminal.

The other absolutely mental thing is the players were brought in with a view to the system being 4-2-3-1 but then we go to a back 5 v Brighton and stick a half fit Central attacking midfielder in Rudoni on the right hand side when we have two wingers sat on the bench one of whom cost 20m.

If people cannot see the absolute dire position the club is in they really are too starstruck by Kings sales pitches and Lampards celebrity status. If the idea was to make a quick profit on the new signings ,i.e the Cov Way, then King needs to give his quiff a wobble as if we beat Derbys record, which looks likely even at this early stage, none of the new signings will increase in value. This season has the makings of a total disaster and i can see us ending up like Huddersfield and Blackpool from a few years back who had a brief stint in the PL but now are languishing in L1. Luton another example.

cant wait to come back to posts with this kind of waffle in about 7 months. Embarrassing

 

[Earlsdon-Loyal-Blue]

I find this absolutely mental. Don’t see how it’s helpful for anyone either, does not look good. DK well within his rights to be pissed off but publicly venting at your DoF is not a good look imo.

No it wasn’t. King was seething and clearly pointing out what the fuck is this mess on the pitch… which then drew the attention of CWR crew. A member of security staff was on close hand but probably didn’t intervene as he knew who they both were - rather than drunk punters.

It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s announced Dean Austin has left the club in the international break. From Doug’s reaction yesterday, I don’t think he will be able to accept much more of what he’s seeing.

 

[Liquid Gold]

I think Lampard needs to trust in the new boys a bit more. The plan is probably to get them used to the system in training and Frank obviously sees the quality they have (or don’t) at Ryton. There is no substitute for actual experience on the pitch in a game though, especially for young players.

Onyeka is our PL experienced head and Yirenkyi is a young lad with sky high potential. They need to be our starting two most weeks.

We also need to play the system that works for us and that’s the 4231. I get being cautious away at Man City but home to Brighton is where you need to try and take the game to them, it’s not as if the defensive formation kept the score sheet down.

I do think we’re overly down on a couple of players though. Rudi I think absolutely has premier league potential. Just not in this stupid system out of position. He need to stay within the width of the penalty box when we have the ball.

 

[Liquid Gold]

No it wasn’t. King was seething and clearly pointing out what the fuck is this mess on the pitch… which then drew the attention of CWR crew. A member of security staff was on close hand but probably didn’t intervene as he knew who they both were - rather than drunk punters.

It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s announced Dean Austin has left the club in the international break. From Doug’s reaction yesterday, I don’t think he will be able to accept much more of what he’s seeing.

It wasn’t the new lads putting in that shit show though.

Unless they are fucking awful in training and King is saying something along the lines of “you didn’t present to me anywhere near enough decent players that can get in the team”

If that’s the case then we really are fucked.

 

[Terry Gibson's perm]

We haven’t used the loan market and we didn’t get rid of enough unwanted players which may have helped bring more quality in.

 

[Captain Dart]

It's a work in progress. I just hope it begins to work soon.

 

[Earlsdon-Loyal-Blue]

It wasn’t the new lads putting in that shit show though.

Unless they are fucking awful in training and King is saying something along the lines of “you didn’t present to me anywhere near enough decent players that can get in the team”

If that’s the case then we really are fucked.

The fact that King was pointing at various areas of the pitch (and not in one area) suggested he thought there were multiple issues across the pitch.

 

[Flying Fokker]

What? Im sure it was reported around 20m? At the moment 12m looks too much.

Aren’t there other forums available to you? Or at least visit Leicester City forums just to buoy their supporters up.

 

[clint van damme]

You all did this with the players when Robins was shitting the bed and it turned out, well, Robins was just shitting the bed. Lampard is heavily responsible for what's going on right now and needs to find a way to correct it, preferably by dropping untouchables that aren't up to it.

To play devils advocate a bit, there is one slight difference, Robins had got a tune out of those same players before going on the run that got him sacked.
None of our current squad have previous for performing well in the top flight.

 

[petch86]

As u witnessed this, how animated was it. I have some sympathy for King as its blatantly obvious these signings are not worth what we paid for them and he must he absolutely livid. Yirenki in particular looks atrocious. Talented no dount but nowwhere near PL level and definitely not worth 25 millionor whatever it was in that region. Tchoumna another one and Cherif doesnt really inspire confidence albeit he has limited game time.

While many say it takes time for new signings to bed in, many of our best players from back in the day were outstanding from game 1. The worry here is literally every single one looks like a championship player and id think King may have been making that point perhaps.

Hasn't taken Ipswich players long to bed in. But they got their main spine sorted a lot earlier than ours. Our recruitment team took to long and it's showing. Albeit the fixtures have completely killed us. Don't get people saying oh we've played arsenal and man city away already. We're on zero points. And the pressure will just increase