Hunger and heart: What Leicester City should look for in new recruits
Until either Leicester City appoint a new manager or the necessary fire sale begins, it’s tough to know the names of specific players we should target as part of the glorious, long-awaited reset.
But what kind of players should we be going for, and why?
Charity ends here
The interview process for new signings should start with the question: “Why do you really want to be here?”
And assuming we can get straight answers, anyone who mentions the pay being better than anywhere else in the Championship and/or that Seagrave seems like a fun place to be, should be shown the door immediately.
New recruits won’t come until they know the identity of the manager, unless LCFC represents a massive upgrade to them, in which case they’ll bring their own risks.
So a new manager is imperative, but managerial candidates will have their own doubts, because they don’t know the calibre of squad they’ll have at their disposal. It’s a circle of doom-laden uncertainty, an overload of “known unknowns”, all thanks to the wonderful spectacle that was the 2022/23 Premier League season.
However I do have a few "don’ts" for our esteemed director of football. We don’t want to sign any more players who have hitherto excelled in one position, with the intention of reprogramming them to play another.
We don’t want any more players who the manager “doesn’t fancy” and we don’t want any more players who already have one eye on the state-of-the-art medical facilities at Seagrave. Crocks need not apply. Our role as a medical charity for sick and injured footballers, needs to come to an end.
Andrew Smith
Grafting hawks
It goes without saying that this sort of depends who leaves this summer, but I think the profile of player we should be targeting is fairly obvious: it’s back to a successful formula of early 20-somethings with the possibility of resale value.
I don’t mind the odd 32-year-old Tom Cairney if it makes sense contractually, but we need to make sure we’re not left in a situation like last summer again.
If last year taught us anything, it’s that hunger and heart are essential in building a successful football team.
I want players who feel like Leicester are the best place for them to be; who don’t see the Championship as an inconvenience; whose hawk-like focus is simply on grafting to get us back up.
Joe Brewin
I know what I said last summer
For this one, I’m literally going to copy and paste what I wrote last July in my site launch article - because I don’t think anything at all about our mentality has changed. If anything, it got worse. Set pieces might not have been as much of an issue, but we were still so fragile last season - physically, mentally and emotionally…
‘As Leicester supporters eagerly awaited the massive rebuild everybody appeared to agree was required, friends who support other clubs began to ask me what sort of players Leicester needed. If I was younger, I might have said an inverted full-back or a generational talent.
But, having been raised on Walsh and co, the only answer I was able to give was players with a bit of oomph. Players who will be competitive from the first whistle to the last and won’t allow a repeat of The Bergwijn Debacle or any other of last season’s humiliations. Players who will help bring back the feeling of Foxes Never Quit or Fearless.
They don’t have to be hoofers. They don’t even have to be hard as nails, as long as they don’t freak out every time we concede a corner.’
David Bevan
Cut out the mistakes
It was Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho who once said "when you repeat a mistake, it is not a mistake anymore, it's a decision". Recent mistakes from recent transfer windows must be learned from and investing in young, hungry players looking to prove themselves should be the main aim this summer.
Recent transfer windows have seen the recruitment being reactive instead of proactive but with the release of expensive wages off the books, now is the time to rebuild the squad with dynamic wingers, attacking midfielder and a striker. Assurances are also needed at the back with a centre back and defensive midfielder needed to link the play.
Decisions made this summer by the recruitment and managerial staff will be crucial in making a successful start to next season. Let's hope those decisions aren't further mistakes.
Adam Hodges
Goal getters
Teams in the Championship score their way to the Premier League. Quite a grand statement and a statistical analysis is maybe for another time, but that's how I remember it and I'm sure things haven't changed. Of course we need to be sound defensively but I don't feel that's as vital in the Championship. You simply don't get punished as often for poor defending, like we realised the hard way at the higher level.
Therefore we need to decide quickly who remains in the striker positions, which may well end up being just Jamie Vardy. We'll then need probably two younger strikers to share the load with him as there's no way he'll play 46 games, and some youthful creativity in wide areas. Please, please, please, recruitment team: let one of the strikers be a tall but mobile one, which we've long been crying out for.
Generally speaking a youthful approach to recruitment is probably the way to go, sprinkled with a little bit of experience. I like the thought of Tom Cairney to add some guile to the midfield and if we could get Conor Coady for the defence, we'd probably then be just the forward areas short of a decent looking team.
Iain Wright
