Sean St. Ledger

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

but doesnt the fact that we have limited cb options make him a key player? always plays when available so i think that makes him a key player. rarely lets us down and has popped up with at least 3 important goals

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Good point well made.

I think the media and many fans are over reacting after the Euros.
We are not a bad team, we lost to the 2 finalists, yes we didn't perform to our normal levels but the teams we played never allowed us to.

As for the many players being touted to come in well are they any better than what we have? I doubt it!

The grass isnt always greener, (no Paul Green jokes please!)as we all know.

I honestly believe we have a strong enough squad to be challenging for the runners up spot in our WC qualifying group.

Realistically Germany should win it with us, Sweden and Austria pushing for runners up.

If we could nick a point off the Germans them who knows.

In Trapp I trust and do should you.

Why is Austria pushing for second place realistic? They have a young talented team but they have been nowhere close to qualifying for years and even slipped down a pot in this year's draw. We showed with Armenia we are capable of taking 6 points from sides like that, and I would expect us to do so again.

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

but doesnt the fact that we have limited cb options make him a key player? always plays when available so i think that makes him a key player. rarely lets us down and has popped up with at least 3 important goals

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Set plays are important to us and we regularly use our defenders as the focal point for these set plays. The goals the doc has scored for us are all very similar, scored at the back post. Another example of this is Stephen Ward. If you look at the two goals Stephen Ward has scored for us they are basically identical. The point is that is you replace the doc in the team with say Darren O'Dea it would be Darren O'Dea popping up at the back post to score those goals.

Yes we don't have many options at CB but there's a couple of players coming through and hopefully Dunne will stick around for a while more.

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Originally Posted by ifk101

Set plays are important to us and we regularly use our defenders as the focal point for these set plays. The goals the doc has scored for us are all very similar, scored at the back post. Another example of this is Stephen Ward. If you look at the two goals Stephen Ward has scored for us they are basically identical. The point is that is you replace the doc in the team with say Darren O'Dea it would be Darren O'Dea popping up at the back post to score those goals.

Yes we don't have many options at CB but there's a couple of players coming through and hopefully Dunne will stick around for a while more.

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i only added on the 3 goals as an add-on. my main point is that he is a regular for us and therefore one of our key players. his standrad or otherwise is a separate issue

I actually have every confidence in St. Ledger and think he can play at a higher level than Leicester. At the Croatia game I was impressed by how he won his early battles, whereas Dunne lost his.

Just for what it's worth I think Sledge's goals would not be simply replaced by someone like O'Dea. I think he has a good instinct in attacking areas, like John Terry has. Some CBs have it, some don't - and I'd tend to include Dunne in the latter despite his Bulgaria and Armenia goals. Maybe my opinion is tainted by that very late chance he missed in Stuttgart in 2006, but I think Dunne has a fair few similar misses at club level too. The only classic CB type goal I can recall from O'Dea was against rangers in a Scottish League Cup Final. Moran and McGrath were good at scoring important goals from CB too.

He's scored more important goals for us than Keith Andrews.

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Originally Posted by the doc

Good point well made.

I think the media and many fans are over reacting after the Euros.
We are not a bad team, we lost to the 2 finalists, yes we didn't perform to our normal levels but the teams we played never allowed us to.

As for the many players being touted to come in well are they any better than what we have? I doubt it!

The grass isnt always greener, (no Paul Green jokes please!)as we all know.

I honestly believe we have a strong enough squad to be challenging for the runners up spot in our WC qualifying group.

Realistically Germany should win it with us, Sweden and Austria pushing for runners up.

If we could nick a point off the Germans them who knows.

In Trapp I trust and do should you.

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The teams we played never allowed us to. Thats the whole point. We were absoloutley outclassed. By playing in that system and surrendering possesion so easily we will continue to be completly overun any time we meet a good technical side. Even not so good technical sides like Armenia and Macedonia gave us the run around for spells.

Whats the point in sticking with a flawed system when we could try and better ourselves and yes there are quite clearly better technical players available then what has been picked in the past.

Yes obviously Germany will be strong favourites for the group and even if we keep faith with Traps system we will stand a could chance with competing with Sweden and the rest but we will once again be completly outclassed by real footballing teams so why not adapt and try and improve ourselves.

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Originally Posted by ifk101

Set plays are important to us and we regularly use our defenders as the focal point for these set plays. The goals the doc has scored for us are all very similar, scored at the back post. Another example of this is Stephen Ward. If you look at the two goals Stephen Ward has scored for us they are basically identical. The point is that is you replace the doc in the team with say Darren O'Dea it would be Darren O'Dea popping up at the back post to score those goals.

Yes we don't have many options at CB but there's a couple of players coming through and hopefully Dunne will stick around for a while more.

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Saying that another CB would of scored the Docs goals in his place is crazy. If we had of played David Connolly in evry match Keane played would he now have 50 odd goals?

That goal against croatia was very well taken, the way he muscled the defender out of the way and got around the other side of the ball as it was whipped in. Very few defenders show that sort of anticipation and desire to get on the end of a cross.

i would defo say he is one of our most important players of the last 4 years. can you name 5 players who have been better than him in the last 2 campaigns? I can't

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Originally Posted by the doc

As for the many players being touted to come in well are they any better than what we have? I doubt it!

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Serious ? I realize your spot is precious and all the eleven will want things to remain, that's the nature of the game, nobody ever wants to be dropped. Or carry the can. But are you offering that there is no role for people like, Wilson, McCarthy, Gibson, McClean and Long for example, all guys playing regularly at a high level already with their best years ahead and improvement still to come you would also expect.

No integration of the players who will most likely represent the core of the side in the future. Great stuff Doc. Insightful.

SSL went off injured after a heavy tackle tonight early reports bad knee injury.

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Originally Posted by the doc

SSL went off injured after a heavy tackle tonight early reports bad knee injury.

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Now confirmed on the LCFC official site

Our Future Captain out for 6-8 weeks!

Looks like Sledge will be getting some game time tomorrow night.
https://twitter.com/seanstledger12/s...86829200732160

St Ledger played the full game against Burton, a game Leicester lost 4-2. St Ledger gave away the free kick that lead to the opening goal. He also gave away the penalty that made it 3-1 to Burton.

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Originally Posted by ifk101

St Ledger played the full game against Burton, a game Leicester lost 4-2. St Ledger gave away the free kick that lead to the opening goal. He also gave away the penalty that made it 3-1 to Burton.

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Disaster waiting to happen in a green jersey

Some people been waiting a long time for a SSL disaster and it's yet to happen.

And at least he bothers to wear the green jersey.

It is likely St Ledger will be a squad player for his club again this season, a mid-table Championship club. If he's not getting his game at club level, he is coming into internationals lacking match sharpness. Some people dismiss this as sure he's always done it for us in the green (a gross generalisation btw). Others see it as a potential weak spot in the team.

The way Leicester have been defending so far this season, he's as likely as anyone to earn a starting place.

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Originally Posted by ifk101

It is likely St Ledger will be a squad player for his club again this season, a mid-table Championship club. If he's not getting his game at club level, he is coming into internationals lacking match sharpness. Some people dismiss this as sure he's always done it for us in the green (a gross generalisation btw). Others see it as a potential weak spot in the team.

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Don't think anybody has dismissed it. Everyone would like Irish players to be starters for their team, naturally. But people have been throwing poo at the wall re St Ledger since cap zero and it's natural people would start to roll their eyes if, after 30 fairly distinguished caps, hardly any of it has stuck.

Likewise when he does make a make a mistake, the 'I told you so' crowing should be greeted with the derision it deserves. I'm fairly sickened by the indefatigable patience of some Irish fans when it comes to waiting for a player to fail. This is considerably different, and considerably more poisonous, than spotting a 'potential weak spot in the team'.

If people simply took club form into account we'd be kicking Dunne out of the squad for good instead of begging him to come back.

Taking club form, international reputation, squad familiarity and alternatives into account, St Ledger is rightly a starter for now. Personally I think he should come under pressure from O'Shea, because I'd rather not have JOS at RB ever again.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

The way Leicester have been defending so far this season, he's as likely as anyone to earn a starting place.

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It's too early in the season to be drawing conclusion about the quality of Leicester's defending so far this season but Leicester conceded 4 goals (at home) against League Two opposition (with St Ledger in the team) and they've conceded 4 goals in their 3 league games to date (without St Ledger in the team). 4 goals in 3 league games ranks them in mid-table on the goals conceded list so far. Pretty consistent with a team expected to mid-table come the season's end and nothing extraordinarily bad or poor. With their manager saying that last night's performance wasn't good enough, and also saying players didn't take their chance to impress, it is likely he is going to make changes to his team for the next league game. As St Ledger was "at fault" for two of the Burton goals last night, his position in the team is more likely to be at risk.

Leicester were one of the favourites for promotion I thought?

With Leicester fans anyways.