Freeman's Wharfer

Won’t play higher than League One for the vast majority of his career. A truly nothing player - not a striker, not really a winger, not a 10….

Polo would be the perfect location for anyone looking to really make a King Power Out protest register when you think about it. He’d see it but, most significantly, so would all the elite he wants to rub shoulders with at that event.

Sadly true. So much “told you they wouldn’t listen and you’re wasting your time, mate” type stuff too. People keener to be able to say “told you so” than to see anything get better or people trying to make things get better.

Why would the Trust be ‘disingenuous’ about a review of the FEF?!

Had the chance to force his agent to get him out of here and take less than he was ideally looking for with a World Cup on the horizon last summer. Should’ve had him sat in the stand staring down the very real possibility he’d have a season of zero minutes and would wave goodbye to his World Cup hopes unless he lowered his wage demands and his agent and Rudkin peddled him round Europe at a price someone thought was worth a punt. Instead, best Rudkin could achieve was a loan with an option that’s now not being exercised. Monaco must be delighted with themselves. We’ll not even get a fee. He’ll end up somewhere on loan for the final year of his contract so someone can test drive whether they want him for nothing next summer. And we’ll be paying at least 50% of his wage whilst we have the pleasure of having him still on our books.

Sigh

Made a big point of it given the BBC is staying home!

This opening ceremony shows how ridiculous it is that it’s spread across three countries. Heavy Mexican culture on show. Which would be great if the whole tournament was there and we were getting to see a glimpse of Mexican culture throughout the tournament and the different parts of it. We won’t. We’ll get to see a few games in Mexico City and that’s it. Just FIFA’s way of saying “oh yeah, they’ve had a World Cup match in that region recently” so we can get back to the Middle East ASAP post-Qatar.

The expanded tournament won’t help but do people not remember the pattern?: Qatar - people were going to be thrown in prison for drinking and anything even slightly in support of gay rights Russia - the mafia/cage fighters were going to beat up anyone with a slightly English sounding accent on the spot, no questions asked Brazil - the favelas were going to empty out and mug anyone not samba’ing along the street and the stadiums were never going to be ready on time South Africa - everyone was going to be forced to camp in game parks amongst lions and the townships were going to empty out and murder football fans This tournament’s version is everyone will be denied at the border and the stadiums will be so empty people will think Covid is back… I’ve been to the last three World Cups and I’m going again to this one. Some of the games will be rubbish and the Americans will be annoying, but it’ll all be fine!

That’s the difficult dynamic isn’t it?! Not easy to get direct to a Thai owner who is barely around and whose English proficiency came across poorly in his last spoken interview…

Seen both the Netflix and ITV programmes and he’s pretty reluctant and reserved in both. I sense that’s very much not the Vardy those who know him get to see. In both it’s pretty clear that one of the two people in that marriage is very keen on the exposure and profile… Vardy has the air of the guy that’s been forced to tag along to a couples dinner date with another couple where he’s bored as hell by the other couple but his wife is best mates with the other woman and loving it.

Unfortunately this group has lost credibility as a mechanism to be able to achieve any meaningful change, in the eyes of the wider fan base. Fair play for trying to communicate to us but the letter just reads like a group of nice people who are trying their best but ultimately not getting anywhere. They’ve had the ear of the most senior individuals in the Club (including Top, Rudkin, Whelan and Rudkin) - access that some of the supporter groups would relish - and achieved very little of note. Two years in, I can’t see how the FAB in its current form starts to deliver.

So it’s basically a sledge hammer to crack a nut then, isn’t it?! Why should many supporters be inconvenienced because a) the club won’t re-vamp the away priority system and b) there’s the old trouble maker in an away end (which happens at every club)? It doesn’t really matter what the reasons are that people are against it when there’s such a small percentage in favour of it. I’d sooner find out why people are actually for inconveniencing their fellow fans. The hilarious thing is that this is introduced as we plummet to League One. The first time round they tried it was supposedly because of Premier League guidance/advice (well it’ll be a while before that applies) and this time round it’s brought in as there really won’t be a hot black market for tickets to see Leicester away in the third tier. IMO it’s about nothing other than control and clamping down on a profile of fan the club considers undesirable.

Introducing ID checks for away tickets. Only 18.3% of 3,976 respondents in the Trust’s End of Season Survey support this approach (you could only answer the question if selecting you typically attend at least one away game each season). There’s an absolute chasm between what the club hear (or pay attention to in the Fan Engagement Framework) and what the wider fan base thinks and feels. Box. Ticking. Exercise.

I want the Johnstone’s paint trophy or whatever it’s called now. Just that and League Two left on the bingo card in English football for us so let’s go hard at it and try and get it in the cabinet for the sheer ridiculousness of having it there next to the Premier League.