Freeman's Wharfer

Not sure the victim card was the right one for him to play…

It’s a masterpiece of looking like you’re doing something good whilst actually setting up something that can be used as a shield and replace having to actually engage with fans in a meaningful way. The people participating in it are being taken for fools (giving their time to this sham), the supporter groups are being controlled by it it (with everything being pushed into it and the club saying lots of things are out of scope so can’t be discussed) and the club are stringing everything out to the point that nothing gets done unless it suits them or they already wanted to do it (no record of suggestions made at the lowest level of the pyramid, minutes that read like a pat on the back for the club, everything strung out and delayed so nothing is ever relevant when released). At this point, anyone who gives it any credibility is complicit in allowing the club to ignore the real issues and avoid making changes that could genuinely make fan experience better. And they’re often doing it because the club have seduced them with access (see Your 90 Minutes sessions being held in the changing rooms at the stadium or the FCC being given some early access to information) or made them feel more important than they actually are (FAB). You have to admire the way the individual who created this has pulled it off really….

I don’t think he realises that LCFC have fan engagement reporting up into the Comms Director. Not sure how typical that is across clubs but it’s certainly not working well here.

Ability wise, he’s our best player. Can take it on the turn, punches passes into people, glides across the turf. Glad we’ve kept him but it’s just a stay of execution. Unless we are taken over by someone with deep pockets by January (we won’t be), he’ll be snapped up by someone then.

The problem with signing the likes of this guy and going “he’s already showed he can be competent in The Championship” is that they might have, but they’ve already hit their ceiling. Same with Cullen. I’d much rather us go for players that have already shown they’re competent at the level below, but they’re young and can grow upwards with us and might hit a ceiling much higher than “competent at Championship level”. It’s all just another symptom of short-termism at the club, however. Martin doesn’t care if a player could be a top Championship player in four years’ time. He cares if a player can “do a job” for the next six months. But if you go up with a squad of players that were bought just to get you out of league one, you’ll have to spend a load of extra money to kick on again later down the line.

Good move for him to a relatively stable environment without too much pressure on around must go up or must stay up. Will also have to live away from home for the first time ever. That will be as much a learning curve for him as anything on the pitch. I think he’ll do well without pulling up any trees. Exactly what you’d expect from a very young lad with a lot of talent going into a men’s side.

There’s a myth that positivity will somehow fix all of the problems. As if we didn’t already try that years ago when we were sliding and kept sliding even further. It’s past the point of that now unfortunately.

This lad’s our best player now. Really hope we can keep him.

Big Leicester away ends rarely deliver. The only one that has in the last 10 years was Preston away. Outside of that it’s been small allocations like Randers and Bruges.

Turns out signing someone on the strength of being a mate of another guy you signed might not be the best policy.

I hope a decent number come along to this and, in particular, hear the address at 2pm. There have been lots of questions and criticisms of the way the Trust communicates without people always understanding how much work goes in and just how difficult the club can be to work with. Come and hear about it and share your thoughts!

Hope there’s a good few who stop by at this. Could be a big few months ahead for the Trust and I think it’s important for LCFC fans to hear about the realities of what it’s like trying to work with the club and to share what they want to see from the Trust.

The Foxes Trust didn’t take a position on the ownership for a long time. In fact the only thing the Trust as an organisation really did was to say “this protest is happening if people were interested in joining” but that was only after surveying the membership to see where they were at on the issue (they supported change). The calls to action from the end of season survey are based on what the 4,000+ Leicester City fans - not Foxes Trust members only - said in the survey. And the statement today has only come because both the member survey and wider end of season survey showed support for a change in ownership and because the Trust sees up close and personal how things are working within the club. If you were to throw any criticism at the Trust it would actually be that, despite a couple of surveys showing support for a change of ownership, it’s sat on the sidelines and not really got involved on the ownership issue until very recently. The Trust calling out the poor management and operation of the club, however, has often been swatted away (in the face of all reason) as “you’re only saying that because you’re King Power out” by those who will staunchly support the ownership no matter what because they think it makes them a better fan.

The clue’s in my username It’s always irked me that the club didn’t have a name for the stadium and then the sponsor on top. For example Middlesbrough had ‘The BT Cell Net Riverside” and even though they got the sponsorship money for naming rights everyone knew that the stadium was called The Riverside. It should have been The Freeman’s Wharf Walkers Stadium, The Freeman’s Wharf King Power Stadium etc.

The positive thing in that is that they’re selling the lot (Leuven too etc). Puts to bed any talk of them looking for minority investors etc. King Power are scarpering and want as much as they can on their way. Get them gone!

Alves has to start the first 10-15 games of the season if fit. What’s the point in bringing in an ageing winger like Burns or someone else’s kid in Watson only to block the development of your own homegrown asset when the club has sunk to the level at which we used to loan these kids out to for experience?

I think you are right unfortunately. That said, a club good at shifting players they don’t want would have had them out of the door this summer. Choudhury should have been left at home with the kids and told he could either find another club or sit his final year out when he has precious little time in his career left. A Championship club would have taken him at knockdown price if he was being touted about by his agent. Instead, we take them abroad, give them minutes, include them in all of the photos and interviews for pre-season. And they think “you know what, it’s not so bad here for one more year”.

Lines of thinking like this are interesting. Last heard when we went up under Maresca and the trophy parade was on. People wanted their young kids to have something to celebrate in the same way they had with proper achievements in the past. But unfortunately if we bring our youth up to think that winning the EFL trophy or getting out of The Championship with a squad full of internationals is something to really cheer/shout about then they’ll grow up with the ‘little old Leicester’ mindset. I’d much rather they were taught from early on that the club could and should be so much more than it is right now. The day we win a proper trophy again (which we will - just might take a few decades), it’ll mean so much more. I want us to win it, for the hilarity of being just League Two away from completing the domestic set, but if we do I’ll clap politely as the trophy is lifted and then turn on my heels and walk out of Wembley without further fanfare.

Can’t get fully onboard with the feeling of a fresh start until this guy, Faes, Thomas and Choudhury are gone. Unfortunately I think it’s more likely that they form 4 of the starting 11 at Notts County for the first league fixture than them going.

Already feeling in advance for KPFC types. Imagine you’ve just been brainwashed by King Power for a decade and then you get sportswashed by dodgy Middle Eastern owner. They’ll not know which way is up (that’s if they do already).

Humbling for Thomas, that. Club’s been relegated to League One and a kid from Man City is brought in to play in front of him. And rightly so after last season. I believe there’s more than enough ability there (even with all of his flaws) to be perfectly adequate in League One. But I don’t want him anywhere near the team because he’s just as culpable as the links of Faes and Winks for the rotten culture around the place. As a Leicester lad (and supposed fan), he should have been head and shoulders above the rest in showing that he cared and was trying to do something about the disaster unfolding - he withered instead. So I hope this kid makes the position his own and thrives.

Yes, I joined the board as part of the Foxes Trust Reform campaign. We’ll be discussing at our board meeting next week where we go next. We’d asked for progress on a couple of things in particular by the end of July off the back of the End of Season Survey so the next board meeting is an opportunity to see where we’re at. Having been on the inside of the Trust, I have to say it’s a tough one: for every person like you that wants us to be hard line, we’ll get another message in to say the Trust is being too radical. The approach we have to take as a board might not always be what we’d personally want (that’s the nature of being part of a board with different views, opinions and personalities) but if there’s a clear mandate to do something then we try our best to do so. As we’re seeing, it takes time for people to reach the point of wanting change but, whatever our personal views are as board members, we do ultimately have to be led by what our membership want and tell us they want.

“There was real honesty and accountability” about the the mistakes that had been made and lessons learned. I hope the interviewer asked WHAT they were. Because, if not, it’s just fluff and blunder. After back to back relegations, there should be no issues with the club making public what lessons have been learned and where they acknowledge they got it wrong.

Nope. I’m just calling out nonsense where I see it. The club’s a mess and we see news like the interest being paid on those loans yesterday and still people want to be sympathetic towards, or defend, the owners. It’s high time these views are called out, challenged and addressed.

I’m sorry but there are a couple of other KPFC sympathiser bingo card examples here: 1) doesn’t have the business flair of his father 2) spread himself too thin looking after other parts of the King Power business Add to “he’s naive and he’s been poorly advised” and you only need “this never would have happened without Covid which was completely unforeseen”, “he’s still grieving the tragic loss of his father” and “he was there for the success so must have had an impact on that” for a full house! I personally struggle to credit any business owner who has been handed their empire with business acumen. It’s a bit like saying Prince Harry is a natural networker or a philanthropist - these opportunities have been granted and not earned. Top is not spread too thin running other things unless you count bouncing around on a pony playing polo as a King Power job. He’s been moved aside in King Power because he’s shown himself to be the same in other roles as he has this one with the club: incompetent. Finally, he’s sort of done an in between of the two scenarios you describe and the bit in bold. He’s stayed away (leaving the likes of Rudkin to run things for him - albeit without absolute decision making authority) and now put the club quietly up for sale but only because he literally has no other option (he’s not doing this because he’s had some great light bulb moment that he’s not capable). However, despite staying away, he’s still maintained a huge amount of final sign off on even some of the smallest things. So it’s the worst case scenario: delegation without empowerment. And the fact the final say rests with the person least competent in having it, has been a recipe for disaster.