Levi Port

It’s a training game being played in a training kit at the training ground

Yeah I do agree and I think he probably gets a bit too much stick, as ultimately he has been our best defender over the last 3 years. But his body language just comes across so arrogant, as if nothing is his fault and he’s above this club and frankly he’s not, he’s part of the reason we are where we are. It makes him an easy target and it’s his fault.

Living off scraps, there’s been nothing to talk about for so long

Realistically nobody knows, this club have ironed out most leaks, the press are also given nothing to work with. We try to operate in the utmost secrecy. There’s been hardly a rumour about him, and you’d think it would get out via the Jorno’s on the Wednesday side of things but no, pretty much nothing. Twitter IKS aren’t even gambling in this news. He may come, but to expect this to be a forgone conclusion and he should have signed from extremely little evidence is wrong.

We’re always after Brownhill so I’m sure we’re after him, on a free it’s a no brainer. Free transfers always manage to play the field and get higher wages than they’re worth through… Ramsey to Juve on 300k a week comes to mind

Great post and I hope this is how we play but I do think he’ll have to play a little differently here if he comes. Teams would try and play against Wednesday much more often than they will against us next season and we’ll find space won’t be given to us often. Space in behind wasn’t common for us last time, that’s why Enzo loved to bait the press. He’ll have to coach a good build up when we’re up against a block which can still be boring to watch, but that’s the same for anyone coming in. We do need to sort out our press desperately as it was the worst in the league last season and in the modern game so many goals come from high turnovers and Röhl as you say can coach that. One of the few advantages of Vardy going, is that we can play a 9 that can really put the pressure on them all game to help change that.

No I agree, the point was that it is possible based upon the rules and that’s why it’s being quoted by Tanner, The Athletic etc

I agree that it will be hard to make it stick, but it is still possible for us to receive a 12 point punishment, despite that being the reserved for administration

They won’t give us 12 for one charge, we’re potentially going to be charged on three separate charges, so accumulatively it’s been touted as 12

Brendan was by mutual consent I’m sure but we paid him full whack

Short answer, yes

If there is a steep drop off then yes that isn’t good, the figures I quoted were from February 2025 from AOT but we’ll see, they probably cited those of 2024. KP certainly have challenges as a business that are lingering from Covid, liquidity issues on top of that. But I just think the quotes and headlines from these articles, citing the end of KP Duty Free, and the company starving of Oxygen are a gross misrepresentation of the truth. On a side note absolutely peruse a life out there, I know a few people who have done so and non regret it !

Completely agree with the first point, these contracts were negotiated in 2019, Covid KP want a better deal. They’ve brought in a new CEO from AOT and they’re going after a better deal from AOT, starting from the base. ‘Removing ourselves entirely from the industry’ must be a quote that has translated from Thai poorly. You only have the change the wording to ‘those Industrys’ to gain a different picture. To suggest that ‘King Power Duty Free Company Limited’ are going to remove them selves entirely from the Duty Free industry is, and I’m sorry, simply a wild statement. That is not going to happen. I’m not trying to be a twat here, but you can’t draw that assumption as it’s not only cutting off their arm, it’s severing the head from the torso. King powers issue at the moment is its liquidity, they have had to borrow a lot from banks to cover their losses post covid. They have to pay that back, whilst also maintaining MAG, minimum annual guarantee payments to AOT, this is a challenge indeed, but something not out of the ordinary for any international business. Liquidity is an issue when profits are dropping, the article in question on this thread that I have questioned states the industry is declining. AOT actually stated earlier this year the below and it paints a different view. ‘ The CEO also mentioned the ongoing recovery of Thailand’s tourism sector. Although Chinese tourists are at 76-77% pre-pandemic levels, visitors from India, Russia, and Taiwan have helped compensate, supporting the duty-free sales recovery in line with passenger growth’ ‘Mr. Kerati affirmed that despite slight market concerns, AOT has seen a 17% year-on-year rise in revenue, driven by consistent passenger growth and MAG collections’ The Duty free market is still there, KP still have their Monopoly and that’s not changing. Yes they need to sort out their liquidity issue due to Covid loans. So they are going after an re negotiation for MAG’s at three airports. This is a perfectly reasonable approach and to be expected after the pandemic. Earlier this year they successfully negotiated with AOT for these MAG’s to be paid over a longer period of time, whilst also reducing the payment penalty for late payments, this will help their liquidity issue. The article I question paints a doomsday picture and that is my issue , the action KP are taking seems to me, reasonable. The article Forbes posted in 2023, a reputable source, paints a much more positive picture, talking of growth and expansion for KP. Tourist rates have only increased from 2023. I am only trying to make the point that this scaremongering article is a complete exaggeration of the truth, that’s is all. It sounds like I’m defending top to the hills, I’m not, the state we are in is due his and Rudkins poor decision making and negligence. But this article is blowing something out of proportion that I believe doesn’t deserve to be.

The ‘profitability’ he mentions, relates to the three regional airports, they’re losing money there. The ‘conditions’ is a renegotiation of the fee they pay for the monopoly in those three regional airports as the fee is based upon pre covid figures. They want this fee for the three airports lowered. ‘removing ourselves entirely from the industry’ relates to ending the monopoly of the three regional airports if they can not have the fee they pay lowered. These quotes are not about the entire monopoly.

All of those quotes are in relation to three regional airports, not the overall monopoly

Top is evidently out of his depth running LCFC, but these articles are akin to taking financial forecasting advice from page 3 of the Sun.

We can only speculate nobody knows why to be fair. But this planned renegotiation will not have just been decided on the spots international organisations like KP don’t just suddenly decide to renegotiate on that day, fly top back and have talks. It could be anything.

I really do think these articles have been wildly blown out of proportion, the CEO’s quotes are in relation to three regional airports… Even BBC RL didn’t pick up on this. It’s almost like they’ve not even read the article. They’re renegotiating those contracts as KP’s payments are based upon pre covid figures, they feel they’re too much. It’s a textbook article that takes a few quotes on one matter (three regional airports) and twists them to paint a doomsday picture about a far greater point ( King Powers monopoly and profitability on a international scale ) It’s entirely misleading

Exactly, we struggle to sell average players to middle clubs and it was documented as being especially hard in covid

I remember Tanner saying Covid wiped out the middle market, clubs from 6th to 20th didn’t have the cash to spend that they used to at that time. Same goes with European clubs.That was our market. Top clubs still had the finances to buy though. Doesn’t excuse our failure to buy shit and never sell.

This essentially reads that KP are going to try to renegotiate three airport contracts, the payments of which were calculated upon pre covid tourism figures. The CEO also speaks upon how they need to diversify after a drop in tourism and their need to stay ahead of the game. After covid 19, which wrecked tourism, which no company could possible foresee, these are perfectly reasonable decisions to take. If you read that article and don’t see the way the language is used to paint a doomsday picture, then fair enough, but having read both it is personally evident that somebody is trying to paint a terrible picture out of not to much. No paper is without bias, look at each one in England, the same applies in Thailand. I must emphasise that I think top has done a terrible job over the last 5 years at Leicester, but I don’t think these articles are as bad as the headline makes out at all.

Echo this, I don’t want him at all, but I’d still go to all the games and back him

I’m no fan of Top at the moment, but having read the article and read up on the history of that paper, it’s a very bias and loaded article. Most of what the jorno references is from 10 years ago. The paper has been anti monarchy and pro military intervention at times and this would explain why they are so against the monarchy favouring KP’s Monopoly (which they recently won again). KP owning us, and our previous success is at the end of the day a form of sports washing for a pro Thai image, and they will want to do all they can for KP and us to succeed. The issue looks to be one of declining tourism in Thailand rather than of KP itself, and due to this they’ll probably get away with reducing their payments for the monopoly. King Power is in a much much better situation than they were 2/3 years ago, I think this is a bit of a non article. We’re still in the shit though

Didn’t realise Everton lost to Southampton twice last year ( once in the League cup). Saints really are the softest touch, especially the last three seasons, pathetic side every time we play them. And we’ve been gutless ourselves during two of those. Makes me want Dyche even less now

This club needs to be filled with men like him again, proper football man