Fox-LMA

I'm not understanding this fascination with Challinor...

No. Likely to receive a ban. Will court controversy at a time we don't need it. Also, would he be as good at his job if it wasn't for the spying?

My theory - as boring as it is - is that ST's haven't sold out & they are keeping the rest until about Oct/Nov, where they will put them back on the market as 'Half Season Tickets'.

Pearson left first time around due to a massive falling out with Lee Hoos (the MD at the time). Mandaric backed Hoos & Pearson took the vacant Hull job. Nothing to do with King Power, who had only just begun their association with us as a shirt sponsor. Though I would imagine that they had influence over the decision to hire Sousa.

Yeah, Im with you. I think we could have tempted him if we stayed up & had an ambitious budget, which is what managerial negotiations ultimately come down to. But League One? No chance I'm afraid.

Seriously it would offer Aiyawatt the easiest win of his tenure. His sacking would have offered a real clean reset & (I imagine) go some way to winning over a fair amount of King Power skeptics. As it happens, I actually like the new boardroom structure. It has clear chain of command with each role having defined responsibilities. Which the club hasn't had since Vichai died. The problem is those responsible for the mess we are in are filling these new roles. We needed new people across the footballing structure.

Probably been said before. But I really don't think we can move on & build a positive atmosphere at the club with Rudkin here. Lets say for example: The rebuild goes well, we hire a good manager, we sign some good players who start well, the young players establish themselves, the fans are onside with it all & we are top of the league. But then we hit a bump & go five games without a win - which can happen, no matter how good the setup is - Then it will all be on again. The Rudkin Out chants start again, protests, Union FS will issue a terse statement & Jason Bourne will go back into meltdown mode... We will be back to the grind of relentless negativity that has plagued us in recent years. Rudkin still being here is a self failing prophecy. We need a clean break with the past. But our beloved chairman just cannot see it.

Next season's hire will be our most important for years when you consider the likely make-up of the squad. Leicester has become a club where players stagnate & get worse. Players leave us & improve. This has to change. We need a coaching obsessive who will be relentless on the young players on the training pitch every day. I've noticed that Monga's decision making is nowhere near where it should be, & his talent is stagnating as a result. He (& the others) require good day-to-day coaching to develop into the well rounded threats that we know they can be. Our whole outfit needs to focus on long term player improvement rather than short term goals. This is how you develop a good internal culture, which will lead to good results & promotions. I don't want a manager hired on the basis of "Oh, he will get us out of League One". This "that'll do" attitude is what has got us into this mess in the first place. So I will happily back a well sourced left-field appointment. Hopefully this is where James McCarron will come to the fore. I don't think for a second that Dirk Schreuder will come here, but his profile is certainly the right idea. Rather than some of the Championship/League One plodders that have been suggested on this thread.

Must admit, I would like to see Wasiliewski & Benalouane double mark Winks...

Look, winning at Portman Road is tough at the best of times, let alone now. We need to improve our home form drastically if we are to avoid the drop. That is what will be our potential undoing. Not the point we earn't today...

Serving some sort of a notice period i'd imagine. I don't know much about this guy. But I'm excited about the contacts he would bring. the City Football Group scouting & analytic networks are truly second to none. Full of players & coaching staff from around the world that, although most will not quite good enough for Man City, would be a benefit to a club like us. Maybe in time he could develop something similar with us & OHL. Although of course it would be on a much smaller scale. This is also an approach that as worked for us in the past. Nigel Pearson had a good relationship with Alex Ferguson which gave us access to these good young Man Utd players that - although not good enough for Man Utd - were good enough for us (Drinkwater, James, De Laet etc..).

A League 1 manager for a League 1 club...

By the look of LCFC's statement, an appeal will definitely be lodged. Also, does anybody know if this punishment is the end of the matter? i.e we've passed the PSR threshold in 24/25 & 25/26?

Allan Saint-Maximin is available. https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/saint-maximin-leaves-club-america-after-children-face-racist-attacks-2026-02-01/ Out of our reach? Was on about £75000 p/w at Club America

I would highly doubt that a practicing Silk - especially one of De Marco's calibre - would be talking to a jumped up journalist about one of his ongoing cases. In fact it may be illegal.

Oh you're right. We have no budget, a crap board, a looming points deduction & a stadium full of (rightly) furious fans... ...But he has been on the record to the British press about being a lifelong Anglophile, & wanting to coach in England. No you're right actually. Pretty sure he will get a chance with a PL side soon. We are too much of a basket case for such a candidate atm.

Adi Hütter is available. Heard we held conversations with him around the time of Cooper, might we go back in?

Great idea! Might have to pay compo though...

End of season transfer fee looking promising....

Well he's so obviously finished here he might want to get away asap & play some football this season. Speaking personally, I would be willing to take a limited financial hit if a nice opportunity arises. Like on the continent or some nice part of the US maybe.. But yeah I'm being altruistic. I'm sure Winks is the kind that knows that he's on the biggest money he will ever get in his lifetime - so will milk it for all it's worth. Even if it means being sat at home while he is theoretically in the prime of his career.

If he doesn't move on in this window, I can see him being offered some sort of settlement. His contract is up at the end of the season so they can probably get it done for a few hundred thousand.

I also can't see Maresca to Man City working out either. The same tactical setup as Guardiola but not as good. I was always weirded out by his Pep cosplaying. & if I think that, what would the Man City first team think? At least the ones who didn't work with him there, which by 2027 will be most of them.

Jorge Mendes is a genius if he pulls this off... I (still) rate Maresca as a potential world class manager. But this is the biggest job in world football by a mile & I have doubts about his temperament. Florentino Perez won't tolerate any attitude from him. At all.

I thought I heard that the club had changed the payroll date to the end of the month back in the summer? Around the time Van Nistelrooy was sacked... Maybe it was backdated for the non football staff.

Well this thread is a grim read... I for one think that Jakub is already one of the best goalkeepers in the division despite his youth & inexperience. If not the best. & has put in some excellent performances this season. A lot of the mistakes attributed to him on here were actually the result of collective defensive errors, rather than just him alone. He's a top young goalkeeper who could go onto big things. It scares me to think how high his ceiling could be. We as supporters must have the long term health of the club in mind here. Not mere retribution for errors. Yes he dropped a major clanger on Saturday. But what good will dropping him do the club? What good will it do to send him to a lower level on loan, where he will stagnate. He needs to play at this level to continue his progression. What good will it do for the club to recall a 38 year old Begovic, who has no long term future here? Next week Nelson or Page might make mistakes that will cost us. Should we drop them too & replace him with Faes & Winks? I really believe that this talented generation of younger players we have can form the nucleus of our squad for years to come & (in time) provide us some success. But we have to be patient & let them develop. It's vital to the long term health of our club that they come good for us. & they do that by playing games for us, & gaining experience in as higher profile games as our environment can offer them. Yes they will make mistakes, maybe cost us points occasionally. But it will also provide major learning points for them that will make them better players sooner. You do all of your best learning in life on the back of mistakes. Life is trial & error.