Ric Flair Live & Direct on BSLB Podcast

[Mickyblueeyes]

So Guy, what does best in the business Rudkin do well ?

 

He recruits well, look at the guys around him, great recruiter. 
 

thanks Guy, so who do we hold to account for this mess if not Rudkin.

 

Well you’ve got to look at the influence of the people and departments around him not doing his job.

 

Brilliant Guy, 

[sdb]

18 hours ago, Iwebema said:

This got me aswell, I'd have to go back and re listen, but I don't really want to haha.... I could of sworn he said Rudkin employs great people around him, like its his super power and then when questioned about the disaster he then blamed departments that Rudkin would of had a hand in recruiting. Very bizarre. 

 

Anyway I'm glad most people saw it as I did and cut right through the nonsense, my face was constantly bemused throughout most of it, not just because he held the opposite view, which is important to listen to, but he couldn't back it up with anything other than things used to be good and essentially said we should just ignore the long list of transgressions.

 

If there's one bit of potentially valuable insight from it, we can be pretty confident that is the view the current board hold and are still likely holding... sat in meetings together baffled at why people don't like them.

Yes, I get the impression that the club is one b8g echo chamber. A recipie for disaster, which I fear is far from finished. 

[RoboFox]

He seemed to allude to an individual that "we all know" (not Rudkin) who isn't interested in the academy.

 

Who's he talking about here? Aiyawatt?

[Foxy-Lady]

On 14/04/2025 at 16:16, CosbehFox said:

Too much skin in the game. Rudkin’s worked a superb role in keeping a circle of people around him that he’s put into good positions. There is a whole set of youth coaches which will defend him to the tilt and he’s happy to give ex Academy players a start in coaching to keep the good faith coming (seeing Beaglehole with Adi Yussef at Seagrave last week just very evident of that). 
 

The opinion of Rudkin is know to be toilet by some outside of LCFC circles and it gave an insight into the delusion which exists around the place. 

absolutely 100% spot on..!!!!

 

So many of the academy coaches and staff retained their positions simply because of their gratitude and blind loyalty to JR because he wanted people "behind" him he could trust.

Insecure people do NOT employ people who they fear may over-shadow them....and that's why the poor ones that remain speak so highly of Rudkin

 

i witnessed a succession of great youth coaches at LCFC who worked at U9-U16 level, many of whom do NOT speak well of Rudkin....but i never saw a single good one between U16 to U23 as they were the prime jobs reserved for Rudkins mates (ie beaglehole, Peake. Petty, Goodwin, Tucker etc...!)

 

Guy Branston also coached my nephew for a while and he was very popular with the kids and the parents....but he is another who is simply indebted to Rudkin for his start in football and cannot afford to speak out of line in view of his new career as an agent. My nephews agent at that time was highly respected in Football and he thought Rudkin was a complete w**ker.....but he would never of course say so publicly as it could have been potentially detremental to any future contract/transfer dealings.

 

And one final question i would have put to Guy Branston if he thinks Rudkin is such a great DoF and the supporters have no clue about how good he is.....

 

"If the difference between the EPL and The Championship is as big as you say it is (which i agree it probably is!), then How the F**K  did we manage to get relegated in 2022/23 ahead of the newly promoted teams (Fulham, Bournemouth & Forest) when we were an established PL club and they were trying to bridge such a massive gap...???"

 

if the gap is as big as he thinks and that's his excuse for us struggling this season, then how come none of those three clubs promoted in 2022/23 have been relegated yet our outstanding DoF has overseen 2 relegations in 3 seasons?

 

 

[CL Fox]

Rudkin got rid of anyone who was a threat to him over time. You only survive if youre nice to him.

[Bourbon Fox]

How this bloke does media I don't know. 

Oh wait, he does it for Plymouth. Relegation form.

 

Edited 15 April by Bourbon Fox

[DezFox]

Great pod as always and like to hear someone else’s opinion even if I don’t agree with it.

 

I found Guy quite strange in that I don’t think her really answered the questions and provide relevant rationale to back them up. Almost felt like he was trying to do the current board a favour and give them some good optics.  I’m not expecting him to slag anyone off at all but if you listened to that interview on its own, not knowing the current situation or league position, you would assume we are thriving and both the academy and DOF are a driving factor of that. 

 

Some good points in parts but the overall narrative, for me, seemed well off. 
 

 

[Fox on the Rox]

7 hours ago, Stadt said:

If I was a parent of an academy player I’d be mortified listening to that. Essentially a former youth coach pretty much admitting young players shouldn’t play for the first team - it’s astonishing. 
 

They’re never ready, mentally, tactically, physically if you think age is such a big barrier. If you can’t tell it’s properly pissed me off.

Yep. And any prospective youth signings or their advisers hearing that will be put right off joining Leicester.

[Gamble92]

12 minutes ago, DezFox said:

Great pod as always and like to hear someone else’s opinion even if I don’t agree with it.

 

I found Guy quite strange in that I don’t think her really answered the questions and provide relevant rationale to back them up. Almost felt like he was trying to do the current board a favour and give them some good optics.  I’m not expecting him to slag anyone off at all but if you listened to that interview on its own, not knowing the current situation or league position, you would assume we are thriving and both the academy and DOF are a driving factor of that. 

 

Some good points in parts but the overall narrative, for me, seemed well off. 
 

 

What were the good points?

[DezFox]

12 minutes ago, Gamble92 said:

What were the good points?

Really just about how hard it is to make it and how the academy is run well behind the scenes. I I have heard that numerous times, seems like just not so much in the latter stages of development. Maybe, as far as first team is concerned, when it matter most Real shame 

[The Doctor]

On 14/04/2025 at 15:18, Levi Port said:

I’m not backing Rudkin, but it is interesting that anybody with any knowledge first hand of the man does speak highly of him. 
 

I know a few people who know him averagely well socially and they also speak very well of him. 
 

As mentioned on the pod, we are in this mess for a reason though and somebody is accountable. 

I mean, there's a few possible takeaways from that. One is that he's good at his job, the other is that he's a soft touch and easy to walk all over either as an underling or a peer at a different club. Given the state of the club currently, the safe money would be the latter.

[CL Fox]

On 14/04/2025 at 15:18, Levi Port said:

I’m not backing Rudkin, but it is interesting that anybody with any knowledge first hand of the man does speak highly of him. 
 

I know a few people who know him averagely well socially and they also speak very well of him. 

I know a few who know him as well and they don't have a positive word to say about him professionally or personally.

[Claudio Fannieri]

1 minute ago, CL Fox said:

I know a few who know him as well and they don't have a positive word to say about him professionally or personally.

The reality of life, if you are in a relatively influential position within any organisation. you will undoubtedly have people who speak highly of you, usually people who have benefited directly and then people who have poor opinions, as a consequence of negative experiences. 
 

The mark of a truly genuine and respected leader is that even when making tough decisions and in their general demeanour and interactions with people they are always respectful. 
 

Given the varied feedback and experiences shared on here, what is fairly clear is that Rudkin will tend to look after his own interests and if you are part of his clique then happy days, if not then you likely see a very different side to him. 

[Stadt]

43 minutes ago, CL Fox said:

I know a few who know him as well and they don't have a positive word to say about him professionally or personally.

Without dobbing them in, can you elaborate on that?

[Claudio Fannieri]

3 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Without dobbing them in, can you elaborate on that?

Susan thinks he is an arse, Ruud and Enzo wouldn’t trust him to run a bath and Nigel would happily throttle him as much as look at him, hope I haven’t given too much away 😂

[Newbold Blue]

Great pod as always fellas, always look forward to it.

 

Think Guy clearly has knowledge but came across a bit "I'm right you're wrong" when in reality what Ric has been saying about throwing the kids in I completely agree with at this stage of the season. Where he was on about the bloke with 300 caps 30 years of age - yeah fair at the start of the season, but we literally have nothing to lose blooding these academy products in regardless of if he thinks they are a 1 or a 9!

[lcfc_forever]

Try to be objective, especially when something has such a negative reaction so my take is:

 

1. Fully agree with what people are saying about his defence of Rudkin. Vichai's ambition was Europe for the club, that should be our aim. We're one of the few sides to have completed the domestic treble - history is not destiny, and we had been a yo-yo club before the 90s but now, we have the platform to be far bigger. For example, in social following, we’re in the top 10 in the league so gives a flavour of our reach.
Really disliked what he said about that, although I think it's fair enough that Rudkin should get some credit for our most successful years as much as being criticised for the previous few years. The buck stops with Rudkin - you can't simply keep blaming the managers as he chooses them - and losing £150m worth of talent for free is horrible mismanagement. 

2. I think the references to what level the likes of Alves and Braybrooke are currently does not reflect their ceiling - no one can argue Alves is a PL-ready player yet so think that's been misconstrued.

3. He's right, we can't simply assume these young players can step in and we need to have that experience as well. But we do need a manager that will embrace the talent coming through Seagrave. 

4. I don't mind his language - he's been a player and reflects how and what they think. A bit of directness was refreshing, and sadly it makes clear that the football system is full of sharks as we expected. 

5. It's a shame he wasn't challenged more during the interview. 

 

Overall thoughts are I think BSLB did good to have him - it's created controversy and insightful to hear from someone directly who’s worked at the club. It’s created healthy debate here, but wish there had been more of the same during the discussion itself. 

[Sunbury Fox]

I absolutely love the pod but I did find the interview with Guy hugely disappointing. And not because he said things I don't agree with but because he was unable to articulate a clear rationale for his views.  

[izzymuzzet]

2 hours ago, lcfc_forever said:

 

1. Fully agree with what people are saying about his defence of Rudkin. Vichai's ambition was Europe for the club, that should be our aim. We're one of the few sides to have completed the domestic treble - history is not destiny, and we had been a yo-yo club before the 90s but now, we have the platform to be far bigger. For example, in social following, we’re in the top 10 in the league so gives a flavour of our reach.
Really disliked what he said about that, although I think it's fair enough that Rudkin should get some credit for our most successful years as much as being criticised for the previous few years. The buck stops with Rudkin - you can't simply keep blaming the managers as he chooses them - and losing £150m worth of talent for free is horrible mismanagement.

I remember thinking when we'd won the league that our ambition should be to establish ourselves as the Leverkusen, Villarreal or Atalanta of the Premier League. Established top half sides that regularly qualify for Europe, built on foundations of a strong academy and positive connection between supporters and heirarchy. There's no reason this couldn't have been achieved, particularly after we'd built on 2016 by qualifying for Europa and winning the FA Cup. 

 

"There's no way we can compete with Man City, Liverpool etc" is a total straw man argument - no one thinks we can or should be trying to compete with them, but there's a level below that that is achievable for clubs of our stature and recent history.

[Gamble92]

14 hours ago, DezFox said:

Really just about how hard it is to make it and how the academy is run well behind the scenes. I I have heard that numerous times, seems like just not so much in the latter stages of development. Maybe, as far as first team is concerned, when it matter most Real shame 

Like at the stage where a Director of Football that's implemented the style of play the club should have is then hiring a manager with the same ideology of playing, and shares the same intent on bringing through youth? That kind of stage?

 

[Tuna]

Full credit to the boys on the pod for having Guy on and offering a different side to the argument, always important to hear different views even if you do not agree with them, thought the comments about KDH were extremely interesting regarding his breakthrough year. Should be pointed out that Guy hasn't been part of the club in the last few years when things started to go wrong.

[honeybradger]

You would think people like Guy would rethink the way they see the game considering our strategy of bringing in 'PL experienced' players in the summer was an abject failure.

 

Sadly he is a reflection of the state of the club at the moment where they all consider themselves experts of the game who shouldn't be questioned by the average fan. Yet somehow they keep evaluating players incorrectly and make poor transfers whilst the fanbase at large predicted the Ayew, Reid, Skipp, Okoli transfers to go wrong when they happened.

[Mickyblueeyes]

Guy Branston is a (at best) a mediocre youth coach who hit his ceiling at Leicester in coaching terms and is now trying his luck at being an agent. No harm in it and good luck to him. 
 

However, that means he is dependant on Rudkin and Leicester which will be his biggest contact in the game. His answers were so muddled, it’s unlikely he believed them himself. But he is not going to burn that bridge. I would take his comments about Rudkin and the set up with a pinch of salt. 
 

Love this Pod. This season it’s been very therapeutic and enjoyable. They gave Branston a fair and respectful crack and handled it well. But the above is the reason he (Branston) was conflicted when asked pressing questions. Well done for not laughing him off the “so called” pod

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

Thought Branston made some good points, and interesting to hear an insider perspective, but I wanted him to go further and name people / departments who he would blame instead of Rudkin. But fundamentally, who has been responsible for these outrageous contracts that have ****ed us over? I get what Branston was saying about competing for signatures and that bumps up the price - but I’m sorry have the bottle to walk away. He tried to make the point about some of them coming here when we were winning things as if to mitigate it - but even worse. With the club at its highest stock ever we signed some absolute dross.

 

Branston seemed to say Rudkin built the academy to what it is today - fair play. Maybe he should stick to what he’s best at…

[lcfc_forever]

16 hours ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

Thought Branston made some good points, and interesting to hear an insider perspective, but I wanted him to go further and name people / departments who he would blame instead of Rudkin. But fundamentally, who has been responsible for these outrageous contracts that have ****ed us over? I get what Branston was saying about competing for signatures and that bumps up the price - but I’m sorry have the bottle to walk away. He tried to make the point about some of them coming here when we were winning things as if to mitigate it - but even worse. With the club at its highest stock ever we signed some absolute dross.

 

Branston seemed to say Rudkin built the academy to what it is today - fair play. Maybe he should stick to what he’s best at…

I think the thing that Guy hinted at but couldn't quite say as it would undermine his defence of Rudkin was his inference that we simply haven't kept up with the progress of the PL, it's evolving so quickly and the standards are so high.