King Power Out

[NeilLCFC]

1 hour ago, StanSP said:

Yeah it's very confusing. He thinks he's saying the right things that fans want to hear. But he's missing out so much substance and so many opportunities to put his hands up and say to the fans he got things wrong. 

 

Rudkin must have so much dirt tucked away. 

This. He could have said something to the effect of ‘we were so close to finishing top 4 which would have taken us to the next level. I believed in the manager so I backed him but in the process gave him too much control.’

 

 

[cityfanlee23]

I'm genuinely curious, personally i'm not too bothered about the name, but if it was offered tomorrow for Red Bull to buy the club and rename us RB Leicester, would you take that? 
Personally I think it would be huge for the club, and would allow us to tap into their network of top quality coaches and scouting/youth development network. 

If it meant getting KP out, i'd snap your arm off to become RB Leicester. 

Edited 27 January by cityfanlee23

[StanSP]

2 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I'm genuinely curious, personally i'm not too bothered about the name, but if it was offered tomorrow for Red Bull to buy the club and rename us RB Leicester, would you take that? 
Personally I think it would be huge for the club, and would allow us to tap into their network of top quality coaches and scouting/youth development network. 

If it meant getting KP out, i'd snap your arm off to become RB Leicester. 

As long as they keep Rudkin in place I'm all for it. 

 

We're a small club now. Wait til we get bigger with him and it'll be all his doing! 

[StanSP]

The next TIFO should be 'just a small club in the Midlands' 

 

Or 'WHAT IS PSR?' 

[Foxes1]

25 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

I’m sure Facebook comments sections are crawling with them.

No it's not very few on there defending him.

[The Doctor]

"no idea how we went down in 2022/23" ****ing delusional. I could and did say we were in a relegation battle in summer 2022 and I'm just some nerd with a copy of excel, the analytics department should have been raising red flags even before Rodgers went on his 8 month strop. As it is, we're on course for Warsaw to Walsall in 5 years, for well documented reasons that everyone can see, and this ***** is saying he doesn't understand why, and that one of the main reasons is great because he, like Gokhan Inler and Kramaric, happened to be at the club 10 years ago? Inept little willy puller and he needs to be bullied into selling.

[1884HF]

Just now, The Doctor said:

"no idea how we went down in 2022/23" ****ing delusional. I could and did say we were in a relegation battle in summer 2022 and I'm just some nerd with a copy of excel, the analytics department should have been raising red flags even before Rodgers went on his 8 month strop. As it is, we're on course for Warsaw to Walsall in 5 years, for well documented reasons that everyone can see, and this ***** is saying he doesn't understand why, and that one of the main reasons is great because he, like Gokhan Inler and Kramaric, happened to be at the club 10 years ago? Inept little willy puller and he needs to be bullied into selling.

Hes so thick and naive it’s laughable 

[pmcla26]

24 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I'm genuinely curious, personally i'm not too bothered about the name, but if it was offered tomorrow for Red Bull to buy the club and rename us RB Leicester, would you take that? 
Personally I think it would be huge for the club, and would allow us to tap into their network of top quality coaches and scouting/youth development network. 

If it meant getting KP out, i'd snap your arm off to become RB Leicester. 

No, a big part of what has gone wrong for us is that we’ve lost any kind of identity we had before. 

[JonnyBoy]

my head is still on Mars from the interview, it makes it so much worse than it already was. There is no way back now i feel - it's a pot about to boil over.

Edited 27 January by JonnyBoy

[Pliskin]

27 minutes ago, StanSP said:

The next TIFO should be 'just a small club in the Midlands' 

 

Or 'WHAT IS PSR?' 

“Liccle lestah citeh”

[RonnieTodger]

At least it puts to bed any stuff about JR

[NeilLCFC]

2 hours ago, Philkeavo said:

This is the Percy Interview from The Daily Telegraph. Apologies if it has been already posted.

 

 

It is almost 10 years since Leicester City captured the nation by winning that Premier League title, so it feels like a perfect time for the club’s owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, to finally open up.

This is the first public interview with a senior Leicester official since 2016 and, to put it lightly, quite a lot has happened in the life of the 40-year-old Thai businessman known at the club as “Top”.

“It’s like a movie, like a super drama on Netflix or something,” he says. For many Leicester fans, however, the past few years have seemed more like a horror film.

After the glorious highs of winning the title as 5,000-1 shots to rampaging around Europe in the Champions League, plus a maiden FA Cup win, there have been two relegations, one promotion and nine different managers.

Vichai (centre right) and son Top (below, centre left) celebrate with Leicester players after the club won the Premier League title in 2016.

Srivaddhanaprabha also endured the unimaginable grief of losing his father, Vichai, in a helicopter accident in 2018 at the club’s King Power Stadium which claimed the lives of four other people.

There is much for Top to reflect on from the past decade, although most Leicester fans are only concerned about the here and now.

“The Leicester story is that we tried to create the underdog story,” he says. “We tried everything and we did a lot of things to make sure that the Premier League, even football in the UK, looked very interesting.

“When we won the league, no one believed or thought we could win. We set the standard and everything is possible anyway.

“A lot of players have left, a lot of new players came in, we tried to create new things. We won the FA Cup, we were in Europe, and then we go down. It’s too many dramatic things [that have] happened at the club.

“It’s not easy for Leicester anymore because the size of the club does not match what we tried to achieve.”

Once a beacon for similarly sized clubs, utilising strong recruitment and sensible mid to long-term planning, Leicester are now regarded as a club who dared to dream and paid the price.

Currently 14th in the Championship, Marti Cifuentes was sacked as manager on Sunday and many fans are in open revolt.

Issues over mismanagement, legal rows with the Premier League and the presence of Jon Rudkin, director of football, loom large at the King Power Stadium. On Saturday, as the team lost at home to Oxford United, there were chants of “sack the board”.

 

Defeat by Oxford last time out leaves Leicester in 14th place in the Championship.

“I feel the pain of the supporters. I feel their pain and the frustration of the whole club. I used to be a football fan and when my team lost, I felt so bad,” Srivaddhanaprabha says.

“Even when I am away in Thailand I am watching every game. If it is 8pm here it is 3am in Thailand and I am watching until 5am. When we have lost it is not nice to be awake and feel stressed.

“We know it is always tough in the Championship with many games, midweek games in the cold. It’s not an excuse that a team like Leicester is in this position. It is not nice and not what we expect at all.

“I told the directors and other people that we used to be a very small club in the Midlands and then we grew bigger and bigger and we forgot what we were before.”

Srivaddhanaprabha points to the financial damage inflicted on King Power, a travel retail company based in Bangkok, by the Covid-19 pandemic as a major reason behind the club’s decline.

He also highlights the departure of Enzo Maresca to Chelsea in June 2024, weeks after Leicester’s promotion to the Premier League, as a bitter disappointment.

Enzo Maresca won the Championship title but joined Chelsea shortly afterwards.

‘I still do not understand why we went down’

The most common theory for Leicester’s struggles goes back to the summer of 2021. With former manager Brendan Rodgers threatening to unsettle the big clubs and Leicester regularly challenging in Europe, the decision was made to back him.

That summer they spent about £50m on Patson Daka, Jannik Vestergaard and Boubakary Soumaré and, crucially, made the decision not to sell any first-team players.

Leicester’s model was always to accept the departure of a star every year – with the likes of Harry Maguire, Riyad Mahrez, Danny Drinkwater and Ben Chilwell bringing in well over £200m – but that summer the decision was made to keep the squad together.

It ensured the pressure was on to continue progressing and stay in Europe, but Leicester missed out and were relegated the following season.

“If you ask me about that time, I still do not understand why we go down. I have no idea,” Srivaddhanaprabha says. “I think the main problem was we had no experience of a relegation fight. We were so relaxed that we were going to be OK.

“I could not play so I tried to help in every single aspect. The Premier League is difficult, but we shouldn’t have been in that position. It was like everything turned against us.”

Relegation in 2023 was clearly a pivotal moment. Record losses of £92.5m were announced and Susan Whelan, the club’s former chief executive, warned that the consequences “will be felt for some time”.

‘Jon is seen like a bad cop, but we won Premier League because of him’

During this turbulent period in Leicester history, Rudkin has emerged as the No 1 target for supporters.

Leicester’s former academy director, Rudkin was promoted to director of football in 2014 and Srivaddhanaprabha’s support has been unwavering.

That support has remained despite many fans regarding Rudkin as chiefly responsible for poor recruitment, overspending, allowing too many players to leave for nothing and the disintegration of the club’s culture.

When asked about Rudkin’s position, the response from Top is unlikely to cheer up those fans calling for change.

“Jon is [seen as] like a bad cop. When we won the Premier League, it was because of Jon too, but nobody talks about that anymore. We are trying to find a black spot in a white sheet all the time, which is normal, I do the same.

Srivaddhanaprabha has stuck by Jon Rudkin despite fierce criticism of the director of football from Leicester fans.

“Many clubs make mistakes. No club buys the right players all the time. We used to be very good. We have to be clear so that people, the scouting team, can work towards the system we’re going to play.

“It’s not about Jon choosing players alone, so blame him. I never blame anyone. Everyone has to share the responsibility, all four of us.

“I think he needs support and that is why I’ve come to my decision to change the structure to make sure that everything is the right way going forward.”

Srivaddhanapraha insists he is working hard to improve the club’s set-up. The appointment of the club’s first ever technical director, who will report directly to Rudkin, is close, while a new chief executive and commercial director will be appointed soon.

A new manager is now on the agenda after Cifuentes was dismissed on Sunday afternoon, a few hours after Top’s sit-down with a gathering of journalists.

Marti Cifuentes’ sacking means Leicester have gone through nine managers since they won the Premier League in 2016.

Another bugbear for fans has been a perceived absence of accountability and communication, so this interview is certainly a positive step forward.

“We have to get back to the identity of Leicester, what type of football we should play and what players we should bring,” Srivaddhanaprabha says. “When changing the manager a lot of times, it’s not nice. I’m not a fan of that. But the life of a manager is results-based, so we have to be ready to improve.

“I think it was so clear when we got Enzo [Maresca] on board, what football we should play, and the type of player we should bring in. We are really focused on how to improve for the club. But with the limitations, because of PSR [profitability and sustainability rules] and the markets are not the same.”

‘We’re living with the past haunting the present’

Leicester expect to hear the outcome of their legal row with the Premier League for alleged breaches of PSR soon. Their case was heard in November and a range of punishments are possible, including a points deduction, transfer ban or fine.

“Every year we try to comply with the rules and that is super difficult. We can’t breathe,” says Top, putting both hands around his throat. “We did not plan to go down, and it’s impacted a lot of financials. PSR is a challenge. It’s testing every club now and Leicester are the same. In the past, nobody knew what would happen, but we’re living with the past haunting the present.”

With such tough restrictions, Leicester can only recruit loan signings before the transfer deadline.

Their current plight has increased calls for Srivaddhanaprabha to sell the club, but he insists there are no plans to move aside.

“I think on the first day I came in with my father [in August 2012] and we built plans, we loved football and we loved the club. I still feel every bit the same. I’m very passionate about football and I said in my first interview, when I was 25, that I wanted to be in this for the long term. Selling the club is not the way to exit anyway.

“Leicester is like my son to look after, so I have to do it right. Of course, a son can be naughty, or a son can fail the exam, and you [have] a pain in your head.

“The son can be top of the class, and graduated, and have a bad girlfriend or good wife. You never know. The first thing for me is to identify the problem and fix it. I’m planning a lot to make sure that we are in a good direction first.”

Thoughts of his late father are never far from Srivaddhanaprabha’s mind. Khun Vichai was an inspiration to all at Leicester and the driving force behind their remarkable rise.

There is a statue of him outside the stadium, and photographs adorn the walls inside the offices. “When he left, and when we won the FA Cup, I think I did a lot of things for him,” Top says.

It should not be forgotten that Vichai and Top have won four trophies during King Power’s ownership.

“Of course it was not going to be enough, but I know he loved the club. I know what his plan was, so I want to keep doing the same.

“I have to make sure that I complete everything that I did here before I want to leave. Now I need to make sure the club is in a good place. I still love it here, I want to make sure the club is being successful again.”

There is so much to unpick from this interview. He gives off creepy vibes with “the club is my son” reference to “I blame no one”. Yeah, no shit Aiyawatt!  

Nige gave them the blueprint for success and they still managed to **** it up. Going back to those foundations first and then rebuilding that infrastructure with adaptations to reflect how the has changed, will definitely be a step in the right direction.

[Phil Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Gerrimin. 

 

@Phil Mitchell as DOF.

I’ve turned run down crack dens into global empires, give me the whole club. Phil
 

1 hour ago, cityfanlee23 said:

Thoughts @Phil Mitchell ? 

He doesn’t have much going but that market stall is his pride and joy and put his heart and soul into it. More so than that tubby combover. Phil

[Corky]

The first real anti-Rudkin feeling was in October 2017 after Shakespeare was sacked and the Adrien Silva fiasco. Over 8 years of bad feeling, less than 18 months after he "won" the league.

[1884HF]

Just now, Corky said:

The first real anti-Rudkin feeling was in October 2017 after Shakespeare was sacked and the Adrien Silva fiasco. Over 8 years of bad feeling, less than 18 months after he "won" the league.

ah yes rudkin won the league I can really remember everyone celebrating and singing rudkins name rather than Ranieri or the squad or vichai

[NeilLCFC]

‘Jon is seen like a bad cop, but we won Premier League because of him’
 

oh f*** off.

[Blarmy]

1 hour ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I'm genuinely curious, personally i'm not too bothered about the name, but if it was offered tomorrow for Red Bull to buy the club and rename us RB Leicester, would you take that? 
Personally I think it would be huge for the club, and would allow us to tap into their network of top quality coaches and scouting/youth development network. 

If it meant getting KP out, i'd snap your arm off to become RB Leicester. 

I’d prefer “Red Leicester”. Don’t have the stats but think that would make us the first club named after a cheese. 

[cityfanlee23]

52 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

No, a big part of what has gone wrong for us is that we’ve lost any kind of identity we had before. 

That's fair, but imo Red Bull represents the identity we had. Aggressive football, signing young, hungry players who work hard and have a point to prove, and most importantly, have huge sell on potential. Everything that led to the 2015/16 season is exactly what the RB system achieves. 

[Mickyblueeyes]

1 hour ago, StanSP said:

The next TIFO should be 'just a small club in the Midlands' 

 

Or 'WHAT IS PSR?' 

I know there’s people who don’t like the approach but the way to put pressure on him is to hit him in the pocket and that pocket is very much dependant on the Thai govt.

 

”THAI OWNERSHIP BAD FOR SMALL ENGLISH CLUBS”

[pmcla26]

2 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

That's fair, but imo Red Bull represents the identity we had. Aggressive football, signing young, hungry players who work hard and have a point to prove, and most importantly, have huge sell on potential. Everything that led to the 2015/16 season is exactly what the RB system achieves. 

I’d take the influence (I.e. hiring some of the people from their network or adopting the same principles again) but wouldn’t want them rebranding the football club when King Power have essentially done the same thing and it’s ended up in a self worshipping exercise with no accountability. 
 

Despite Leipzig’s quick rise, not all their fans are happy with RB’s control, particularly the ones who were fans of the original club. 

 

[Katy]

I think we all know the mindset behind why everything pre-KP taking over has been irradiated from the ground and why there are no statues of former players dotted around the place, now. We were just a crappy little nothing club with no history 🤦🏻‍♀️ This is why we all have to bow down to the great King Power and any opposition will not be tolerated. Who does he think we are? MK Dons? The bloke is as thick as mince, arrogant and disrespectful to all the great players, managers and achievements we’ve gained before. Hate is a strong word but the revulsion I feel for this bloke is off the charts. 

[AjcW]

2 minutes ago, Katy said:

I think we all know the mindset behind why everything pre-KP taking over has been irradiated from the ground and why there are no statues of former players dotted around the place, now. We were just a crappy little nothing club with no history 🤦🏻‍♀️ This is why we all have to bow down to the great King Power and any opposition will not be tolerated. Who does he think we are? MK Dons? The bloke is as thick as mince, arrogant and disrespectful to all the great players, managers and achievements we’ve gained before. Hate is a strong word but the revulsion I feel for this bloke is off the charts. 

Interesting stat on this...

 

KP 15 year ownership includes 10 years as a Premier League club

15 years preceding them includes 8 years as a Premier League club

 

It's not even that different  

 

I'm not saying we've not achieved a monstrous amount more under their ownership. But in pure footballing standpoint terms we certainly weren't a "small club in the midlands"

[Stadt]

3 hours ago, AjcW said:

Piecing all this together. If he's genuine about the new Tech Director choosing our identity, then we cannot hire a permanent manager before that person is brought in. 

 

King will take charge for now. The lad from Southampton will come in after the transfer window, and Russell Martin will be in charge either straight away (if Andy Gets a few wins) or in the summer. 

We’re running on 2019 dogma. Every club that keeps trying it is slowly reverting away.

 

I sort of hope we appoint Martin because that will be the final nail in the coffin for King Power

[Voll Blau]

2 hours ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I'm genuinely curious, personally i'm not too bothered about the name, but if it was offered tomorrow for Red Bull to buy the club and rename us RB Leicester, would you take that? 
Personally I think it would be huge for the club, and would allow us to tap into their network of top quality coaches and scouting/youth development network. 

If it meant getting KP out, i'd snap your arm off to become RB Leicester. 

Never. Nothing is worth a club losing its soul like that.

 

Would rather we played in the Charnwood Sunday League.

[Torten]

1 hour ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I'm genuinely curious, personally i'm not too bothered about the name, but if it was offered tomorrow for Red Bull to buy the club and rename us RB Leicester, would you take that? 
Personally I think it would be huge for the club, and would allow us to tap into their network of top quality coaches and scouting/youth development network. 

If it meant getting KP out, i'd snap your arm off to become RB Leicester. 

Becoming RB Leicester and undergoing all of the necessary rebranding would be selling our soul and most of the fanbase (and even non-LCFC fans) would not accept it. Honestly think I'd rather us be Leicester City F.C. in League 2 than RB Leicester in the PL.

 

Don't get me wrong, Red Bull are clearly excellent at running football clubs - but there's probably a middle ground between KP and RB that would work.