Club radio silence creates a vacuum and toxicity

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

Does anyone think Rudkin might be able to change or at least impact the narrative around him if he was more open with media and being interviewed etc? The Tanner piece shared in another thread and published in pre season, which feels like propaganda to be honest (he includes quotes from Matt Piper that are all positive, but he has also been critical of him), says he’s a closed man and that’s how he likes it. But football clubs are very public organisations that people are very passionate about, people want to know about and clubs should engage with their supporters. 
 

I really do think if he and other people like Big Sue did more media and gave us insight and also opened themselves up a bit people may be softer towards them. If you don’t engage you create a vacuum where people’s opinions (say on here) become established facts and it’s really corrosive and can be toxic - and I think we’re at that point. For example, Rudkin has been central to our success, but also central to our recent the failures. We all have our own views on him (mostly negative) but I’ve also heard others (journalists) who make the point he’s spread very thinly and has too many responsibilities. But something fed to a journalist after some years of failure is never going to alter entrenched views on him.

 

I suspect the club are also not up for this sort of thing, and I know Top hasn’t done any media for ages. I recall he did some when we had success but mainly internal propaganda stuff, but it’s all symptomatic of a club who don’t care about their fans, are a closed shop and don’t want to be scrutinised. Ultimately they are not helping themselves.

[Finnegan]

This comes up a lot but what exactly do you want the club to say? 

 

Firstly, you'd probably just get a bunch of lip service anyway. 

 

Secondly, if the club are "honest" and go "yeah guys we ****ed up, we're super skint, it's gonna be bad for a while but we'll try and do better", do you think the likes of Hermansen, Enzo, Winks, Fatawu or Bilal would sign for us?

 

There's always going to be a limit to what a business can and will say in public. 

 

Personally, I value deeds far more than words. I don't give a shit what Top, Whelan or Rudkin say in public because I just don't trust it all anyway. I want to see them make good decisions and have us progress, that's all I'm watching out for personally. 

 

Look at Cooper pre season. Won a bunch of you saps over because he did a fans Q&A and isn't he a lovely man, what a character, came to face the fans, great chap, etc. Loads of you were turned. Didn't stop him being a ****ing shit football manager did it? 

 

Less talk more doing. Don't need transparency in words, just need to see the deeds. Don't come and sweet talk me with your honesty, just stop signing shit like BDCR and Jordan ****ing Ayew who tank the value of the squad with no sellability. 

 

[Happy Fox]

There is no discernible strategy and there hasn’t been for some time, If it’s to be an established premier league club, we aren’t even doing much on that front.. we need a change of ownership.

[TheGoldenGod]

I get what you're saying @Finnegan but at a certain point the club is going to be backed into a corner to say SOMETHING. It's reaching boiling point. We desperately need signings, hearing nothing and the first we're going to get is next week when we breach PSR. It's already toxic, the club can't sit and bathe in this without some response! Otherwise we'll be relegated before a ball's kicked next to many.

[Tommy G]

1 minute ago, Finnegan said:

This comes up a lot but what exactly do you want the club to say? 

 

Firstly, you'd probably just get a bunch of lip service anyway. 

 

Secondly, if the club are "honest" and go "yeah guys we ****ed up, we're super skint, it's gonna be bad for a while but we'll try and do better", do you think the likes of Hermansen, Enzo, Winks, Fatawu or Bilal would sign for us?

 

There's always going to be a limit to what a business can and will say in public. 

 

Personally, I value deeds far more than words. I don't give a shit what Top, Whelan or Rudkin say in public because I just don't trust it all anyway. I want to see them make good decisions and have us progress, that's all I'm watching out for personally. 

 

Look at Cooper pre season. Won a bunch of you saps over because he did a fans Q&A and isn't he a lovely man, what a character, came to face the fans, great chap, etc. Loads of you were turned. Didn't stop him being a ****ing shit football manager did it? 

 

Less talk more doing. Don't need transparency in words, just need to see the deeds. Don't come and sweet talk me with your honesty, just stop signing shit like BDCR and Jordan ****ing Ayew who tank the value of the squad with no sellability. 

 

Agree with this and I think whatever is said, you will still get a lot of negative opinion and noise around ''it'' so what's the point, no upside from their own point of view. 

 

Whatever is said the audience will also want more - there will be questions off the back of anything said! Finances should be kept in house, they are a limited company and are obliged to publish their accounts each year like any other business and that's it. 

 

We all wish we knew what was going on - but just coming out with statements to be ''liked'' by the fans and #engagement, they won't give a sh*t about that.

[Tommy G]

2 minutes ago, TheGoldenGod said:

I get what you're saying @Finnegan but at a certain point the club is going to be backed into a corner to say SOMETHING. It's reaching boiling point. We desperately need signings, hearing nothing and the first we're going to get is next week when we breach PSR. It's already toxic, the club can't sit and bathe in this without some response! Otherwise we'll be relegated before a ball's kicked next to many.

There isn't a boiling point - no protests, good attendances, good uptake of season tickets. No boycotts etc. 

 

Remember foxestalk is a small proportion and hyperbowl of active LCFC fans and probably a strong group of say 200 odd people that have their opinion on the club and ownership, and most in agreement it's a mess - take that to the wider casual fan which are the majority it's not the case. 

[Finnegan]

1 minute ago, Tommy G said:

There isn't a boiling point - no protests, good attendances, good uptake of season tickets. No boycotts etc. 

 

Remember foxestalk is a small proportion and hyperbowl of active LCFC fans and probably a strong group of say 200 odd people that have their opinion on the club and ownership, and most in agreement it's a mess - take that to the wider casual fan which are the majority it's not the case. 

 

This. 

 

Foxestalk is an echo chamber in which people get very hyperbolic and worked up. 

 

The fact of the matter is the average season ticket holder sees Leicester City as a club that will eternally bounce between the top two tiers of English football and as long as we're at least top-half in the Championship they'll probably be happy. 

 

We are a long, long way away from any kind of mass protest. 

 

We could get a points deduction, get relegated, get a points deduction again in the Championship next year and most people outside of Foxestalk would still just take an "ah well" view of things. 

 

[Daggers]

53 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Don't need transparency in words, just need to see the deeds. Don't come and sweet talk me with your honesty, just stop signing shit like BDCR and Jordan ****ing Ayew 

 

 

[Mickyblueeyes]

They have taken a back seat from facing the media compared to a few years ago.

 

Nigel and Ranieri appointments were formally introduced at the press conference by either/or Top/Whelan/Rudkin. The latter appointment was where Whelan made her infamous "trust us" speech before the title win. 

 

Puel, Rodgers, Smith, Enzo, Cooper and RVN have had to face the media themselves without a senior exec. 

 

Whelan would do interviews on Radio Leicester/East Midlands today on appointment as CEO and major investment. Not so much since. 

 

Top has only done ego boosters and generally feeds rubbish into the media so its quite good he has gone quiet. When he did last release a statement it was unhelpful. 

 

There isnt a need for them to repeatedly do interviews like they did. They have (unfortunately) a fanbase on side in the majority. There is no damage limitation excercise out there. We got relegated - there was significant numbers clapping. We got promoted and field up Gallowtree Gate. Top has a high five every time we score. One of the frustrations of fans on here is the passive approach in the stands - that's because the vast majority of fans still hold Top's King Power as a god like figure who saved us. 

 

The reality is them doing interviews, fan updates wont change what is currently happening and has been on-going for some time is not going to change that. It will all probably be lip service anyway without any tangible infomation. They are getting "slack" on here because there are catastrophic mistakes happening. Coming out on EMT for example and saying, soz about that, wont change the current predicament of the club. 

[StanSP]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

This comes up a lot but what exactly do you want the club to say? 

 

Firstly, you'd probably just get a bunch of lip service anyway. 

 

Secondly, if the club are "honest" and go "yeah guys we ****ed up, we're super skint, it's gonna be bad for a while but we'll try and do better", do you think the likes of Hermansen, Enzo, Winks, Fatawu or Bilal would sign for us?

 

There's always going to be a limit to what a business can and will say in public. 

 

Personally, I value deeds far more than words. I don't give a shit what Top, Whelan or Rudkin say in public because I just don't trust it all anyway. I want to see them make good decisions and have us progress, that's all I'm watching out for personally. 

 

Look at Cooper pre season. Won a bunch of you saps over because he did a fans Q&A and isn't he a lovely man, what a character, came to face the fans, great chap, etc. Loads of you were turned. Didn't stop him being a ****ing shit football manager did it? 

 

Less talk more doing. Don't need transparency in words, just need to see the deeds. Don't come and sweet talk me with your honesty, just stop signing shit like BDCR and Jordan ****ing Ayew who tank the value of the squad with no sellability. 

 

Exactly my thoughts. Actions speak louder than words. 

[Dahnsouff]

The constantly on society in which we live has its downsides in terms of expectations with regards to engagement, not all of which are sensible. 

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

This comes up a lot but what exactly do you want the club to say? 

 

Firstly, you'd probably just get a bunch of lip service anyway. 

 

Secondly, if the club are "honest" and go "yeah guys we ****ed up, we're super skint, it's gonna be bad for a while but we'll try and do better", do you think the likes of Hermansen, Enzo, Winks, Fatawu or Bilal would sign for us?

 

There's always going to be a limit to what a business can and will say in public. 

 

Personally, I value deeds far more than words. I don't give a shit what Top, Whelan or Rudkin say in public because I just don't trust it all anyway. I want to see them make good decisions and have us progress, that's all I'm watching out for personally. 

 

Look at Cooper pre season. Won a bunch of you saps over because he did a fans Q&A and isn't he a lovely man, what a character, came to face the fans, great chap, etc. Loads of you were turned. Didn't stop him being a ****ing shit football manager did it? 

 

Less talk more doing. Don't need transparency in words, just need to see the deeds. Don't come and sweet talk me with your honesty, just stop signing shit like BDCR and Jordan ****ing Ayew who tank the value of the squad with no sellability. 

 

Just something would be a start, though I appreciate what you say about the need to be careful with words. It was really refreshing to hear Dan Ashworth when he was at Newcastle talk to Sky before a televised Newcastle game. It can be done and it benefits everyone. In Rudkin’s case it might help his own personal PR operation for people to actually hear him speak - just that alone may help. Instead of this media blackout that plays into this idea we are run like North Korea. 
 

And of course actions matter as well, I’m not saying they don’t. I just don’t think this culture of silence is helping anyone.
 

 

[The Fosse Way]

Meanwhile, on planet sensible...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c7247423mmdo

 

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/24343903.bill-foley-afc-bournemouth-hired-tiago-pinto/

 

https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/the-long-read-brentford-director-of-football-phil-giles-transfers

[honeybradger]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

This comes up a lot but what exactly do you want the club to say? 

 

Firstly, you'd probably just get a bunch of lip service anyway. 

 

Secondly, if the club are "honest" and go "yeah guys we ****ed up, we're super skint, it's gonna be bad for a while but we'll try and do better", do you think the likes of Hermansen, Enzo, Winks, Fatawu or Bilal would sign for us?

 

There's always going to be a limit to what a business can and will say in public. 

 

Personally, I value deeds far more than words. I don't give a shit what Top, Whelan or Rudkin say in public because I just don't trust it all anyway. I want to see them make good decisions and have us progress, that's all I'm watching out for personally. 

 

Look at Cooper pre season. Won a bunch of you saps over because he did a fans Q&A and isn't he a lovely man, what a character, came to face the fans, great chap, etc. Loads of you were turned. Didn't stop him being a ****ing shit football manager did it? 

 

Less talk more doing. Don't need transparency in words, just need to see the deeds. Don't come and sweet talk me with your honesty, just stop signing shit like BDCR and Jordan ****ing Ayew who tank the value of the squad with no sellability. 

 

Just because Cooper communicated well with the fans but didnt perform well for us doesnt mean that fan communication is pointless.

 

The ideal manager would have good team management and manage relationships with the fanbase well as well.

[Tommy G]

7 minutes ago, The Fosse Way said:

Meanwhile, on planet sensible...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c7247423mmdo

 

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/24343903.bill-foley-afc-bournemouth-hired-tiago-pinto/

 

https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/the-long-read-brentford-director-of-football-phil-giles-transfers

All 3 clubs riding on the crest of the wave of recent success. When we were doing similar in 2015-20 as @Mickyblueeyes pointed out we were doing more in the media.

 

 

 

 

[honeybradger]

One of the quotes from the Brentford one stood out to me:

 

"But the days of the manager being the person who picks up the phone to an agent or player and effectively doing all the steps of the process has ended - the game is far too complex now."

 

It definitely feels for us that whichever manager we have at the moment drives the transfer strategy of the club. There simply doesnt seem to be that legwork going on in the background from the likes of Rudkin to maintain a coherent strategy and we end up with players that dont fit and also overpaying on our targets as we dont have a variety of players to look at.

Edited 7 January by honeybradger

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

1 hour ago, The Fosse Way said:

Meanwhile, on planet sensible...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c7247423mmdo

 

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/24343903.bill-foley-afc-bournemouth-hired-tiago-pinto/

 

https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/the-long-read-brentford-director-of-football-phil-giles-transfers

Thanks for this. This is exactly what I mean, and are all clubs I think most would agree are transparent and generally run well. And these people come across as personable and decent people. Whereas with Kim Jong Rudkin and Kim Il Sue we have a comms and engagement strategy similar to North Korea.

Edited 7 January by Wasyls Pec Deck

[Muzzy_no7]

Rudkin has to do the job of two people yet he isn’t competent enough to even do one of them.

 

He needs to be relieved of his duties and replaced with a proper DOF and a technical director AS WELL. 
 

 

[Tommy G]

43 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

Rudkin has to do the job of two people yet he isn’t competent enough to even do one of them.

 

He needs to be relieved of his duties and replaced with a proper DOF and a technical director AS WELL. 
 

 

A satisfied Customer. We should have him stuffed

[Sol thewall Bamba]

1 hour ago, The Fosse Way said:

Meanwhile, on planet sensible...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c7247423mmdo

 

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/24343903.bill-foley-afc-bournemouth-hired-tiago-pinto/

 

https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/the-long-read-brentford-director-of-football-phil-giles-transfers

One of the best pieces of communication from a football club is when Villa sold Grealish and their Chief Exec came out and explained the whole process, what the clause was set at and what they were planning to do with the funds. We could only ever dream of something like that, could you imagine one of our lot doing something like this?

 

 

[Tommy G]

3 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

One of the best pieces of communication from a football club is when Villa sold Grealish and their Chief Exec came out and explained the whole process, what the clause was set at and what they were planning to do with the funds. We could only ever dream of something like that, could you imagine one of our lot doing something like this?

 

 

This was a good watch at the time - we are talking about a highly successful banker who worked on the board of multiple elite clubs and PE firms who pulled off a relatively easy transfer deal here - Grealish's stock at the time was really high.

 

He is miles away from anything we could attract at LCFC - a CEO of this kind of calibre would get much better offers elsewhere. 

 

Somehow we managed to hoodwink Man Utd to pay a then world record fee for a defender in Maguire and then Fofana for £70m after one good season. We didn't do a video on it, but at the time these were very good deals for the club. The criminal part is what we did with the money afterwards and the money from the Champions League -  we should of been set yp for the next 10 years. IIRC I think it's probably only Brighton that can boast those kind of fees received in recent times. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Tommy G said:

All 3 clubs riding on the crest of the wave of recent success. When we were doing similar in 2015-20 as @Mickyblueeyes pointed out we were doing more in the media.

 

 

 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/09/27/wolves-owners-sporting-director-premier-league-season/

[Realist Guy In The Room]

Since King Power bought the club, they’ve been very clear that they dont play the media game and they have rarely commented on anything.

 

That works until there’s problems and then some fans do get tetchy but there is an unfortunate truth that as fans we don’t want to face.

 

You can go to every game, home and away.  Kit yourself and family out in Fox & Crop or replica kits.  Wear a watch from

the club shop and only ever take a drink from a Leicester mug or water bottle.

 

As a fan, you could sell a kidney to fund some corporate hospitality or dinner every day in the club restaurant.

 

You can do all of this but you’d still be entitlted to dick.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zero.

 

It feels wrong as we dedicate our lives to the club and the irrational emotional attachment, draws the best and worst out of us and whilst we might not admit it, can shape our mood for days, weeks, months on end.

 

But we’re entitled to nothing and if the club choose to keep us in the dark, that’s just our tough shit.

 

Like others have said, i’m not sure any communication would ever be enough but as the dial is currently set to zero, all we can do is sit, wait and hope that any news is good news.

[Foxin_Mad]

The club needs a complete reset. 

 

I suspect its difficult as there are some huge overheads like the training ground.

 

Essentially the club needs to run sustainably and self sufficiently. I don't think there are people with the skills to do that in the club currently. 

 

A league one/two, and build from the ground up, may do us a favour. 

[AKCJ]

3 hours ago, The Fosse Way said:

Meanwhile, on planet sensible...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c7247423mmdo

 

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/24343903.bill-foley-afc-bournemouth-hired-tiago-pinto/

 

https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/the-long-read-brentford-director-of-football-phil-giles-transfers

Will those clubs be doing this when they're not successful though? I'm not really interested in clubs blowing smoke up their arses when it's all going well. I'd want to know what my club's DoF is doing when it's all gone to shit.

 

Rudkin wasn't lapping it all up when we were doing well and that was fine, but I'd like to hear him or the club justify what they're doing now that it isn't. Radio silence is fine when you're at the top end of the league but currently we don't hear a peep until Top wants to either take credit or deflect blame on the last day of the season.