Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha Interview

[It'sblueupnorth]

No wonder this is his first interview in 10+ years. Blokes an absolute moron

[Lionator]

Sounds like the sort of guy whose daddy was a billionaire, who hasn’t had to work for anything in his life, doesn’t know how to problem solve and is completely blase about life.
 

If his heart and finance are in it then great, but he needs to hand every on and off field decision over to an experienced technical director and CEO. The fact neither of these exist now is a complete embarrassment. 

[Katy]

Just been listening to Rob Tanner on The Final Whistle podcast that’s on live at the moment. Rob very much sticking up for Aiyawatt throughout. 

[Aleksz]

Just now, Katy said:

Just been listening to Rob Tanner on The Final Whistle podcast that’s on live at the moment. Rob very much sticking up for Aiyawatt throughout. 

Compare Tanner's piece to Percy's and you can see a clear difference in wording in terms of where allegiances are - whether that be who they think are in the wrong or protecting relationships. 

[lcfcsnow]

I'm guessing no one bothered to ask why Susan Whelan left

[Fazzer 7]

What of substance did he actually say. Just a lot of waffle. 

[nettle]

Who at the club would actually think it's a good idea for Top to do an interview the guy is clueless. And like a lot of other people have said he obviously knows f**k all about football.

Edited 27 January by nettle

[AKCJ]

Every now and then I think about some things he's said and it winds me up

 

Just thinking about the part where he said he's not the type to attribute blame to other people.

 

He's paying hundreds of thousands a year to a man with the remit of signing new players, choosing managers, ensuring the academy runs well, creating a style of play etc yet doesn't want to blame that man for failing to do those things.

 

The blokes a total muppet and has to go. 

[kingfox]

After listening to the full interview with Owynn, it’s such a mixed bag of communication.

 

Top’s points on PSR compliance and Jon Rudkin’s role in the day-to-day running of the club was complete and utter nonsensical waffle. Banging on about how we tried our hardest to comply with PSR, but not understanding what went wrong regarding PSR in our relegation season. Clearly didn’t try hard enough then did he, surely someone realised that they were on the brink of the PSR threshold, but they just allowed it to happen, incompetent madness. 
 

Only thing that made sense was the realisation that the structure needs to change, how important a sporting director will be, and the forthcoming vision for the football club. What that vision is remains to be seen. He mentioned Enzo’s clear identity, but identity has been lost over the past three appointments. He did also mention that football has changed, from the peak of Guardiola ball to more teams opting for directness. At least he seems a bit clued up from that point of view. 
 

But if he appoints a sporting director who’s main vision is to carry on being like a poundland Man City, you’re left fearing the worst because 1. Fans are getting bored with that style and 2. You fully expect Russell Martin to be appointed at some point. 

Edited 27 January by kingfox

[South Shire Fox]

The bloke can barely speak English. Rudkin is the one that needs to be doing the interview as he somehow has the authority to ‘run’ the club on a day to day while Top is in Thailand

[Gamble92]

What gets me is even though he's obviously out his depth, you'd expect there to be enough advisors or people around him to say this is how you do the basics. Employ in these positions with people who do know. It's indescribably bad to have one director of football who's essentially a brown nosing P.E teacher.

 

Just back him above anyone else at the total detriment of the whole club. Lose the CEO. Don't appoint at a new one. Leave for Thailand and don't make any decisions until you come back to the country now and then. 

 

Honestly if you were asked to run Forest you'd do it like this. 

[Aleksz]

7 minutes ago, South Shire Fox said:

The bloke can barely speak English. Rudkin is the one that needs to be doing the interview as he somehow has the authority to ‘run’ the club on a day to day while Top is in Thailand

Is amazing how Rudkin is handed keys to the city yet doesn't say a word, let's get him squirming infront of a camera too rather than Top's broken English. 

[lcfc_forever]

58 minutes ago, kenny said:

Not for me? Are you abroad?

 

Leicester, a good club and bad decisions

 

Henry Winter

Jan 27, 2026

∙ Paid

 

 

 

What has befallen Leicester City is a painful sequence of events that fans at other clubs beware: a naïve owner; a succession of bad decisions; stars sold; overpaid under-performing players; sluggish football; managerial churn; disconnect between fans and board and fans and team; a controversial director of football; and the tyranny of excessive, unsustainable wages leading to PSR woes.

 

 

Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha. Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images

 

Five years ago this week, Leicester were proudly third in the Premier League, and were soon to win the FA Cup. Now they struggle in the Championship. Even geo-politics intervenes with the business belonging to Leicester’s owners, King Power, hit by a slowing of airport retail because of Covid.

Fans everywhere will also recognise the few rays of sunshine amidst the storm: the hope offered by some promising academy players breaking through at Leicester; the hope offered to society’s disadvantaged by big-hearted fans running a foodbank before this weekend’s game with Charlton Athletic; and, despite the many problems, the fans still turning up to support, albeit more in hope than expectation.

Leicester’s demise is still a warning to many and should also be a source of widespread sadness: a well-run provincial club that dared to defy the established order of London and the North-west, employed a charismatic manager and recruited brilliantly. Leicester’s title-winning squad was assembled for £72m, including such gems as £560,000 Riyad Mahrez, £1m Jamie Vardy and £5.6m N’Golo Kante, all scouted by head of recruitment Steve Walsh. Leicester overturned the odds and footballing tenets. They fought the lore – and won.

⚽ ⚽

Leicester currently celebrate the 10^th anniversary of one of football’s greatest fairy-tales, their 5,000-1 title glory, all a counterpoint to their mess in 2026. They are 34^th in the pyramid, looking for a new head coach, chief executive, commercial director and technical/sporting director, and are at risk of sinking into a relegation fight if a chunky points deduction comes in for breaking PSR rules.

And yet their chairman, Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, talks this morning in a series of interviews from Sky Sports to the BBC and print, of promotion back to the Premier League. He should focus on galvanising the club and team to confront the possibility of falling into League One. He should focus on rebuilding connections directly with fans, many of whom have lost faith in him for many reasons…

It's a longer post, that's just the preview - thanks for trying though  

[Poznan34]

Worst interview since Newsnight went to Buckingham Palace 

[Lionator]

44 minutes ago, lcfcsnow said:

I'm guessing no one bothered to ask why Susan Whelan left

Is pretty clear from the interview and what everyone else has said, it was her or Rudkin and loyalty lies with Rudkin. Whelan should’ve stayed, Rudkin gone.

[trooky]

Not very inspiring for the future, or nothing we don't already know. 

 

His english isn't great so not a very good communicator which doesn't help either. 

[foxinsocks]

Why is anthony letting him do this and msje a fool of himself

[Spanner73]

1 hour ago, Gamble92 said:

What gets me is even though he's obviously out his depth, you'd expect there to be enough advisors or people around him to say this is how you do the basics. Employ in these positions with people who do know. It's indescribably bad to have one director of football who's essentially a brown nosing P.E teacher.

 

Just back him above anyone else at the total detriment of the whole club. Lose the CEO. Don't appoint at a new one. Leave for Thailand and don't make any decisions until you come back to the country now and then. 

 

Honestly if you were asked to run Forest you'd do it like this. 

The last bit about forest I think quite often ! 
 

I mean there’s running a club badly and making mistakes and learning from it and then there’s this, it’s not just bad it’s absolutely appalling and to the point I’ve actually questioned whether it’s being done on purpose because it’s hard to believe 

[Craig]

I'm astonished at what I'm reading here

 

Quote

“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.”

Quote

“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.

Is he alright?

[Vowels]

Oh, Hello.

[sm1]

1 hour ago, Aleksz said:

Is amazing how Rudkin is handed keys to the city yet doesn't say a word, let's get him squirming infront of a camera too rather than Top's broken English. 

Absolutely, lets hear that rat Rudkin  explain how he destroyed the club. Top knows as much about the club as the tea lady.

[Cincinnati Fox]

It's really worrying that John Rudkin is seen as untouchable just because he was at the club when we won the league in 2016. Everyone knows that success was largely due to Nigel Pearson, who built a strong foundation for the club. Since then, we've seen one disastrous decision after another: poor transfers, ineffective contract negotiations, and a failure to sell players wisely. Rudkin is clearly out of his depth.

Adding to the problem, the owner seems unaware of what PSR is. While we all saw the relegation coming, he seemed oblivious and continues to be. It looks like history might repeat itself this year, yet he remains blind to the issues. Unfortunately, his sheltered and wealthy upbringing might have left him unprepared to run a business effectively, and he shows no signs of selling the club. In short, we're in a dire situation.

[Spanner73]

6 minutes ago, Craig said:

I'm astonished at what I'm reading here

 

Is he alright?

Well my eyes and my ears don’t lie to me and we can’t all be wrong because we’re definitely not seeing someone who’s putting in the love and care for this club 
 

He must think we’re blind 

[los dedos]

12 minutes ago, Craig said:

I'm astonished at what I'm reading here

 

Is he alright?

Who does he see as medium size club in the Midlands !  

[Pita]

1 hour ago, kingfox said:

After listening to the full interview with Owynn, it’s such a mixed bag of communication.

 

Top’s points on PSR compliance and Jon Rudkin’s role in the day-to-day running of the club was complete and utter nonsensical waffle. Banging on about how we tried our hardest to comply with PSR, but not understanding what went wrong regarding PSR in our relegation season. Clearly didn’t try hard enough then did he, surely someone realised that they were on the brink of the PSR threshold, but they just allowed it to happen, incompetent madness. 
 

Only thing that made sense was the realisation that the structure needs to change, how important a sporting director will be, and the forthcoming vision for the football club. What that vision is remains to be seen. He mentioned Enzo’s clear identity, but identity has been lost over the past three appointments. He did also mention that football has changed, from the peak of Guardiola ball to more teams opting for directness. At least he seems a bit clued up from that point of view. 
 

But if he appoints a sporting director who’s main vision is to carry on being like a poundland Man City, you’re left fearing the worst because 1. Fans are getting bored with that style and 2. You fully expect Russell Martin to be appointed at some point. 

To me he just came over as totally out of touch. He lives in his own little bubble and not the real world