Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha Interview

[Clever Fox]

25 minutes ago, HankMarvin said:

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.

And ths is where it seems to break down everytime.

[Pita]

1 hour ago, coolhandfox said:

I agree to some extent, but we have hired lots of talented people before.

Not many recent. Last few managers shocking. Saying he helped win the premiership that was 10 years ago 

[dillonpanthers87]

30 odd minutes of deflection. No specifics. Then again, no hard questions. Imagine before this situation, you're preparing for this set of interviews. You want to change the opinion and set your stall, show a bit of passion.

 

What do I want to communicate? How do I bring people on board? What are the key messages? Should I be open and really honest?

 

Nah, I'll just waffle for half hour about things being hard, something something covid, we need to plan better. Fans. This is football. Sport. Things are busy in Thailand. Takes time. Social media. 

 

Fk right off. If this is the media position of his thoughts he puts forward, what does he think in private.

[lcfc_forever]

Article from The Times by Jonathan Northcroft who knows the club well. Found this para especially interesting: 

 

“With Andy King in charge for the interim, the appointment of Cifuentes’ permanent successor seems very likely to be delayed until the new technical director arrives, and the playing model is identified.”

 

He did say the technical director was close to being appointed, makes sense for him to be involved with the new manager decision. 
 

https://www.thetimes.com/sport/football/article/leicester-city-aiyawatt-srivaddhanaprabha-b99m9zftt

‘Leicester City is like looking after my son. I have to do it right’

Former Premier League champions and FA Cup winners are mid-table in Championship, but owner ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha plans to bring glory days back to King Power

Jonathan NorthcroftJanuary 25 2026, 4.20pm

 

Top says his time at Leicester City has been 16 years of ‘love and pain’

LEICESTER CITY/GETTY IMAGES

Leicester City defied 5,000-1 odds to win the Premier League in 2015-16

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

“Is that fair? Because at the moment we are in the Championship not the Champions League.”

Top was at the King Power stadium for his first UK media interviews in almost ten years, keen to break his silence because he acknowledges communication with supporters is one of several areas where Leicester have lost their way.

The first step to address the biggest area — performance on the pitch — was taken via the dismissal of manager Martí Cifuentes following a humiliating home defeat by Oxford United on Saturday. It left Leicester 14th and at their stadium, currently a depressed and toxic place, fans jeered Cifuentes and sang “sack the board” — with Top in attendance for the first time in two months.

His absences are because he is often back in Bangkok running King Power, the duty-free company founded by his late father. “Even when I am 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,” he said.

Cifuentes was sacked by Leicester after Saturday’s defeat at home to Oxford United

MIKE EGERTON/PA

“I feel the pain of supporters. I feel the pain and frustration of the whole club. I used to be a football fan and when my team lost I felt so bad. Now I have been an owner for 16 years and the feeling is still fresh. It’s painful all the same, maybe more.”

His message is “we have to regroup and fight again”. The key, he believes, is nailing down a proper Leicester playing identity. A process is well underway to appoint a new club chief executive to replace the long-serving Susan Whelan, who departed in October, and the appointment of a new technical director is “very close”.

The latter will work with Jon Rudkin, sporting director since 2014, to define the way forward on the pitch. It seems likely there will be input from Top, who said: “I am really involved and detailed with the team. Maybe I don’t talk much in terms of the media, but in terms of working with the management and the football side I am involved a lot and of course the responsibility is on me, whether we are winning or losing, bad or good.”

Once there is clarity about playing identity, clarity over manager and player recruitment should flow. Top admitted that this has been lacking — especially since the departure of Enzo Maresca after Leicester’s last promotion in 2023.

“We used to be a counterattack team, get the ball back fast, then we became a possession team. Now we don’t know what [we are]. We have to come back to planning again,” the owner said.

Leicester City supporters have made their feelings about Rudkin’s role at the club very clear

CATHERINE IVILL/AMA/GETTY IMAGES

Leicester’s challenges include being charged with alleged breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) after losses of £201.9million in the three seasons to 2023-24. They expect the outcome of a Premier League hearing soon and are working under conditions that restrict how much their squad can be improved before the transfer window closes on February 2.

“Yes, there is money to spend but it is limited. We’re looking for loans. Is it difficult? Yes, we can’t breathe,” says Top, placing his hands round his throat. “We have to comply. I don’t want to have [a PSR] problem again, because it’s a pain. It’s not easy. I am sure many other clubs are not saying anything but feel the same.”

After struggling in the Championship — with a points deduction a possible punishment if they are found to have breached PSR rules — the pessimistic element of Leicester’s support fear a second successive relegation.

Their owner is more positive. “With this squad it should not be [the outcome], like you mentioned, to be relegated again,” he said. “The players need support from the fans big time. Because nobody wants to see us play in League One. I’m sure that we still have a chance to get back, in this table, to the play-offs at least.”

Rudkin has also been the target of fan anger and many are unhappy that he will be moved ‘upstairs’ and not moved on.

The role of Rudkin, left, will change once Top appoints a new technical director

MICHAEL REGAN/GETTY IMAGES

However, Top mounted a defence of his trusted lieutenant. “Jon is [seen] like a bad cop . . . when we won the Premier League it’s because of Jon too. But nobody talks about that any more.” 

He describes Leicester’s journey in the 12 years since his father’s bold promise as “like a super-drama on Netflix”. After the title came the Champions League quarter-finals, winning the FA Cup, consecutive seasons of missing out on the top four on the final day, and then relegation, promotion and relegation again.

Top believes it was the first relegation — in Brendan Rodgers’s final campaign, after allowing him a significant net spend — that did the lasting damage. He says he has “no idea” how they went down.

“I talked to a lot of players at that time … I think the main problem was we had no experience of a relegation fight,” he said. “We were so relaxed. What I heard is, ‘Boss, don’t worry, we’ll be OK.’ We were not OK.”

He recalled that when the season broke in November for the World Cup, Leicester were mid-table. After the league’s resumption, however, they won just four of their remaining 23 games.

Leicester won the FA Cup final in 2021 after Youri Tielemans’ strike sealed a 1-0 win over Chelsea

NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

“You need some luck,” he said. “It was like everything turned against us. When we won the league, everything turned on our side.”

The challenge, now, is building a squad not just fit to win games in the Championship but classy enough to stay in the Premier League if promotion comes. 

Over recent seasons Leicester have not got their profile of player right. Their owner admitted finding gems in the transfer market — formerly a super-strength — had become much more difficult and “our scouts will have to [search] harder.” With Andy King in charge for the interim, the appointment of Cifuentes’ permanent successor seems very likely to be delayed until the new technical director arrives, and the playing model is identified.

The latter should also bring more clarity to recruitment, and the summer is pivotal. Nine of the squad — many on big deals — will be out of contract and big earners Jannik Vestergaard and Bobby Decordova-Reid are entering the last 12 months of their deals.

Top admitted to “mistakes” in previous windows but said a committee approach to transfers will not change. “I think we have a really clear way of working. We have the round-table talk with the manager, Jon, head of recruitment and myself . . . the whole table has to say yes.”

Throughout their miserable last two seasons the green shoots have mostly sprung from their academy, with products like Ben Nelson, Jeremy Monga and Louis Page breaking through. Having invested £100million in the Seagrave training facility, Top is optimistic academy talent will help power Leicester’s revival.

Would he consider selling the club? “I think the first day I came in, 12 August 2010, with my father, we built plans, we loved football and we loved the club. I still feel every bit the same. I said in my first interview, when I was 25, I wanted to be in this for the long term. Selling the club is not the way to exit anyway. I have to make sure I complete everything here before I leave. Now I need to make sure the club is in a good place,” he said.

Top has not stopped dreaming of Leicester repeating their Premier League title miracle

LEICESTER CITY/GETTY IMAGES

He added with a smile: “Then if some prince comes in, maybe yes, and the club can be like Man City for example . . . but I am sure that is a long, long way off. I still love it here, I want to make sure the club is being successful again.”

Top has not entirely stopped dreaming of repeating the 5,000-1 Premier League title miracle. “I think to do it again, it would need a lot of time to plan and do it the right way. To replicate it, I don’t know. I want to do the same. No one can guarantee. But at least we have to plan to be there. I wish we could do it again.”

The past 16 seasons have been a journey of “love and pain” and he sums up what his club means to him memorably.

“Leicester is like my son to look after,” he said. “So I have to do it right. Of course a son can be naughty, or a son can fail the exam. The son can be top of the class and graduated, and have a bad girlfriend or good wife. You never know, but the love is there, the responsibility is there.”

Edited 27 January by lcfc_forever

[Guppys Love Child]

9 hours ago, StevieH said:

To lose your father in such a horrific way is just unimaginable. He had to try and step up quickly and it was all too much for him to cope with. Left Rudkin in charge which was a big mistake. This combined with covid and PSR issues over the last 5 years has made it a tough time for the club. He realises there have been mistakes and is making appointments to hopefully improve things. No one can ever take away what we achieved and I know we can't live in the past but we owe him to try and sort this out. I for one want to see him stay. 

OK  

 

Left Rudkin in charge, and as you said this 'was a big mistake.'

  Due to Teflon Jon's incompetence he has contributed greatly to our current and continuing decline. The Nepo Baby, is blind to the fact of the problems, and was negligent by leaving him in his possession to continue to damage us still, then defend his past recent and current destructive actions and still continue to employ him.  

 

PSR (See above re the actions of Rudkin) 

 

Sorry no sympathy for him, he allowed the board members and hierarchy to make the decisions to cause the 5 years of issues you mentionin your post. I'll ask this question,  is Top as a owner and a so called business man not responsible to know what's going on, and take an active interest in his ventures? Actually perform some due diligence of his own?  Sorry but to hide behind  the "its OK boss we will be fine" excuse is total BS. His first question should be "really, now explain it to me and prove that its 'OK Boss we will.be fine', and not just take the statement at face value and as Gospal truth.  Sorry this is disgraceful and the alarm bells should be ringing.

 

COVID  - sorry other businesses and footnall clubs had to to deal with COVID and its world wide financial fall out. OK so it impacted and reduced KP's revenue streams.   Funny that, most of our current problems are for breaking the rules(that others are and were at the time of COVID bound by) for  "SPENDING TO MUCH"

And continuing to do so after COVID had passed. Continuing to reference COVID is a lazy cop out IMO.

 

Making appointments to hopefully improve things...  Ha ha really, a Retail manager in a role and business area she has zero experience in. Well done Top.

 

He's actions and inaction have and continue to fail this club..

 

And you for one still want him to stay?

 

 

Edited 27 January by Guppys Love Child

[ConnFoxUS]

9 hours ago, dmayne7 said:

Yep, the initial circumstances were horrific and he certainly got given loads of slack for it, rightfully so. But we're almost a decade on and the decline of the club is absolutely staggering. We had the worst relegation in the history of the PL and that wasn't something that told him we need to change things at board level? And then relegated again in probably our most pathetic season ever. Still no change? Every single club was affected but COVID and PSR, so why do we deserve special dispensation.

 

He's been given everything he's owed and more. What we all owe as fans, is to protect the club for future generations and that only happens when KP sell.

 

I understand that the interviews play on the emotions lots of us have so we will see it negatively, but even if you're totally objective, there are some frightening things being said it that. Blows my mind that anybody can listen to/read that and pay attention to everything going on at the club, yet come to the conclusion that Top deserves leeway or a chance.

I’m 100% King Power out. Have been for awhile now. I think Top is a spoilt idiot. Don’t think he has a single leadership bone in his body. And he’s completely unfit to lead us out of the mess his oversight led us to. 
 

That said, I think chants and signs such as “you let your father down” are over the line. Say he’s not fit to lead. Or King Power out. Or anything else really. But I think we’re better than stooping to the “you let your father down” stuff. 

[Cropwellfox]

In one sentence says he doesn’t know we were relegated three years ago, thought everything would be fine…. And then says out loud that with these players we won’t be relegated this season. 

I mean surely that is parody? Nobody with a shred of intelligence could say those two things without stopping and thinking, ah hang on a minute, there’s a link here. 
Beyond belief. 

[Finnegan]

This whole media tour has been a flop. It's no wonder he never does it. 

[HybridFox]

On a human level, Top is a decent guy. I won't villify him. I understand wanting to put things right and I think his heart is still in it.

 

My worry is him not seeing the signs that have been years in the making. The recruitment and decision making at executive level simply hasn't been good enough.

 

Yes Leicester City should not have been relegated in 2022/23. But let's be honest it came as no shock for the fans who saw it unravel. We were atrocious and the club sleepwalked into an entirely avoidable situation. Would have appreciated him holding his hands up with a bit more accountability and admitting there were mistakes on his part/not acting sooner. But to put the narrative that it came as a suprise and it all looked to be going okay is not a good look. Relegation this year is a real possibility btw

Edited 27 January by HybridFox

[Blue ROI]

It's bad enough to be defending Rudkin on the basis of 2016.

 

But if that's the case then what defence is there for Rudkin when we were relegated twice in 3 seasons?

[Tielemans63]

‘Leicester City is like looking after my son. I have to do it right’

 

Someone call social services then, that lads got no chance.

[TeppoPortin]

These interviews confirm a lot of what I suspected, that he doesn't know what he's doing and that there's a culture of complacency and a lack of accountability around the club.  How on earth can he not know why we went down in 2023?  It's as if he thinks it was a freak accident.  Worryingly he seems to think it can't happen this season too when it most definitely can.

 

And why is Rudkin so untouchable?  He says that he was here when we won the league and FA Cup, as if that's an acceptable defence.  The fact that the manager's that won both of those trophies were sacked when they started underperforming (In Rodgers's case a long time after he started underperforming) seems to have gone over his head.  Ranieri and Rodgers were rightly held to account, why not Rudkin?

 

I agree with those saying Rudkin should have been doing these interviews too because English is his native language and as the football "expert" on the board he'd be better placed to answer a lot of these questions.

[Pita]

39 minutes ago, Tielemans63 said:

‘Leicester City is like looking after my son. I have to do it right’

 

Someone call social services then, that lads got no chance.

Got to be the worst parent ever totally let down his son 

[justfoxes]

This doesn’t look good unless Top is selling the King Power super yacht to buy a few players, but also doesn’t look very good for King Power if they really are liquidating Assets !

 

 

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Cropwellfox said:

In one sentence says he doesn’t know we were relegated three years ago, thought everything would be fine…. And then says out loud that with these players we won’t be relegated this season. 

I mean surely that is parody? Nobody with a shred of intelligence could say those two things without stopping and thinking, ah hang on a minute, there’s a link here. 
Beyond belief. 

This is what I'm saying. He's just low IQ.

 

I'm saying he's low IQ because I don't actually think he's even badly intended. But I also think his priorities are upside down. He's not got an analytical bone in his body.

 

I think back in 2022 sort of time, around the failures to sack Rodgers it was pretty clear that he needed to change something drastically. If he had shook things up and gotten competent people with track records in place, then I would have no issue with him owning the club.

 

That being said, maybe I'm being way too kind to him with the intentions thing. He's happy enough to lap it up when he can sell a positive. Aka parade a title of a league his total incompetence put us in.

 

This is the first time he's ever really faced up to scrutiny and you now see why they advise that he doesn't. He hasn't got a clue. Not one.

[ACF]

Who actually did the interview? It’s one interview republished everywhere right?

[Chrysalis]

BBC said he said manager needed more time then sacked few hours later.  

[Claudio Fannieri]

I wanted to reflect on what I heard and read before I posted as I didn’t want it too be an emotional charged rant. 
 

so here goes …….. Firstly It’s good that he has actually spoken at some length, i do genuinely think some of his responses are partly down to him maybe not fully understanding the context of the particular question, however there are elements where it is very concerning and highlights the lack of both football and business acumen and knowledge around the club. 

 

Regarding the manager I genuinely think the decision to part ways with Marti had already been made in just think he was unprepared as to how to answer without giving anything away as to what was to follow. 
 

In relation to the “get promoted” whilst it did across as a little bit cringy and naive I think he completely missed the point of the question, which I think was more directed to what are the impacts to the club of not being promoted this season. 
 

The snippet that really did concern me was the comment about not really knowing about PSR ….. whilst he may not fully understand it, I find it very difficult to believe that nobody else in the club did not. This would highlight a couple of things, either others were aware and tried to warn him and Top didn’t listen or the club was woefully under prepared and lacked genuine expertise to navigate this. Either way very very concerning. 
 

Finally the one that really did irk me the most was the comment about being a small club in the midlands before KP. This was very disrespectful to the past history of the club and in some ways ratified the feeling that in more recent times, the club is slowly but surely moving further and further away from anything pre King Power. That really annoyed me as I have always been proud of our history as a club. 
 

 

 

[Gamble92]

"I always remind everyone that it was a small club before" is him basically yet again saying you should just be grateful I come here and you won the league. That attitude from the top has led to all of this. 

 

They'll have been times way before we got to this point where they'll have been decisions rightly challenged and that will have been the response. Good people have left, all the ones responsible for that win. Now we are left with a bunch of arrogant, moronic idiots who think it was all down to them. 

 

It cannot get worse than this for an owner. It just can't. We are absolutely doomed with him. 

[Pliskin]

37 minutes ago, Gamble92 said:

"I always remind everyone that it was a small club before" is him basically yet again saying you should just be grateful I come here and you won the league. That attitude from the top has led to all of this. 

 

They'll have been times way before we got to this point where they'll have been decisions rightly challenged and that will have been the response. Good people have left, all the ones responsible for that win. Now we are left with a bunch of arrogant, moronic idiots who think it was all down to them. 

 

It cannot get worse than this for an owner. It just can't. We are absolutely doomed with him. 

What he fails to recognise is the club started moving in the right direction under Pearson…… I wont credit Top with anything other than the destruction of his father’s work. Vichai deserves all of the credit, he had the foresight to allow the right people to do the right jobs. Top, which is highlighted in his interviews, is completely clueless. 

Edited 28 January by Pliskin

[SB87_LCFC]

21 hours ago, Nolucklcfc said:

There’s got to be some very rich Leicester fan somewhere  … 

Roy Cropper?

[Gamble92]

12 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

What he fails to recognise is the club started moving in the right direction under Pearson…… I wont credit Top with anything other than the destruction of his father’s work. Vichai deserves all of the credit, he had the foresight to allow the right people to do the right jobs. Top, which is highlighted in his interviews, is completely clueless. 

I still think the way we credit Vichai and King Power with what we did is too much. 

[SB87_LCFC]

I have actually sat and listened to both interviews with Rob Dorsett and on the WYS Podcast. 

 

In both interviews, Top shows optimism and belief,  which is to be expected, but I do think there is an ounce of naivety to how he comes across. 

 

Towards the end of his interview on WYS he is quick to say that he knows it is easy for people to get the knives out, this is of course when he is pressed on Rudkin by OPA,  but then says if anyone should be blaming anyone it is him. I respect he has taken accountability of his duties as owner, but actions speak louder than words. Yes, following the interview he did what was needed with Marti, but now he needs to back that up now, he says the financial situation at the club is not as bad as the fans may think, but we still have to comply with PSR - It is clear the club needs an overhaul, but where my head is with it all, I think we are leaving ourselves with a mountain of a task to make the play-offs as he says, the shrug off when asked if it doesn't happen 'we get promoted next season' - is that enough for fans?

 

The outline of needing a new CEO, Commercial Director and Sporting Director says to me, while a lot of fans see him as an inept Nepo baby he clearly feels he needs to surround himself with the right people, which we all know currently, he is not. 

 

I don't know if anyone else felt there were more questions to ask than getting answers 

 

 

[Phenom]

19 hours ago, StevieH said:

To lose your father in such a horrific way is just unimaginable. He had to try and step up quickly and it was all too much for him to cope with. Left Rudkin in charge which was a big mistake. This combined with covid and PSR issues over the last 5 years has made it a tough time for the club. He realises there have been mistakes and is making appointments to hopefully improve things. No one can ever take away what we achieved and I know we can't live in the past but we owe him to try and sort this out. I for one want to see him stay. 

He’s a talentless nepo baby who thinks he’s above the club. Get him gone!

[thlcfc93]

There's so much you can debate about this, but I've come to a very simple conclusion. Ultimately, all of our problems boil down to Aiyawatt's personality flaws. The interview confirmed that he isn't capable or willing to change. We're therefore going nowhere under his reign ever again. It's grim.