All Change at the Merc Jordan Blackwell - Out / Josh Holland - In

[davieG]

What I want from Leicester City as I return to the stands at the King Power Stadium | Leicestershire Live

 

After a lengthy period of time reporting on the club, Jordan Blackwell has moved on to pastures new - this is what he hopes to see as he returns to his role as a Leicester City supporter

 

What I want from Leicester City as I return to the stands at the King Power Stadium
Story by Jordan Blackwell 

 

As a Leicester City reporter who swapped the stands for the press benches, there have been moments where instincts bubble up and burst through the professionalism.

In my first away game for LeicestershireLive, the 3-2 victory at West Brom in the Great Escape, there was a mini celebration when Robert Huth nodded in the equaliser (the frantic response needed to Jamie Vardy’s last-minute winner put a stop to similar expressions of joy).

From my seat in the press box, there was also an ill-advised appeal for handball at Arsenal – it was blatant from Rob Holding – while there was a personal breakout of applause when Ademola Lookman produced a superb piece of skill to flummox Tyrick Mitchell at Crystal Palace.

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Even this season, Louis Page’s burst between two men at Coventry prompted a “Go on, son”, which also acted as a reminder that I am now double the age of some first-team players.

But being in this job does see those instincts lost, or maybe buried. The impact of results is lessened considerably, both positively and negatively.

Lifting my head from my laptop in time to see Youri Tielemans’ strike whistle into the top corner at Wembley was joyous. Seeing the emotions on Andy King’s face after the 4-3 loss to Southampton this season left me gutted. But those are rarities. Most results get a neutral reaction.

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What has never gone away is a sense of duty. There’s an understanding that this is a privileged position. Reporting on City for the local paper is a role that many people would crave to have.

I watched Emile Heskey and Tony Cottee score at my first game as a six-year-old. The years of being a season-ticket holder and obsessing over the stats felt like it was a life’s preparation for this job.

Feelings of duty may seem ridiculous to those who have no involvement in the game. It’s just a job. It’s not life and death.

But hopefully City fans and LeicestershireLive readers are the exact people who can understand why those emotions might take hold. It really does matter to people, and the job requires that this is understood.

There is also a sense of guilt at leaving this position when the club are at a low ebb. I do question if the coverage has been too negative during this season, contributing to an atmosphere that makes it more difficult to get results.

On the other side of the coin, I question if I should have been firmer in holding the club to account in the hope it might have sparked change that could have steered them away from the third tier.

Working for a local newspaper, you want the city to thrive, and that includes a successful football team. That’s partly based on good results on the pitch, but it’s more about the state of things beyond that.

Really, a successful club is one that stands as a pillar for its community and one that people are proud to follow.

There are issues at City that simply stem from the nature of modern football and the idea of clubs as businesses, factors that affect every side. But there’s plenty more too.

Turning to questionable cryptocasinos as shirt sponsors, plastering military propaganda on billboards in pre-season matches, ignoring opportunities to communicate regularly and openly with supporters around mistakes, lessons and plans for the future, failing to comply with financial rules and turning to banks for quick fixes on cashflow. It all devalues the club in the eyes of supporters.

And even while my fan instincts were mostly lost at matches, those problems off the pitch still rankled.

As I return to the stands at the King Power Stadium and look to rediscover those fan feelings, I know that the club addressing those issues and attempting to restore pride will bring those instincts back faster and more fully.

I’m very grateful to have done this job and now look forward to celebrating goals again. See you on Filbert Way.

 

 

Introducing the new face of our Leicester City coverage
Josh Holland is the new face of our Leicester City coverage

 

Josh Holland Leicester City correspondent
16:18, 01 Jun 2026
Hello, Leicester City fans, I just wanted to write a quick article introducing myself as the new LCFC writer for LeicestershireLive and The Leicester Mercury.

As Jordan Blackwell returns to the stands, I find myself in the fortunate position to take over and fill the big shoes left in his place.

I've been a supporter of the football club for as long as I can remember and getting the opportunity to cover Leicester City as a job is something I don't take for granted. My interest in football and the Foxes started, from what I can recount, with a 1-1 draw against Crewe Alexandra in 2005. Back then, the Craig Levein era was followed by relegation to League One.

Triumph with Nigel Pearson, with the drama of Sven-Goran Eriksson's time at the club sandwiched in the middle, was where the screw started to turn. Football was something I wanted to do as a career. A short time coaching football at schools was followed by a leap of faith to go to University at the age of 21. Graduating and landing on my feet at this company has laid the foundation for me to do this job. Life has evolved around City for years now. If it wasn't my Grandad doing everything he could to take my little brother and me to games, my Auntie and Nana made sure they took us when they could.

My Mum knows how much it means to me and my Dad often rings to talk solely about the football club. It’s 24/7 in this life of mine. In 2015, I worked at the football club as a car park attendant. This year marked 10 years since the Premier League title win. On one of my first days in this job, I got to interview Christian Fuchs and upon reflecting on where we were 10 years ago, I got a 'congratulations' and 'you should be proud of yourself' for landing the job.

A Premier League winner! I am proud of myself. But a big task awaits covering this football club through a difficult time. League One football is something this generation of supporters is not used to. I'll do my utmost best to cover everything, bring the action to life and make you feel part of the ride. Up the City!

[1972 Fox]

Shame there is not an announcement on big changes in the LCFC hierarchy.

[Paninistickers]

Nice piece from Jordan Blackwell. A far cry from Bill Anderson despising the supporters and revelling in his cushy number. 

 

Also in Jordan's favour is, I think, not referring to the owner as 'his majesty' (khun) - a default position that Owen Palmer Atkins  needs to learn. 

 

 

 

 

[jayfox26]

At this point, id take Jools Holland to run the club over Rudkin and Top

[Foxes1]

Interesting he has interviewed Fuchs, is it possible to get a face to face interview with Rudkin & Top and ask searching questions to them on where the club is going under their leadership as at the minute all we are hearing from the club is sweet nothing as usual.

[worthosoriginals]

1 hour ago, jayfox26 said:

At this point, id take Jools Holland to run the club over Rudkin and Top

With his piano as a better centre half than we have now

[Lineker's Left Foot]

My God, a slow news day?

 

Could we have Laura Kussenberg grilling our Reprobate Owners, an equivalent of Brian Clough doing it or even Gene Hunt.. anybody but another ‘Yes Man Puppet’ doing it?

[Voll Blau]

55 minutes ago, Lineker's Left Foot said:

My God, a slow news day?

 

Could we have Laura Kussenberg grilling our Reprobate Owners, an equivalent of Brian Clough doing it or even Gene Hunt.. anybody but another ‘Yes Man Puppet’ doing it?

Bizarre post. How do you propose they go about getting access to an absentee chairman like ours exactly?

[Freeman's Wharfer]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

 

There is also a sense of guilt at leaving this position when the club are at a low ebb. I do question if the coverage has been too negative during this season, contributing to an atmosphere that makes it more difficult to get results.

On the other side of the coin, I question if I should have been firmer in holding the club to account in the hope it might have sparked change that could have steered them away from the third tier.

Working for a local newspaper, you want the city to thrive, and that includes a successful football team. That’s partly based on good results on the pitch, but it’s more about the state of things beyond that.

Really, a successful club is one that stands as a pillar for its community and one that people are proud to follow.

There are issues at City that simply stem from the nature of modern football and the idea of clubs as businesses, factors that affect every side. But there’s plenty more too.

Turning to questionable cryptocasinos as shirt sponsors, plastering military propaganda on billboards in pre-season matches, ignoring opportunities to communicate regularly and openly with supporters around mistakes, lessons and plans for the future, failing to comply with financial rules and turning to banks for quick fixes on cashflow. It all devalues the club in the eyes of supporters.

 

This part is particularly illuminating.

 

In all honesty, yes you could have been stronger at holding the club to account and challenging, Jordan.

 

But you then at least go on to say all of the things that you probably weren’t allowed to say and have clearly been wanting to say for a while.

[PhillippaT]

4 hours ago, jayfox26 said:

At this point, id take Jools Holland to run the club over Rudkin and Top

He'll get a decent tune of out of them at least, make them all sing from the same hymn sheet?  

Edited Monday at 22:56 by PhillippaT

[Sol thewall Bamba]

10 hours ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

This part is particularly illuminating.

 

In all honesty, yes you could have been stronger at holding the club to account and challenging, Jordan.

 

But you then at least go on to say all of the things that you probably weren’t allowed to say and have clearly been wanting to say for a while.

What I don't get is what journos feel they'll be losing out on if they actually speak their mind. The club says nothing and does nothing outside of their obligation of a pre match interview with the manager, which is just the usual run of the mill questions and answers no one really cares about. 

 

It's not like the Merc would be losing out on face to face interviews with the owners, players etc if they put the boot in like their readers probably want them to.

[Beechey]

16 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

Nice piece from Jordan Blackwell. A far cry from Bill Anderson despising the supporters and revelling in his cushy number. 

 

Also in Jordan's favour is, I think, not referring to the owner as 'his majesty' (khun) - a default position that Owen Palmer Atkins  needs to learn. 

 

 

 

 

Worth noting Khun doesn't mean that at all, it's more like "Mr" - you might be facetious but we should make sure we're not unnecessarily assigning actions to people that haven't happened: https://toasttothailand.com/planning-your-trip/basic-thai-greetings-words-phrases/

[Voll Blau]

12 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

What I don't get is what journos feel they'll be losing out on if they actually speak their mind. The club says nothing and does nothing outside of their obligation of a pre match interview with the manager, which is just the usual run of the mill questions and answers no one really cares about. 

 

It's not like the Merc would be losing out on face to face interviews with the owners, players etc if they put the boot in like their readers probably want them to.

Plenty of cases where a journo gets banned by the club and the local paper gets a boost in sales (or clicks, these days).

[Paninistickers]

9 hours ago, Beechey said:

Worth noting Khun doesn't mean that at all, it's more like "Mr" - you might be facetious but we should make sure we're not unnecessarily assigning actions to people that haven't happened: https://toasttothailand.com/planning-your-trip/basic-thai-greetings-words-phrases/

Khun can also refer to a specific lower-tier noble rank bestowed by the king. According to the ol' AI machine. 

 

Yes, his majesty was me being facetious. But Mr is pushing it too far the other way. And, at a guess, the context OPA  meant it was in a deferential way. 

[Corky]

If it is Mr, surely you would then address by surname?

 

Khun Top is deference. No need for it.

[Voll Blau]

21 minutes ago, Corky said:

If it is Mr, surely you would then address by surname?

 

Khun Top is deference. No need for it.

It's be like the club referring to Alan Birchenall MBE in any communications about him.

[MaidstoneFox]

On 01/06/2026 at 19:53, Paninistickers said:

Nice piece from Jordan Blackwell. A far cry from Bill Anderson despising the supporters and revelling in his cushy number. 

 

Also in Jordan's favour is, I think, not referring to the owner as 'his majesty' (khun) - a default position that Owen Palmer Atkins  needs to learn. 

 

 

 

 

I worked at the merc for a bit and used to see Bill most days. He was actually quite an affable, good-humoured bloke, not the way he came across in his reporting.

[Nick]

On 01/06/2026 at 19:53, jayfox26 said:

At this point, id take Jools Holland to run the club over Rudkin and Top

I’d be happy with a sock puppet.

[tickler28]

No more lip pursing!!! 🎉🎉🎉

[Stadt]

12 hours ago, Corky said:

If it is Mr, surely you would then address by surname?

 

Khun Top is deference. No need for it.

It'd be odd to refer to Ranieri as Signor Claudio, and that's as somebody deserving of reverence from the fanbase.

 

The emperor's new clothes act at the club is embarrassing. Vichai did at least instil some standards, culpability and substance. The kid gloves and deference to Aiyawatt is sickening.