Do Leicester City need new owners?

More than halfway through another transfer window in which Leicester City are struggling to make an impact, is it time for change? In our second TFW Debate Club, James Knight and Helen Thompson examine each side of the argument.

Yes

James Knight

Leicester have been sleepwalking to this point for years.

On the day of Vichai’s helicopter crash, we drew 1-1 with West Ham. This was the team: Schmeichel; Amartey, Soyuncu, Maguire, Chilwell; Ndidi, Iborra; Ghezzal, Maddison, Albrighton; Iheanacho. The bench: Ward, Evans, Gray, Vardy, Ricardo, Okazaki, Mendy.

With the benefit of hindsight, the slow decline since stares you right in the face. Almost all of the groundwork for the top 4/FA Cup winning side was laid down while Vichai was in charge. There was an unambiguous vision: sign young players, develop them, sell one a season to fund it. The team that took on West Ham was young and hungry. Now it looks old and uninspired.

A few months before that game, Vichai had convinced Harry Maguire to stick around for another season by promising to sell him in the summer, and Caglar Soyuncu had already arrived as his replacement. It was a sustainable plan for long term success that everyone bought into.

It was, obviously, also a very good plan, and it bore fruit once Top had taken over. But it’s far less clear what the post-Vichai vision is. In place of strong, often ruthless leadership, there’s a power vacuum at the top. Instead of clear succession planning, contracts have run down. Twice Leicester found themselves without a ready-made replacement for Wesley Fofana. The first time, they lurched into panic signing Jannik Vestergaard, a man who spectacularly failed to meet any of Leicester’s traditional signing criteria.

Vestergaard is the poster child for Top’s Leicester: incompetence, confusion, apathy. Where once there were clappers on every seat, now there are a handful of ‘honesty flags’ scattered in recycling bins around the ground. 30,000 souls used to enjoy coming here, now it’s a ghost town.

All of it boils down to the undeniable truth that a rot has set in. There hasn’t been a single tough decision made at the club since Vichai died. And there’s no reason to believe that Top has what it takes to turn things around. Vichai was a successful businessman, he set up the King Power group, he bought Leicester, he developed the club’s identity. Top inherited everything.  

I wouldn’t blame him for having mixed feelings about the club given what happened, or for having other priorities, given his main business was heavily impacted by COVID. But even if we take a leap of faith in him having the same foresight and ability (as well as the same financial power) as his father, it’s crystal clear that his focus is now elsewhere. He barely attends any games, while the complete absence of any proactivity at the club has all the hallmarks of an office where the boss is never in.

This is not a call for an injection of Saudi blood money, or a demand that we sell our souls to an American franchise. You can compete in the Premier League, even in the Super League Six era, without those things. But you can’t compete without any active leadership or any kind of plan. If Top can’t deliver those things, then we need to find somebody who can.

No

Helen Thompson

No. I don't believe we need new owners, I still believe they can steer us back to a positive place. Call me sentimental, call me stupid, call me risk averse, generally just call me whatever you want because it is going to take a very convincing argument for me to change my answer. We as Foxes fans should know more than most fans that a new owner doesn't necessarily mean the grass will be greener.

Since the takeover in 2010, the King Power group and Srivaddhanaprabha may have had some initial learning to do but I have always believed that they have had the best interests of Leicester City at heart. Which is never a guarantee in football. Although things don't seem very rosy to us, the general public, there's nothing that suggests to me that this has changed. It's easy to say get new owners and get a cash injection, but given what other clubs are facing across the country, you need to have a lot of faith in a fit and proper owners test that seems less than ideal. 

Yes, it's been a difficult couple of years but given the industry King Power operates in, hardly a surprising one. It's been easy to worry and there was a lot of speculation last year but Top did state they're still committed to us and not looking to sell. It feels like it's a storm to weather, assuming we can maintain Premier League status. Managerial decisions are possibly the biggest argument against keeping the ownership but equally with the money to pay Rodgers off and the money he has spent (I'm not buying his sob story), it's a financial decision that isn't easy to make. 

The Srivaddhanaprabha family will always have a legacy at Leicester City, regardless of how and when their tenure ends. They've done so much for us, not least allowing us to dream, getting to see our club achieve the impossible. That also gave us a taste of bigger things and it's fair to continue to aspire to them. We are intrinsically linked and bonded, while that isn't an argument alone to necessarily keep them, I don't think it's easily replicated. It also can't be overlooked how loyal our players have been to pur owners over the years. Much of that was for how Vichai treated them but Top seems to share a lot of those characteristics. King Power are also important to the city with their ever impressive donations and community commitments. 

However, while I am firmly in the no camp, I do believe that some transparency and openness would help. I also wouldn't be averse to some kind of investment, assuming it wouldn't impact the majority control and could be vetted. Top did put out a statement to previously clarify the financial position, another wouldn't go amiss. Especially given the loan that the club has taken out this week, presumably to allow us to make a signing or two. I'm not convinced he has been less present than usual intentionally but at a time where we look doomed and are divided, knowing the current plan and vision would go a long way.