Potter, Patrick, Ralph or Robins: Who should be Leicester City’s next manager?
Stick or twist? That’s the question as Leicester City’s decision-makers (pending an internal relegation review conducted by… err… Leicester City’s decision-makers) prepare to make one of the most important managerial appointments in the club’s history.
So who should they go for?
Potter or bust
When the Graham Potter rumour first resurfaced after relegation, I immediately dismissed it. He'd been linked with Nice, West Ham and Crystal Palace – all pretty top-flight clubs, which was already one up on us.
But the chatter just won't go away... and the more I think about it, the more I'm convincing myself that it might even make sense for Potter himself too. It's not been a great year for him: at one point, he was flying with Brighton, Gareth Southgate's sheen was beginning to dull with England, and Potter looked like the most legitimate candidate to replace him one day. But then he went and did a stupid thing like manage Chelsea – and now those burns are surely making him think very carefully about his next move.
So what could we offer him? Well, money for starters: both for his personal coffers and in the transfer market, where we'll be very active this summer. To a builder like Potter, reconstructing a squad entirely in your own image has got to be an attractive proposition – not least after you've spent months at a club where signings have been made without your blessing. That wouldn't happen here, where people are seemingly trusted to do their jobs – and what could possibly go wrong in such circumstances?
So in short, it's Potter. Reading the candidates up for consideration in John Percy's latest story, the alternatives make you about as excited as a donkey on general anaesthetic.
Joe Brewin
Three to choose from…
I think there are three good options depending on which direction the club wants to take, if we assume Graham Potter is out of reach.
If we want a Premier League legend that has done okay at a middling top flight club, then forget Steven Gerrard - we should go for Patrick Vieira, who was slightly unfortunate to lose his job at Crystal Palace and would surely have kept them up if he had stayed. Vieira has real presence and would demand respect. There have been reports he’s holding out for a Premier League job but I think we’d be his best option.
If we want an up-and-coming manager who can build on previous lower league success to take his next step in management, in the mould of Brian Little or Martin O’Neill, we should go for Michael Duff from Barnsley. He did a great job with Cheltenham too and he has the strength of character to step up to a club of our size. He’s arguably the next Sean Dyche, so it depends whether you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing for a club trying to get out of the Championship…
If we want a leftfield option who could try to build a culture from the ground up, we should go for someone I’m glad there are rumours about - Enzo Maresca, currently assistant manager at Manchester City. Maresca failed at Parma in 2021 but he has now had a year working under Pep Guardiola - and that didn’t do Mikel Arteta any harm. It would be an intriguing appointment, and I like the idea of energising the fanbase with someone fresh.
David Bevan
Suffolk the lot of ya
My initial thought was Patrick Vieira, who seemed to get a bit of a raw deal at Palace. He's probably a good manager whose reputation is lower than his ability. The same is true of Ralph Hasenhüttl, who became a significantly better manager the moment Nathan Jones turned up.
But I wonder if we need to forge our own path and aim for the next big thing, rather than go for an established name.
Kieran McKenna has been well regarded for a while and has the sort of career path that looks promising: youth coach, assistant coach at a big team, manager at a lower level and immediately does well.
Everyone's searching for the 2023 version of Nigel Pearson and often that leads down a path towards Dean Smith, because they sort of seem alike. But Pearson had limited managerial experience when he took the Leicester job, he was a fairly clean slate. McKenna seems far more like a Pearson-style appointment, and probably the most exciting of the realistic options.
James Knight
The dream
Whoever we appoint at this time won't receive unanimous approval from the fanbase as our opportunity to select from a stronger pool of candidates disappeared a while ago.
We have to accept that we're either going to get an experienced coach but with recent failures or a fresh face without much experience. You simply can't attract a manager at (or approaching) the peak of their powers to a Championship club needing a biblical rebuild of players.
I would like it to be Graham Potter (experienced manager but recent failure). His appointment would be a real statement of intent that we are looking to go straight back up. I think he'd also have the strength and authority to split pre-season into LCFC camp and 'players keeping fit awaiting moves camp', preferably the other side of the lake at Seagrave.
However, at this stage I'd be surprised if we could attract him. It's clear he is the first choice but we can't be awaiting an answer like a besotted teenager. I feel it's important we get an answer very soon as, if it's a no, we can move onto plan B (assuming there is one!)
Iain Wright
Saints and sinners
I am really concerned that more than two months after Rodgers was sacked, judging by the latest rumoured internal discussions about potential new managers, the club appears to have no idea what type of manager they want to appoint.
We are at the stage of sounding out potential candidates ranging from Enzo Maresca to Kieran McKenna to… Dean Smith. What this tells us is that they are being wholly reactive to a situation which will define the next chapter of this club. Rather than having a clear checklist in terms of level of experience, philosophy, style of play and so on, the club is apparently waiting for someone to come in and woo them into a decision.
This isn’t at all surprising given the shambolic stewardship of the club over the best part of two years. As fans we just have to sit tight and hope that a good manager says the right things on the day, and that we don’t scare them off with our recent and ongoing shortcomings.
Personally, I am a huge fan of Graham Potter, but this job is far too risky for someone who must quickly rebuild his reputation with his next role. None of the other realistic free agents excite me greatly and I can’t see us prising people like McKenna and Maresca away from their clubs.
After our recent dealings with Southampton, I can’t really believe I’m saying this, but I would not be upset if we appointed Ralph Hasenhüttl. He was dealt a difficult hand throughout his time at Southampton and often outperformed expectations. For the record, I don’t think he would be a good long-term option if we aspire for European contention within the next decade, but his style of play would suit the remnants of our squad and he would give us a clear identity going forward.
Matt Jedruch
Four options…
Graham Potter would be my first call and he is also the headline option, having impressed with Brighton and been admired by Leicester for some time. This project would be an ideal one for him to get his teeth into and rebuild his image away from the Premier League spotlight.
Ralph Hasenhüttl brings an energy and an exuberance with him and his football that could be a nice tonic after the ponderous end of the Rodgers era.
While he did not pull up any trees in his 8 games in charge, it would be fair to say that the problems Dean Smith encountered on his arrival went deeper than even our nightmares. The fact many of the playing squad cashed in their chips with games to spare indicated the toxic culture at the club. Given those issues, a return of 9 points from 8 games isn’t too horrendous given Man City and Liverpool were two of those 8 – Smith has earned a chat at least.
My last choice would be Mark Robins at Coventry City. While not ambitious on the face of it, it could be the best option. Robins has impressed at Coventry having taken the club from League Two to the Championship play-offs in 7 seasons, winning the Football League Trophy along the way.
Working on a shoe-string budget, he has improved Coventry’s fortunes every season he has taken charge. He knows the Championship, will know who the best players in the league are, and will have a budget to go out and acquire those players he knows and respects.
Whoever Leicester go for, it needs to be backed up by data and after extensive chats with individuals to ensure we have the best manager for the job. Picking a manager on vibes or because they’re a “name” would be a disaster and would indicate no lessons have been learned from the disastrous last 12 months.
Elliott Butlin
