Leicester City fans search in vain for change with more money trouble reported ahead of PSR D-Day
Of course the idea of strengthening in several key positions was pie in the sky. Of course it was.
Reports this week suggesting that Leicester City are choosing to do very little business in a January transfer window were met with a groan and a sense of déjà vu.
Life at the bottom
Prior to this week’s reports about PSR concerns, all we had on which to based our expectations for January was Ruud van Nistelrooy’s recent talk of improving the squad.
After five defeats in a row, even that thin veneer of ambition has been reduced to a line in a John Percy report about “cheap full-backs”. Happy New Year!
Meanwhile, our direct rivals towards the bottom of the league are strengthening.
Ipswich Town have agreed a fee to sign long-term target Jaden Philogene from Aston Villa. Although Philogene seems expensive at £21million, the absolute worst-case scenario for Ipswich is that they have an entire set of proven Championship-quality attackers ready for next season - most of whom are young with resale value. Ipswich have already signed Ben Godfrey on loan from Atalanta.
Wolves have signed Reims centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou for £16.5million. Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said of Agbadou’s arrival:
“When Vitor [Pereira, new Wolves manager] came in it's the first conversation we had, to add one quick. There are so many games in January, so you can't afford to waste a month. We have to use this month to be as efficient as possible, and we're really excited about this signing.”
As we know all too painfully, signing centre-backs from Reims doesn’t automatically guarantee Premier League survival. Nonetheless, another struggling club’s director of football speaking publicly about the need for quick action in the January transfer window strikes such a contrast with Leicester’s approach that it’s hard to ignore.
The timing of the reports about a possible PSR breach and points deduction means that many Leicester fans are already starting to worry about what next season might look like, at a time when every other club will be focusing on this season’s run-in.
The pressure is building ahead of a huge week for our football club.
The tipping point
On social media and messageboards, goodwill towards the club’s leadership largely ran out a long time ago. This hasn’t translated to any large-scale demonstrations at games though.
Even those getting truly furious online haven’t found it in themselves to organise any sort of mass protest. That’s probably because deep down they recognise the difficulty of mobilising against a family who have brought unimaginable success to the club and suffered tragedy along the way.
Whether a tipping point will ever be reached is hard to know, given that the current regime have already presided over one of the most catastrophic relegations in Premier League history.
During that relegation season, the club followed up a cautious end to the transfer window due to financial restrictions with around £30million of spending in January. That could have been partly just spending the money received for the sale of Wesley Fofana late in the previous window, but the financial considerations were still there. They chose to roll the dice.
So it seems hard to believe the club don’t feel the need to strengthen significantly this time around, given that the playing squad is significantly worse than it was two years ago. The perceived wisdom is that they don’t want to aggravate the Premier League further by spending big while sailing close to - or over - the dreaded PSR line. We should find out on Monday whether that assumption is correct.
You might reasonably believe PSR was concocted to put an end to clubs like Leicester City winning trophies and qualifying for Europe. You might also think the Premier League and EFL are acting outside of their jurisdiction by reportedly pursuing our club more forcefully because of the embarrassment caused by the Nick De Marco case.
Whatever your thoughts, it’s clear that Leicester’s problems are still of their own making. They were entirely avoidable with better decision-making.
The second half of 2024 aside, supporting Leicester City for the past few years has felt like watching the decline of something you love. Even the joy of promotion was quickly tainted by the threat of a points deduction hanging over the club. Constant talk of PSR is draining Leicester fans’ enthusiasm for football.
When briefing to local journalists, the club’s line remains that they feel they are being punished over PSR for showing ambition to challenge the established elite. The flipside is that the Champions League income could have set the club up for years. Instead, Leicester spent big on wages.
In the past 2 years, Leicester City have played 40 Premier League games and won 7 of them. The lack of quality in that period has been tough to watch from the stands. Yet The Swiss Ramble estimates our wage bill during the 2021-24 PSR window currently under scrutiny to have been the 8th highest among current Premier League clubs.
Old ground
Following the FA Cup final win or the European semi-final appearance, fans would have been deeply disappointed to have sold key players but these are the difficult decisions we need our club’s leadership to make.
Football supporters may act like we have all the answers but essentially, we kind of need those in charge of the club to make better decisions than we would. And we generally appreciate accountability and transparency over tough decisions.
But then Leicester City in the King Power era has always been a closed book. When Susan Whelan spoke in 2015 at Claudio Ranieri’s unveiling, she was clear about the approach they have maintained to this day:
“We don't talk about our business in the public domain every day. I am confident and sure the majority of the fans will have trusted in the judgement of the board.”
Not talking about business publicly hasn’t changed, even though the levels of trust in the board’s judgement has clearly altered dramatically.
Back in 2015, the picture was one of togetherness and, despite all that has happened, there is still an element of that today with lots of players staying at the club for long periods and staff who have been at the club for decades.
On reflection, the club’s long-standing reputation as one where players and staff feel like one big family has caused huge issues. Strong personal relationships have persisted to the detriment of the club’s day-to-day functioning. There certainly hasn’t been enough staff turnover.
Neither players nor executives have been moved on for the greater good of the club and those who have left have not been replaced effectively. There’s been a denigration of quality across the board and mediocrity has been accepted and rewarded.
If this feels like going over old ground, it also feels unavoidable. The three-year window for PSR means we’re still thinking about past mistakes.
The lack of any kind of executive refresh in the summer of 2023 means Leicester fans have no real closure on that period in the club’s history.
It means a sigh when yet another manager is forced to face questions about the club’s financial situation. Particularly when other clubs have senior employees willing and able to face the media about off-field issues.
It also means that a siege mentality aligned in any way to Leicester’s leadership is unthinkable for many, however much fans might resent the Premier League and EFL’s pursuit of the club.
The attendance for tomorrow’s FA Cup game at home to Queen’s Park Rangers will, in all probability, reflect the apathy swirling around the club as another relegation looms with no prospect of wholesale changes to a failing squad.
But tomorrow also gives Ruud van Nistelrooy the opportunity to field youngsters who could provide an alternative vision of the future.
On Monday, the Foxes Trust’s AGM will see the ratification of three new board members to help freshen up the Trust’s approach to challenging the club on important matters. If reports are correct, there’s a strong chance this date will coincide with the Premier League handing down PSR charges and subsequently dishing out a points deduction.
If we have any energy left, then there’s the small matter of two crucial home league games in the space of four days.
Often draining. Never boring. Semper Eadem. And keep the faith…
