AN OPEN LETTER TO TOP & THE BOARD
Dear Top,
No one can question you or your fathers commitment to Leicester City FC since you bought the team. You have pumped millions of pounds into rebuilding the club from the foundations and with your commitment to the things like the training facilities you show that you have the future of the club at heart. You turn for as many games as you can and are not afraid to make decisions.
One of your biggest decisions was to do everything you could to get this club into the Premier League as quickly as you could. But because of other decisions you have since made this may not happen as quickly as you yourself wanted. Are you attempting to get this club to run before it can walk? A rebuilding job that was started under Milan Mandaric was passed onto yourself but unlike another cash rich club in QPR who took their time to get things right you seemed to go at this like a bull in a China shop.
Your first decision was to remove Paulo Sousa from his position as LCFC manager, a decision which, at the time, seemed the right thing to do, but we will never know had he stayed if he would have turned things around. But the masterstroke in bringing in a manager of Sven Goran Eriksson’s stature removed any questions we may have had re. the early sacking of Sousa.
You could question Sven’s potential to manage at the lower levels of the game and the fact that he would turn up at the opening of an envelope if he was paid enough, to get an ex England Manager into our club meant you were walking on water as far as the fans were concerned.
So where has it gone wrong? The sacking of Sven had divided our club like no other decision I can remember in my 40+ years of following the club. It was, most people seem to agree, a decision made too early in the season and one that was seemed to be made in haste rather than serious judgement by yourself and the board.
To replace a manager you have to be seen to do so with someone bigger and better or a manager that is viewed as up and coming. Neither has been the case. The up and coming berth which would have been filled by Lee Clarke from Huddersfield never materialised and how do you get someone bigger than Sven? It appeared to me that you sacked Sven with no idea of a replacement. Would you do that in any of your other businesses?
Rumours went round for what seemed like ages that Martin O’Neill was to return by so called big names such as Mark Hughes & Carlo Anchelotti again fell by the wayside and we went ‘back to the future’ with the appointment of Nigel Pearson. A decision that delayed the progress of the club whist you and your counterpart at Hull wrangled over compensation.
It never ceases to amaze me that clubs like ours are willing to pay over £5m for a what has turned out to be an average Championship player but don’t want to pay out quickly to get the new manager in.
All these decisions lead to your picture being booed at the Leeds game when it was flashed up on the big screen.
Since he has arrived Pearson has, in most peoples eyes, NOT improved our lot in life at all. In fact if anything we have gone backwards now being in a worse position than when you sacked Sven.
Nigel blames Sven and the players he was left with. I’m sorry but that is a lame excuse. If he has the same players why is he doing worse? The standard of the individual players Nigel has at his disposal is of a far greater standard than when he left, but he seems unable to take advantage of this. He lets Gelson Fernandes end his loan spell early only for us to see him go to a team 3rd in Seri A. Good enough for them and not for us?
It is so easy to blame your predecessor for your faults but it is one that loses my respect for a man. The saying is that you are only as good as the tools you have to work with. Well with the money you spent on so called ‘top’ players (no pun intended) to be fair Pearson has some dam good tools with which to play!
Sven was sacked after a dismal performance against bottom 3 side Millwall. What then is Nigel’s future after losing to league whipping boys Doncaster and his team putting in a performance against Barnsley that the fans only rated as 3/10. The LOWEST rating given by the fans for any performance this season.
We seem to be taking 3 steps back for every 1 forward.
Other teams and players do not see the current Leicester City side as a threat or an attractive proposition.
How many ‘home’ fans turned up to watch us play Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup? You probably know that less than 2,000 of their fans are coming to see the replay. It is a FA Cup local derby but their fans obviously don’t see us as an attractive proposition to watch and it can’t be blamed for being shown live on TV. It is a game that in years gone by would have filled the stadium.
It appears that Billy Sharp has turned down a move to Leicester City or is certainly taking his time over the decision. He should be biting our hand off to join a club that is as cash rich as we are. A player prefers to stay at a club of the likes of Doncaster Rovers rather than come to Leicester City, what does that say about the club at the moment? It may be over money? So with the wages we must be paying the likes of Mills and co, is a top goal scorer not worth pushing the boat out for? Only you can answer that.
Less than 6 months ago with Sven in charge I have a feeling Sharpe would have walked barefoot over broken glass to sign for us. I ask would the likes of Nugent, Schmeichel, Mills etc have signed for Leicester City in our current position? As one fan put it “Under Sven we were linked with the likes of David Beckham, now we can not even get a striker from Doncaster Rovers.” Another one wrote “Another season ends in January”
I am & I remain a great supporter of Nigel Pearson, but a season that looked to promise so much looks to be ending in turmoil. 15 days into the January Transfer market and not so much as a loan singing for a manager who is complaining about the standard & depth of his squad.
Fans are demanding action & answers. A situation you have brought onto yourself by setting such high goals (maybe higehr goals is the answer to our scoring problem?).
I don’t expect that you will answer this letter but I hope it at least gives you some food for thought.
By Chris Forryan