It's not been a good week for King Power FC in terms of positive PR with the fans. I'm not sure if they have outsourced their media management to Rishi Sunak but they are certainly doing everything possible to irate the fan base.
Yesterday, the club announced that general ticket prices would be increasing by around 30%, meaning that the average non-ST price is now a staggering £55. This is, quite frankly, insulting. As a non-ST holder myself who can only get to a small number of games, I have to pay £35 a year for a bogus membership just to have a chance at getting a ticket, a ticket that is now at an extortionate price. If I want to take my 13 year old daughter, it will now cost me in excess of £100 for two tickets plus bus fare, food, etc. To rub salt in the wounds, the club compounded this by then insulting fans intelligence claiming that the rises meant that Leicester was mid table for ticket prices, despite the fact that several of the clubs with higher prices are London based where everything is more expensive, and most of the rest that have higher ticket prices are big 6 clubs. The fan reaction has been so bad that even the placid Foxes Trust have released a strongly worded statement on the matter, which is like a meteorite level event for them.
And today, we learn that having been in talks with Graham Potter and agreeing personal terms, the club is reportedly now speaking to Steve Cooper instead. The same Steve Cooper that, whilst a perfectly good Championship manager who would have been a solid option for us had we failed up go up, showed nothing in his 18 months at Forest in the Premier League to show that he is a top flight level manager, whilst playing some truly insipid football in the process. Don't get me wrong, Cooper did a good job to get Forest promoted and, before that, was decent for Swansea and played a much better brand of football. But there's nothing there to suggest he is a PL manager. Surviving one season when the teams that finished below you were all, without exception, basketcases is not proof of you being a PL quality manager. Even Nigel Pearson had a better record in his first season as a PL manager.
There is some indication that Potter has stalled because he is waiting for a bigger job (*cough* England). If this is the case then I have some sympathy. But it's also another sign of how far backwards we have gone, from a job that managers would have fallen over themselves for just 18 months ago to one that is now, at best, second choice for anyone with any stature or level of success. That is, once again, the fault of Top, Rudkin and King Power.
£55 to watch a Steve Cooper team with a -10 points deduction getting battered every week. All aboard the Choo choo train to Mediocresville.
King Power's biggest error so far?
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
Foxello
The ticket price balls-up is just another example of own goal after own goal...... yes we know that the club needs to show a higher income but do not fleece those that have been or have tried to support the club through a dire time!!
And to compare our prices with those down south is just demeaning, as though they think that we will swallow any old guff and pay up just because we are in the PL ( for however long we stay there this time)
The club needs strong leadership, engagement with true supporters, get fans and community back on the same page and let us see a direction rather than a scatter gun approach that see's us lurch from disaster to disaster.
There is a real upsurge now against the board and they maybe shocked at how deep this is come the start of the season.
UTF
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
"There is a real upsurge now against the board and they maybe shocked at how deep this is come the start of the season"
Yep. If there is ever going to be large scale protests or discontent towards the owners, it'll be next season. Especially if, as expected, we get a significant points deduction because of their mismanagement. I think they gained back a bit of the benefit of the doubt from wavering fans like myself last season but that is going to be whittled away very quickly at this rate, and the Cooper appointment could accelerate that pretty quickly.
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
Believe Cooper has now agreed terms.
Expect announcement soon.
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
Hey Foxello! Thanks for unfiltering me and can I just apologise for being such a tool a few months back - I was not dealing with things too well last season.
Agree with your OP on the state of things at the club. As you know I’ve been calling out the owners for a very long time and it’s sad to see how far we’ve fallen under Tops recent leadership.
In terms of Cooper - I really don’t know. I would have much preferred Corberan but part of thinks it may not be a bad thing. He is by all accounts an exceptional man manager - his players love him and what he did with Forest in the championship is nothing short of miraculous. They were bottom when he found them and he got them promoted in the same season
I think when he got to the PL he was hindered by his own club somewhat with their bonkers transfer approach. In the end he wanted to play the more progressive attacking football he did at Forest and Swansea but he opted for a more negative safety first approach to survive
I think right now that might not be a bad approach for us - because we have a squad that needs real investment and it’s going to take a tighter to keep us up. I certainly don’t want a Sam Allardyce but equally I think Maresca would have had us looking like Burnley under Kompany
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
*fighter
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
No problem 98, apology accepted Had some time to think myself - new season, fresh start. Plus I was genuinely keen to get your take on the current situation.
I hope you are right but his record at Premier League is very mediocre. His stats are pretty much the worst for a Premier League manager during his time at Forest. I don't see anything there to suggest that things will change with us. Do we have a better squad than he had? Possibly, and they have had a season of possession based football under Maresca, which may help under a manager who played a good style of play at Swansea and Forest in the Champ but then regressed in the PL. But tactically I look at the way he set Forest up and just don't see a top flight manager there.
For me, someone who plays a slightly less rigid version of Enzoball but with more tactical noise and a willingness to be practical would have been the best fit. Potter or Corberan would have been better options in that regard, though the former was certainly known to be a stubborn dogmatic sort as well. Cooper just seems like the cheaper option who is less willing to cause KPFC issues behind the scenes and who will be less expensive to sack if things don't go well. We will see how he gets on but it has real Megson/Shakey vibes for me.
posted 1 week, 4 days ago
The one positive about Cooper is the love the Forest fans have for him. He’s a manager that even with a very uninspiring PL record, the fans absolutely did not want to see the back of. Infact - since they hired Nuno, they’ve barely progressed.
That to me says that to judge him just on his time with Forest in the PL might not be seeing the full picture. He has a very good relationship with his players and his brand of football at Swansea and Forest in the championship was very good. 3 at the back, heavy utilisation of the wide players, looking to dominate the ball on the front foot
If he brings that approach to Leicester balanced with pragmatism - then it could work. If he sets us up every week not to lose - then it won’t. Basically he needs to adopt a counter attacking approach that utilises the pace of the squad out wide
I certainly don’t think it’s the best appointment we could have made - but it’s not the worst either.