u/Nifty_Parms

Full disclosure - I am undecided on ownership.

Performance on the pitch has gone full circle, but it could be a lot worse off it. The main thing I want is to be able to watch a club that represents the city and the same values I do. It isn't about being a Premier League club or having rich owners (Top is still amongst the richest single owners in the country who is not an investment fund)

So I made a list... A list of all the bad positions a club I could think of in half an hour that have been put in by their owners.

I'm sure there are more, but just for a discussion.

I've not gone into footballing reasons (like how the Kroenkes faced years of protests before turning it around). Nor have I gone into the political parts (like how PIF owns stock in Clearlake, which owns Chelsea or how Morcambe hired a manager with no experience but fit their ethos).

The Rich Clubs

Man Utd - £1.2bn has been spent on debt interest, debt repayments, dividends and fees to the family. Redundancies, etc.

Chelsea - Part-owner Mark Walters is currently under investigation by federal investigators. Todd Boehly is an investor/director of Vivid Seats, an unauthorised ticket platform which sells a lot of Chelsea tickets.

Tottenham - Managed by the Lewis family estate after Joe Lewis was convicted of fraud.

Man City - 115 charges.

Juventus - Embroiled in mismanagement that led to relegation.

AC Milan - We placed in so much debt that their creditors, RedBird Capital Partners, decided to take control of the club.

The Rest

Sheffield United - Three previous owners have all taken out legal action against each other. This week there are reports of a winding-up order, and a 12-point deduction.

Burnley - A leveraged buyout which placed a club with money in the back into debt. ALK Capital Ltd (holding company) have accounts that are 18 months overdue.

Everton/Genoa - 777 Partners agreed to buy Everton but the funds were shown to never exist. They did own Genoa, but after collapsing financially, they had to sell it. Co-founder Josh Wander was prosecuted for fraud.

Derby - Chris Kirchner agreed to buy the club from Mel Morris. He has since been convicted of fraud.

Crystal Palace/Lyon/Botafogo - Refused to resolve ownership issues, meaning Palace were demoted to the Conference League from the Europa. Lyon were almost relegated due to financial issues. Botafogo faced a FIFA registration ban on new players for failing to make transfer payments. Textor was forced to resign as President of Lyon, was removed from the board at Botafogo, and Eagle Football (holding company) was put into administration by its creditors.

Newcastle - Human Rights issues. (too many to type down)

Bristol City and Derby (again) - Turki Al-Sheikh has had two takeovers, both agreed, only to pull out at the last minute. The Athletic reported that he orchestrated a campaign of repression, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture, including people who joked about him on social media.

The old-school bad owners.

Blackburn - Venkys

Reading - Dai Yongge

Sheffield Wednesday - Dejphon Chansiri

Birmingham - Carson Yeung 

Sunderland - Ellis Short, followed by Stewart Donald & Charlie Methven

Aston Villa - Randy Lerner, followed by Tony Xia

Blackpool - Karl Oyston

Cardiff - Vincent Tan

Wigan - Al-Hammad

Derby -Mel Morris

Covernty City - Sisu Capital

Ridsdale, Cellino, Ashley, Gaydamak...

We could be in a situation where no one knows what financial rules they have to abide by.

I expect the old rules will remain in place while this is sorted out.

So what type of fanbase are we going to be?

For me, the changes in senior management looked like they had improved. A manager in early, who wants to build on our youth team and bring in some leaders to help. The away kit launch even seems like they want to engage with the community, and interviewing fans who have travelled to Cadiz is a good step forward.

The kits look good, and there are options without a sponsor (and even a King Power one if you fancy it).

Yes, I know we are in League One and have dropped considerably, but if you haven’t supported the club for more than a decade, this is what we have always done. The highs are high, and the lows are low. (I have literally donated money in an effort to save the club from going out of business).

And we take risks. Pearson had only managed 12 games before he first came to us. Maresca was similar, and Claudia Ranieri was seen as a joke after his time with Greece. I have my own opinions on the finances, and I think a lot of clubs learnt from us to game the FFP and PSR system (I’m looking at you Villa, Chelsea and Forest), but again, we were the first club to try and break up the established “Big 6”, and I’m kind of proud of that.

We’ve had disgruntled fans at Rodgers and moans and groans at Maresca. We’ve seen racism, xenophobia and death threats. This isn’t football.

I don’t know why people support the club (perhaps that's a good place to start), or what they want out of football (get away from stress, show love for the city, etc.), but perhaps now is the time to think about what we are as a fanbase…

So when something does go wrong, which it inevitably will, how are we going to react?

(FYI, feel free to downvote if you want; oddly, my self-worth isn’t linked to this)

Ben Jacobs is reporting that Ipswich Town (who love buying wingers for big fees) have agreed a £20mil + addons deal for Fatawu.

Given that we paid a reported £10m + £7m in addons, I am surprised someone is willing to pay more.

His book value would have been £6m so the profit is £14m, minus is he achieved any of the addons (I doubt Sporting put 2 relegations as addons).

I'm a bit baffled as to why the fee is that high, but I'll take it.

Jamie Vardy is training in full Leicester training kit at Seagrave.

He's not coming back, but it's nice to see him around.

Just enjoy the content.

It is actually happening.... and it starts tomorrow.

Jamie Vardy is starting his own podcast.

Chat football. Chat s***. Get a podcast. Jamie Vardy’s Having A Party - Episode 1 coming Wednesday, 10th June 

Chat

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZXlQ6vtY-C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==