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In 2016, Leicester City achieved the unthinkable by clinching the Premier League title, a decade after narrowly avoiding relegation by finishing 16th in the Championship. As fans reflect on that triumphant rise, the potential for an even more dramatic fall looms large.
Currently, Leicester finds itself precariously perched above the relegation zone, saved only by goal difference, following a six-point deduction for breaching spending regulations. This weekend could see them slip into the bottom three if they lose to Birmingham and if West Brom and Blackburn manage to secure points against Stoke and Norwich, respectively.
The seeds of this crisis were sown over the past five years, with a series of missteps leaving the club in turmoil. Supporters primarily hold two figures accountable: chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and the embattled director of football, Jon Rudkin.
From flawed squad planning to financial mismanagement, Top and Rudkin are criticized for a litany of errors. They have allowed underperforming players to linger too long, exacerbating the club’s woes.
Focusing on Rudkin, he enjoys unwavering support from Top, who publicly affirmed his trust in a rare interview series last month. While loyalty can be commendable, it is problematic when employees remain in place despite poor results.
Leicester have been deducted six points for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules
Andy King is in interim charge after the club sacked Marti Cifuentes last month
A series of managers, from Brendan Rodgers to Enzo Maresca and Steve Cooper, believed that – at different times – Leicester had not been entirely clear with them about the club’s financial picture. If the manager is unhappy, disharmony usually follows. Rudkin may dispute that but as he has so far been reluctant to speak in public, we cannot know.
Strong executives empower their managers. Instead, over several years, Leicester players have felt able to go over the manager’s head and take grievances directly to Rudkin. That breeds dysfunction. It breeds situations where at least one senior player was known to stroll defiantly around the pitch during training sessions, infuriating team-mates who were giving 100 per cent.
During the first Premier League relegation season in 2022-23, players described Leicester’s sumptuous £100million training ground as ‘a holiday camp’.
Late in 2024, players flew to Denmark for a Christmas party on the eve of Cooper’s sacking, appearing to taunt their former boss by standing near a sign praising Maresca, whose Chelsea team had won at Leicester hours earlier. Others feel they can flat-out refuse requests to stay overnight in the hotel-style rooms at the training ground.
Rudkin is not directly responsible for this, of course, but a more alert executive would create a culture where such actions are not even contemplated. Yet he did have a say over the lucrative contracts handed to players with little market interest – Jannik Vestergaard, Harry Winks, Conor Coady, Jordan Ayew, Oliver Skipp and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
He is responsible for the transfer market haggling that costs Leicester valuable time and seems to offer little benefit. There are many examples but one will suffice. At the start of the January 2025 window, Sheffield United wanted Hamza Choudhury on loan with an option to buy.
Leicester would agree only to a loan with an obligation – for a player on a hefty contract who was unwanted by then-manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. With the deadline approaching, Leicester agreed to a loan with option after all. Valuable time lost over a single issue, in a month when speed and flexibility are vital.
Maresca wanted to appoint his own sporting director and would often grow frustrated when he could not reach Rudkin to discuss recruitment or contracts. Yes, Rudkin was there when Leicester won the title. But has he really been subjected to the sort of scrutiny from ownership that he should have been? Even if Leicester appoint a technical director, as they insist they will, that person will likely report to Rudkin. Fans are understandably sceptical about whether anything will change.
Leicester have struggled this season and are above the relegation zone on goal difference
Fans blame director of football Jon Rudkin (left) and chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha for their problems
This summer marks a decade since the greatest day in the club’s history – they may now ‘celebrate’ it by being in the third tier
Along with many things, the treatment of Rudkin falls on Top. His father, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was killed in a helicopter crash in October 2018. Top wanted to honour Vichai’s legacy and for the first part of his reign, it seemed he would do so. His commitment to the club has never been in question.
Yet is Top the high-class leader an ambitious football club needs? The kindest thing to say is that the jury is out.Â
Top was far too late to sack Rodgers in 2023 and was perhaps too quick to dismiss Cooper 18 months later. Leicester would deny it, but when they appointed Van Nistelrooy to succeed Cooper, it appeared as though they did so primarily because the Dutchman had led Manchester United to two wins over the Foxes as interim manager.
They appointed Marti Cifuentes in July but because of the financial situation, he was not given the chance to sideline certain senior players and stamp his mark on the club. Indeed, the appointment was odd in the first place. A promising young coach, Cifuentes was not the man for a squad that has proved so difficult to handle. Why not hire Chris Wilder, who was interviewed for the role and had vowed to shake things up?
The Covid-19 pandemic made a huge impact on Leicester’s parent company King Power and Top needed to lead their recovery from the front. It may have damaged his ability to keep on top of things at Leicester, though.
It’s also only five years since Leicester lifted the FA Cup for the first time at Wembley against Chelsea
The recent interviews were a welcome attempt to grip an alarming situation yet for too long, he has appeared distant. Indeed, some at Leicester even wonder whether he has a clear grasp of how each department works. Top would insist the contrary. Now is the time to prove it.
When Leicester face dropping into the relegation zone, it feels glib to mention positives. Empty seats will dominate the backdrop for the next home game, against Southampton on Tuesday, which will also see protests against the club’s leaders.
Yet the club’s academy is in excellent shape. Jeremy Monga is a jewel and the Foxes did very well to hang on to him, amid interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and other elite clubs across the continent. He is the emblem of a system that is actually working. There are also smart, diligent people working at the club who, given the opportunity to shine, can help revive it.
That revival cannot come soon enough – but for as long as Top and Rudkin are running the show, a significant number of supporters doubt whether it ever will.