Ambitious Thailand

Article by e-Leicester's Ross Eade

Follow e-Leicester City on Twitter!

Check out the e-Football Podcast!

Following on from all the celebrations, festivities and promotion parties, it’s been back to work for the staff of Leicester City Football Club this week.

In my last article, I said it was crucial for Nigel Pearson to secure the core of the team that grabbed themselves a place back in the Premier League, and he seems to doing exactly that. At the time of writing this, Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Marcin Wasilewski have extended their stays with the foxes and top goal scorer David Nugent is still in contract negotiations. But the news that has got the blue army really excited, is that it has been reported that Kasper Schmeichel has agreed to sign a new deal, although nothing has been officially confirmed. The Danish international was strongly linked to Southampton earlier on in the week, but hopes are now high that Leicester can keep hold of their man between the sticks. However, we are still waiting to hear of any news that Pearson himself has signed a new contract.

One piece of news that will have slightly tarnished another good week for the Leicester City faithful is the almost certain departure of long serving winger Lloyd Dyer, who looks set to move to Watford on a 3 year deal.

There have been plenty of transfer rumours during the past seven days. The strongest of which is that Pearson seems to be looking to add Charlton Athletics out of contract goalkeeper, Ben Hamer, to his squad. Leicester have also been strongly linked to West Brom defender Billy Jones, who himself is also out of contract next month, as well as Manchester United young gun Nick Powell. No inbound transfers have been confirmed yet, but it looks as if Pearson wants to get most business done during the early stages of the summer break.

The biggest news to come out of the King Power stadium this week came from the club owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who has announced that he is prepared to spend £180m over a 3 year plan to turn Leicester City in to a top five Premier League club.

This is a highly ambitious plan which has left the vast majority of Leicester City fans buzzing about the clubs future. However it has been met with criticism from others, who believe spending such an amount of money could leave the club in trouble if things were to go belly up. So what could go wrong?

Well, in the past we have seen great success and great failure when a club spends huge amounts of money to try and ensure their Premier League status. The examples that stand out for me, unfortunately, are the ones that failed. In 2008, Portsmouth were at an all-time high. Under the management of Harry Redknapp and with wealthy owners behind them, they had established themselves as a solid mid table team in the Premier League. They also went on to win the FA Cup that year and qualified for European competition as a result. However the financial burden was too much. Two years later the club entered administration, were deducted league points as a result and were swiftly relegated to The Championship. Four years later, the club are now a mid-table League 2 side. All as a result of terrible financial management.

The other, and most recent example, is Q.P.R. When they hit the heights of the Premier League in 2011, they spent millions upon millions on good players who have demanded a top wage. However, it never worked out for them. Two years after their promotion to the top flight, and nearly dropping back down the previous season, they were relegated back to The Championship. This season they are currently in the Playoff final at Wembley on their quest to bounce straight back to the top flight, but they are doing it with a squad that has a higher wage bill than the newly crowned champions of the Spanish La Liga, Atletico Madrid. Plus if they don’t manage to win the Playoff against Derby County, they could find themselves in big trouble financially.

So how will Leicester fair with their owner vowing to spend hundreds of millions of pounds in order to turn the foxes into one of the Premierships top sides?

It is absolutely vital that this is done the right way. The chairman has already stated that he will make sure that the club operates within the rules of Financial Fair Play, so he must ensure that they do. With the Thai owners already wiping the clubs debt and purchasing the stadium, they seem more than ready to invest into the clubs future.

With regards to the gaffer, unlike some managers, Nigel Pearson has never spent excessively on a player. His signings have been well thought through and for the most part have proven to be wise choices, so this will also be key to make sure the club does not overspend. Pearson has already commented that the club will not overhaul the squad, so this also bodes well.

As well as spending a lot of money on the club, vice chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha, has stated the owners are keen to honour the clubs history and heritage. Something other Premier League chairmen have not done at other clubs. This is sure to have gone down well with the blue army.

Is the target of a top 5 finish within 3 years unrealistic? Perhaps. It is fantastic that the owners of the club have shown such enthusiasm and determination for the club to succeed and it will have won them many fans within the Leicester City community (if everyone isn’t already a fan that is). But given many other clubs wealth and ambition in the Premiership, it will be no easy task.

Overall, the hunger that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha have shown for the club to succeed has been very impressive. With sensible owners, a smart manager and loyal fans, this could be just the start of something very special for the Leicester City family. However, they may need to consider changing their shirt sponsor from ‘Amazing Thailand’ to ‘Ambitious Thailand’.

© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football