The situation we currently find ourselves in, although far from unique, is extremely worrying. After the temporary appointment of Nigel Worthington came a brief but explosive appearance and disappearance of Martin Allen, followed by a disloyal Gary Megson and a disastrous appointment of Ian Holloway. We hit rock bottom (literally) but were picked up immediately by Milan’s first decent management appointment of a certain Nigel Pearson, who galvanised the team spirit & thanks to an excellent backroom staff managed to get us some fantastic young loan signings that blended well with the squad, a squad that was buoyed with a few really good permanent signings.
Back to back promotions were almost achieved, indeed bar a smug penalty they would perhaps have been achieved and we’d have now found ourselves in the premiership elite. The 12,000 odd fans who have already ‘invested’ in a season ticket were looking for more of the same this next season.
So why have the wheels appeared to have come off ‘big time’ and what makes someone like Nigel appear to want to leave the club where he has made such progress and is generally speaking much appreciated by the fans in a similar manner Martin O’Neil was to go to a whole new playing field at Hull City a club known to have severe financial problems despite the £48m over 4 years in parachute payments?
As well as publicly thanking Pearson for his marvellous exploits for our club, here are a few questions we will be asking both Milan & Lee Hoos in order to try to be able to fully grasp where things have gone wrong:…..
· What were the relations between Milan & Nigel & indeed Lee Hoos & Nigel in early June 2010 compared to when he first signed in June 2008?
· Did you make Nigel an attractive contract offer to stop on as Leicester City manager?
· How many offers were made to Nigel & were these formally turned down?
· Why did Nigel never sign an extended contract?
· When Hull came in for Pearson, what attempts did you make to stave of their desire to talk to him?
· What made you decide to allow Pearson to speak to them?
· Has a compensation package been agreed for Pearson, if so when was this made?
· Knowing how concerned the loyal fans are at LCFC, why has no statement been made by the club since the story broke?
· If Pearson and his backroom staff go does this include Chris Powell?
· What attempts would you make to keep Chris Powell at the club considering how highly rated he is on the training ground for supporting & developing the younger first team players & providing the bridge between the players & the coaching staff?
· Was Nigel happy with the budget you proposed to be made available to him for the new season?
· If we have to look for a new manager, what additional steps will you take to ensure we get the right man first time round rather than fifth time lucky as we were with Pearson?
· Is the level of debt at the club now worse than when we went into administration?
· Do you think the level of debt is still serviceable?
· Does this financial situation mean we will have to sell our best playing assets prior to the start of the season?
· Are you able to confirm or deny persistent rumour that Milan is close to finding a buyer for the club?
We will keep you posted via this web site as to whether we get a reply from either Lee Hoos or Milan Mandaric and if so what the response is.