Leicester City may have used the international break to collate options for replacing under pressure Brendan Rodgers. Here is what we think.
Seven games played, one point gained, rock bottom of the Premier League. The Foxes ought to be performing far better than their current form suggests. Relegation should not be found upon any card in fate’s strange deck. Anything of the sort is a cataclysm.
The King Power club’s gaffer is under immense pressure heading into the next run of fixtures, which includes a run in with East Midland’s fellow league side Nottingham Forest. There remains little support for Rodgers amongst a disgruntled fanbase, and the top seem to agree.
Leicester City scouting out options
CBS reporter Ben Jacobs claims that Leicester may well have used the international break to scout out options, should they decide to part company with the manager. Of course, any decision to sack Rodgers would need an immediate replacement lined up.
It is believed that Brentford’s highly acclaimed tactician Thomas Frank is top of the King Power club’s list of candidates. Furthermore, Mauricio Pochettino, Sean Dyche, and Rafael Benitez have been postulated pertaining to the job.
Another concern for the club would perhaps be the financial situation the side find themselves in. As is now well-known, the Foxes have struggled to invest in the side, with financial fair play regulations being the primary culprit: we have made too much in losses to invest. Sacking the boss counts towards these numbers, so it is difficult when the cost is around £10m to sack Rodgers.
Should Leicester make that move, it is believed the financial losses would reach a total of £120m. These values would be ridiculous and represent a huge outlay for the board. I should expect that in a better financial situation, the manager would have already been moved on in favour of one of their scouted options.
Therefore, any change in position would either necessitate the continuation of poor results – I feel two more games without a win would be the end of it – or the financial means being found to remove the Northern Irishman from the post. What is certain is there are plenty of fish in the sea.
The options rated
Fellow Foxes of Leicester contributor Akash Roy rated both Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche highly. The former for his tactical ability and renowned qualities in turning around poor form. The latter for his tenacity in incessant relegation fights with low budgets. Either would be good choices. Both would be a 7/10.
‘Poch’ and ‘Rafa’ are interesting options. On the face of it, both are stars who could completely change the destiny of the King Power club. Pochettino is a team builder, and should a move be made for the ex-Tottenham manager, few would be disappointed, an 8/10.
Benitez would be more similar to Dyche in his impact on the side. He would steady the ship well, yet I doubt the longevity of Rafa as a possible gaffer for Leicester. Kuhn Top should listen to Thomas Bradley Alderman when he suggests steering clear of the former Newcastle United man. A manager actively asking for work is not necessarily a good sign.
Everything depends upon how much money is available and what cost each would bring with them. Dyche would be the most fiscally shrewd, with lower wages and a high positive impact on the work rate of an already well-developed and technically-gifted squad. However, Pochettino is the most potentially destiny-changing of the candidates.
As such, although Frank tops the list, I would still like the King Power club to lay out a similar amount of cash to the under pressure coach, and seek to employ ‘Poch’. Scout him out, impress him with a vision, and get Rodgers out.