Jordan Blackwell writing in the LM. Easily the best journalist covering City at the moment. Those of us who remember the days of Bill Anderson will know that criticising City for the LM is not something that happens often.
Leicester City have failed to harness FFP rage to supercharge bid to avoid disaster
If City hoped to create a siege mentality with their bullish responses to the Premier League and EFL, they have not managed it, with the contradictions too big to ignore.
Leicester City may have hoped, in responding bullishly to the Premier League and EFL’s actions against them, to create a siege mentality that supercharged the club’s bid for promotion.
They’re railing against the system. They’re a crusader for all wronged clubs. They’re not going to succumb without a fight.
That is how they framed the charge for an alleged breach of Profitability and Sustainability Rules and the transfer embargo placed on them last week.
They may have hoped supporters would buy into that stance and join them in their battle. It didn’t work.
There is little sympathy for
the club. Many fans have instead questioned the running of the club and how badly they were managed to have allegedly broken the rules and yet still been relegated anyway.
It’s not that there are not legitimate concerns about the regulations and how they may favour the most famous clubs, protecting them from ambitious sides attempting to disrupt the top order.
And the club’s point over the premature nature of the EFL embargo, handed out with three months to go in the financial year, feels a fair one.
But it also seems like City’s fight is one of technicalities and timing. The injustice isn’t strong enough to direct the full force of fan rage towards the governing bodies. These are fans who know about the transfer failures, the high wage expenditure and the inability to offload players that have combined to put City in this predicament. Plenty of clubs of a similar size to City have managed to follow the rules and stay in the Premier League, even qualifying for Europe.
There are the contradictions too. The club said they “would prefer the (legal) proceedings to be in public, so its supporters and the wider world can be informed about the important issues of football governance that will be considered”. And yet the very limited communication from the hierarchy with supporters over the past few years suggests fans being informed is far from one of their priorities.
That City claim to be representing all clubs when they
were reportedly seeking financial compensation against Everton when they were first charged also feels like a contradiction. It’s not a good look.
While the possible bid to create a siege mentality has not paid off, Enzo Maresca and his players will likely still get a strong backing when the Championship resumes this Friday. The manager has built up plenty of goodwill and the bond between the players and supporters is excellent, having recovered considerably since relegation.
And they need that support. City begin the run-in in a high-pressure situation. Not only do they have potential points penalties hanging over them if the allegations are proven,
but they’ve fallen from top spot for the first time in six months. The gap to third has closed considerably and promotion is far from the certainty it seemed only seven or eight weeks ago.
To not get promoted this season would be an even greater disaster now. The squad would likely be dismantled this summer, and further adapting to a Championship revenue as well as ensuring the financial rules aren’t at risk of being broken again would be a tough task. That's even if the registration embargo is lifted. Promotion next season would be a much more difficult challenge.
So the club, the players and the manager do need support. And when the first whistle is blown at Ashton Gate on Friday afternoon, financial issues will be put to one side for plenty. But for some, it may be harder to get behind the team.
City fans were rightly angry when Everton and Forest, their two relegation rivals at the end of last season, were charged with breaches. They felt their team, for all their faults, had been cheated out of a place in the Premier League. How are those fans supposed to feel now?
Allegiance to a club is not blind for everyone. For some, it will be more difficult to get behind a club that may be shown to have worked outside the lines on their way to a potential promotion. Supporters want, and deserve, their club to be better, to not be taken for fools, and for them to strive for success while staying within the rules.
