State of City today – Not as bad as painted!

It seems that there is much head scratching within the football world about the likely move to the KC of Leicester City boss, Nigel Pearson. Many are saying that the move doesn’t appear to be a step up, that the Tigers don’t have more than an average squad, and that the club are in ‘dire’ financial straits. However, when you look a bit further then its not as bad as painted, despite what the media like to make out. But how would they know?

Most City fans would agree that there is no doubt the City squad wasn’t up to being in the PL, and that with Moyo, Hunt and probably Bullard leaving, the quality has gone down, but only in comparison to the PL. Compared with the Championship clubs, there’s plenty of quality left in there, especially if the young players who made their first team debut last season develop as expected. Its not an ‘average’ squad, ‘above average’ would be a better description but with possibly not enough quality for better than mid-table without the addition of one or two players. Many would want strikers for choice, although Kamel Ghilas is still with us, as is Daniel Cousin.

When the promotion winning squad of 08 is compared with the squad now, there’s no way that the current squad are not better than that from two years ago. Indeed many of the players who won promotion are still with the club. They were good enough then, and with 2 years experience, better than they were. Just because the club was relegated from the PL does not make them an ‘average’ team in the Championship.

We know the club have financial problems but that was under Paul Duffen, who showed that he wasn’t on top of the job. Adam Pearson, Head of Football Operations, knows better than most how to run a club, he knows what he is doing and will be doing his utmost to clear off the debts within the shortest possible time. We trust him, and in this day and age, that’s not something you see very often.

People are asking how the deal for Nigel Pearson would be funded. Its understood that owner Russell Bartlett is involved with arranging the deal with Adam Pearson, and its rumoured that he’s finding the money to cover it. Its something perhaps the PLC clubs supporters have trouble with, this concept of a single owner. However, with Moyo, Hunt and probably Bullard leaving on loan, plus the slashing of the wage bill through relegation clauses, the situation is not as bad as some would suggest. Its not as if there isn’t a revenue stream to service the debt, and with AP running his own austerity campaign within the club, there is less for the TigerNation to worry about than say, one month ago. The threat of the CVA appears to have receded and the club should be ok for the new season.

Yes, it looks strange to see the possibility of Nigel Pearson leaving Leicester City and being the new manager at the KC, but perhaps the national media should ask Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric what he was done, or not done, to make Pearson want to consider a move, as no one stays where they are not happy. Perhaps Nigel Pearson likes the way Adam Pearson runs things, or AP’s plans for the future, or what kind of challenge it would be at the KC. We don’t know, its not our business, although it is a bit distasteful to poach another’s manager in this way. We shall find out if and when to deal is announced and then we’ll know how it stands.

TigerNation, things are somewhat better than the media would try and make you believe, hold onto that thought and lets go into the pre-season with some confidence that the club is making progress forwards.