Manager-less Leicester City were rebuffed last week when they made an approach to take Kevin Blackwell away from Leeds United. They were sent away with a flea in heir ear, of course, but the best bit for Leeds United fans is the delicious irony of this situation. After George Graham gave Leeds the two fingers and jumped ship for Spurs in September 1998, Leeds United made it clear they had but one target, Martin O'Neill. Martin O'Neill is, as we all know, an honourable fellow and said that he wouldn't speak to Leeds unless the Foxes Board gave him permission to do so. They famously refused. The situation became more and more fraught and eventually Leeds appointed David O'Leary and Leeds went on to enjoy their best success for a decade. The Leeds Board and Martin O'Neill both came out of the situation with honour, but the Foxes Board came out holding onto a manager who had wanted to leave by enforcing a contract term and refusing to abide by a "gentleman's agreement" that O'Neill believed was in place. After O'Leary signed on as Leeds manager, law graduate O'Neill signed a new City contract with a get-out clause, no longer trusting the Leicester City Board, and when Celtic came calling 18 months later he got out!! What goes around comes around eh?
So now the Foxes are manager-less, uprooted to the new Walkers Bowl or Theatre of Crisps, they sacked respected manager Craig Levein without firstly securing the services of a replacement. They've been caught nosing around several Championship managers already, most notably Billy Davies (Preston North End), Steve Cotterill (Burnley), Mike Newell (Luton Town) and then Kevin Blackwell. Now I'm not sure what hallucinogenic substances the Foxes Board are smoking, (and definitely inhaling), but it is a novel idea that a manager would give up the play-offs and the chance of Premiership football next season in favour of a relegation dogfight and the near certainty of League One footie next season with a penniless club. Boy, that'd take some selling!
Latest news from The Theatre of Cheesy Wot-sits is that they have almost certainly secured the services of the legendary er... Ian Holloway, current incumbent of the QPR hot-seat. Leeds beat QPR 2-0 on Saturday last and Holloway gave some indication of his disillusionment when he referred to his team as Queens Park Strangers, alluding to the number of new signings in the team. Apart from a nice line in original and occasionally embarrassing patter there is nothing in Holloway's record to suggest he would be an improvement over Levein. Looks like Leicester City are foxed!
Read what others have to say on this story!
Return to previous page
