On Sunday, it was reported that Leicester City’s owner, Top Srivaddhanaprabha was going to be in the United Kingdom this week to seek out a replacement for Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers lost his job after another dour match week that saw them fall to 19th place on the Premier League log, putting them in danger of getting relegated for the first time since their 2014/15 return to the top flight.
In that time, the Foxes have won the Premier League and remain the only team outside the big six to do so in more than two decades, lost their owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (father of Top Srivaddhanaprabha), been to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA European Conference League, and have challenged the status quo.
In that time, too, they have had four managers and threw caretaker managers. Rodgers is the most recent manager and now, he has given way for another who the club’s upper management, led by Srivaddhanaprabha, will hand the reins to.
The decision to let go of Rodgers is as unfortunate as it is untimely. The Northern Irishman had overstayed his welcome by a full season despite getting the team into the top eight in the previous one. The end of last season showed that Rodgers was running out of ideas, just as he was at Liverpool and at Celtic, despite managing to win all the trophies he did.
The Foxes are in dire straits and have the likes of Rafael Benitez, Jesse Marsch, Ralph Hasenhuttl and Adi Hutter as potential replacements for Rodgers. The fans will be wondering who Srivaddhanaprabha has his eye on from among these names.
That is a question only the owner can answer. However, we can provide some insight into the best option from this list and that is Jesse Marsch.
The American recently coached Leeds United and was almost in the dugout for Southampton after they fired Ralph Hasenhuttl. He came in at the tail end of the 2021/22 season for Marcelo Bielsa when Leeds were in the same boat as 2022/23 Leicester. He stabilised the ship, gave them an identity and helped them remain in the Premier League for one more season.
This makes him the best option for the Foxes at the moment. Doing it with Leeds, a team on a lesser budget and overall lesser quality of players than Leicester means he can pull the same off for the fans at the King Power stadium.
Top Srivaddhanaprabha and his executives are surely going to be looking at this fact among others as they consider Marsch for the role. Fans, however, should not hold their breath as the decision of the owner is final until he has to make another one in the future.
