The most recent developments regarding Leicester City, including the enlargement and renovation of the King Power Stadium, the decision to fire Marc Brys as manager of OH Leuven, and Wout Faes’ difficulties with Belgium
It has been 13 months since the King Power Stadium expansion plans and all that comes with them were approved by a unanimous vote of the Leicester City Council. There has been stillness ever since.
There was no likelihood of work being done around the ground right away because a Section 106 agreement was necessary. This is an agreement between City and the council regarding what the club will do to enhance the neighborhood in some way in exchange for receiving approval for the King Power redevelopment. However, there had been no news regarding that either.
Given their performance on the field, the club has undoubtedly had more pressing matters on its plate. Over the past year, their attention has been focused on a rebuild after a failed relegation bid. However, it was said when the ideas were first floated that losing to the Championship would not result in the expansion being abandoned.
Some fans are worried that City are no longer committed to increasing the King Power Stadium’s capacity to 40,000 as a result of the silence. Recent statements indicate that they are.
The stadium development was one among the items covered in the minutes from the September meeting of the Foxes Trust’s biannual Fans Consultative Committee. The club acknowledged that the Section 106 terms “will soon be agreed and ratified by the club and council,” according to the minutes. Once everything is set up, City will receive the go-ahead “to start the project within a five-year timeframe.”
The impact of the club’s divisional standing on the plans was also reviewed, and City stated that while being in the Premier League is a better position from which to start building work, plans would not automatically be placed on hold if they were to get promoted and then relegated again.
“Divisional status is not the only factor, but membership in the Premier League is clearly better for the business model,” the minutes stated. The club stated that the start of development work would be supported by a business plan that would address risk considerations, making it unlikely that development would be hindered by conditions altering mid-project (such as relegation).
King Power sack Leuven manager
While things are going well at City, where the choice to hire Enzo Maresca has so far paid off handsomely, the same cannot be said of OH Leuven, King Power’s second club. Manager Marc Brys was fired last week.
He had been in charge of Leuven for three and a half years at the time, making him the manager with the longest tenure in the Belgian top division. However, a terrible start to this season cost him his job. He was under fire after only collecting two points from his first five games. Leuven reacted by earning seven points from their following nine games, but after that they lost twice, falling to Standard Liege and Cercle Brugge thanks to goals scored in the final ten minutes.
The board decided to take action and fired Brys because the team was 14th out of 16 and in danger of being relegated. They are now looking for a new boss.
A statement from supporters was presented to the “English members of the board” just two days prior to the decision being made on Friday. This was probably addressed to Jon Rudkin, director of football for City, and Susan Whelan, chief executive of City, both of whom sit on the board at OH Leuven.
The fans’ letter to the board, which Het Nieuwsblad reported contained the following threat to boycott the club’s fan day on December 26 unless Brys was fired: “The catastrophic situation we are now in as a club, within the relegation zone, warrants the resignation of coach Marc Brys. We will continue our boycott as long as Brys is not sacked. If the English-speaking OHL board members ignore our request, we anticipate hearing directly from them. Other measures will be taken if the OHL board refuses to comply with our request.
Since many of the club’s key players were sold in the summer, there has been persistent fan resentment of the club’s management. Despite having said only a fortnight previously that he “feels more support than ever from King Power,” chants demanding the departure of CEO Peter Willems were made during the first few weeks of the season, and he did go in September.
Faes backed after criticism
After defeating Austria 3-2 last week, Belgium has secured a spot in the Euros for next summer. Wout Faes of City, who has played every minute of their qualifying matches thus far, is very likely to be in their team in Germany.
However, the center-back has faced criticism, which has prompted Domenico Tedesco, the player’s manager, to defend him. Faes struggled to convince in a victory over Azerbaijan during the previous international break, and after being chosen to play Austria, it was widely believed that he once again fell short.
Tedesco, though, declared over the weekend: “I am not concerned about Wout Faes’ condition. I see what you mean; via him, we lost a significant chance in Azerbaijan. We must consider the overall picture. Wout is crucial to us. He was useful against Austria on Friday in a number of circumstances. To defend against this structure is difficult.
Following such statements, the manager put them into practice by selecting Faes once more for the qualifier against Sweden on Monday night. Due to security concerns, the game was called off at halftime after two Swedes were killed by gunfire in Brussels earlier that day.
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