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Like a character in an action thriller who just won’t be defeated, Jon Rudkin has clung on again at Leicester City just when it seemed his position was practically untenable.
The troubled Championship club announced a restructure on Tuesday that will see chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha – known as Khun Top – step aside from his duties as interim chief executive.
But in yet another astonishing development, Rudkin appears not only to have kept his job but to have been promoted. In the meantime, Leicester are fighting relegation to League One, having won the FA Cup only five years ago and come within a whisker of Champions League qualification.
Replacing Khun Top as CEO is Kevin Davies, who had been the Foxes’ finance director. This may cause some concern among supporters but in reality it looks a smart appointment.
During Davies’ time at the helm, Leicester have improved their financial position to the extent that they are now compliant with profitability and sustainability regulations.
Indeed, it is thought that Davies’ diligent and impressive work behind the scenes meant Leicester were handed only a six-point penalty for their rule-breaking, when the Premier League were pushing for a greater punishment. Both Leicester and the Premier League have appealed against that verdict.
Yet if supporters will accept the appointment of Davies, a local lad who has been at the club for 15 years, then they will struggle to swallow Rudkin continuing.
Nobody doubts Rudkin’s integrity or desire to do the best for the club, but the situation has gone beyond that now. Leicester say their new sporting director James McCarron, who has arrived from City Football Group, will have control of football matters. If he reports to Rudkin, though, it is difficult to see how that will work.
For years now, Leicester managers have been undermined because players feel able to go above their heads and take concerns directly to Rudkin. Is that going to change? Time will tell.
Similarly, will Rudkin relinquish control of transfers and contracts so easily? Leicester say he will provide executive oversight of men’s and women’s football. That is not exactly saying ‘You crack on, mate’ to a new sporting director.
Fans protested against owners King Power in significant numbers as Leicester lost 2-0 to Norwich at home last Saturday and these announcements are unlikely to calm the waters. Once again, it feels as though Leicester have missed a chance to deliver real change. But once again, Rudkin survives. Will Leicester survive too?
