'City fans needed their sacrificial lamb' - beer garden anger as Foxes fume

CommentsSportSteve Judge08:39, 09 Mar 2026“It's just reshuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic,” was how one Leicester fan described last week's long-overdue restructuring of the club’s hierarchy.

Two hours before kick-off, the Station Hotel pub in Ipswich was packed with travelling supporters. Pint glasses, like the Foxes faithful's optimism, were half empty and the first renditions labelling former sporting director Jon Rudkin a four-letter word were already ringing out in the beer garden. Former due to the man many fans hold responsible for Leicester’s fall from being Premier League champions ten years ago being handed a “promotion” to head of football operations. The finger has long been pointed at Rudkin for the club overspending, handing out big contracts without relegation clauses ahead of Leicester’s drop to the Championship in 2023.

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Latest Leicester City news, analysis and more via our LCFC Facebook page Decisions that led to a six-point deduction last month that has left the Foxes in the bottom three and facing a drop to League One. Club chairman Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, who inherited the club when his father died in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium in 2018, has claimed responsibility for the club’s predicament. Fans protested against the King Power ownership during last week’s 2–0 home defeat to Norwich. But the majority who made the trip to Suffolk were still willing to give Top time to turn the ship around – although none believe he should be doing it with Rudkin still at the club. “Top needed to give the fans a sacrificial lamb,” was a typical view. The overwhelming opinion among the nearly 2,000 supporters who travelled to Portman Road was that the team representing the town they grew up in are going down. For most of them, though, it changes nothing. Several have been watching Leicester for more than 40 years, following the team home and away with the same mates they went to school with. “We’ve been in League One before. We’ve had an incredible journey supporting this team. Nothing will change that. We’ll still support the club no matter what.” There was little resentment about the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) Leicester broke with their overspending in the three seasons ending June 2024. Just a recognition that “there will never be another Leicester or Blackburn winning the Premier League. In fact, one fan said he felt more sorry for Aston Villa than for his own club, admitting Leicester had arrogantly broken the rules. It is a similar sense of entitlement, some believe, that has led to calls for Top to sell up.

“Sheffield Wednesday got rid of their chairman — so can we,” one supporter said. Others were more sympathetic.“Top is not a number one. He has made mistakes. But he saw his dad die in a crash outside the football club. He wasn’t ready for this but deserves time." Inside Portman Road, there was little sign of dissent as the fans backed the team to the full. They made the most of Patson Daka volleying them into a 39th-minute lead few expected. And stuck by their side after Sindre Egelis levelled for the Tractor Boys on 76 minutes to roar them to a point. Few expect it will make a difference for a team built to upset the elite of the Premier League, not scrap it out with Oxford and Portsmouth at the bottom of the Championship. But they will still turn up in their thousands to the King Power tomorrow night for the home game against Bristol City.

City’s next six fixtures:

Tues, March 10 – Bristol City (H)

Sat, March 14 – QPR (H)

Sat, March 21 – Watford (A)

Fri, April 3 – Preston (H)

Mon, April 6 – Sheff Wed (A)

Sat, April 11 – Swansea (H)

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