--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-06-17T14:39:12.364Z last_updated: 2026-06-17T10:00:00+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/leicester-city/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVpY2VzdGVybWVyY3VyeS5jby51ay9zcG9ydC9mb290YmFsbC9mb290YmFsbC1uZXdzL2xlaWNlc3Rlci1jaXR5LW1hcnRpbi1zaW1vbi1qb3JkYW4tMTEwMTY3MTA --- # Simon Jordan defends Russell Martin and slams Leicester City owner protests - **Source:** - **Published:** 17 Jun - **Club:** Leicester City - **Original URL:** https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-martin-simon-jordan-11016710 Former Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has jumped to the defence of new Leicester City boss Russell Martin after he was handed a three-year contract with the Foxes. Martin was confirmed as City's new manager this week following a thorough process by the club hierarchy. The former Scotland international replaces Gary Rowett with Leicester in League One. His arrival has been met with scepticism by sections of the Foxes' fanbase, partially due to the ending at Southampton and his short spell at Rangers. Martin has already laid out his ambition to revive the club after successive relegations and has told fans that they will "need" them throughout to be successful. FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! All the latest Leicester City news on LeicestershireLive’s Leicester City Facebook page! Get LeicestershireLIVE Premium now for just £1 HERE. You can also join our WhatsApp Community by clicking HERE Jordan was asked for his thoughts on City's decision to appoint Martin and explained why the 40-year-old is a good appointment. "Russell Martin will now be qualified as a League One manager, but Leicester has scale and size," he said on talkSPORT. "Despite the vitriol right now, there will be an expectation that there's a distinct possibility that they're going to bounce back. If he had gone to a League One club that was of a less of ilk, that had been in League One for long time, that's got no history or scale behind it, you can then say, 'wow, what a fall from grace, this is a League One manager'. "This is merely, perhaps, a moment in time for Leicester to be a League One club and he's gone in there with the expectation to bounce and to have the potential financial backing, despite the chaos that they've got themselves into. All of that makes a mix. "I like and dislike Russell Martin in equal measure. I like him because I think he was the reason of getting Southampton out of the Championship. I think he galvanised that spirit. Once they lost a game against Cardiff when they were rampaging up the league a couple of years ago, he regalvanised the team and I tipped them to go through in the play-off final against all the odds. "When he went to the Premier League, he became an ideologue and didn't change or pivot. He didn't get much of a chance at Rangers, he wasn't given a chance and at some extent, he didn't warrant a chance because he made some bad decisions. But do I think he's a capable manager and decent for Leicester? Yes I do." During talkSPORT's chat about the club, Alex Crook commented that City fans "hate the owners" as a result of their downwards spiral from Premier League champions. Jordan, who was Palace chairman for six years, quickly rebuffed against the feelings of the fans and defended the King Power ownership. "Part of the statement that Alex has made is moderately outrageous that the fans "hate the owner" because you've to take the good with the bad," he added. "This was a club that was funded by this man's father for a very long time and they had wonderful times with it and now they've hit a bad patch. Yes, there are questions to be answered and yes you should be accounted for it, but to suggest the fans loathe the owners I think is incredibly inappropriate." It's crunch time for Leicester City as they face a serious rebuilding process in League One. The transfer window is open and we will see players heading in and out of the King Power turnstiles. Every day, the LeicestershireLive football desk deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of City content. You can sign up here. Our dedicated reporter Josh Holland - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows City home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.WhatsApp: You can also get all your favourite content from LeicestershireLive's team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. 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