Leicester City’s managerial situation remains unclear following the Foxes’ relegation from the Premier League.
Dean Smith oversaw the relegation. His short-term contract is up but it seems like he’s still in the running to lead Leicester into the 2023/24 Championship campaign, despite reports linking various names to the King Power vacancy.
It was reported last week that he was set to hold crunch talks with the club hierarchy regarding his future, and an emerging report from The Telegraph has now confirmed that Smith has held those talks with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin.
But the same report then says that the Foxes are ready to initiate talks with other candidates, revealing a few new names on the scene, with one of them being Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca.
Other new names in the frame include former Fulham and Bournemouth boss Scott Parker, as well as Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna who guided the Tractor Boys to promotion from League One last season.
The Telegraph’s report also says that Steven Gerrard remains in the running, but fails to make any mention of Graham Potter.
The Leicester City manager running…
Despite Smith holding talks with the club, it certainly seems like the board view him as a potential candidate, rather than a leading one.
He has Championship experience and promotion experience too, but Leicester need to embark on a fresh start and someone like Maresca or McKenna could be very innovative and exciting appointments.
McKenna though looks like a very unlikely appointment given the fact that his Ipswich side will be playing Leicester in the Championship next season, whilst the likes of Parker and Gerrard might be more unpopular appointments among the Foxes fanbase.
Parker is another with promotion experience, having guided Fulham and Bournemouth to the Premier League, but he was often criticised for his bland style of play at these two clubs where he was also heavily-backed in the transfer market.
And no mention of Potter in The Telegraph’s report is surprising – he seemed to be the club’s first choice after The Sun revealed that Leicester had made contact with him, but that report may now be in disregard.
