Changes at Leicester City, King Power and Sister Club OH Leuven: Understanding Recent Leadership Shifts

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After spending a week in Leicester travelling over the sea to watch football, you start to believe what a spoiled group of people you are with. Proper Leicester fans are all over. We were at Seagrave, King Power Stadium and also on other events.

During that time you just are too busy to check everything on your phone and read all the shambolic articles of negativity regarding the club. Watching it from within tells a totally different story.

Yes there were a few boos when the final whistle blew at home to Wrexham, but also a lot of positive chants when Bobby De Cordova-Reid deflected shot ending in a late goal vs. West Brom.

Then when arriving home and having more time to go online, you see all the trolls are out again. They are spreading their negativity and talking down what is going on at the club at the moment. Some describe the news about Susan Whelan’s departure as a tug of war. These are people who have a thorn in the side to Jon Rudkin.

She has left and she had nothing to do with the sporting side of the football club. She has no knowledge of football and not really interested in this sport at all. So why should she continue to work with a trade she has no special relation to. She is also 62 years old. The CEO role is in change. The club will most certainly be looking for a very different profile in the future compared to Susan Whelan.

Khun Top has also been questioned heavily by different branches of the fanbase at Leicester. When you look at the past, you will see various issues. These issues can be addressed as a total of negatives. The worsed fear for this season was an expected struggle to a potential fight to avoid relegation. The outcome has so far been the total opposite.

Marti Cifuentes has taken over a squad of players with a very struggling season behind them. He needs to lift spirit and step by step getting the self belief back. Leicester have dominated all games they have played and first half vs. Wrexham was the best football we have seen played by this team so far this season.

Listening to Marti Cifuentes in his press conference before the Swansea game is insightful. He believes he will get the best out of this squad all season. Playing three games in a week would lead him to rotate the team. He mentioned giving minutes to more players. He also plans to rest those who need a break.

Jamie Vardy’s message to Susan Whelan after her exit from #LCFC was confirmed yesterday. pic.twitter.com/JUJDCeFOmA
— Josh Holland (@_joshhollandd) October 3, 2025

Nice to see Jamie Vardy giving his farewell tribute to Susan Whelan. He knows her well and his message has nothing to do with Jon Rudkin. So please stop making up stories. It just becomes very negative for those at the club at present.

Spreading negative gossip has nothing to do with football fan support. The talk of Jon Rudkin winning a battle is taken totally out of context and giving the current DOF much more power than he in real have.

Things happening behind closed doors at this football club will lead to major positives. This will be beneficial for the football club going forward. According to recent news, Khun Top will be temporarily in charge of the daily business. No talk about Jon Rudkin running the show, not at all. A new CEO will be appointed when that person is identified and ready to take over.

Susan Whelan also have obligations towards OH Leuven. She is a director at the Leicester sister club. No news about here stepping down from that position at the Belgian club. Susan Whelan is trusted in the King Power hierarchy. We just have to wait and see what happens going forward.

OH Leuven appointed Frederic Van Den Steen as their new CEO in April 2024. He has a long relation in Belgian football. Previously been a General Manager, Sporting Director and Team Manager at different Belgian football clubs. OH Leuven are competing in the top tier of Belgian football.

We have also seen the same happenings at King Power, making changes at the top. Just recently appointing Nitinai Sirismatthakarn as its new CEO. This was effective from June 4, 2025. He is set out to lead the company through strategic restructuring and growth in the evolving digital era. Sirismatthakarn previously served as the President of Airports of Thailand (AOT) for eight years.

This restructure and change can also be a strategic move done to avoid any type of sanctions regarding PSR. Leicester are working hard and maintain good communication. This allows them to address any problematic situation effectively. They aim to have any potential points deduction scrapped. Their goal is to build a foundation that aligns more with the risks of relegation than finishing in higher positions.

You will understand the need for policy changes if you know how a professional football club works regarding finance and risk-taking. These changes cannot be made in five minutes. They are not aimed at satisfying certain people in this fractured parts of the Leicester City fanbase.

We should consider what Leicester have done over the past months. Their transfer funds are at this point totally frozen. This situation makes another theory come to life. When you think about selling a business, you often try to achieve the best possible results. This is done before putting it on the market. We will just wait and see what is on the horizon.

This move from Khun Top should be considered a stragical and also a must needed change. It helps in deciding the next steps for the football club. It should not be seen as a childish battle. It is not about removing Susan Whelan from the sandbox for Jon Rudkin to have all the toys for himself.

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