Women's Football Weekly: Inside Leicester City with Lehmann & Passmoor

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1:09Rick Passmoor:Make your travel dollars work harder. Follow Smart Travel on your favourite podcast app. BBC Women's Football Weekly with Ben Haynes, Ellen White and Jen Beattie. Hello everyone, welcome to a special edition of the Women's Football Weekly on the Football Daily feed. As it's the men's international break, we're shining a light on the WSL and on one club in particular today, Leicester City, who with five games to go at the time of recording, have a real fight on their hands to get themselves off the bottom of the table. Now, just in case you haven't been across the WSL too much this season, we've had a couple of changes.

1:48Rick Passmoor:So the side that finishes bottom of the WSL won't be relegated straight away. The sides that are in first and second in WSL 2 will come straight up to the WSL as we expand out next season to a 14-team league. But the team that comes third in WSL 2 will go into a playoff against the team that comes 12th in WSL 1. Now, that is currently Leicester City. The other thing that we know is that the side that comes bottom of the WSL will be away from home in that playoff. So a massive game to come. Leicester currently three points adrift of West Ham, who sit in 11th place. And Ellen White, you were invited down by the club to go and speak with some of the players, but also to have a catch up with your old boss, as you call Gaffer Rick Passmore, as well as Alicia Lehman, one of their stars who joined from Como in January.

2:41Rick Passmoor:How was that day? Because it sounds like you had a great time.

2:45Ellen White:It was amazing. I feel very thankful, obviously, to have been invited down to their environment and to see their training grounds, be in and around their gym session on the pitch as well. And then, like you say, having a chance to chat with Rick Passmore and Alicia Lehman. So, yeah, it was really kind of them. And just to kind of open your eyes on maybe, you know, a different team. I feel like, you know, we've spoken a lot about Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Man United, but to also go in and see, you know, a different club and the way they work. They're really, really doing everything possible to obviously get out that relegation spot in the WSL.

3:22Ellen White:They're very together and they welcomed me with open arms. So that was really kind of them, you know, for me to obviously go and see my previous manager who managed at Leeds and Notts County. so it was really nice to kind of see him again and see him in that environment from a different perspective as not a player but actually just kind of as an observer from the outside so that was really exciting obviously really kind of Alicia Lehman to open up about you know maybe some misconceptions we've had of her previously obviously coming into a new club as well in January so yeah it was it was amazing day for me.

3:56Rick Passmoor:Can I just quickly get your take on why Rick is such a legend in the women's game? Because I think if you are new to the women's game, perhaps you won't have seen as much of him, but he has such a storied history.

4:09Ellen White:Yeah, he's such an incredible guy. For me, I first came in contact and moved to Leeds Carnegie when he was there. He really grew that team. We had a phenomenal team back then, but he really believed in me and he put his full trust in me to be his number nine. And, you know, he really helped me be the player that I ended up being. He allowed me to be in a team that I could thrive in, won my first League Cup trophy, my first trophy as a senior player, which was incredible. Scored two goals in that one. She jumped into his arms. But yeah, just to have that support and backing by a manager who, you know, really kind of just wanted his players to thrive and was really passionate about the club, the people and everything about it and you know such a advocate for women's football he's doing some great things at Leicester they're in a tricky spot at the moment but he is a brilliant guy to hopefully get them out of that tricky spot.

5:08Ellen White:Well let's hear

5:08Rick Passmoor:from the main man in charge then Rick Pussmore or as Ellen would call him the gaffer. BBC Women's Football Weekly with Ben Haynes Ellen White and Jen Beattie listen on BBC Sounds

5:22Ellen White:welcome I would say gaffer but everyone would know you're Rick Passmore thank you for joining us on Women's Football Weekly it's just me today to be honest we don't need Ben and Jen so I'm really excited that you've agreed to come on the podcast

5:37Rick Passmoor:no I love in terms of obviously how we're promoting the game but obviously since such a fantastic career it's great to see

5:43Ellen White:you're doing so well so uh I'll pay you later thanks for thanks for the invitation but also

5:48Rick Passmoor:great to have you in around Leicester City Women's Football Club thanks for having me you know I

5:54Ellen White:don't want to say I don't want to say you've been around for a while because that makes you sound old but what's changed it doesn't have to be a really long answer but you know you've come back into the league after a few years away what was the draw to come back to the WSL I think it was

6:10Rick Passmoor:to finish the story that I set out in the first place. And a bit competitive like yourself in terms of, nobody tells me when it's time to quit. I do. So in terms of coming into the game in 1999-2000, that was the centre of excellence times, into then management, done a lot, obviously, as we know, within the male game as well. But I think it goes back to that first evening we had our centre of excellence trials for the girls from 16s downwards. And not being too aware, I walked up and went on to Boston Spa, onto the old sand-based AstroTurf, and had hundreds of players. And I was like, wow. Then the technical ability of them, I'm going, well, if my name's on this, we're going to do this properly.

7:04Rick Passmoor:And I took everything in terms of what we were working on in the tech and tax side from the male side of the boys academy just brought it across and then obviously within six or seven years the youth development prospered and then taking the manager's role we changed direction we evolved we brought the youth into the into the building and obviously apart from potential of the financial side never never look back but obviously what we're saying is in in recent years you've seen the game grow when i said about you know the center of excellence we got one thousand pound subsidy to run it by the way we produced players yeah we produced players that was that what that was the other set um and is this are you saying this is leeds this was a leeds this was but then again i'm saying we had good people whether it's the medical staff whether it's the coaches as well again it's it's making sure your multi-disciplinary perennari team are good people yeah and we had good people during that uh during that phase and And that then obviously went into our times at Leeds.

8:05Rick Passmoor:But obviously, like we say, in the last decade of the game, particularly the media, we've got to make sure that we do what we say on the tin. Because sometimes we're not doing exactly the glory what we see. We've got to make sure that we continue working on the foundations of the game to make sure that through the women's pyramid, made not just the WSL and the Lionesses do well we've got to ensure that it's the best place the best product for the girls and women's game so we've got to leave a legacy for the next people that's going to walk in to take that mantle on getting the opportunity of coming here in September not recognizing or realizing what then would would come on from that when you look at this build when you look at this facility all you want to do is get here every morning and grow with these players and with the staff that we've got at Leicester City.

9:05Ellen White:I'm just looking around like this building when I've come in, you've got a wonderful gym, it's all yours, all the women's team, beautiful pitches, meeting rooms, you have obviously all your meals here as well. Like from, you know, when we kind of started, you know, we were dreamed of facilities like this, wouldn't we? To walk in every day, like you said, I'd have a skip in my step. It's beautiful. what was what was like the main draw for you coming into Leicester obviously we know you're

9:33Rick Passmoor:at West Ham as well but what was the draw firstly in terms of where I was in terms of life yeah I'm the sandwich in between grandkids and the older generation and the older generation as we know wants to get a few ailments they ill health so I had a wonderful time at West Ham I enjoyed every moment of it working with them players at that football club and the staff behind the scenes And, you know, as we know, the people that we don't see, they make clubs tick. Huge difference, yeah. So they were terrific down there. So I came back north because of family reasons. Then I think it was around August bank holiday.

10:09Rick Passmoor:Would you like to come in? We've got this sort of program, project, interim, get yourself in here. And obviously I knew that the book wasn't finalized. I wanted to complete the next chapter. and it was very by the way very clear precise what we want to do and what was told so it was just sitting in the first month and in terms of when i walked in here it was ensuring that we had a culture that we had a base that everybody wanted to come in and work but enjoy the moment enjoy being in this football club um so we we worked on the environment the culture values behaviours, made people feel uncomfortable, particularly on the pitch, stretching them.

10:53Rick Passmoor:Sometimes people have a little wobble, but you get back again on your horse and you go again or on the bike, you go again. So we're really engaging with this group of players and it's a privilege. I'm very humbled to be working for Leicester City with these players, with this staff. so obviously our program and project right now is sustained to worse all one status and then continue to build and develop a structure so therefore we can leave a legacy and move it in the right direction and i think right now over the last three or four years have been potentially quite a lot too much change as a family man bring your values in of you want to ensure you look after everybody and care for everybody so that's first and foremost the people and a lot of times a bit of routine is not a problem so that they come in, they feel welcome and there's a routine, there's the same people for a certain amount of time because there's been a lot of fluctuations here and that can disturb anybody and obviously young people, you want to ensure that they have a great opportunity to flourish and maximise their potential.

12:02Ellen White:And you've brought five experienced players in January and obviously you're going through quite an intense battle of potential for the relegation playoff. Was that a huge reason for bringing those players in to install, like you said, about that culture, belief, that experience to really help this group to sustain WSL 1 football?

12:24Rick Passmoor:Did you read my MO? That's exactly what I was looking at. Thank you very much. No, literally it was having that experience of WSL, knowing how hard week to week and competitive and challenging this league is so bringing in four or five to ensure that we have leadership that have been there seeing it and be able to help the other players because we have quite a young team and we have a little bit of inexperience as well when you looked at before Christmas we had players that the season before probably only were on the pitch for 300 minutes we're now at christmas they're up to 800 900 so we're stretching them we're asking a lot of them and what i needed in that changing room is the right character the right character and personality to understand it's a project it's going to be a bumpy road but we need their help and we need them on board making sure that the message gets across and they believe in the message the buy-in to the message and like we said short term retain WSL one status and build

13:32Ellen White:from then and for you you said about you weren't quite done in terms of like the WSL like what what would be like stars align and you to be like I've I'm happy a bit like yourself in terms of 20

13:46Rick Passmoor:years ago you want to win everything you want to do this you want to do that now obviously uh a lot more mature sometimes um i would just say that it was it was come here now we were hoping to come in here with uh another member of staff at that moment in time but it's to make sure that this place is handed over in the correct manner from the academy to the pga to the first team whether it's on the pitch whether it's then the PPC that everybody feels valued together as a collective and enjoy working for Leicester City and finally I've got Alicia Layman coming on the podcast in a

14:30Ellen White:bit one of the most probably recognizable players in the female game yeah talk to us about her as a player but then I'm sure there's a lot of misconceptions about her what has she been like in and around the group for you personally, player-wise, person-wise?

14:46Rick Passmoor:Incredible. Like you say, brought Alicia to the club in the new year. I've never worked with her before. I worked with her for a long time because of exactly what you need and what you want. She's a leader. She's professional. She wants to win football games. She works harder than anybody and everybody within this building. She wants us to be successful. she wants to be successful and we could have her in terms of mirror imaging that sort of mindset across the football club we'll end up in a good place

15:21Ellen White:Thank you, we could talk for hours to be fair

15:24Rick Passmoor:We do don't we mate It's an absolute privilege seeing you again and thank you for coming down to see us BBC Women's Football Weekly with Ben Haynes Ellen White and Jen Beatty Listen on BBC Sound The best B2B marketing gets wasted on the wrong people. So when you want to reach the right professionals, use LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals, including 130 million decision makers. And that's where it stands apart from other ad buys. You can target your buyers by job title, industry, company, role, seniority, skills, company revenue, so you can stop wasting budget on the wrong audience.

16:02Rick Passmoor:It's why LinkedIn ads generates the highest B2B return on ad spend of major ad networks. Spend$250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get$250 credit for the next one. Just go to linkedin.com slash broadcast. That's linkedin.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply.

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16:52Ellen White:The Women's Football Weekly has found a new home in its very own feed.

16:56Rick Passmoor:We've called it, unsurprisingly, BBC Women's Football Weekly. We'll continue to bring you the latest news, insights, and analysis from across the women's game. They're throwing some big money around.

17:07Ellen White:I want to see how they line up, how everyone fits in. Episodes will be available every Tuesday as ever, alongside special, unfiltered player interviews from the biggest names in WSL and beyond. To make sure you never miss an episode, just search for BBC Women's Football Weekly and hit subscribe once you get there.

17:26Rick Passmoor:BBC Women's Football Weekly with Ben Haynes, Ellen White and Jen Beatty. Listen on BBC Sounds. As you said, you could have chatted to him all day. And I mean, I had the chance to see him for a couple of minutes at the weekend as you side were playing Leicester. And he I know he absolutely adored your chat and had a wonderful time. But he is such a kind and genuine person. And I think in the modern day, I know lots of fans will know this already, But there is so much emphasis around data, analytics, stats, knowing what your stats are. It's quite nice to hear someone that that starts with soft skills, emotional intelligence, understanding how important it is to create an environment, a culture where people love coming in to work.

18:19Ellen White:Yeah, I think, you know, we're in a world, aren't we, you know, very much dominated by social media, media in general, TV, you're on your phones, messaging calls. But, you know, on a human level to have a conversation and, you know, especially for Rick with his players, for them to walk in the door and be like, how are you? No, genuinely, how are you? Let's have a conversation. How are your family? How are you feeling? Just on that human level, take away the athlete and the footballer. And I really think you get more out of the person. So, yeah, he has that real sense of empathy. And, you know, he's had that, you know, as long as I've known him, you know, he's always been that person you could just, you know, pick up your phone and call him.

19:03Ellen White:Yeah, I think that's really special in a human being and particularly head coach as well. It's quite rare, I would say. I feel like, you know, Serena Viegman has that. I felt that with her. But to have that, especially a male ally, as we would like, you know, maybe to say for Rick as well, you as well, Ben, to really kind of have men that are backing women's football in the right way is amazing to see. and you can really see the players buying into that and feeling that and wanting to work hard for him and that's what I felt as a player.

19:35Rick Passmoor:One thing I noticed at the weekend was amazing is that he has a real aura. He's quite a big guy. So when he stands on the touchline, he kind of has a bit of an orbit around him. It feels like he has a real impressive sort of power of his ability to get messages across and he has a big booming voice as well when he uses it. But at the same time, at one point, he sort of like shouted about a decision, like very, like I said, booming voice, and then realised that he'd shouted towards the pitch and then turned around and apologised to the fans that were behind the dugout. And I just absolutely melted.