In short
The episode looks back at Leicester City’s decade-long fall from Premier League “fairytale” champions (5,000-1 outsiders in 2016) to relegation into League One in 2026, arguing it became a cautionary tale.
Key claims
owners were over-ambitious, spending heavily (e.g., ~£100m training ground, big wage/signing rises) and not selling assets consistently; COVID strangled revenue; PSR pressures followed; later complacency/arrogance set in.
Notable examples
Claudio Ranieri’s “bond” with the squad from the “great escape” season; Jamie Vardy’s non-league-to-title rise; Vardy’s pre-match port ritual; Ranieri’s press-conference humor; Leicester’s title catalyst goal at West Brom; and the “tinker man” contrast with Chelsea.
Guests
Danny Simpson (former Leicester player; part of the title squad; discusses dressing-room culture and Ranieri) and Rob Tanner (The Athletic journalist; provides financial/recruitment context and club-wide analysis).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOLeicester's Remarkable Journey
0:34 to 1:58
Exploring Leicester City's incredible rise and recent fall in football.
“Leicester today, because it is nearly 10 years to the day since they won the title.”
Jamie Vardy's Impact
1:58 to 3:22
Discussing Jamie Vardy's unique background and lifestyle in football.
“Yeah, the first time I experienced port and we're going way off.”
Kinski's Performance and Spurs
3:22 to 4:36
Analyzing Kinski's exceptional saves and the context of Spurs' recent matches.
“when he was subbed after 17 minutes against Atletico, it is such a great story of strength of character.”
Brutal Boxing Match Recap
4:36 to 7:22
Recap of the brutal heavyweight boxing match between Wardley and Dubois.
“I know there's been loads of football over the weekend, but can I just mention the boxing on Saturday night, which I know you were doing match of the day, but the pundits had an eye on it every now and then.”
Female Coaching in Football
7:22 to 9:29
Discussing the significance of Marie-Louise Etter's role as a female head coach.
“because, you know, speaking to kind of rugby players more than I do boxers, they say, you know, those big hits, you don't feel it at the time.”
Previewing Leicester's Discussion
9:29 to 11:13
Setting the stage for a discussion on Leicester's fall from grace.
“But, you know, there's stranger things have happened.”
Revisiting Leicester's Title Win
11:13 to 13:13
Reflecting on Leicester's fairy tale story and the players involved.
“I mean, does it feel like 10 years ago, Danny?”
The Bond Among Players
13:13 to 14:01
Exploring the strong connections between Leicester's players during their title win.
“there was this real unique kind of fusion of personalities and talent.”
The Journey of Leicester's Key Players
14:01 to 17:00
Explore the backstories of Leicester's unexpected stars and their shared bond.
“and he was like looking around as if to say, I'm not really meant to be here.”
The Pressure of Staying Up vs. Winning
17:01 to 19:25
Discussion on the psychological pressure of staying in the Premier League versus aiming for the title.
“You've alluded to kind of being together as a team, going out socially and having these great moments.”
Show all 18 chapters
Claudio Ranieri's Unique Management Style
19:26 to 23:10
Insights into Claudio Ranieri's approach to coaching and team motivation.
“speak to players in their mother tongue if he could do and then he stood in front of one player and I can't remember who it was and gave him all the instructions in Italian or French or something.”
Jamie Vardy: The Team's Heartbeat
23:11 to 25:02
An exploration of Jamie Vardy's character and influence within the Leicester team.
“Before we get on to how things have started to unravel and what's happened over that 10 years Danny can we just have a moment on Jamie Vardy because there are so many big characters in this team.”
The Fall from Grace: Leicester's Current Struggles
25:03 to 28:00
A critical look at Leicester City's decline and the impact of recent decisions.
“I probably don't get enough credit for when he was in front of goal, his finishing.”
Current Challenges at Leicester
28:00 to 28:38
Discussion on the struggles of Leicester's current team and player turnover.
Leicester's Global Brand Impact
28:38 to 29:38
Exploration of Leicester's brand recognition following their remarkable win.
“And you kind of think what the opportunity was there to grow this kind of brand around the world is remarkable.”
Lessons from Complacency
29:38 to 30:50
Analysis of the complacency that may have affected Leicester's performance.
“for the miracle that it was and the romance of it and the fairy tale element to it all.”
Recruitment Strategies and Future Prospects
30:50 to 31:46
Discussion on the need for effective recruitment strategies at Leicester.
“You know, they'd ring the physio, they'd ring the ex-manager, they'd ring the ex-coachers and find out what is that character like.”
Jamie Vardy's Unique Pre-Game Ritual
31:46 to 34:06
A light-hearted discussion about Jamie Vardy's pre-game drink preference.
“they could win the Premier League next season.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:02Danny Simpson:This is a Global Player original podcast. That group of players, they've been nowhere near the bottom, regardless of a six-point reduction. They haven't worked hard enough. I don't care what anyone says, they haven't.
0:12Rob Tanner:I'd be embarrassed. I mean, I think the owners can be accused of being over-ambitious, not a lack of ambition.
0:17Danny Simpson:After a game, he would drink vodka, beer. But before a game, it would port. So, he must have gone on at it the first time he did that, I don't know.
0:32Rob Tanner:Welcome to the Sports Agents. Hello, Mark.
0:35Danny Simpson:Hi, Gabby. Leicester today, because it is nearly 10 years to the day since they won the title. 5 ,000 to one shots at the time. And yet, as we sit here in 2026, they have just been relegated to League One. So there's an awful lot to remember and an awful lot to unpick, isn't there?
0:56Rob Tanner:Yeah, what a decade. And there were many leading characters in that story. But the one who seemed to capture the imagination, him and his family more than anybody else, Jamie Vardy, is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, which I think will be fascinating. There are so many Jamie Vardy stories, aren't there? And his origin story, you know, kind of in footballing terms, a rags to riches, you know, playing non-league and not being picked up until later in his career is interesting. But also he was out there, wasn't he? He let it all out. He let everybody kind of see the lifestyle and the famous party.
1:33Rob Tanner:So we'll get into that.
1:34Danny Simpson:He was real, wasn't he? He was real. He was.
1:37Rob Tanner:And Danny Simpson was there alongside him to experience the whole ride, including his Skittles vodka and apparently drinks quite a bit of port as well. Likes a bit of port. So this is what I heard and I want to see if this rumour is true. But we'll find out that and more serious stuff about the club as well in terms of how it has ended up where it is now in terms of the running of the club.
2:00Danny Simpson:It's an unusual drink, isn't it?
2:02Rob Tanner:I mean, port is. Yeah, the first time I experienced port and we're going way off. Yeah, we are, but I... It was university. I went to one of those universities that was quite kind of had traditions. I went to Durham and those traditional dinners and you had to, you know, kind of dress up in your mother's clothes, basically, and was served port. I thought, what's this?
2:23Danny Simpson:God. I think if I'd asked for port at Hull, they'd have sent me to the docks. Took port. Took port. That way, lad. Anyhow, Danny Simpson will join us and the Athletics' Rob Tanner as well.
2:37Rob Tanner:Before we get into all of that, It feels like every day you can say another big night in the Premier League, but there was last night. And you want to single out one man's journey in particular from that match.
2:48Danny Simpson:Oh, I just think Kinski, Antonin Kinski, Spurs goalkeeper, made two sensational saves last night. One in the first half from a header, which he just managed to keep out. And then one from Sean Longstaff when it was one all in the sort of dying minutes, really, in stoppage time, that he got a touch on to push it onto the bar. The header in the first half was from Joe Rodon. They were both brilliant saves. And he's made a couple of others in recent games as well that have most definitely kept spurs in this. And I think after everything that he went through in Madrid when he was subbed after 17 minutes against Atletico, it is such a great story of strength of character.
3:33Danny Simpson:And the other thing I thought, whilst I was watching him last night, is and maybe people will correct me on this I don't massively remember Spurs fans being on his back everything that happened in Madrid came from Igor Tudor at the time and how he treated him
3:49Rob Tanner:ended up being the end yeah and I think that he he took the kind of the flack and the story because you know quite rightly a lot of people felt he had not treated his his goalkeeper particularly well not in taking him off there seemed to be this consensus that actually that wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world for him and his confidence, but just the coldness that he seemed to display when he left the pitch. So, yeah, so another big night, and it would appear that Spurs are taking those small, tiny baby steps towards... Leeds were brilliant,
4:20Danny Simpson:by the way. Leeds were really good last night with nothing to play
4:23Rob Tanner:for, and they went for them. Don't you think that's why? Yeah. Everything, the shackles are off, and you can just go for it, because you know you've got that status next season, which I have to say I'm thrilled about. I'm thrilled that Leeds have survived and then in the style they are.
4:35Danny Simpson:We talk about strength of character. I know there's been loads of football over the weekend, but can I just mention the boxing on Saturday night, which I know you were doing match of the day, but the pundits had an eye on it every now and then.
4:47Rob Tanner:Ashley Williams and Wayne Rooney were very keen to just have a quick glance on their face.
4:50Danny Simpson:So Fabio Wardley against Daniel Dubois in Manchester, which was both one of the most compelling and breathtaking and yet massively uncomfortable sporting events that I think I've ever watched, really. I mean, look, it was a heavyweight world title fight between two Brits, and it was brutal. It was absolutely brutal. And it reminds you sometimes of what the sport can be. You know, I think we've often seen some heavyweight fights recently where they sort of dance around a bit, might throw the odd punch and not a great deal. This was blood and thunder from the first bell, basically. And Wardley knocked Dubois over twice in the first three rounds.
5:35Danny Simpson:But by the time it got to the eighth round, his nose was smashed. Wardley, this is. His nose was smashed. His eye was closed. There was blood everywhere. His white shorts had turned pink. And at that point, it then became really uncomfortable, like really uncomfortable, because you're just thinking. And the commentators were saying it. Just throw the towel in or stop it. but then it's difficult because you've then and i know their responsibility is to the fighters but then you've got this crowd who were enthralled by it at one point um the tv coverage the camera showed the commentator's notes and it had two or three massive dollops of blood on it that had come i'm assuming from wardley because he was the bloodier of the two and because it was so brutal had kind of flown out the ring and landed on the TV commentator's notes.
6:27Danny Simpson:But the other thing, before a couple of rounds, he had to be medically assessed in Wardley to see whether he could continue. And because his nose was so badly kind of flattened, they had to sort of check his nose. And when one of them put the gentle touch with the finger on Wardley's nose, he kind of recoiled like that in pain. And yet, he's then going back in the ring to get hit on that nose by an 18 stone heavyweight. I mean, I cannot imagine the pain that must go through your already broken nose if it's being hit by an 18 stone boxer with gloves. I mean, oh my God.
7:10Rob Tanner:I imagine that in that moment, although it's pain, it's a different feeling because of what else is running through your body. It's the hour afterwards, I imagine, that the real pain that kicks in because, you know, speaking to kind of rugby players more than I do boxers, they say, you know, those big hits, you don't feel it at the time. You know, you don't, it's not there. So I saw, not exactly the same at all, but Ruben was playing on Saturday and he'd come back home for the night because he was playing in London and his leg was covered in these giant kind of like welts. They were already starting to weep where, because it's so dry, the ground, he had like these burns and they were so sore that, you know, he was, but during the, I said, He said, join the game.
7:51Rob Tanner:You don't feel it. You don't know it's there. And his leg looks a right mess. I didn't have anything in my medical drawer to help him either. It won't surprise you. Put this on. It's TCP. TCP. That should work.
8:03Danny Simpson:Did you last go into your medical drawer in 1988?
8:09Rob Tanner:Germaline, anybody? So we have talked about Marie-Louise Etter on the podcast before when she got the job as the first female head coach of a football team in the top tier of Europe's top five leagues, and that is Union Berlin. It's four matches in now, and she got her first win at the weekend against Mainz. She'd had two defeats in the first two, then a draw, so slowly these performances were getting better. And the win is incredible, but the manner of this story is interesting because they play quite a lot on a Saturday. So I've been doing match of the days and watching the results come in on the teams going through.
8:47Rob Tanner:And they were 2-0 down last week. And Joe Hart started chatting to me about her and said, I wonder what the players' reaction to her is. And anyway, they came back to 2-1. I said, well, that would say the players are listening to her or something's changed there. And he was saying, I wonder what it's like, the dynamic in a dressing room when you've got a woman head coach, which I thought was a really interesting conversation to have with somebody who's not long retired and didn't think it was a completely ridiculous idea that he might have a female head coach, but was intrigued as to how that might pan out.
9:19Rob Tanner:Now she's got the first winner's head coach as well. It's a temporary position, but I do think it is a step in a direction that you and I have said before, we didn't know if we'd see a head coach in the Premier League in our time, if you like, a female head coach. But, you know, there's stranger things have happened.
9:35Danny Simpson:Yeah, but also important, I think, because we often talk about managers being in a period of where it feels like they're going to be judged from one game to the next. And because she is this first female head coach, it feels like actually in some ways there won't be that grace period of just managing her every game and every result. She's already in this period through no fault of her own. Would you not agree of where, all right, okay, well, that was a draw and that was a loss. Okay, well, now she's got the win. And at some point that sort of needs to stop and just let her get on with it. Yeah.
10:15Rob Tanner:And at some point people will stop seeing her gender. That's the big step, isn't it? That she can carry on doing her job as a very young manager, but in an environment that's never been done before.
10:27Danny Simpson:You can catch up on previous episodes on YouTube or Global Player or wherever you get your pods and make sure you subscribe or follow and leave us a review.
10:36Rob Tanner:Next up, the story of Leicester, 10 years since they won the Premier League title as 5 ,000 to 1 outsiders and took us all on a magical, romantic journey. Well, they're going to be playing, of course, in League One next season. And we're going to speak to Danny Simpson, who was part of that team and knows all the personalities and characters in there. And also Rob Tanner from The Athletic is going to join us and put what has happened to that club in a bit of context, because it really is a mighty fall.
11:12Danny Simpson:Well, Danny, Rob, thank you both for being with us. I mean, does it feel like 10 years ago, Danny? I can't believe it's been 10 years. Yeah, we were together last night and I just can't believe how fast, you know, quick and high pros and lots of Jamie still playing. So we're like, how are you still going? But he is and that's either one off, isn't he? But no, there's so much that's happened in that time with the club with ourselves. It's nice to reminisce but we all wish we could go back, to be honest.
11:50Rob Tanner:Were you together last night because of the upcoming fly on the wall documentary of Jamie's life, were you? Or is it a regular thing that you get together and reminisce, Danny?
12:01Danny Simpson:I wish it was more regular to be honest because it's nice to see I'm a boy I'm still on the WhatsApp group and we all chat on the phone but no it was it's a genius honestly black documentary and that's really good but it was the first time he watched it as well so it was interesting to see him and his friends and his family and obviously us me, Mark O 'Brien Andy King Wes Morgan are there so it was you know it was just nice and sometimes you forget some some moments in games and in the season. And obviously a lot of it was about him, you know, where he started. So no, it was just a really good night.
12:37Danny Simpson:Bob, are you in it? I still like you, Bob.
12:38Rob Tanner:I am, yeah. Yeah, I think they just needed an eyewitness to make it feel believable because otherwise you probably wouldn't believe that that happened 10 years ago. No, you wouldn't. And I think we were just chatting beforehand about how you took pretty much everybody along with you as well, didn't you? It was such a fairy tale. It was such a football kind of romance story. We thought we'd never see again, Rob. When you were covering this and the characters and the players and the dynamic that was there, because Danny came along and a year later he was winning the Premier League. There was a kind of, and I don't mean this in a disparaging way, but it was a kind of a ragtag, bobbled kind of assembly of players that came from all kinds of different corners of the world, different backgrounds in the game.
13:26Rob Tanner:there was this real unique kind of fusion of personalities and talent. Well, yeah, they did all come from diverse backgrounds, but they all had one thing in common. They all had something to prove, it felt like to me. I mean, I remember speaking to Danny not long after he joined Leicester. And I think it was in very strange circumstances. Was it QPR you just helped get promotion? And I think that, I mean, Mark Albrighton was a classic example. You know, he'd been promised a new contract at Aston Villa. And during the summer, that contract didn't materialise. and, you know, his lifelong Villa fan, thought he'd only play for one club in his career.
14:00Rob Tanner:And I was interviewing him on the side of a training pitch at Beaver Drive and he was like looking around as if to say, I'm not really meant to be here. I'm supposed to be down the road in the West Midlands, not over in the East Midlands. And so they all had these sort of backstories where, you know, they were picked up for next to nothing, released free agents. Jamie, obviously the£1 million striker from non-league. I mean, his story is held up as the pinnacle of them all. But if you look at all of them, I mean, Kasper Schmeichel was let go by Leeds because Simon Grayson, who was the manager at the time, thought he wasn't good enough.
Read the full transcript
14:33Rob Tanner:I mean, Kasper Schmeichel, he's one of the best goalkeepers I've ever seen. So, yeah, and Robert Huth, released by Stoke. They all had something to prove, but what they had was a real kinship. I mean, Danny will say that they had the motto that if some of the lads were going out, everyone was going out, you know. So they had this real bond that was particularly special, I felt.
14:56Danny Simpson:But did that bond help the closer you got to winning the title? I mean, we talk a lot about nerves 10 years on when we're talking about Arsenal in particular, actually, at the moment and the nerves around the ground and whether fans are nervous and how it transmits to the players. What were nerves like for you as a group as it got closer? to be honest I feel like the bond well I walked into a fantastic dressing room and I feel like Nigel had already built and so for me the bond came from my side of the team was surviving relegation you know like great estate that we that we all went on you know when you have a moment we're really like you know we don't you know we don't want to play in a championship you know we've got nothing to lose no one's expecting us to stay game is probably just getting a goal.
15:51Nigel, treat the formation and I think the catalyst
15:55Danny Simpson:that Jamie scored at the RC went up now with West Brom and I was like, I completely forgot the catalyst of him scoring that goal. And I think that, you know, celebrating that together, staying in the Premier League was unbelievable. And then it just carried on from there really. I think the pressure, there's more pressure on staying in the Premier League than actually trying to win it. Because, because, right, people might lose jobs, you know, we might lose wages, might lose finance, you know, half your wages drop down and all that stuff from the built somewhere. People might leave. But then actually, trying to win the league, it was just like, no, not pressure, it was just fun and exciting.
16:42Danny Simpson:and we also I think the only pressure with that was it was probably never going to have another chance I see Arsenal now okay they finished second for three times in a row maybe going to win it now or four but they know they're going to win they're going to have to be up there again next year same in Man City same in Liverpool whereas I think we kind of knew it was now or never so we'll never get this opportunity again
17:03Rob Tanner:Yeah that's such a good point there's two things there there's no pressure in the sense that nobody expected you to do it but actually and as Rob just said there, the backgrounds that you all came from, it's not necessarily a given that you're going to go on to other clubs at some point who have got an opportunity to win the Premier League. You've alluded to kind of being together as a team, going out socially and having these great moments. And we got to see quite a bit of that, didn't we, as well? You know, the social media, the clips of the partying, which we don't see very often from Premier League players.
17:38Rob Tanner:And I think that also helped people relate to you, Danny, as individuals, because, you know, you were guys having a great time. Yeah, we joked and said we were like the best pug team that's ever played, to be honest.
17:56Danny Simpson:And, you know, I'm a non-lead team, you know, because you play on a Saturday and you go out with teammates and celebrate wins. And not even just wins, sometimes the losses. I feel like we lost away to Arsenal in February and you know the manager Clare was just like have a week off and go and go and relax and do what we need to do and come back in a week and give us a week off it's just you know in the middle of a title season to get a week off he's just a little head off and it was all in Dubai just like and then it was weird because you know we came back and we wasn't I didn't have no pressure with the media and the training ground and watching the Arsenal game and what went wrong.
18:41Danny Simpson:You came back a week later and it was like, right, you know, we've got, I don't know, maybe 10 games to go. I hope you've enjoyed yourselves, lads, and now it's back to work. Just a little moment, it was like, oh, the old beard, you know, as a manager, just to say, right, I don't want to know what you're doing, but go on relaxing your family, your friends, and come back next week fresh. It wasn't obviously a physical thing. it was a mental thing just to clear our matters that was his words go and clear your minds and that's what he always used to say to us and I think that's what Claudio was good he was very good with his words and some of the things how he handled us Although on that just on him being good with his words Danny I was once told a story because he is multilingual Claudio that he would go around the dressing room and tell speak to players in their mother tongue if he could do and then he stood in front of one player and I can't remember who it was and gave him all the instructions in Italian or French or something.
19:35Danny Simpson:And the player had to look up and go, I'm English Claudio. I'm English Claudio. Yeah, no, he was all right. He was quite funny in the way he did certain, where he delivered certain things. I feel like he actually took the pressure off us. And I think, obviously, you're on the media side, so you must have seen him. I think you are looking forward to his press conferences and the things he was going to come out with. and it was all about that and he left us to it. Even times, we'd come in all the dilly-ding, dilly-dong and all that stuff. Even we're laughing when we came in back on the Monday and it was stuff in the press and stuff in the papers and I think it was pretty clever what we did and I feel like that was a...
20:23Danny Simpson:He was perfect, Rob, wasn't he? He was perfect for that club at that time and what they were doing And in a world that takes itself very seriously, but certainly in a sport that takes itself far too seriously, he was the antithesis of that. And by the way, that shouldn't detract from his skill set and his ability. I'm not saying he was just some kind of fun figurehead, but he got it. He knew how to balance positives and negatives and work and pleasure, which is what Danny's kind of said.
21:02Rob Tanner:Yeah, there was two sides to him. I mean, we saw obviously the public face in the press conferences and every single one was a masterclass. If the tone of the conference was going in a certain direction, a negative direction, he could change it with just a comedy phrase. You know, whether he's likening Vardy Amarez to the RAF or, you know, we had a local butcher bring in the Ranieri sausage but he wouldn't want to eat it because it smelled too much like garlic so he told them to feed him to the sharks, the journalists in there referred to as his sharks and we had a couple of um Italian tv personalities that came in I've just been speaking to some Italian journalists about this for one of because obviously the interest around the world in the 10th anniversary of Leicester's title is hasn't diminished and and they were tv personalities a bit like Anton Deck they were comedians and they were running around the room with what looked like little bull's horns hanging from their fingers and they were passing them out and we were all just absolutely baffled what nerve is going on here and apparently they were passing out good luck charms to everybody because what Claudio was achieving at Leicester City had really impacted back home in Italy as well and we had a thousand Italian fans come over for the day that they lifted the trophy as well but the other side of him was I mean the tinker man he was known as and he was ridiculed for the amount of changes he did in Chelsea but the beautiful thing he did with Leicester is he identified what Danny said the bond they'd got from the great escape season and he didn't change hardly anything now he refined a few things but hardly changed anything and but I could also see the serious side of him because this is the contrast to what Leicester achieved that season normally we're having pre-season at Port Vale or Bury or we went to LA for the next year the next summer and he was working with and we got to watch training which is very rare for journalists to watch training and we were watching pre-season training and he was really serious about he was trying to get down Daniel probably remember this he was trying to get them to press higher and faster and you know he was changing a little bit of how they were playing at the time and we were seeing this being practicing training and he would berate them and he'd get on to them so there was another side to the genial Claudio Ranieri too.
23:11Rob Tanner:Before we get on to how things have started to unravel and what's happened over that 10 years Danny can we just have a moment on Jamie Vardy because there are so many big characters in this team. But his relationship, which Rob's alluded to there with Mahrez, was just phenomenal. His goal scoring was incredible. Those runs he'd go on, you know, he was absolutely on fire that season and really captured the imagination. Was he the kind of standout character in the dressing room or was he just one of many that could kind of lift the mood and galvanise you all if you needed it?
23:48Danny Simpson:Yeah, he was one of many. I think that's one thing I'd say. We were very fortunate that we was full, full dressing room, full of characters and keep that spoke up. And Jamie, if you were Jamie, he was the Joker. You've probably seen him when he runs onto the training picture in the Spider-Man outfit. you know not many people can get away with that but like but then in terms of like you know he'd be joking and addressing him right before we go onto the pitch but as soon as he crosses that white line you know it's I want to win and it isn't I'm Jamie Vardy I want to score it's I want my team to win and it's unusual on Shryker sometimes we might be slugging in the game and then he would just get angry shout the ref he smashed the centre back he smashed the full back and you know he had that you know he had that about him as well and that sometimes was a catalyst for everyone else to get going but yeah like I said I've seen some of his clips from non-league like I watched last night and it's just it has never changed we've been exactly the same person we was playing for Fleetwood etc it was the same person playing for us when we're trying to win the league and I think I probably don't get enough credit for when he was in front of goal, his finishing.
25:08Danny Simpson:His finishing is unbelievable. But no, as a character, he was honestly great to show a dressing room with. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass here, Rob, but you said before the title you were doing pre-seasons in Bury and Port Vale. This summer you could be back to doing pre-seasons in Bury and Port Vale. I mean, the fall is shocking.
25:31Rob Tanner:It's gone full circle. I mean, I first started covering Leicester in 2009 when they just got back into the championship from League One. Very different club back then. There was no money. The team that went on to have so much success was built on a shoestring. But then they had sustained success for a number of years, finishing fifth, fifth and eighth. And in hindsight, perhaps sliding doors moments, not quite getting over the line in a couple of those seasons to get Champions League football because their expenditure was starting to rise. I mean, I think the owners can be accused of being overambitious overambitious not a lack of ambition they wanted to break the glass ceiling and rub the shoulders with the elite and challenge the elite and become one of the elite and they spent 100 million pounds on the training ground and they were giving better contracts they weren't selling their assets like they were every summer they'd sell one asset and reinvest the money they stopped doing that one year and still spent 50 million pounds on new signings and and just as their expenditure was rising and rising and rising covid hit and it's it really strangled their revenue so that's when they were starting to have problems with psr and having to pump the brakes and i think it's been
26:42Danny Simpson:a downward slide since then as a former player danny and when when you and actually you talked about how this kind of you were this band of brothers with a with a point to prove and all in together. Rob mentioned the training ground and the training ground's been held up as this reason why Leicester players have gone soft because it's like, you know, 100 million pounds and state-of-the-art like a hotel, etc, etc. Now the other argument is, well, if you want to be the best, you invest in the best and try to, you know, create the best facilities you possibly can. Where do you stand on that side of the debate?
27:23Danny Simpson:Especially tonight, obviously I understand what Rob's saying to the fans and Magic the owners. I've been on that since COVID, but as I know as an ex-player, that group of players, they've been nowhere near the bottom, regardless of a six-point reduction. They haven't worked hard enough, they haven't run reach for hard enough, they haven't done their best for the club. I don't care if anyone's there, they haven't. now you look at the quarter through that thing I'd be embarrassed you know we you know we all spoke about this and you know a soft friend like Andy King who's in there we've been in there and we're going to play him and some of his old teammates and it's been very difficult for him but there's no way like you know we've found ourselves in a situation at bottom of the penalty and we forget the manners off forget the club it's you that go leave the ones in the pits and you know when you're playing the games you know what you need to do and they haven't been doing that we did that to try and stay in the championship
28:30Danny Simpson:and it was just really disappointing to see that now some of these players are probably nine players that have left now on a free
28:37Rob Tanner:yeah and there'll be
28:38Danny Simpson:a massive player right now in this summer as well yeah but like I said the ones that leave on a free now that's it they're gone they're not going to come back to pre-season they're not going to trial and help the club get back home and you know it's just sad to see him I get why the fans are mad but we've also played a better look at themselves you want me to be honest you look
28:58Rob Tanner:around the world and and there are pockets of the world and fans around the world who know about Leicester who wouldn't have done without that incredible win and I remember flying into Thailand the year after and seeing Leicester shirts in the airport and people wearing Leicester shirts because of the family's origins, obviously, from Thailand. And you kind of think what the opportunity was there to grow this kind of brand around the world is remarkable. Do you think, Rob, that there still is a kind of a fondness and it's such a David and Goliath story? Did they build on that enough to create that love around the world or are they a footnote in Premier League history globally?
29:35Rob Tanner:It's not forgotten and I think it's still cherished for the miracle that it was and the romance of it and the fairy tale element to it all. But, you know, football can be brutal. And if you take the eye off the ball, if you become complacent, and I think there has been some complacency, even a little bit of arrogance about, you know, we are here now and we will stay here. You know, we don't even talk about relegation. We're not going to worry about relegation. It can still catch you up pretty quickly. And I think that's what we've seen at Leicester. I also think, Danny, you know, you look at League One,
30:08Danny Simpson:there's absolutely no guarantee a side that drops into League One comes straight back up I mean there are some seriously big sides down there I know you might expect with all due respect to Stevenage one of Stockport, Bradford or Bolton will be the ones to go up through the playoffs but I mean Blueton were in the Premier League a couple of years ago for example there are some big clubs down there there is no guarantee that Leicester comes straight back no and we talked about this last night funny enough I think this summer they talk about clubs and recruitment and I feel like when Nigel and Steve Walsh set you in the club, brought players into the club, you mentioned at the start of the show about getting up to prove players that let go you know kind of yeah, wanted to prove our old clubs wrong, prove our that, you know, people are on the doubters and I feel like we need to go back to that.
31:08Danny Simpson:I know sometimes now there's recruitment, we sign players on stats and all this, but I feel like they were, I remember seeing what Steve always said, they would ring around and ask about whatever player they're interested in. You know, they'd ring the physio, they'd ring the ex-manager, they'd ring the ex-coachers and find out what is that character like. And I think less than this they get back to being in good people, good characters. Because, like we said, it's going to be really tough and if one just becomes like a thing, it's going to be really tough.
31:35Rob Tanner:There's a cautionary tale here, isn't there, for Spurs, should things not go well for them over the next couple of weeks, that you don't necessarily bounce back up. But the flip side of that for Spurs is if they do escape relegation, they could win the Premier League next season.
31:50Danny Simpson:That's a very good analogy, that. Spurs fans will love that you've ended on that, Gabby.
31:58Danny Simpson:Yeah. Well, you answer that one.
32:02Rob Tanner:have they got the characters Danny to win the Premier League next season
32:06Danny Simpson:we've got one character I know who changed Madison so it was great to see him back last night you've got one there I know that
32:14Rob Tanner:just one final thing Danny we all know about Skittles vodka Skittles or Skittles vodka it tastes awful by the way can't even begin myself to imagine the other drink and I mentioned this to Mark that I'd read and I wanted to kind of find out if it was an urban myth that was one that he liked Jamie Vardy was Port.
32:36Danny Simpson:Oh, oh, you've heard about that. Nothing, nothing escapes Gabby, I tell you, don't you? Yeah.
32:46Danny Simpson:Okay. Yeah, we like to support. You can tell us now it's 10 years on, come on. Yeah, it doesn't matter now. No, no, we need, I think when we were from non-league 94 games and just a big port and I think through his stages of going up the pyramids. I feel like it is not a superstition. I don't know how to say that. I couldn't stop to Jamie to tell you that, but he never stopped doing that. So then he was like, well, if it weren't for me in non-league, Fleetwood, et cetera, you know, and then Leicester, why stop? So even in the Premier League, he'd be micing for in a hotel and would have a little bit of thought and ask the lads if he wanted any.
33:27Danny Simpson:And the funny thing is, you'd have a few and then next day he'd score so you know what can you do you can't say anything it was just something we didn't speak about it was just like yeah well he's probably had a few glasses last night and he's going to sport too
33:41Rob Tanner:amazing amazing I can imagine him now in Italy just drinking his port the night before oh he will
33:46Danny Simpson:he's scoring on Sunday so I'm pretty sure he's not a Saturday night oh well thank you
33:53Rob Tanner:very much for settling that one for me because Mark didn't believe me
33:56Danny Simpson:I didn't listen It wasn't necessarily not believing you. Just port is a very odd drink. That's all. Full stop. Just a very odd drink. We thought that as well. Because, yeah, after a game, he would drink vodka, beer. But before a game, he would port. So, I don't know. He must have scored an act the first time he did that. I don't know. We need to carry it on. Okay, thank you very much to both Danny and Rob for joining us.
34:25Rob Tanner:Yeah, if you've got a question for us or you want to have your say on anything we've spoken about, please get in touch. The email is thesportsagentsatglobal.com. We love hearing from you on social media as well, at the Sports Agents. And if you can, subscribe and follow and leave a review, all the better.
34:39Danny Simpson:Back on Thursday.
34:44Danny Simpson:This has been a Global Player original production.
From the publisher
On the 10th anniversary of becoming 5000/1 Premier League winners, Leicester City will start next season in England's third division after relegation to League One.
From Madrid to Mansfield... is this really how their 'fairytale' ends?
2016 league winner Danny Simpson and the Athletics Rob Tanner both join to reflect on one of sports greatest stories and decipher how the club fell so far.
And we've all heard of being powered by 'skittles vodka' but could the secret of that famous title win have actually been port? Untold UK: Jamie Vardy is about to hit your Netflix screens and Danny gives us insight into one of English football's most mythical characters.
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