In a new series, we’re inviting opinions from the audience and arguing against whatever we get in.
Representing the people: Deepan Lad on why Leicester should give Jamie Vardy a new contract.
Taking the prosecutor role for The Fosse Way: James Knight on how getting rid could be for The Greater Good. The Greater Good.
Do you have a particularly strong Leicester City-related opinion – maybe you want to sack Enzo immediately and bring back Big Nige? Or you’ve seen something we’ve written that you wholly disagree with – maybe you think Danny Ward is a much maligned figure at Leicester City?
Share it with us and we’ll appoint one of our intrepid writers to argue with you. This is The People vs The Fosse Way.
Representing the people
Deepan Lad
I’ve probably been a bit blasé with how quickly the end of the season is approaching and it has only properly struck me while seeing tweets the past few weeks about cherishing every appearance Jamie Vardy makes in the run-in. “This could be the last time we see him under the lights at the King Power”. His contract expires at the end of this season, and we don’t know for sure if we can extend.
The financial restrictions at the club are obviously very worrying and the sanctions that we will be facing won’t be known until the independent commission has made its decision, and we still don’t have a timeframe on that yet. I think we’re all anticipating a points penalty to begin next season with.
That said, I’m sure (hoping) the club are already weighing up options on those that are worthy of being offered new contracts and that the club can operate within certain limitations, whatever they may be.
As you may have already guessed, I am firmly in the camp of offering the GOAT a new contract. Just recently he has started two crucial home games back to back, playing over 80 minutes in each and scoring in both. He is delivering on the pitch which is the main objective when players cross that white line. I do accept the argument that this is a lower level, and his output was poor in the season we got relegated, but I believe he can still make a contribution next season.
I want to repeat a point that was made on the BSLB podcast by Jake Watson that we shouldn’t refer to Vardy as ‘finished’. He has proven time and again that you should never write him off. Going all the way back to being released by Sheffield Wednesday and dropping down to non-league and working his way back up in to the football league. To eventually becoming an England international, a Premier League winner and the oldest Premier League golden boot winner.
To paraphrase Stephy Mavididi, he likes to shut people up. He will want to prove the doubters wrong, and he has continually tweaked his game and become a more rounded player.
Another area to the value of keeping Jamie Vardy is his contribution off the pitch. He has seen a lot over his time with the club and it is probably understated how much significance his voice holds in the dressing room. Marc Albrighton revealed last week that it was Jamie Vardy who called the players only meeting after the two away defeats in a week against Millwall and Plymouth.
That shows real leadership and what type of character he is. He wants the best for this club, and he knew he added to act in that moment. That is a voice in the dressing room that shouldn’t be discarded. We lost a huge voice and leader in Kasper Schmeichel and that loss was such a significant one that we are only really recovering from it now.
Yes, his position in the team is a unique one, but we can all wonder if our relegation would have been avoided if he was around… He drove standards in training and big personalities like that are always going to be missed. That elite mentality is immense, and we need more individuals like that, not fewer. A club stalwart.
He shouldn’t be offered a new deal just because he is our top scorer, but the fact he is our top scorer, that in itself shows that he’s still contributing on the pitch and adds value to this team.
Also, he is the king of the rustle, and who doesn’t want to see him continue to wind up Premier League opposition?
Realistically, it needs to work for both parties, and I sincerely hope our days of offering silly contracts are behind us and an agreement can be reached. If he wants to be a marquee signing somewhere abroad and decides he wants a new challenge, I’ll wish the GOAT all the best, but I’ll still be gutted.
Finally, to end on a positive note, I am glad that Union FS have received permission for a Jamie Vardy tifo for the final game of the season against Blackburn. I don’t know the ins and outs of it all, but that still strikes me how absurd it is the number of obstacles they seemingly have to navigate in order to put on a display. I am delighted that it has been approved it is going ahead, for what hopefully won’t be his final appearance in a Foxes shirt.
Representing TFW
James Knight
The difficulty with making this decision now is that our most recent experience is of classic Vardy, rustling and scoring all over the shop in the final fortnight of the season.
But making decisions while you’re giddy with delight typically doesn’t end well. Instead, we need to make a clear-headed choice in the best interests of the club. Leicester are going to have to make some hard decisions this summer, decisions they have typically avoided, which have led to a wage bill that was wildly out of control and are the main reason we are in the financial mess we find ourselves in.
Vardy is the highest paid player at the club. He earns, allegedly, well north of £100,000 a week, even in the Championship. He is a 37 year old striker who scored three times in his last Premier League campaign. Even his end to this campaign rather masks long stretches of the season where he was way off the pace.
At best, his role is going to be a bit-part player next season. You assume, Vardy or no-Vardy, Leicester have to sign a starting striker to have a chance of staying up next season. In a team that plays with one forward and with scarce resources to spend, is it a good footballing and financial decision to keep him in reserve?
Ultimately, is the cost of Vardy as backup to the main man worth what you would get out of him? Is it worth the opportunity cost of the players you might be able to afford elsewhere with the money you save by letting him go? Then if you do choose to keep him, where does that leave Tom Cannon, just 21 years old and a player most fans would like to see more of?
For me, this boils down to the fact that we have to think about the future now, rather than the past. We need to think about where and how the team needs to be strengthened to stay up next season, and how we are going to finance that while avoiding too many financial potholes and points deductions.
We have been handed the perfect opportunity for a Hollywood finale. Last season, many people argued that the ideal scenario was for Vardy to fire Leicester back to the Premier League in his final season at the club. That dream scenario has come to pass. He scored four times in the final three games to seal promotion, with a brace to seal the title. This is exactly what we wanted!
The right thing to do is to make Blackburn the biggest Vardy party of them all, to go out in a blaze of glory, and bravely step into a bold new era.
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