Former Leicester City man, Gary Lineker suggested to the club they should hire Emma Hayes as manager, prior to Enzo Maresca’s appointment.
Lineker is a Foxes legend and as a result is trusted when it comes to recommendations.
When Dean Smith departed the club, following relegation, a new manager was needed at the King Power in the Championship.
The former Barcelona striker felt that Hayes would be a success and represent a ‘massive PR opportunity’.
In spite of the recommendation, Manchester City’s Maresca was the option that the Leicester hierarchy wanted to move forward with.
What has Gary Lineker said about Emma Hayes?
On his, The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker discussed the situation early on in the summer.
When approaching Leicester, he said: “In the summer, when Leicester were looking for a new manager I actually got in touch with the club.
“A little idea I had was for them to go for Emma Hayes from Chelsea.”
The Chelsea Women’s boss has been with the club for over ten years and domestically has had great success.
Six Women’s Super Leagues, five FA Cups and two League Cups in her time with the Blues.
On a personal level, she has won a Best FIFA Football Coach award, six WSL manager of the season awards and is a member of the WSL Hall of Fame.
Lineker has plenty of admiration for the manager: “She’s great, absolutely legitimate.”
The former striker also sees it as a great PR opportunity: “Imagine being the first major football club to have a woman as a coach.
“It would have brought massive amounts of publicity, particularly at a time when the club had gone down into the Championship.”
Although this sounds disrespectful, listing her in such a way, it is from a good place and giving credit for her insane level of achievement.
Lineker backed his statement saying: “It’s not a stunt at all although it is in a way because it would be a massive PR opportunity.”
When he took this to the club they went the other way, on that he said: “They did come back to me and say it’s probably a step too far at this stage. I just thought it was a good idea.”
This didn’t happen in the end, and with just one loss so far this season, maybe Leicester made the right choice in the end.