cityfanlee23

This. IMO we’re getting very close to “it’s now or never” territory. If we don’t go up this season, the reality is we’re not just running it back with the same squad. We’re likely to lose a huge chunk of it in one summer, we can argue that is a good thing, but only if we replace it adequately. Out of contract: Begovic, Ayew, Pereira, Winks, Soumare, Daka Likely to get better offers: Nelson, Jordan James, Fatawu, Monga Likely to push for a move: Faes, Okoli That potentially leaves us going into the summer with something like Stolarczyk, Skipp, Thomas, Souttar, Mavididi, Kristiansen, Golding, Vestergaard, BDCR, Hamza, Vietes. And while a lot of fans would be happy to see several of the current squad moved on, rebuilding that many positions as a Championship club with prem ambitions is far harder than doing it as a Prem club. Finding players like Philogene for £20m is far easier than finding him at £5m before he's done anything, the likes of JJ and Fatawu wouldn't touch us with a barge pole with where we are now, the only reason they are here is because when they signed we were expected to have a good shot at promotion. Promotion sooner rather than later matters financially, but it also matters structurally. Miss out this season and we’re not just trying again — we’re likely starting another full rebuild in a league that punishes instability. That’s why this season feels massive and currently we are blowing it.

Yep, Ipswich followed a similar path, they did spend a lot of money in the prem which we obviously can't do, but many of the players they signed were £10-20m players on contracts they could continue to facilitate should they go down, or recoup/profit from sales if those players got better opportunities. They made good profits on Hutchinson and Delap, but they kept the likes of Philogene, Greaves, Clarke, O'shea, Szmodics who all have plenty of years left, and will cost the club £5m each per season over the life of their contract there, and their wages are roughly £25-35k each, which is completely sustainable. This upcoming summer we can FINALLY get the dead wood off of the books, Winks, Soumare, Pereira, Ayew, Daka all leaving. That only really leaves us with Faes and Vestergaard on the books, Faes will 100% try to force a move imo. That gives us a perfect opportunity to have the proper reset we've all been craving for about 5 years, where we get back to the Pearson/Puel blueprint of buying young talent with a point to prove on affordable wages.

We will be far better off financially if we went up, didn’t spend much and then came back down, than if we stayed down this season, so yes I’d snap your hand off for promotion. Completely understand the logic of rebuilding, but it’s far easier to rebuild if you’re a premier league club than as a championship club.

I'd take him. We are already boring to watch, might aswell bring someone in with an affinity to the club who has a proven track record of leaving us in a better place than he inherited.

You don't need a TD in place to bring in an interim, but we absolutely should not be appointing a full-time manager on a 3 year deal now, especially this close to a transfer window imo. The technical director is responsible for the long-term football foundation, overseeing strategy, development, recruitment etc. The last thing we need is to bring in a manager now who we think is the right appointment, then getting a real quality TD in the door, only for him to say "yeah this manager isn't right for the club" because we immediately then have a manager and TD pulling in different directions. If we get the appointment wrong (and this lot have proven they have a knack for bad decisions across the club) it could cost us multiple millions to sack him, plus could cost us in January if a new man brings in more rubbish. Waiting for a TD is not an excuse not to sack a manager, but we should be replacing with an Interim if we do it now, someone who can use what we have as a safe pair of hands to tide us over and pick up some points before we bring in a Manager/TD who can work together. Sadly right now we need a back-to-basics interim type who can come in, solidify the defending, simplify the attacks and utilise the pace we have on the wings and will bring in a solid couple of loans in Jan. I'd genuinely rip Warnocks hand off to come in.

The worrying thing is that, while appointing a Technical Director is clearly the right decision, it’s created another problem. Realistically, we should be hiring the TD before appointing a new manager. But that process alone could take weeks. Then the new TD needs time to assess the squad, decide how we implement a long-term plan, identify managers who fit that philosophy, and properly vet them. That could easily turn into a 6–8 week process and that’s assuming everything moves smoothly, which we wouldn’t know because the club never communicates. By that point, Marti could have us closer to the bottom three than the top six, especially if the points deduction doesn’t go the way we’re all hoping. And let’s be honest: when those deductions land, there’s a real risk it crushes what little belief some of these players still have. That’s what makes it even more frustrating hearing about Top and his polo escapades. I’m not saying he needs chaining to his desk, everyone’s entitled to a hobby but it’s now been five weeks without a single update. Five weeks where a new TD could have been speaking to clubs across Europe to shift the dead wood. Five weeks where we could have been in active discussions with clubs to move on Faes and Winks and wages taken off the books. Five weeks where a TD could have been quietly assessing managerial options or lining up January loan targets. And yet, through sheer dumb luck, the rest of the league is almost as bad as we are, bar two teams. Somehow, we’re still within touching distance of the play-offs, despite declining even further under MC to levels we haven’t seen in well over a decade. All we really need right now is an interim appointment. Someone to steady the ship while the boardroom mess gets sorted and a proper reset happens. Someone who can reconnect with the fans. MON, Warnock, or even Pearson (health permitting for a short 5–10 game stint) would all be far better options than whatever it is we’re doing right now. I'm looking at this in worst case scenarios because pessimism is the only thing this club deserves, I can see us hanging on for another 4 weeks, blowing January because we have no plan, bringing in a TD who doesn't rate the manager, taking another 6 weeks to replace him, getting hit wiht a 9 point deduction and then losing the only players we actually want to keep.

He genuinely was right about everything, the problem is he wasn't showing the capacity to deliver the solutions, however I'd much prefer him over what we have now, at the very least Winks/Faes would have been long gone and he would be going to war with the players over their attitude.

I guess, but the question becomes, will we be financially better off if we sack him now, or wait until we finish 16th and get nothing, when a new manager could potentially squeak us into the playoffs? It's a bit of a gamble in the sense a new manager could even take us down, but we know for sure Marti isn't taking us up, and we are in a surprising position right now that even with how awful we have been that we are in touch with the playoff places on the sheer luck that the rest of the league are just as inconsistent as we are. A semi-decent manager with a track record for getting the most out of an average bunch would have us top 6. Neil Warnock would be a monumental upgrade at this point in time, MC is out of his depth.

I think with basic tactical tweaks we will perform better on the pitch, coupled with tactical tweaks what we need is the players confident and fighting for the badge, for that, they need the 12th man behind them. The 12th man comes from MON/NP walking out of that tunnel and giving the fans a massive boost. Bring MON in until the end of the season, let him properly help King, once we find a manager to come in long term we can use King as the assistant manager, from there we can start the process of developing coaches and managers from within the club.

Worth sending him on loan to Fuchs at Newport?

I only watch us for Phil these days

WE SCORED!!! Get the contract out, let him sign it, let him write whatever numbers he wants on there, given what he's done... Marti's at the wheel, man. He's doing it, he's doing his thing. Leicester are back!

Time to do some dodgy deal where we bring in MON as an unpaid voluntary worker, and on the last day with us he mops a floor on his way out of the door and invoices us in the next PSR window for £120,000

Sadly with where we are at the moment, I think you're right, the only manager we will get probably need to be quite silly.

We need an interim that can do the basics, he showed at Celtic he can still do that, no point signing a permanent manager until the TD position is filled, MON ticks the boxes.

I know NP has had health problems, but I wonder if he has a 6 week interim in his whilst we bring in a technical director and look for the right replacement?

Give him a loan in January, it's saddening to see him at this level. Bring back Woyo from his loan at Sassuolo.

Warnock will give us defensive rigidity, basic counter-attacking football that utilises Mavidi and Fatawu, a battling midfield and PASSION. We are 4 points off top 6 with how utterly garbage Marti is. Warnock gets us the playoffs EASILY.

Seconded. Idiots.

To think... One week later and we could have got Rohl for FREE.

We were only joking Ruud

RVN IN.

I said it at the Sheff United game, and I'll say it again now. This needs to be 8-0. It has to be so embarrassing the board have no choice. Sure, I ate some humble pie in the games after that as we genuinely improved, but we know that as long as we have MC in charge, this inconsistency is pretty much guaranteed, was exactly the same at QPR.

I felt Whelan got a harsh deal here, it always seemed to me that she was the partner in a relationship who’s other half had a massive spending problem and she was the one constantly trying to put out fires and was tasked with bringing money into a bucket that had 500 Top and Rudkin shaped holes in. The calibre of people who openly spoke out with admiration about her such as Vards and Pearson when she was let go spoke volumes.

He's a good goalkeeper, one of the best in the division and imo his ceiling is in the prem, his only flaw is his play with his feet, his distribution has improved as the season has gone on, but we keep playing the ball to his feet with little space to play, that's on the manager. He's not a keeper that is going to thrive in a possession heavy system where the keeper is expected to step forward and play the ball to feet, but he could easily be a #1 at a prem side who don't play that style.