Pliskin

Might watch it just for a laugh….. Marti can’t be defended after this? He is trying to get the sack surely?

Is this Comedy Central tonight?

Marti isn’t actually a football coach is he?

It would help if Cifuentes actually played him.

The lads a prized muppet…. Imagine being in the later stages of what is a short career, being paid very well for where you’re at, and behaving like he’s behaved? Absolute madness really, really highlights how much of a twat he is.

Exactly!

It’s the fact they will absolutely want this more than us. Which is a hideous thought.

I respectfully don’t agree with this at all, Abdul has showcased some moments of utter class, I think it’s unfair to claim he hasn’t got a “football brain” when he’s being hung out to dry every week by his manager. Marti isolates the wingers, and expects them to be able to produce dispute being double, tripled up on. And he never ever addresses this, every week it’s exactly the same tactic. Abdul has all of the raw ingredients to be a generational talent, he’s got a wicked left foot, and something extremely rare which is sensational physicality giving him unrivalled explosive power and pace. Technically, I think he is excellent…. But, he’s young, he’s raw and he needs coaching. Enzo coached him, Marti isn’t, so naturally he will start taking things upon himself, making rash decisions leading to questionable performances and inconsistency. If he left for a team like Bournemouth, he would rather quickly look like the player he is destined to be. You can’t prosper in an environment like this, the current state of this club has bled into the team, a team that’s already severely lacking and on its arse, so it’s not really a match made in heaven. Abdul and James alone will be the two players who potentially prevent us from going down.

There’s literally no point event paying attention to this game. We all know it’s a nailed on defeat, what is the pattern? Two fluky wins followed by two defeats?

This is actually a very valid point….. We’re always running out of steam after 60 minutes, yet, statistically we run less than any other team in this league? So that argument of the “squad isn’t big enough” is bollocks, Marti simply isn’t using the players available intelligently enough….. And somehow we get knackered when we’re not running…….

I noticed this in the Cov game….. they were talking about us as if we were a league two side playing Cov in the cup…… it was a genuine shock that we had a fairly decent first half, but second half it was like “ah this is the Leicester city we know”….

I respectfully disagree. You can’t say with certainty that another manager won’t get more out this group…. As I’ve said before, it depends what type of character you go for…. For argument sake, and humour me….. A manager like Chris Wilder for example, probably would, because he wouldn’t be attempting to play “football” he will focus more of the strengths within the squad and play to them, and he wouldn’t probably lean on the academy players a lot more that Marti currently is. And the likes of Faes and Winks would have been out long ago, and probably wouldn’t have been given a chance to come back in. Most of the troublemakers are now out of the team….. we forget that this team does still have talented players, and it’s been proven time and time again at this level that you don’t always need the best talent to get out of it…. Organisation and a willingness succeed go along way. The biggest issues other that depth at the moment for us are: Fitness A clear tactical philosophy. Marti is to blame for what happens on the pitch, because if he was a decent coach/manager then he would stand a chance of getting this lot to play together. The first half against Cov just proved that there’s still quality in the team capable of producing. There are two trails of thought though, Marti isn’t the man to take this club forward…. He will be going at the end of the season regardless of what happens…. But, what if the ideal replacement becomes available now, and is willing to take the role…. Would it not be better to potentially get him in early doors so he can start to forward plan? I’m not for one minutes suggesting we need to think about promotion this season, but it’s likely to not improve under Marti, and if we do get a worse than expected points deduction we could be in the shit, and I’ve no confidence he would be able to save us.

We are where we are apparently….

I didn’t say that, I said that I felt we are not as fit as we were then, and have essentially become less of a cohesive unit since then…. I didn’t exclusively say I felt king did a better job, but I do think our overall fitness is worse. Essentially what I am saying is, the players who were here last season, have all regressed.

This will be one of those we won’t hear anything about until the deadline has passed.

I don’t disagree, but, he isn’t exactly using the squad properly either is he? For example, yesterday it was clear Skipp’s legs had gone after 60 minutes, so why not replace him with Hamza? Regardless of our feelings toward him, he has played that CDM role in this league before and is capable of doing so, but instead is put at RB or LB and we convince ourselves he isn’t capable of playing that role anymore, when only a couple of seasons ago he played a blinder against WBA….. As a collective we look unfit, the central midfield struggles, because James does a hell of a lot of running, he’s expected to form the double pivot with Skipp and a box to box? So naturally he runs out of legs. Perhaps it’s as you say, it’s more to do with the same set of players over and over and doesn’t appear to want to try a different system. In my opinion, he needs to switch to an actual 4-3-3 system, rather than try to use any inverted full backs etc….. have Skipp Page and James play as the three, which should mean Skipp isn’t left isolated, and we can have two players working together to run from midfield, as I think Page is proving he’s capable of doing this role too! And he needs to use the squad more intelligently than he currently is…… he’s hamstringing himself, but not trying some alternatives that makes sense, like trying Aluko instead of Thomas who is desperately struggling, trying a midfield three rather than the two he’s currently trying to deploy. For whatever reason this team doesn’t appear to have the legs to be particularly dynamic for a whole 90 minutes, so he needs to try something a bit different, to try and help. The Coventry game is a prime example, he clearly sent the team out to carry on, and it appeared to me that he had not read the flow of the game properly and considered Coventry’s input in the game, instead Frank reacted and we crumbled. It is no surprise that this is happening over and over again. This is just part of a bigger picture for me that Marti hasn’t improved anything at all, and the were are less fit than we were, not a collective cohesive unit, and don’t have a clear tactical philosophy.

I’m not talking about changes in tactical decisions, or changing of personnel, I’m suggesting that the players are less fit, and less of a cohesive unit since he took over. Which I don’t think can be denied….. how can you look so sharp, fit and up for it during the pre season, and then in January look like you’ve never played together, and are blowing out of your see after 50 minutes?

He’s struggled in the last few weeks. But he hasn’t had enough of a run in the team to see an actual regression I don’t think, but he’s not improved. You’re not wrong, his mistakes led to goals, but the whole backline were poor… even for their first goal, Ricardo should have got out to Mason-Clark after that heavy first touch, probably could have shown him down the line, instead he allowed him to compose himself and get the ball across. Theres just no unity in the team at all, there’s flashes, but I would say that’s purely down to the individual talent clicking at times, I’m not crediting Marti and his tactics, because I simply don’t think he even has a handle on them. His system doesn’t work, and the players have become unfit, and has lost cohesion since his arrival.

Reckon she fancies having a go as a chap? She would improve our forward line….

I’ve been thinking about this. Thomas has regressed so much under Marti, to the point he looks like a competition winner…. He looked steady under Rodgers, and even Ruud got him playing fairly well towards the latter parts of last season. But, under Marti, he has simply vanished…. His regression is utterly startling…. And he isn’t really alone. Abdul has regressed, Stolarczyk has regressed, and I’d say Nelson hasn’t really progressed, but has looked steady. Thomas has never been an outstanding player, but he’s played with more success at a higher level, under different managers. Things the worst he’s ever been in my opinion. I blame Marti for this, he hasn’t improved any of the players, but he has certainly made them worse. It’s interesting how the”trouble makers” are now either gone, or isolated and going that there hasn’t been a similar scenario to Cooper with the players stabbing him in the back. But I don’t think he has the dressing room, o wouldn’t say he’s lost it, I just don’t think he’s ever had it, and I think there’s just an acceptance amongst the players that this is how it is for now, those who desperately want away are seeking those moves, whilst others will just happily bumble along claiming a nice wage. Then, there’s probably a small smattering of players who want to be here and are trying. We’re not a cohesive unit, we’re a gathering of individuals with their own agenda’s, and then we’ve got a manager who can’t bring it all together….

Reckon the weekend will kick start a string of defeats. 2-1 Wrexham.

I’m referring to the diminishing fitness levels, and regression in pretty much all of the players in the squad….

The best we’ve looked under Marti, was Fiorentina…. I know it was a pre season game, but we had energy, we were dynamic, and we looked razor sharp, and Fatawu was absolutely electric to boot. Since that game, we’ve just gradually got worse and worse and worse. We seemed to be fitter in the preseason, in fact I remember commenting how fit we looked….. and now? We can barely muster 60 minutes before we’re done. Cifuentes has taken us backwards from when Andy King was running the show. The very basics of football we aren’t doing, these are all coachable things…. Marti has little influence on what happens at boardroom level, yet, he can completely control what happens on the pitch…. We’ve seen so many players regress under him, the fitness has gone out of the window, and there’s no real structure or obviously tactical plan. The second half yesterday was submissive, submissive against a side that should be nowhere near us….. Anyone who clapped them off, you’re a disgrace to the club, you don’t support it, you don’t love it, you just accept failure and appear to even celebrate it. Losing to Coventry is bad enough, but to completely submit and crumble like they did?

He needs to leave the club. He is done here, needs a completely new start to reinvent himself. Id approach Reading, and offer them a fee plus Thomas for Andre Garcia…… Thomas needs to drop a level to find his feet again in my opinion.

I agree with most of your points also. The problem with us and some of our fans unfortunately runs deeper than 90 minutes. We’re obviously now at different points in our existence, you’re on the up, and we are very much on the decline. However, regardless of the performance in the first half yesterday, throughout the season, we’ve mostly been horrid. And throughout this horrid period, large portions of the fanbase have clapped regardless…… 4-0 down at half time against QPR? Some still clap and try and find excuses. There’s a wide acceptance, from some of the fanbase that this regression is perfectly normal, and acceptable…. And unfortunately it is this that makes them complicit in our demise, incapable of even having an ounce of criticism towards the board and the club at the moment. I think for us, after the decade we’ve had, it’s very difficult to get behind these players…. The academy lads I can get behind, but the likes of Jordan Ayew? Never…. It’s frankly an absolute disgrace they allowed him to don the number 9 shirt…… in my opinion it should have been retired when Vardy left, because in my opinion, as things stand we will never have a better player play for us again, in my lifetime certainly. You’re not wrong we are disgustingly unfit, we can only play for 45 minutes it seems, and this is Marti’s fault, as well as the complete lack of proactive tactical awareness. I do also agree with you with regarding Stolarczyk… I used to rate him highly, however in the last month or so I’ve come to realise he’s garbage. Yes he is young, pulls off the odd good save, but he concedes a lot of poor goals, doesn’t command his penalty area, and is poor in possession. I’d prefer to play Begovic just for the experience… In a nutshell, I just can’t connect with this club at the moment, as I’m sure you can appreciate having gone through some boardroom hell yourselves…