CarolinaFox

I said it was a wild thought haha

Thomas Frank's days at Spurs are numbered. If he's sacked he would be an option to explore for sure. Maybe he could bring in someone from Brentford to be in our new Technical Director role or whatever we are calling this new role that Rudkin is leaving? A wild thought I know....

Yes! I mentioned him a few weeks back. I think he would be the complete opposite of Marti: more aggressive, not afraid of taking risks in matches, wants to possess the ball for the sake of momentum, not just control. I think he would take on a project like Leicester. He's on contract with Lincoln until 2028. I don't think he would be too expensive to poach from Lincoln - maybe 1-2 million pounds (that's on the high end).

Honestly wouldn't hate to see Mads back here on loan from West Ham. Jakub's distribution has been so poor this season.

This is prime time Marti Ball. Clueless, one dimensional, no intensity, no creativity.

I don't trust a Marti team up at half-time. We need to come out of the half swinging and put the game to bed early. We need this win. If you can't win at home when you are up at half you need to go. Its now or never Marti, prove me wrong.

Agree 1000% - for me its about the mentality Cifuentes wants to play with: we either lose from winning positions or get blown away. To me that screams that he is trying too hard to play it safe, which would be great if we were a bottom side trying to stay up. It doesn't fit with the narrative of a team trying to chase promotion. So there's the big issue for me. Is Cifuentes here to help us get promoted or not? Knowing the goal for this season would bring a lot more clarity and context to our results. If we are pushing for promotion he needs to seriously change things or go.

Marti Cifuentes is just Spanish for Steve Cooper.

I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I agree, our players are massively underperforming. For me this is not due to the quality of our squad, its due to the failings of our manager. Our squad is a top level championship side when evaluated on pure player value, quality, footballing pedigree and talent. This is a squad that can do a lot better than midtable. We have players who have played international football, champions league football, had success in the premier league and come from elite football academies and played with the games top coaches. In terms of value, quality, and talent I think we have a squad that should be in the top 5 if it had a manager who knew how to use that talent more effectively.

It would be cheaper to sack him then right? The problem for Marti isn't squad talent, its footballing philosophy. He's too cautious, too risk averse. We have one of the best squads in this league, but his approach cripples that advantage. Giving Marti new players won't solve the failings of his footballing philosophy. To win in this league you have to be aggressive, exploit squad talent differences, play with belief and most importantly: play with consistency. There isn't a scenario in which Marti has us finishing higher than mid table. He's not a promotion manager, he's the guy you bring into to stop the rot. He plays to prevent a loss, but not to win.

Just for fun: Michael Skubala at Lincoln City. He is the anti-cifuentes. Plays with momentum in mind, and is not overly concerned with playing cautiously. He's the type of manager that might really kick on at Leicester and get us back to winning. We need to regain that assertive edge we lost under Enzo in the Championship: the belief that we should be winning, and the game management and tactical approach to make that happen. His managerial approach is a better fit for us if we are truly pushing for promotion this season. He would make the jump up to us if we came calling.

Right now Marti is the canary in the coalmine for this club. If he stays on it shows the club's main priority is safety and a mid-table finish rather than a promotion push. Maybe this has been the club's intention all along. Cifuentes is clearly not a manager who will maximize what we have in terms of squad and financial resources. His football philosophy is good for managing a team in a relegation scrap. Not for a promotion push. I think we see this both in his managerial history and in his tactical approach (he does have one - at least on paper). Marti is a structure guy: he wants his teams to be stable, structured, control possession and warm into games. Even when his teams go up his approach is to protect the lead. His substitutions read very clearly: I am not pushing to win the game, I'm making changes to maintain stability, shape and status-quo. He isn't the type of manager bothered by a draw as long as the players maintained his principles and played with "identity." His long term goal is changing habits, building structure, and playing "not-to lose" football. He doesn't play to necessarily win, but not to lose. This reads like great stuff from a manager brought in to stop the rot, put out the fire and get a relegation squad out of danger, but not if you want immediate promotion. If Marti stays it tells me that the club's hierarchy isn't bothered with finishing mid-table, and is focused on a longer term stay in the Championship to build and make a push in the next 2-3 seasons. I'm not saying this is what I want - but it might be what the ownership want and or are amenable to. One final thought: We often like to compare Marti and Enzo because they like to control possession. Yes, Marti and Enzo both like possession and structure, but the big difference is that Enzo pushed us to be aggressive early. Marti doesn't play that way. Marti is a longer term project manager, one that I believe will not get us promoted, but a safe pick if we are trying to land mid-table. His football philosophy still scares me, but I can see how the club's hierarchy may believe its better now to invest in a longer term project with Marti than hope for quick promotion with a "riskier" appointment. For my money I would go after someone who could maximize our strength of squad and resources and take the calculated risk. I'm sick of overly cautious Marti-ball. If we are only going to finish mid table I'd rather play aggressive chaotic football than play the Marti way, but that's my opinion.

A yo-yo manager. The right fit for us would have used the momentum of the last game to come in with a strong game plan, clear tactics and understood how to really hurt a team that he used to manage. We will keep riding this up and down game until he goes. Marti isn't capable of sustaining any momentum. He's a mid-table manager at best. What do we expect? He's not going to suddenly come good.

Seeing this as a glass half full. Cifuentes must go now. Especially if this ends up being 6+ goals. I hate to lose but if we must lose let it please be the thing that causes us to move on from Marti.

Now that's what I'm talkin' bout Marti...about time! No Winks and No Faes. Using momentum effectively to push in key moments in the first 10-15 minutes. Coming out of the half with intensity and pressure. I like it. BDCR and Skipp are growing on me. Nelson is taking ownership of his starting spot now. Still felt there were times when we were too passive (passing backward). We still need a clinical striker and some more pieces in the January window. If Marti can follow this up with a win at QPR Marti will make me a believer.

Winks must be off in January and we don't want him to get injured. See Ipswich easily winning this 3-0. Ipswich actually have a manager who knows what he's doing.

Age isn't a universal guarantee a player is done being effective. Vardy was 36 turning 37 our last season in the Championship. Worth a shout, he's physical striker who can score. Daka's not built for English football. Ayew isn't a "true" striker, he plays better as a link up man. Carranza is what I would expect from MLS - largely overwhelmed by the physicality of the Championship and speed. Antonio fits our needs and budget. I don't see a better alternative at the price point. Sure, I'd love to still see Joel Piroe but its worth the risk to see if Antonio has what it takes.

Marti has only himself to blame for that 2nd half performance. A draw from a winning position is a loss in my book. How many points has Marti dropped from winning positions? For me he inspires no confidence. We either look inept and slow and lazy at the beginning of a match and get blown out or we start well but give our opponents belief they can come back. I honestly think he worse than Cooper or RVN and will be glad to see the day he leaves. It’s not a question of if, but when. The festive season is going to be brutal for us. Don’t see us winning too many matches with this charlatan.

Not convinced he’s good enough consistently to be our number 1.

Bristol City having more points in the league just sums up what we need to know about Marti. He ain’t getting the job done. The margins are narrow between mid table and the playoff spots but as we go further into the season that will change. Hasn’t shown enough to warrant keeping the job. In fact quite the opposite.

Yep, that the Marti Cifuentes I know!

What is the game plan here Marti??? The game management has been so poor.

We need subs now Marti!!!

This is where we see the real Marti Cifuentes

Think we can still improve with being faster on the counter. Need to start the second half high tempo and putting pressure on their goal.