CarolinaFox

The questions is, will the board sack him after this game if the result is bad enough? I'd don't like to see us lose, but if we are gonna lose please let it be the end of the Cifuentes era. Cifuentes = RVN 2.0

Faes being found out on a counter...could have never predicted that would lead to a goal....its just too easy at this point for the teams playing us, they see him on the team sheet they must be grinning ear to ear.

Boring unimaginative selection again...look for Faes to give away an easy penalty or just fall down on a counter attack and let Stoke score. I don't see us scoring anything more than 1. Stoke 3, Leicester 1. We will be down most of the game until Marti wakes up to what's actually happening on the pitch and actually starts making rational choices when its to late. Gearing up for a frustrating watch. The question is will it be really ugly or only slightly ugly looking football?

We were 8 points off 18th. I guess the point is that Puel would be a better fit now than Marti. It is a hot take and not meant to be taken 100 percent with a straight face but in hindsight without Puel there’s a strong argument that we don’t win the FA Cup, or really reach the peak we were at in the years after. He brought in Tielemans, Maddison, Evan’s, Cags, Ricky P, integrated Barnes into the team and really improved Maguire into a better player. His Achilles was his lack of strong communication skills with the players and the supporters. Had Vardy liked him he would have been given a lot more slack, like Rodger’s. But he did a good job changing the squad and given the challenges we face now I don’t think it’s silly saying we need that type of squad overhauling skill set. Not exonerating his flaws or wishing him back just adding perspective,

Always liked Mads and think given the right set up he'd flourish. It's hard being a goalkeeper for team at the bottom of the premier league. Surely being treated like a scapegoat by Nuno. West Ham are relegation fodder anyway, it isn't like the the other players are helping him out. I'd have him back for sure if that was an option. Loan maybe until the end of the season?

Claude Puel would have us winning again….and was sacked because Vardy personally didn’t like him.

My biggest issue with Marti is his inability to find a system where we create opportunities to score. We are averaging around 1.2 goals a game. I disagree that all parts of this squad are better than our championship rivals. Our strikers are rancid. If we could score more goals our lack of defense wouldn’t matter. Think about Ipswich when they got promoted. They were defensively very poor but could score goals in spades. All we do is pass the ball with no end product. I know Marti needs help with new transfers but he literally run out of ideas. It’s the same game plan every match. If he starts Daka we need to be playing on the counter. If he plays Ayew it should be as a false 9 with Daka or Carranza. Either we get Marti the players he needs or find a manager who can change us to a team that can score with what we’ve got. Relying on Fatawu every game is so frustrating at this point.

Unfortunately I don't see any transfers being in the cards for us. Marti was probably told at the beginning of the season that he needed to deliver with the squad he had, now it seems our hopes are turning away from promotion to damage limitation and making a stronger effort next season. Instead of looking externally we need to look at our academy players as the hope for the future, it might not be this year, but giving those younger players with a higher ceiling a year to gel and build a team identity is better than what I'm currently watching. As it stands I don't see too many realistic pathways to promotion at this stage. The club are not going to go out and splash cash in January on players for a manager they may sack. And they will have hopefully learned a lesson that breaching PSR is an unending catch 22 that has to stop at some point. My overall thoughts are that this squad doesn't need a few additions, it needs a big shake up - its not like we've hit some dip in form and just need to discover winning ways. They haven't had any real form under Marti. If we aren't going to change the manager, we need to change the players. Without cash, the academy is really our only hope right now of getting the shake up we need. It wouldn't be pretty, but it might just be the thing our club needs to hit the reset button.

We've won 5 games, 2 of which were against the two teams at the bottom of the table. We shouldn't just be looking at one result, but the whole season so far: its been a massive disappointment. Too many draws, too few clean sheets, too few wins. I think the lack of clear and obvious replacement candidates makes his job more secure right now after a win, regardless of who it was against. We were still very poor in large spells against Norwich, had they been a better side they would have beaten us. The big take away is that the Marti experiment isn't working. Winning today didn't feel like it was a byproduct of an intentional tactical decision by Marti but dumb luck. We should be bossing a team like Norwich, creating chance after chance. We looked toothless as we have all season for most of the game.

No. Beating a side with such little confidence doesn't suddenly make us promotion candidates. Didn't see any clear idea from Marti in the first half. His substitutions clearly impacted a poor tactical approach from the first half. He will need to use this momentum. He needs to win against Stoke and Southampton to prove he's the man for the job.

To get the best from Daka we need another striker dropping deep to create channels for Daka. Actually think Marti might be making the right call here to partner Daka and Ayew. Ayew playing like a false 9 could work with Daka.

Don’t see Dean leaving Charlotte FC, my hometown club. His son lives here and his team is doing really well. Plus he’s a big golf guy so I think he’s staying put. We love him here. But I agree with the idea: we need that type of manager for sure!

Appointing Marti this summer was a calculated risk, and at the time the thought was that a manager with a progressive style of play similar to Enzo might be the best fit for us. He was either going to be Enzo 2.0 or RVN 2.0, and I think we know which one he's become. A manager who can't deal with the obvious limitations of the squad. This club has lost all of its credibility with its fan base. It doesn't have the trust capital to make the same type of gamble with a replacement. Its time to go out and get a manager with promotion experience or significant experience of success in the championship. I'm over the whole "progressive" manager thing. We keep going after managers that have a percieved high talent ceiling or who could be the next big thing, but I'd be okay with a steady hand who can get us scoring again more than one goal a game.

The Norwich game is now a must win for Marti to prove he can get a tune out of the players. If we tie or lose to Norwich he has to go. I’d be on the phone already to potential replacements, David Wagner being one of them. We need someone who knows how to win in this league. Forget the premier league right now, we need proven leadership. There is a lot of football left in this season. We can turn things around but a loss or tie to Norwich says to me that Marti isn’t the one who can do that. If as others have mentioned, promotion is the only way to save this clubs immediate future we have to be ruthless about finding someone who gives us a chance to get promoted.

Fatawu always plays with passion gives it everything he has on the pitch. It’s not his fault Marti has no answer for teams that play smart and take him out of the game.

Agreed. Marti’s inability to see this and do something about it tactically is the real issue here.

Wagner knows the championship and is currently the academy manager for RB Leipzig. Worth a look?

I think its basically down to Marti doesn't know how to win with this team. He can't coach them to win because he doesn't have an idea what to do.

I'm thinking at half time he's going to put on Mavidivi and go for a second goal, or at least make changes early in the 2nd half to impact the game. Nope. Too complacent to be okay with one goal, which is a major theme with Marti. When you have a team on the ropes you need to bury the game, come out of the gate swinging, high tempo getting the crowd behind you. Football is a game of momentum, use it Marti! Instead we get overly pessimistic defensive football trying to hold on to a lead at home. I'd rather lose going for the game, pushing for a second goal and imposing our style of play on the game. But I couldn't honestly tell you what that style is.

Marti being overly cautious and pessimistic in his substitutions. To be fair without the penalty we didn't look capable of scoring anything. Has to go in my opinion.

I doubt Skipp really cost us what most people think. Sure the sticker price was in that ballpark, but Tottenham owed us for Maddison. Seems the most likely scenario is that the sale of Skipp offset the remaining debt on the Maddison deal and was left at sticker price to help Tottenham clear any PSR hurdles and make their books look as good as possible as he was an academy profit and any sale would be pure profit against PSR. Skipp is clearly a Cooper backed signing which is why we probably initiated going after him and Tottenham suggested that it cover the Maddison debt. If Skipp has such a long contract with us he actually becomes more of a value asset than some of the other players on this list with one or no years left. Not saying I think he’s the second coming of Kante, he isn’t. And not saying I feel confident in his ability. I don’t. But I think the narrative around his cost to the club needs a bit more perspective.

Even if the problem weren't how woeful our defense is, Cifuentes is playing one dimensional football. Every game is the same: Create width, get it to Fatawu, hope he can either score by cutting inside and scoring from outside the box, or have him cross the ball into the box hoping to find Caranza or Daka. I just think the idea of possession-based football isn't working. What's the point of possessing the ball if you never score? Or if you possess it just to go to the same outlet (Fatawu) who can be easily double-teamed? Insanity is doing the same thing again and again expecting different results.

Lots of knee jerk cynicism in response to this question. Is it possible? After seeing a team with Vardy, Barnes, Tielemans, and Maddison get relegated - anything is possible. But is it likely? I don't think it is. I think if we continue with Marti and don't heavily support his vision in January we will finish mid table, below the playoff spots. We are definitely at the point in the season where we have to try something different because the approach being used right now is not working. Its very apparent that Marti has been found out.

Actually only half joking. At the time I was not a fan but I think time has shown that our success after him was due in part to the foundations he established. I always love a redemption story.

Claude Puel anyone...anyone