Les-TA-Jon

Have we all just said / heard this enough to believe it? Most people on here don't have much positive to say about any individuals in the squad! (Other than James and Fatawu).

Sorry, yeah another error. The club gave him an extra year, to 2027, this June.

Fair. My main point is that because everything else is so poor, any managerial change can have limited impact, especially given the club has no footballing intelligence to find a decent replacement and as you say the club is not attractive.

I haven't seen the first yellow. I also haven't seen the rule where 2nd yellows are meant to be judged differently to other yellows. For me, the 2nd one is a textbook yellow card. The Southampton player beats him, Aluko knows he's past him, no attempt to play the ball, pulls shirt and bundles him down. If it was an opposition player you'd be screaming for it surely?

Different thread but now you're agreeing with me

Hadn't RVN gotten to the exact place you describe about MC's current situation? As I say, I agree we're awful. I think us being in or close to a relegation battle is exactly the reason the club would change managers. Otherwise I don't think they'll sack MC.

He's in the 2029 column. I forgot to delete him from the 2026 column. Updated.

Wait, do you think the 2nd one wasn't a yellow!?

Next summer will be crazy busy regardless of what league we're in!

I agree we're bad. But, as I say, a new manager maybe brings a slight uptick in results/performances, and then what? Does that magically solve all the other problems I mentioned?

We saw with the move from Cooper to RVN, this debate isn't about whether Marti is good enough or not, the debate is about: do we think this regime can identify and appoint the right successor? We have an imbalanced squad, full of a mix of wantaway players, players in final years of contracts, stale players here too long, players relegated here twice and (somewhat promising) players who are only here on loan We have managed to breach PSR 1-3 times whilst getting relegated twice and despite being midtable, have the highest wage bill in the league. It's a rancid time on and off the pitch for 3-4 years. The drop in standards is crazy. Recruitment is patchy and confused - you get occasional gems like Fatawu and BEK coupled with overpaid duffers like Ayew, BDCR and Skipp High level strategy is also all over the place: Rodgers > Smith > Maresca > Cooper > RVN > Cifuentes is bonkers. We've fought PSR charges defiantly in the courtroom but not made any real attempt to change our model through recruitment. We went up and could have 'pocketed' the cash, but instead spent terribly and lumbered ourselves with more average players We are way off finishing top 2 this season. Current results suggest Playoffs could be difficult to achieve. We may yet receive a points deduction this season. What on earth is a new manager going to change on any of the above? Especially if appointed mid-season? If the club is confident they're appointing a 'Pearson style builder' manager, then fine, get him in and give him as much time as possible - but do we think the club can actually find him, let alone convince him to join? Did the club already think they'd done that with Marti?

We don’t score enough goals to get comfortable wins, nor are we solid enough at the back

Can only really think of Fuchs, Huth and Kasper as potential managers out of the immortal 11

For clarity - I don't think Marti is doing a good job here - just like Cooper and RVN he's said all the right things initially and then not been able to back them up. There's no particular pattern of play or recognisable philosophy and we've dropped a ton of points. The thing is though, if Marti is 'so obviously the wrong fit' why do we think the same people who appointed him are going to magically identify and appoint a replacement who is better? I used to be fairly supportive of managerial changes, once players/fans/results had passed the point of no return (I don't think we're at this point with Marti...yet) but the Cooper and RVN debacle last season has changed my perspective on things: Sacking Cooper was the right call in a vacuum, but the decision didn't occur in a vacuum did it? It's as much about who the replacement is? RVN being terrible demonstrated that sacking Cooper was a bad decision if RVN was the replacement.

Don’t want to derail the thread, but is it? How much better would we be with some other manager? A few more wins here or there? I doubt we’d be top or anything. any other manager still has to contend with total lack of goalscorers, imbalanced squad full of a bunch of wantaway/stale/unmotivated players.

And we've had a fair bit of time since 2021 to course correct - and yet have since signed Souttar, Kristiansen, Coady, Edouard, Ayew, Skipp, De-Cordova Reid, Coulibaly as standout terrible deals.

I agree. Although I think we really have to question why clubs like Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Villa and Newcastle have been able to survive the shift into the 'PSR era' whilst staying reasonably competitive, compared to our (self-inflicted?) death spiral? Note that when PSR really started to bite, we were also there in a position of relative strength - i.e two Top 6 finishes Even the clubs that breached and got charged for it - Everton and Forest - have something to show for it - PL status secured at least and potential or realised top half finishes We managed to breach 2-4 times, get relegated twice and still end up with an imbalanced squad of overpaid average players

Have they? Where are you getting that from?

"Leicester are prepared to pay compensation for any target who is already in work" I find that very hard to believe!

War tends to affect tourism...

The club waited until last possible moment to sack RVN, appointed a mid-table Championship manager late on, only mades deadline day loan signings and frees in the summer. I think that suggests that they're expecting a points deduction and to tread water this season. We never have good Jan windows under this ownership. I'd be amazed if we did anything extraordinary.

Vs Portsmouth. Sat 18th Oct

Think he’ll only get sacked if we’re in danger of relegation

I don’t disagree in general, but if Rodgers tenure has ‘decided our fate for 20 years’ then surely it’s the people in charge for the final 18 years of that timespan that are more responsible…?

Didn't Cardiff pay us compensation to get him though?