Marti Cifuentes appointed new manager

[foxfan92]

43 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

He doesnt get time, we need points now.

 

I am convinced he's not putting out our best XI or best bench, irrespective of whether they are academy players. I think it's fair to criticise him on the basis that I believe his decisions are costing us points as well as damaging the long term trajectory of the club.

 

Shit ownership or not the manager does have an impact on the direction of the club and instead of offsetting the damage of the likes of Rudkin he is compounding that damage by backing the same old crap experienced players over the academy ones.

I'm not going to defend every decision Cifuentes as making, because I don't agree with everything myself, but I do think you've been extremely critical of him from the first game (which we won), argued he should be playing the academy players (which we then did in the cup game and it turns out they didn't look as good as we hope they are, losing (albeit on penalties) to a team in the league below us). Now I'll admit he made changes, but some of those were to add even more youth, like Paige, and I'd argue the youngsters played worse than we did in the first game, and so if he'd done as you wanted we probably would have lost to Wednesday too.

 

There's a lot wrong with the club right now. And it's okay to feel angry.

 

There's players like Soumare who I hope have exhausted all their chances for now (although I'm struggling to see a good central midfield we can put out (although Soumare and Skipp still shouldn't be in that).

 

Our defence isn't great, but it's the creativity from the centre of the park, the urgency, the engine that's lacking the most (plus a natural striker).

 

The lack of striker is therefore another major problem and not one easily fixed. Evan is an unknown no matter how much we might hope and that leaves us with Ayew and Daka. 

 

Our incomings have literally been a 38 year old backup keeper and an 18 year old, who might be a start of the future(assuming he stays here long enough) but won't help us now.

 

The guy came in a few weeks before the start of the season. Players won't unlearn a season of Cooper and Ruud football and relearn the new way and be fluid and confident enough with it to win a game of fine margins in such a short space of time.

 

And while we've seen how bad these players are all last season (and before that for a lot of them) Cifuentes has to give everyone a clean slate, because some players naturally excel in different systems.

 

Yes we need to start winning again, right away, to stand a chance of promotion, particularly with points being docked hanging over us, but we can't write the guy off before he's properly had a chance to show what he can do.

 

I remember (even if most on here have forgotten, the abuse Pearson got for months and months, particularly when we couldn't buy a win in our journey back to promotion before we went up, and everyone was questioning him, or even when we went up and he refused to play Albrighton for ages for reasons no one could work out. 

 

There's a certain Scotish manager who was being booed by fans because Man Utd were awful when he first took over. And look how that panned out.

 

Now I'm not saying it'll work, he may not be the right man for the job. But let's support him until proven otherwise and give him a proper chance. There's a lot worse at the club that has had too many chances and should be gone long before Cifuentes goes.

[JimJams]

32 minutes ago, JonnyZeroFox said:

Got to question the team selection, he must see in training how some have zero effort… they literally don’t care. He shouldn’t start them 

But you can probably summise then that they aren't putting in zero effort in training.

[honeybradger]

Just now, whoareyaaa said:

He played Monga, Alves, Page and Nelson midweek..

 

Monga, Page and Nelson was on the bench today.. if we give him time maybe they will break into the first time even though two of them are only 16.

 

Other than that he does not have much else to work with, Evans and Alves but they have hardly warranted starting imo.

Evans has really not been given a fair chance at all. It's not like he is competing against prime Vardy. Ayew and Daka are completely stinking it up at the moment. 

 

Yes he didn't blow the doors open in pre season but he only got 60 minutes in what I consider as his preferred position, that being striker. He's still massively talented and I dont like the fact that Cifuentes hasnt even put him in a position where he can stake a claim against Ayew and Daka. With all being fair he should at least be rotated in with those two, who are proving time and time again that they dont have what it takes to be our main striker this season.

 

Aluko has also been left out in the cold for absolutely no reason. Based on his performance in pre season he should really be on the bench at least.

 

Monga and Page will undeniably force their way into the first XI over time due to their level of talent. With Page not even getting off the bench today and Monga being arguably our best player and starting on the bench I feel like Cifuentes is giving them less than they deserve. The fact that we probably win today with them starting means that im not impressed with the prospect of Cifuentes bringing them into the team eventually as their lacking involvement is hurting us now. 

 

It feels like the youngsters will only get chances under Cifuentes due to the underperformance of the senior players forcing his hand which is not how it should be in my opinion.

[cityfanlee23]

1 hour ago, South Shire Fox said:

Nothings going to change until he brings his players in. If the club thinks this group is going to be challenging without fresh faces then theyve got a shock coming

Agree he needs to bring players in, but nobody is forcing him to play Vestergaard, and Thomas is not a very strong left sided partner for him if we are going to play this brand of football. He won't have many chances with the fans if he continues to play this style and has Vestergaard in no mans land 5x per match. 

Early days. 

[MaidstoneFox]

The manager has said himself "the squad is too big", which a polite way of saying that he wants to get rid of lots and bring in a few. As far as I'm aware he has never said 'I'm happy with this squad".

[Greg2607]

6 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

Evans has really not been given a fair chance at all. It's not like he is competing against prime Vardy. Ayew and Daka are completely stinking it up at the moment. 

 

Yes he didn't blow the doors open in pre season but he only got 60 minutes in what I consider as his preferred position, that being striker. He's still massively talented and I dont like the fact that Cifuentes hasnt even put him in a position where he can stake a claim against Ayew and Daka. With all being fair he should at least be rotated in with those two, who are proving time and time again that they dont have what it takes to be our main striker this season.

 

Aluko has also been left out in the cold for absolutely no reason. Based on his performance in pre season he should really be on the bench at least.

 

Monga and Page will undeniably force their way into the first XI over time due to their level of talent. With Page not even getting off the bench today and Monga being arguably our best player and starting on the bench I feel like Cifuentes is giving them less than they deserve. The fact that we probably win today with them starting means that im not impressed with the prospect of Cifuentes bringing them into the team eventually as their lacking involvement is hurting us now. 

 

It feels like the youngsters will only get chances under Cifuentes due to the underperformance of the senior players forcing his hand which is not how it should be in my opinion.

You've clearly got some involvement or a vested interest in someone in the academy. 

 

I also admire your passion for bringing youth through. 

 

But you are misplaced to think that every player on the cusp of the first team from the academy, is a better direct replacement than the incumbent. 

 

If they were THAT much better, we wouldn't have lost to a league 1 side in the cup.  

 

Most of the players you are talking about are full internationals with premier league experience.  

 

Also, every single one of those players, was an academy prospect that managed to break through..... There is no guarantee your starlets are an improvement. 

Edited 16 August 2025 by Greg2607

[SuperMike]

His team will continue to underperform (and lose matches to average workmanlike teams) as long as he puts Soumaré in the side. A team simply cannot operate with him on the pitch (see results / performances over past 3 years).

[whoareyaaa]

5 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

Evans has really not been given a fair chance at all. It's not like he is competing against prime Vardy. Ayew and Daka are completely stinking it up at the moment. 

 

Yes he didn't blow the doors open in pre season but he only got 60 minutes in what I consider as his preferred position, that being striker. He's still massively talented and I dont like the fact that Cifuentes hasnt even put him in a position where he can stake a claim against Ayew and Daka. With all being fair he should at least be rotated in with those two, who are proving time and time again that they dont have what it takes to be our main striker this season.

 

Aluko has also been left out in the cold for absolutely no reason. Based on his performance in pre season he should really be on the bench at least.

 

Monga and Page will undeniably force their way into the first XI over time due to their level of talent. With Page not even getting off the bench today and Monga being arguably our best player and starting on the bench I feel like Cifuentes is giving them less than they deserve. The fact that we probably win today with them starting means that im not impressed with the prospect of Cifuentes bringing them into the team eventually as their lacking involvement is hurting us now. 

 

It feels like the youngsters will only get chances under Cifuentes due to the underperformance of the senior players forcing his hand which is not how it should be in my opinion.

We have played 3 competitive games he's not a magician it's going to take time to work it out.

[JimJams]

1 minute ago, SuperMike said:

His team will continue to underperform (and lose matches to average workmanlike teams) as long as he puts Soumaré in the side. A team simply cannot operate with him on the pitch (see results / performances over past 3 years).

It's way too reductive to put the blame almost entirely on one player.

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, JimJams said:

It's way too reductive to put the blame almost entirely on one player.

Agree, Soumare has been poor, but so was Skipp, etc, etc and it’s too simple to point fingers at individuals.

[Rusko187]

I’m not looking to blame the manager, players and board need to take responsibility here.

They aren’t giving Cifuentes a chance by not bringing any players in and the constant speculation of players going out.

 

Plus a number of these players don’t want to be here and frankly downtools, how are you expecting to gee up a dressing room without bringing in fresh faces? We’re screwed in all honesty!

[CrazyKopCorner]

He’s only been in the role 4 weeks. He is making mistakes but it’s literally impossible to pick a worthy starting 11. He needs time to get rid of more dross and hopefully bring in and bring through players with the right mentality and who will fit into his system. 

[RedSoxUK]

9 minutes ago, SuperMike said:

His team will continue to underperform (and lose matches to average workmanlike teams) as long as he puts Soumaré in the side. A team simply cannot operate with him on the pitch (see results / performances over past 3 years).

Didn't seem as bad today, 10 worse players starting honestly.

[South Shire Fox]

16 minutes ago, cityfanlee23 said:

Agree he needs to bring players in, but nobody is forcing him to play Vestergaard, and Thomas is not a very strong left sided partner for him if we are going to play this brand of football. He won't have many chances with the fans if he continues to play this style and has Vestergaard in no mans land 5x per match. 

Early days. 

What other choice does he have, we have no other LBs. Justin is shite. 

Edited 16 August 2025 by South Shire Fox

[MaidstoneFox]

2 minutes ago, RedSoxUK said:

Didn't seem as bad today, 10 worse players starting honestly.

Agreed. Poor first half, but got more involved second half with much better passing.

[JimJams]

2 minutes ago, CrazyKopCorner said:

... it’s literally impossible to pick a worthy starting 11...

This seems to be lost on some.  We all have players we'd prefer to see play, and have made that known, but there's probably 3 players this season, and we're only 3 games in, that haven't had an absolute shitter in those games.

 

Ironically, Faes, for all the shit he gets, is probably the only player that's done his job well enough so far along with Monga.  And neither of those have played 270 minutes, so even those 2 haven't seen the pitch for the duration.

 

We had many saying Nelson and Okoli should pair up.  After the Wednesday game many said forget Okoli.  But Nelson HAS to start.  He does, and he was wank.  The right minded will say that these things happen, soak it up, learn and move on, but some are writing players off after a bad game.

 

Whoever you pick right now to play has either already had a shit performance in this very early stage of the season OR have got history of it in seasons past.  Aside from Monga really of anyone to see a decent number of minutes.

[Headcase]

16 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

We have played 3 competitive games he's not a magician it's going to take time to work it out.

I remember people saying this stuff last season aswell....then time started to rapidly run out..

And lets be honest itd not really the manager, the players are absolute gash...

[Vestan Pance]

This guy hasn't got a chance. Too many mercenary characters is the squad that are just riding it out. Unless we ship them out and replace them we have no chance of him putting together a decent team. As ever Top and Rudkin are 100% to blame.

Edited 16 August 2025 by Vestan Pance

[ronnup]

He needs time, and he needs players. This squad is so rotten its ridiculous. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

Anyone having a pop at the manager who has just come in and not had a full pre season has half his squad looking at the exit door whilst the club try to play poker to max the fees we secure. We have signed a reserve keeper and nobody else, if he threw in the academy players in these first 3 and we lost people would be ripping him a new one saying why is he starting players who are not ready for 1st team football instead of established pros. 
 

This is on the players, that starting XI was strong enough to easily push Preston aside but in truth these players threw in the towel and surrendered. 
 

So it’s now for the owner and the fans to back Marti and support him and the team if he makes the changes needed, recognise that HMS piss the league ain’t going to happen but we may have to take a step back to take 2 or 3 forward. 
 

therefore my team vs Charlton would be - 

 

Stolrcryk

 

Riccy P

Okoli

Nelson 

Aluko

 

Hamza

Page

 

Fatawu

Mavididi

Monga

 

McAteer

 

subs 

Begovic

Joseph

Vestergaard

Braybrooke

Briggs

Alves

Wanya

Evans 

Popov
 

 

Edited 16 August 2025 by Claudio Fannieri

[cityfanlee23]

15 minutes ago, South Shire Fox said:

What other choice does he have, we have no other LBs. Justin is shite. 

Justin is better than Thomas, and Choudhury has been a better player so far than Thomas also so he can easily cover RB. Nobody is forcing him to play Vestergaard who is completely caught out on the counter pretty much every single time, atleast under Enzo we controlled the ball slowly which led to less chances of being hit on the break, Marti-Ball is a far more offensive system so we cannot be making these mistakes of playing Vestergaard. Faes or Nelson should be there, regardless of how badly Nelson played he is the priority going forward. 

The issue here is I'm concerned your initial comment will come true in a literal sense, that nothing will change unless Marti gets his players in, that includes Marti playing this system. 
If he continues to try to play LT/JV as a left side of our defence we are going to finish mid table. 

 

[kenny]

He is going to need to start publicly freezing out the bad apples. 

 

The lack of interest from the group in Mongas goal is weird and really really poor. I can't see he can do any worse than deciding who the worst offenders are and telling them to stay away until they are ready to behave like professional footballers.

[CrazyKopCorner]

6 minutes ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Anyone having a pop at the manager who has just come in and not had a full pre season has half his squad looking at the exit door whilst the club try to play poker to max the fees we secure. We have signed a reserve keeper and nobody else, if he threw in the academy players in these first 3 and we lost people would be ripping him a new one saying why is he starting players who are not ready for 1st team football instead of established pros. 
 

This is on the players, that starting XI was strong enough to easily push Preston aside but in truth these players threw in the towel and surrendered. 
 

So it’s now for the owner and the fans to back Marti and support him and the team if he makes the changes needed, recognise that HMS piss the league ain’t going to happen but we may have to take a step back to take 2 or 3 forward. 
 

therefore my team vs Charlton would be - 

 

Stolrcryk

 

Riccy P

Okoli

Nelson 

Aluko

 

Hamza

Page

 

Fatawu

Mavididi

Monga

 

McAteer

 

subs 

Begovic

Joseph

Vestergaard

Braybrooke

Briggs

Alves

Wanya

Evans 

Popov
 

 

No Hamza and no Mcateer - the rest looks good 

[honeybradger]

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

You've clearly got some involvement or a vested interest in someone in the academy. 

 

I also admire your passion for bringing youth through. 

 

But you are misplaced to think that every player on the cusp of the first team from the academy, is a better direct replacement than the incumbent. 

 

If they were THAT much better, we wouldn't have lost to a league 1 side in the cup.  

 

Most of the players you are talking about are full internationals with premier league experience.  

 

Also, every single one of those players, was an academy prospect that managed to break through..... There is no guarantee your starlets are an improvement. 

We started with 3 non-established academy players against Huddersfield and brought 1 off the bench. Two of those, Monga and Page, played well and if everyone else played to the same level we would have won.

 

Only 2 non-established academy players were on the pitch when we conceded the goals. As usual the non-established players get blamed by our fanbase whilst the established pros get endless chances.

 

You think you are being 'reasonable' by backing the senior pros and blaming the loss on the academy players but you are actually being entirely irrational. You are part of the problem, too much support for the senior players who constantly let us down, too little support for our academy players who have talent and actually give a sh*t.

 

Players like Faes, Skipp, Winks, Okoli etc are not high level academy products. They couldn't make it at their own clubs so they had to make the step down to us or found their way here. There's a reason theyre with us in the championship in their peak years.

 

Faes for example couldn't break through at Anderlecht, he went to Excelsior where he was terrible, went to Reims where he was OK but a bit of a bombscare then somehow found a £15mil move to us, not a successful academy prospect who broke through on merit by any means.

 

I wouldnt be surprised if at the same age almost all of our starlets are Premier League players. Calvin Bassey for example is an ex academy player who is less talented than Nelson or Aluko but is comfortable at that level. I remember I was one of the only people on here pushing for Bassey to stay at the time as well.

Edited 16 August 2025 by honeybradger

[Pliskin]

He’s inherited a poison chalice…. A job that Potter (although he doesn’t appear to be doing much better) avidly avoided. 
 

So far he’s had one player come in on a free, and we seemingly for now aren’t doing any business….. so he’s got a squad with some want away, and mardy arses in it. 
 

How can you motivate a team of players who don’t want to be here? At the moment he’s pissing into the wind. He’s probably trying to lean on some experience, and perhaps those who show aptitude in training. I don’t know, but I’m not blaming him. This lot were beaten before he stepped in. They’ve had the most rancid 12 months, even Harry ****ing Potter couldn’t whip this lot into shape. 
 

What we’ve got, is a mentality and attitude issue…. That team on paper should be comfortably beating Preston, but they just didn’t want it, not many of them do, and therein lies our issue.