The Clean Slate

[Dames]

I cant go through another season of people praising Vestergaard because hes turning out half decent performances in the second tier whilst drawing 75,000 a week from the club. 
 

He has unfortunately become one of the symbols of whats been wrong in the recent era, signing players with no resale value, that dont improve the squad and are on inflated wages that dont match their ability. 

[ThorpeAstleyFox]

Surely the Manager(s) are picking the players that they believe have the best chance at winning a game of football? Martí has been here for a very short time, so I am not surprised that he is favouring more established players over Academy graduates. It is up to Nelson, Alves et al (Monga is already getting game time) to impress in training and in any appearances that they make. I'm sure that many of them will have an opportunity on Wednesday - it is up to them to take it.

[ClaphamFox]

3 hours ago, leicesterseddon said:

I’ve never really understood what a “director of football” actually does and this comment sums up why. 

Hello Jon. 

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

If you need multiple "clean slates" it probably indicates you're a bit of a shit footballer. Just so fatigued by even looking at some of these blokes — I don't care if they're serviceable in the Championship or not, it's shite seeing Vestergaard, Faes, Soumare still getting a run out years and years after they should've been out on their collective arse.

[Skid_1884]

The problem is that there is no accountability anywhere in the club.

 

Why would a player be too concerned if they can make mistakes, toss it off and underperform if they keep getting a clean slate every 6 months.

 

Players like Faes and Soumare should have been binned to training with the youth players, Leeds have just done the same with Bamford yet we have to keep persisting with the same players under a new mask

[Ric Flair]

I'm in this weird mood where yesterday's outcome has potentially annoyed me more than some defeats in recent times have.

 

The images of Vestergaard and Faes, hugely complicit in many things that are wrong with this football club, scoring the goals to get across the line against a team is utter disarray is galling. 

 

Many of us don't want to have to tolerate this lot again, nor do we accept this current ownership showing zero evidence of any tangible change. 

 

Cifuentes is not doing anything unreasonable in giving these a chance but it's so predictable that already a little bit of this new era excitement is wavering. He can quote all he likes about the past being the past with Faes but whilst he's supposedly taken the time to ask him what's happened he perhaps should have had the tact to understand why our fans might be feeling they way we're feeling. 

 

The faith in youth is very much yet to be proven as well, and until it is then my mood will unlikely change.

 

The decline at this football club defies science, even more so that the root causes have remained untouched. Professors and pioneers would be left scratching their heads at that one.

 

Bored of it all.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

As I was saying…

 

Time for the likes of Nelson, Page, Monga, Alves and Aluko to be more prominently involved alongside the few senior players that do actually have some hunger to be here and help the club succeed.

[Leicester_Loyal]

23 minutes ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

As I was saying…

 

Time for the likes of Nelson, Page, Monga, Alves and Aluko to be more prominently involved alongside the few senior players that do actually have some hunger to be here and help the club succeed.

I would take 18th in the table right now if it meant getting rid of the likes of Winks, Faes, Vesty, Soumare and Daka.

 

I'm not even bothered about the result today, I'm more bothered that Winks is allowed to disrespect the fans and start the next game with no consequences. 

[CPepFox]

On 11/08/2025 at 15:05, Skid_1884 said:

The problem is that there is no accountability anywhere in the club.

The answer! And it's been ongoing for half a decade! Time for change! 

[Spanner73]

On 10/08/2025 at 21:54, Freeman's Wharfer said:

“It’s a clean slate for everybody”.

 

How many times do we hear this from a new manager? And, again, we hear it from Cifuentes today post-match about Faes.

When we’ve had the managerial turnover that we have, it’s a problem. I was sat there at half time wondering how we’d somehow turned out a starting XI with the likes of Vestergaard, Soumare, Justin, Skipp and Ayew who have all either contributed to our demise through poor performance, said/shown they wanted out or a combination of both.

 

We then see Daka, Winks and Faes stepping onto the pitch to whom the same applies. Meanwhile Alves, Nelson and others that haven’t had a crack at it are sat on the sidelines.

 

The truth is we’ve had a cancer in this squad for the last few years that has eaten away at the culture and success of the club. And it’s being given new life each time a new manager comes in and utters that phrase. 
 

The best we can hope for is that Cifuentes learns quickly about these guys, but it concerns me that any of them are being given a chance to play a part again. Where are our standards? And how can we expect any player who doesn’t take to Cifuentes to think anything other than “I’ll sit this out until the next new manager and clean slate comes round”?

 

The only clean slate we all want to see is in the boardroom 

[hackneyfox]

Faes has played well every time he’s been given a chance so far this season.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

On that pitch last night…

 

Players who have sat in the stand because they’ve fallen out with a manager previously:

 

Vestergaard 

Winks

 

Players who have clearly wanted away from the club or asked for a move:

 

Soumare

Faes

Daka

 

Players who are ageing and came here for one final payday:

 

Decordova-Reid

Ayew

 

Players who are on loan and have no long-term tie to the club:

 

Carranza

James

Ramsey

 

That’s 10/16 who haven’t wanted/don’t want to be here, only want to be here for the money, or have no real skin in the game to be here long-term.

 

You just cannot expect to get anywhere with that in a league where grit and determination is 50% of what makes

you successful. I’m not having a go at the loan players at all, but what I am saying is that usually you’d be dropping a couple of them into a side that is committed to building something and you can bring them along for either part of, or the whole, ride.

 

The clean slate that Cifuentes has provided to many of the above is what will cost him dear if he continues on this path.

 

 

[Dan]

Yep - manager needed to be a radical. Pretty clear he isn't. Nor would anyone who was actually radical get the job.

[kingfox]

Could put this in a few threads, but will bang it in this one. First ten minutes of this podcast…

 

Players underperforming 

Poor recruitment 

Issues with the sporting director 

Problems from top to bottom

No leadership

 

Pretty much a carbon copy of what we’ve seen at Leicester City in recent season’s. If we fail to get promoted and continue in the same manner behind the scenes, we could easily become what Norwich are going through right now. 

 

[davieG]

On 11/08/2025 at 10:31, iancognito said:

Unfortunately the only way for a real clean slate is to sell the players and we're genuinely abysmal at getting rid of deadwood.

 

All managers would love to come in and start again but the reality is that you can only change 3 to 5 players per season and it takes 3 transfer windows to change an entire culture or squad. They can't simply bin them off.

 

It's not impossible though. Brian Little turned 3 or 4 seasons of garbage round pretty rapidly. Micky Adams turned the Taylor failures into winners again. 

 

 

Depends whether the players are the problem or the previous manager unfortunately with us it's both.