Cifuentes OUT

[Dahnsouff]

7 minutes ago, trooky said:

We had a similar manager to Enzo, under our noses, and Rudkin let him go to Cardiff. 

 

Also we gambled on Marti, his previous track record didn't warrant the Leicester job. 

 

The club are clueless and run by morons. 

Neither did Enzo to be fair, also we have a distinct lack of imagination so figured it could work again with Marti, which it currently is not.

[fkas]

6 minutes ago, trooky said:

We had a similar manager to Enzo, under our noses, and Rudkin let him go to Cardiff. 

 

Also we gambled on Marti, his previous track record didn't warrant the Leicester job. 

 

The club are clueless and run by morons. 

The assistant with a couple of years at Rochdale and who'd mainly spent time in youth football was a bigger gamble than Marti. Had the club gone down that route they'd have been cries of being cheap etc. He'd have never been given a chance by most.

[trooky]

14 minutes ago, fkas said:

The assistant with a couple of years at Rochdale and who'd mainly spent time in youth football was a bigger gamble than Marti. Had the club gone down that route they'd have been cries of being cheap etc. He'd have never been given a chance by most.

Well if the club actually communicated they could have made a compelling argument based on his time at Man City  and the success of Enzo and besides we are cheap. 

 

As a fanbase we haven't given any recent managers a chance, which has been justified because Cooper, RVN and Marti have all been a disaster. 

 

Whoever we appoint in the future will be under pressure, but if they can rebuild Leicester with a clear playing identity and a team that plays for the shirt then the fanbase will support them. 

Edited 30 December 2025 by trooky

[Pliskin]

58 minutes ago, kingfox said:

I think his tactics have been very over reliant on our wingers, so many times this season it’s felt like, get the ball to our wingers and hope for the best, it’s all become very predictable. But our attacking problems also weigh heavily on the lack of a goalscoring striker, take Hull City for example, like us, their defensive statistics have been diabolical, but they are the second top scorers in the Championship, while Gelhardt and McBurnie have scored 19 between them. 
 

What is most worrying is our defensive statistics and the way Marti sets us up, we are far too vulnerable on transition. So many occasions last night where Jordan James was caught out too far forward, which then vacates a massive space that Oli Skipp has to defend on his own. He needs to tweak our system to make us more defensively secure, or maybe 1-2 signings in January can help us out on that front. 
 

It’s why our personnel deserves to be criticised. We lack leadership, we lack physicality. Where’s our Wes Morgan? Where’s our no nonsense Robert Huth? Where’s our Wilfred Ndidi? 
 

At QPR, Cifuentes had the luxury of two 6ft3 imposing central midfielders in Jonathan Varane and Sam Field, we have no player of that ilk, that along with no real leader in defence and no regular goalscoring striker, it’s evidently hurting us. 

I completely agree with you. Rather than placing emphasis on the wingers, like you say he relies on them. There’s an uncertainty to what he wants them to do. Like you say this then places all the pressure on them to produce, and you get performances like we’ve been getting from Mav and Fatawu…. James seems to be able to deal with this pressure though but he’s very good at generating his own momentum. 
 

The other problem is that we don’t play with any pace, so that really limits how impactful your wingers are. 
 

You’re not wrong about how open we are, and it’s largely down to this “style” he is deploying, you move up the pitch as slowly as we do, and then rely on a central box to box player to be your main threat through the middle of he pitch, it leaves gaping holes…. And that is why it’s frustrating Marti won’t at least try something a bit different. He limits himself because of his philosophy. 
 

I agree with you when you say we lack leaders, we do, but where you lack leaders this is when your manager/coach has to step up, he has to inspire them. As Enzo did when he was here, the right character can make the most average player play out of their skin, we’ve see it time and time again throughout the history of the game but I appreciate that requires actually finding this manager! 
 

A lot of what I believe anyway is fruitless, I think it’s been agreed for us to succeed now we would need an exceptional manager to come in. Which isn’t going to happen in this current situation. 

[HighPeakFox]

It is a privilege to be lectured on tactics by someone who clearly doesn't ever look himself honestly in the mirror.

[lcfcell]

Wrap it up guys. Highhorsefox has arrived 

[kingfox]

54 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

I completely agree with you. Rather than placing emphasis on the wingers, like you say he relies on them. There’s an uncertainty to what he wants them to do. Like you say this then places all the pressure on them to produce, and you get performances like we’ve been getting from Mav and Fatawu…. James seems to be able to deal with this pressure though but he’s very good at generating his own momentum. 
 

The other problem is that we don’t play with any pace, so that really limits how impactful your wingers are. 
 

You’re not wrong about how open we are, and it’s largely down to this “style” he is deploying, you move up the pitch as slowly as we do, and then rely on a central box to box player to be your main threat through the middle of he pitch, it leaves gaping holes…. And that is why it’s frustrating Marti won’t at least try something a bit different. He limits himself because of his philosophy. 
 

I agree with you when you say we lack leaders, we do, but where you lack leaders this is when your manager/coach has to step up, he has to inspire them. As Enzo did when he was here, the right character can make the most average player play out of their skin, we’ve see it time and time again throughout the history of the game but I appreciate that requires actually finding this manager! 
 

A lot of what I believe anyway is fruitless, I think it’s been agreed for us to succeed now we would need an exceptional manager to come in. Which isn’t going to happen in this current situation. 

As I responded in another post, I think Marti’s idea is wanting our wingers to be effective in 1 vs 1. He has clearly identified that our wingers along with JJ are our main attacking threats, but as you’ve pointed out and as I indicated in another post, our pace of play is evidently too slow, in a league which has become more fast & direct, we’re still stuck on the pedestrian side of things, it’s clearly hindering us. 
 

He won’t do it, but in certain games he should consider 4-3-3, take BDCR out for a more defensive minded midfielder, we have to solidify ourselves better defensively in some way or other. When you’re pushing Jordan James that far forward, you have to have better defensive cover to stop the possibility of transitions, as much as Oli Skipp has improved in recent games, I don’t think he can do that job all by himself, he isn’t an enforcer type like peak Wilfred Ndidi was, which as I stated earlier, we’re crying out for a player of that ilk. 
 

To have success, you need a strong leadership group imo, we’ve lost so many key leaders in recent years and not really replaced them. You look up and down our squad list, I personally wouldn’t give the armband to any of them, Choudhury getting the armband from time to time just shows how dire our leadership group is. I just feel our squad is also crying out for 1-2 leaders, getting in someone like Dan Neil on loan would be a sensible move. 

[Dahnsouff]

Mister Samuel Braybrooke for Bobby them?

[Pliskin]

43 minutes ago, kingfox said:

As I responded in another post, I think Marti’s idea is wanting our wingers to be effective in 1 vs 1. He has clearly identified that our wingers along with JJ are our main attacking threats, but as you’ve pointed out and as I indicated in another post, our pace of play is evidently too slow, in a league which has become more fast & direct, we’re still stuck on the pedestrian side of things, it’s clearly hindering us. 
 

He won’t do it, but in certain games he should consider 4-3-3, take BDCR out for a more defensive minded midfielder, we have to solidify ourselves better defensively in some way or other. When you’re pushing Jordan James that far forward, you have to have better defensive cover to stop the possibility of transitions, as much as Oli Skipp has improved in recent games, I don’t think he can do that job all by himself, he isn’t an enforcer type like peak Wilfred Ndidi was, which as I stated earlier, we’re crying out for a player of that ilk. 
 

To have success, you need a strong leadership group imo, we’ve lost so many key leaders in recent years and not really replaced them. You look up and down our squad list, I personally wouldn’t give the armband to any of them, Choudhury getting the armband from time to time just shows how dire our leadership group is. I just feel our squad is also crying out for 1-2 leaders, getting in someone like Dan Neil on loan would be a sensible move. 

Couldn’t agree more, spot on! 

[Lambert09]

5 hours ago, Pliskin said:

I completely agree with you. Rather than placing emphasis on the wingers, like you say he relies on them. There’s an uncertainty to what he wants them to do. Like you say this then places all the pressure on them to produce, and you get performances like we’ve been getting from Mav and Fatawu…. James seems to be able to deal with this pressure though but he’s very good at generating his own momentum. 
 

The other problem is that we don’t play with any pace, so that really limits how impactful your wingers are. 
 

You’re not wrong about how open we are, and it’s largely down to this “style” he is deploying, you move up the pitch as slowly as we do, and then rely on a central box to box player to be your main threat through the middle of he pitch, it leaves gaping holes…. And that is why it’s frustrating Marti won’t at least try something a bit different. He limits himself because of his philosophy. 
 

I agree with you when you say we lack leaders, we do, but where you lack leaders this is when your manager/coach has to step up, he has to inspire them. As Enzo did when he was here, the right character can make the most average player play out of their skin, we’ve see it time and time again throughout the history of the game but I appreciate that requires actually finding this manager! 
 

A lot of what I believe anyway is fruitless, I think it’s been agreed for us to succeed now we would need an exceptional manager to come in. Which isn’t going to happen in this current situation. 

To be honest our wingers haven’t performed as expected at all. Fatawu has by and large been poor but he has scored some amazing goals which perhaps have painted over the cracks. 
 

maybe they are suffering because of our game plan but there is a tiny question  of, is the game plan failing because they aren’t performing? What would this team look like if they were beating their men and completing the final balls more often than we are seeing?  
 

I don’t think Marti is a good manager and if it is the wingers that are letting down what he wants the team to do, he’s certainly made no effort to adapt and correct that. I didn’t watch enough of QPR to have any real understanding of what a functioning version of his side would look like. All I know is that his strikers never score goals and that can’t purely be down to having dross strikers all the time. 
 

QPR had Charlie Kelman last year and Marti didn’t want him, so he went out and was top scorer in league 1. That must have been hard for QPR fans to take while their top scorer had about 5 goals 

Edited 31 December 2025 by Lambert09

[PhillippaT]

6 hours ago, lcfcell said:

Wrap it up guys. Highhorsefox has arrived 

That's not the new name for the shopping centre, these days, then?  

 

Did QPR fans have it this bad when he was their manager?

[SafewayFox]

10 hours ago, kingfox said:

Tbh, very much like Enzo, Marti likes his wingers to be effective in 1 vs 1 situations, it’s a clear tactic that he possesses as he indicated in that coaches voice video he did while at QPR. 

 

The problem I find is our build up play is too slow, in a league where the pace of play has statistically sped up since the last time we were in it. We are the fifth slowest team in the Championship in terms of direct speed. So many times, once the ball gets out to our wingers, the opposition have their defence shape, our wingers might get doubled up on, to the point where you’re expecting them to create a moment of magic. Which as we’ve seen numerous times this season, you’re over relying on Fatawu to score a worldie which of course isn’t going to happen every week. 

We actually agree on our points.

 

Whilst I still stand with my moments comment re: Marti. He’s more Cooper than Enzo in that regard.

 

Which is why, I chipped in and commented that we have a very average manager in Marti.

 

As for the pace of play, I’m confident you referenced this last year too, Forest being the clear case study as evidence too.  

I couldn’t agree more, Arsenal last night also showed how you can comfortably win a game at home with less possession and passes too (but appreciate that’s a different matter all together).
 

I

[Pliskin]

10 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

To be honest our wingers haven’t performed as expected at all. Fatawu has by and large been poor but he has scored some amazing goals which perhaps have painted over the cracks. 
 

maybe they are suffering because of our game plan but there is a tiny question  of, is the game plan failing because they aren’t performing? What would this team look like if they were beating their men and completing the final balls more often than we are seeing?  
 

I don’t think Marti is a good manager and if it is the wingers that are letting down what he wants the team to do, he’s certainly made no effort to adapt and correct that. I didn’t watch enough of QPR to have any real understanding of what a functioning version of his side would look like. All I know is that his strikers never score goals and that can’t purely be down to having dross strikers all the time. 
 

QPR had Charlie Kelman last year and Marti didn’t want him, so he went out and was top scorer in league 1. That must have been hard for QPR fans to take while their top scorer had about 5 goals 

It’s a good thought, my only question would be why is our build up play so slow? Either the players just aren’t hitting the levels Marti wants, or they’re not getting it / buying into it? 
 

It’s the biggest conundrum for me, and it’s likely we’re going to lose Abdul for a reduced value in January because of it…. But it’s one of my biggest pet hates in football, I used to get frustrated with Barnes sometimes, but when you see him at Newcastle you can see how devastating he can be when the momentum of the game is in his favour. 
 

Wingers are a special breed, and we’ve got two opposites, Mavididi is more of a Mahrez I would say as in he quite likes the pace of the game slower as he will try a trick to beat a man, and Abdul if more of a Barnes, fast twitch explosive player…. So I can imagine that it’s a conundrum for any manager to balance that, but, we have done previously under Enzo. This is what makes me think Martin just isn’t deploying them properly. Both have been devastating at this level, but currently Mavididi is a million miles away from where he needs to be…..

 

Potentially Marti is actually a good tactician, but is he a good ma manager? Probably not…..

 

Thats a good point RE QPR, and we see it here, he favours some odd players, I mean Hamza at right back? When you’ve Aluko who’s an actual right back, he won’t trust him, yet he will trust Silko Thomas? It just doesn’t make any sense…. And this is where the lacking in on field leaders really hurts us, no one takes the game by the scruff of the neck and dominates it…… we have a lot of shrinking violets on this team….

 

If we can make any moves in January, besides a striker I think we need to bring in a senior pro, someone who understands this league and is a proper captain.

[when_you're_smiling]

It’s interesting that pretty much all of the debate about Marti in this thread is about attacking.

 

Only four teams have scored more than us, despite the pretty obvious flaws.

 

Meanwhile, we’ve conceded the sixth most defensively while only two teams (Oxford and Norwich) have less clean sheets.

[HighPeakFox]

10 hours ago, PhillippaT said:

That's not the new name for the shopping centre, these days, then?  

 

Did QPR fans have it this bad when he was their manager?

I've no interest in any debate involving someone who sneers at me for not being as unpleasant as him

[Dahnsouff]

2 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I've no interest in any debate involving someone who sneers at me for not being as unpleasant as him

If you were prepared to momentarily park you more gentile nature, and indulge your more base notions, think you may be able to sell tickets. 

[JimJams]

10 minutes ago, when_you're_smiling said:

It’s interesting that pretty much all of the debate about Marti in this thread is about attacking.

 

Only four teams have scored more than us, despite the pretty obvious flaws.

 

Meanwhile, we’ve conceded the sixth most defensively while only two teams (Oxford and Norwich) have less clean sheets.

Pretty much all the debate will have come from the fact that the problem you're pointing out has only actually become apparent towards the end of the year.  We've conceded 22 of the 34 goals against us since November.  So we've conceded nearly twice as many goals in the last 12 games as we had in the first 12.  Before that we were struggling to score or create chances.  It seems he's overcorrected that so we score some more now but concede way more too.  We've scored 19 goals since November, compared to 15.  That's probably negligible.  I think most people think he's getting it wrong at both ends to be fair.

[when_you're_smiling]

19 minutes ago, JimJams said:

Pretty much all the debate will have come from the fact that the problem you're pointing out has only actually become apparent towards the end of the year.  We've conceded 22 of the 34 goals against us since November.  So we've conceded nearly twice as many goals in the last 12 games as we had in the first 12.  Before that we were struggling to score or create chances.  It seems he's overcorrected that so we score some more now but concede way more too.  We've scored 19 goals since November, compared to 15.  That's probably negligible.  I think most people think he's getting it wrong at both ends to be fair.

Good points. I’m not sure how much better a team with no strikers to speak of could be though. Was amazed the attack has been that prolific.

[Lambert09]

58 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

It’s a good thought, my only question would be why is our build up play so slow? Either the players just aren’t hitting the levels Marti wants, or they’re not getting it / buying into it? 
 

It’s the biggest conundrum for me, and it’s likely we’re going to lose Abdul for a reduced value in January because of it…. But it’s one of my biggest pet hates in football, I used to get frustrated with Barnes sometimes, but when you see him at Newcastle you can see how devastating he can be when the momentum of the game is in his favour. 
 

Wingers are a special breed, and we’ve got two opposites, Mavididi is more of a Mahrez I would say as in he quite likes the pace of the game slower as he will try a trick to beat a man, and Abdul if more of a Barnes, fast twitch explosive player…. So I can imagine that it’s a conundrum for any manager to balance that, but, we have done previously under Enzo. This is what makes me think Martin just isn’t deploying them properly. Both have been devastating at this level, but currently Mavididi is a million miles away from where he needs to be…..

 

Potentially Marti is actually a good tactician, but is he a good ma manager? Probably not…..

 

Thats a good point RE QPR, and we see it here, he favours some odd players, I mean Hamza at right back? When you’ve Aluko who’s an actual right back, he won’t trust him, yet he will trust Silko Thomas? It just doesn’t make any sense…. And this is where the lacking in on field leaders really hurts us, no one takes the game by the scruff of the neck and dominates it…… we have a lot of shrinking violets on this team….

 

If we can make any moves in January, besides a striker I think we need to bring in a senior pro, someone who understands this league and is a proper captain.

It’s all very weird particularly the drastic differences in halves. I don’t think we are always slow and ponderous in the build up (but we are for the majority of the time) The first halves against Portsmouth, Wrexham, derby (a), Ipswich all of them we were moving the ball around well and there was very little to fault.  Which begs the question why that stops happening. Is it fitness,  are certain players simply not capable of doing it.  Is the manager tweaking and asking them to slow it down?  Or is it less about the pace we’re moving the ball and more to do with the fact we are dropping further back? 
 

I think even the most astute tactician would struggle to explain what’s been happening with us.  But it all feels amateurish, like maybe there isn’t a set plan or structure. 

[SafewayFox]

1 hour ago, when_you're_smiling said:

It’s interesting that pretty much all of the debate about Marti in this thread is about attacking.

 

Only four teams have scored more than us, despite the pretty obvious flaws.

 

Meanwhile, we’ve conceded the sixth most defensively while only two teams (Oxford and Norwich) have less clean sheets.

I think it’s because we have players like Abdul, Stephy, Monga and JJ etc.

 

With that quality, you’d expect us to be pretty decent going forward.

 

Yet, we have looked absolutely toothless in a lot of matches.

 

Look at the Watford game, we had ample time to get back into the game but can’t remember one “half chance” after going 2-1 down.

[HighPeakFox]

58 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

If you were prepared to momentarily park you more gentile nature, and indulge your more base notions, think you may be able to sell tickets. 

Really not good for me, mentally. 

[Dahnsouff]

12 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Really not good for me, mentally. 

My apologies, I understand. Consider the suggestion withdrawn.

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Dahnsouff said:

My apologies, I understand. Consider the suggestion withdrawn.

No need, but sentiment appreciated. 

[Great Boos Up]

Just keep Marti. Win one, lose one draw one. Just stabilise. We’re a walking disaster. Boom and bust and we’re on track for bust. Just stay in the division. Everyone will improve bar us. Let’s change in the summer when hopefully we can spend.

[Foxin_Mad]

This guy has tactics? 
 

He’s shit get rid, 3rd rate, we probably can’t afford to. The KPFC club deserves him, league 2 level manager 

Edited 1 January by Foxin_Mad