Cifuentes OUT

[Chelmofox]

8 hours ago, whoareyaaa said:

Enzo would have got 10x more out of Facundo and Bilal, standards would have got even higher the team morale would be high off the back of winning the Championship title.. We wouldn't have had Soumare Kristensen, Thomas, Skipp or Ayew who all contritubed to us going down Winks, Vesterguard and even Faes would have been more switched on etc.. and the team would have a year wiser.

 

I don't think we would have gone down honestly.

I always felt the way Facundo frequently lost the ball would have driven Enzo mad. Just checked how he's getting on at Chelsea. 1 PL appearance (45 mins) and not been in the squad for the last 3, so hasnt featured in the last 7 games. 

 

In not sure.

[Stadt]

9 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

I always felt the way Facundo frequently lost the ball would have driven Enzo mad. Just checked how he's getting on at Chelsea. 1 PL appearance (45 mins) and not been in the squad for the last 3, so hasnt featured in the last 7 games. 

 

In not sure.

Having such a ridiculously bloated squad and signings foisted upon him means minutes played probably isn’t a totally fair reflection of how he’d have gotten on.

[BrilliantFox]

40 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

He was the reason why we resigned Vestergaard

Incorrect, that was the club being cheap as usual. They'd rather extend contracts of crap players rather than recruiting an upgrade.

 

You think Maresca was happy going into the Prem and playing Vestergaard in a high line? You really think that?

 

He saw first hand in the FA Cup Quarter Final at Stamford Bridge how Vestergaard would be exposed in the Prem. 

[Chelmofox]

5 minutes ago, BrilliantFox said:

Incorrect, that was the club being cheap as usual. They'd rather extend contracts of crap players rather than recruiting an upgrade.

 

You think Maresca was happy going into the Prem and playing Vestergaard in a high line? You really think that?

 

He saw first hand in the FA Cup Quarter Final at Stamford Bridge how Vestergaard would be exposed in the Prem. 

Before Enzo, 2 managers froze out Vestergaard. He went to the press and publically belittled the manager and the club and ended up having to train on his own. Under Smith, they comically put him in a PL2 game where he was one of the worst players on the pitch and then was injured  After Enzo, 2 other managers froze him out. Again, there was press talk about him taking this pi55 using Seagrave facilities.

 

He fitted Enzo's style perfectly for the 1st half of that season because we didn't have to do too much defending.

 

Vestergaard was Enzos man. If he hadn't found a role for him, no way would the club have extended his contract - no way. Maresca tinkered with Vestergaards role in the final game against Blackburn, clearly showing he wanted to keep him in the plans.

[BrilliantFox]

36 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

He fitted Enzo's style perfectly for the 1st half of that season because we didn't have to do too much defending.

 

Vestergaard was Enzos man. If he hadn't found a role for him, no way would the club have extended his contract

No the clear distinction we're making here is Maresca was happy for him to start Championship matches.

 

FA Cup Quarter Final at Stamford Bridge was the wake up call that he needs a better CB in the Prem.

 

The club extended him because it was the cheap thing to do. They didn't want to go and pay £30m for a new CB.

 

All roads lead back to this club's incomptence and Maresca should hold 0 blame for LCFC's PSR **** up.

[LCFCJohn]

8 hours ago, BrilliantFox said:

Incorrect, that was the club being cheap as usual. They'd rather extend contracts of crap players rather than recruiting an upgrade.

 

You think Maresca was happy going into the Prem and playing Vestergaard in a high line? You really think that?

 

He saw first hand in the FA Cup Quarter Final at Stamford Bridge how Vestergaard would be exposed in the Prem. 

Yes . You don’t have defend him for absolutely everything. Good coach, poor eye for a player. 
 

I guess you’re one of these who picks and chooses. So anything that went well was Maresca’s doing but things that are unpopular with the fans, Vestergaard for example, can no way be his fault? 
 

Presumably then, Skipp, Ayew and Reid had nothing to do with Cooper?

[Richmondfox]

10 hours ago, Chelmofox said:

I always felt the way Facundo frequently lost the ball would have driven Enzo mad. Just checked how he's getting on at Chelsea. 1 PL appearance (45 mins) and not been in the squad for the last 3, so hasnt featured in the last 7 games. 

 

In not sure.

I think the massive difference would be that Ayew wouldn’t feature in an Enzo line up. 

 

Cooper played those two together in that weird formation forcing everyone to the left.  I noticed early on that Facundo couldn’t play with Ayew as he would never return the pass to progress, and just Ayew’d the play.

 

I feel that’s why he started being so greedy and wouldn’t involve Ayew who was always floating around in the area he wanted to occupy. Then it became a bad habit,

maybe because of naivety/arrogance of youth and poor coaching.   
 

Sadly they aren’t here, both are better options than Ayew and Marti.

 

[BrilliantFox]

5 hours ago, LCFCJohn said:

Presumably then, Skipp, Ayew and Reid had nothing to do with Cooper?

Those were all Cooper's signings as he explicitly told everyone constantly he wants "prem proven".

 

Cooper alongside Rudkin has set this squad back. We essentially bought deadwood from other teams to add to our own big list of deadwood we need to get rid of.

[LCFCJohn]

20 minutes ago, BrilliantFox said:

Those were all Cooper's signings as he explicitly told everyone constantly he wants "prem proven".

 

Cooper alongside Rudkin has set this squad back. We essentially bought deadwood from other teams to add to our own big list of deadwood we need to get rid of.

So in summary, Maresca was responsible for anything good (Fatawu/Hermansen etc) but Coady, Vestergaard new contract nothing to do with him.

 

Cooper, everything bad down to him. Presumable he had nothing to do with Bilal as that was a good piece of business….

 

See how it sounds?

 

The manager has input or they don’t. It’s well known they do here. So I have no issue with Cooper taking responsibility and the flack for the terrible business done in the 2024 summer. By the same token, to claim Maresca would therefore have had nothing to do with Coady or the Vestergaard deal is incredibly biased.

[The Doctor]

7 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

So in summary, Maresca was responsible for anything good (Fatawu/Hermansen etc) but Coady, Vestergaard new contract nothing to do with him.

 

Cooper, everything bad down to him. Presumable he had nothing to do with Bilal as that was a good piece of business….

 

See how it sounds?

 

The manager has input or they don’t. It’s well known they do here. So I have no issue with Cooper taking responsibility and the flack for the terrible business done in the 2024 summer. By the same token, to claim Maresca would therefore have had nothing to do with Coady or the Vestergaard deal is incredibly biased.

the manager has input obviously, but the problem is also that we have a dof who makes an absolute mess of his job.

 

In practice, how it should work is the manager goes to the recruitment team and says "my squad is missing (for example) a box to box midfielder and a left back capable of tucking into a back three, we need to get them in to fill the gaps". The recruitment team profile players for those and present options to the manager and DoF, from which a committee with manager input determines a priority list of targets, which the DoF attempts to sign.

 

Because we're not a professional outfit, that partially happens picking gems out to cover something we need (Hermansen, Fatawu, BEK), and players who fit a gap but are perhaps 3rd choice from the list (Coady would be a good example, there would have been the discussion of "I want a dressing room leader"), but also the manager is able to just say "I want this specific player" and get them (Doyle under Enzo, Skipp, Ayew and Reid under Cooper). Coady type signings would happen still in a competently run club, the profile of a player Vs how they integrate to the team isnt 1:1, but a manager like Cooper coming in and actively requesting specific deadwood like Skipp and Ayew should never happen.

[Lambert09]

It would be typical that we lose at the weekend and sack the manager. Having just had the international break available to get someone in. 
 

id be incredibly surprised to see him turn things around here. We havent had a single good performance for a full 90 all season. 

Edited 17 November 2025 by Lambert09

[LCFCJohn]

4 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

the manager has input obviously, but the problem is also that we have a dof who makes an absolute mess of his job.

 

In practice, how it should work is the manager goes to the recruitment team and says "my squad is missing (for example) a box to box midfielder and a left back capable of tucking into a back three, we need to get them in to fill the gaps". The recruitment team profile players for those and present options to the manager and DoF, from which a committee with manager input determines a priority list of targets, which the DoF attempts to sign.

 

Because we're not a professional outfit, that partially happens picking gems out to cover something we need (Hermansen, Fatawu, BEK), and players who fit a gap but are perhaps 3rd choice from the list (Coady would be a good example, there would have been the discussion of "I want a dressing room leader"), but also the manager is able to just say "I want this specific player" and get them (Doyle under Enzo, Skipp, Ayew and Reid under Cooper). Coady type signings would happen still in a competently run club, the profile of a player Vs how they integrate to the team isnt 1:1, but a manager like Cooper coming in and actively requesting specific deadwood like Skipp and Ayew should never happen.

Yep, I agree with all this.

 

And Cooper like you say, could lead to a worse success rate. Perhaps you could argue that Maresca being somewhat competent pulled up that window from poor as it has been before and after, to ok/decent overall.

 

I was just pointing out balance. Maresca will have still had a big say. I also think he would have been very responsible for the Vestergaard renewal having built the defence around him.

[The Doctor]

Just now, Lambert09 said:

It would be typical that we lose at the weekend and sack the manager. Having just had the international break available to get someone in. 
 

id be incredibly surprised to see him turn things around here. We have had a single good performance for a full 90 all season. 

I mean we did exactly that this time last year. Wasted the international break then sacked Cooper after losing to Chelsea. If Chelsea was must win for him then he should already have been gone. Hell, same with Rodgers, wasted the march international break then sacked him after palace. I think the last time we actually sacked a manager mid season going into an international break so their replacement had time to work was Sven going and Pearson Round 2?

[Lambert09]

3 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

I mean we did exactly that this time last year. Wasted the international break then sacked Cooper after losing to Chelsea. If Chelsea was must win for him then he should already have been gone. Hell, same with Rodgers, wasted the march international break then sacked him after palace. I think the last time we actually sacked a manager mid season going into an international break so their replacement had time to work was Sven going and Pearson Round 2?

I feel like Rodger’s appointment was the only time we ever heard that the club was conducting a search before letting a manager go as well. You’d like to think if it was close they would at least be doing some homework on potential candidates but we’re almost certainly not 

[Tommy G]

I think our only hope is we get a capable DOF in who can build a from the bottom upwards, including a good manager at this level. We aren't going up this season, or going down. So I think it would merit waiting and seeing what the new guys plan is. 

[ealingfox]

8 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I think our only hope is we get a capable DOF in who can build a from the bottom upwards, including a good manager at this level. We aren't going up this season, or going down. So I think it would merit waiting and seeing what the new guys plan is. 

 

More likely Top's mate comes in and applies all his knowledge and best practice from the Powerleague 5-a-side scene in Bangkok.

[Tommy G]

Just now, ealingfox said:

 

More likely Top's mate comes in and applies all his knowledge and best practice from the Powerleague 5-a-side scene in Bangkok.

I'm not holding out much hope it's Dan Ashworth either. But got to wait and see

[Pliskin]

1 hour ago, Lambert09 said:

It would be typical that we lose at the weekend and sack the manager. Having just had the international break available to get someone in. 
 

id be incredibly surprised to see him turn things around here. We havent had a single good performance for a full 90 all season. 

After Stoke Slap us, he will get sacked. And as you say, as per usual we would have wasted another international break because of our inability to be proactive….

[jayfox26]

I don't think he'll be sacked until all the board room things get sorted, new ceo, sporting director etc. 

[Pliskin]

50 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

I don't think he'll be sacked until all the board room things get sorted, new ceo, sporting director etc. 

Depends if we get turned over this weekend. We could quite easily. Stoke are a powerful team. Could easily run through us like we’re not there. 

[ClaphamFox]

7 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

Depends if we get turned over this weekend. We could quite easily. Stoke are a powerful team. Could easily run through us like we’re not there. 

They're below Coventry and Middlesbrough, neither of which could beat us (and Coventry were lucky to get a point). Why do you think Stoke will slap us?

[Arriba Los Zorros]

On 16/11/2025 at 00:50, BrilliantFox said:

Chelsea fans are thick as mince and only understand kick it long hoofball. 

 

Chelsea have had 5 red cards this season.

Their best player Palmer has been injured.

Their best ball playing CB Colwill has been injured.

They failed to buy a top striker in the summer.

There is a lack of experience in the squad.

They have a poor Centreback pairing in Chalobah and Tosin. 

 

Despite all of this,

 

Maresca has Chelsea scoring the 2nd most goals in the league even above Arsenal.

Maresca has Chelsea generating the highest Shots on Target in the league.

Maresca has Chelsea overperforming with the highest xG created in the league.

Maresca has Chelsea committing the 3rd best press in the league.

Alright Enzo keep your stubble on

[Dahnsouff]

2 hours ago, Pliskin said:

After Stoke Slap us, he will get sacked. And as you say, as per usual we would have wasted another international break because of our inability to be proactive….

Think that would be insanity. If you are about to employ someone who is (or at least should be) closely involved with the managerial position, be a bit weird to tie their hands before they even walk through the door. 

[Chelmofox]

2 hours ago, Pliskin said:

Depends if we get turned over this weekend. We could quite easily. Stoke are a powerful team. Could easily run through us like we’re not there. 

They are as sh1te as most are in the league. We made the mighty Cov look ordinary, and i think we do more than enough to make Stoke look lame.

 

This has got the Marti 1-1 written all over it

 

[Chrysalis]

Make Kirk the manager.