Cifuentes OUT

[BeaumontFox]

We have a hell of a lot of entitled/arrogant players who have no respect for somebody like Marti. We need a manager with a proven track record, who doesn’t take any shit, and can whip these soft cvnts into shape. I don’t see any of these managers available right now, so as much as I’d love to see the back of him, it might be a better decision to keep him in place until that type of person is available.

 

Some of these players are also out of contract in the summer - start that rebuild from the top down!

Edited 26 November 2025 by BeaumontFox

[ronnup]

So much time wasted again

[Jock's Hill]

Yes, we need to stabilise now. We are not going back up this season and neither would it be a good idea if we did.

We need to clear the decks of more high earners in January and next summer and then rebuild.

What would be really helpful now would be to get this points deduction out of the way. Let's take it asap, slip to 19th or wherever and then hopefully recover to a mid table position come the end of the season.

It might all be painful but we must clear our baggage asap and start again.

[CloudFox]

3 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

I think this has been brewing since before the Blackburn defeat, the Middlesbrough and Norwich results gave him a stay of execution, however the performances were far from convincing and I think last nights horror show will see him lose his job. 
 

It felt like his position was on a knife edge and the one thing he can ill afford was a result and performance like last night. 
 

I think the old corner flag shot will be posted in the next day or two. 

I'd really like this to be the case, but Top and Rudkin hardly have priors for being proactive. I genuinely wouldn't expect them to take any action until March, even if we're in the relegation zone before then.

 

I reckon it'll be this same stumbling along, poor performances and shit results, with a points deduction pushing us into the relegation zone. We'll battle around there until March, when Marti will be sacked and we'll have King as interim until the summer. Then in August we'll hire a new manager. Just like this season.

 

Edit: The only way I see us hiring someone new sooner is if we get a Technical Director with some balls in soon, who takes this all by the scruff of the neck.

Edited 26 November 2025 by CloudFox

[Gazza M]

Think he will lose the next 2 and be on his way after getting embarrassed by Derby at their place. Technical director can start by getting a new manager.

[Jazzy_Jeff]

I think a lot will depend on this hearing.

 

If we get off lightly, we may have the funds remaining in this period to replace him and give the new manager some money in January.

 

If we are unable to spend anything, we may have to sit tight until the summer and reassess. What Top needs to realise though is that if that is what he decides to do, we are very much hoping to stay up than go up.

[Fox92]

8 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

Yeah I agree, but is it him or the club that’s dragging them down? Is he the reason we’re not quite in a relegation battle??

I’m still not convinced that changing the manager will have any effect. It may even reinforce the idle entitlement running through the squad

I am. I said it all along, ever since the Wrexham game. A better manager would be getting more out of these players. You only have to look at the mess Southampton are in, the issues they have with their board, they were underachieving and then changing manager brings new ideas, better performances and results.

[blue army 1988]

Seeing as Top and the board want to be back in the premier league, and we should have the players to do it (on paper).

Does anyone think if we are mid to low table after christmas he will be sacked?

[Fox92]

Just now, blue army 1988 said:

Seeing as Top and the board want to be back in the premier league, and we should have the players to do it (on paper).

Does anyone think if we are mid to low table after christmas he will be sacked?

We have a tough run of games. Taking Sheffield United out of it, even though I think that game will be tough, we've got a run of Derby/Bristol City/Ipswich. By the time we reach boxing day we could well be mid to lower table.

[when_you're_smiling]

9 hours ago, JonnyBoy said:

Let’s flip it, what have you seen this season from Marti that suggests he is doing well and is the right fit? 

Not a huge amount, but that we’re doing about as well as I expected us to. I thought whoever was coming in was ****ed no matter what. Many weren’t happy with Enzo when we walked the league and that was never going to happen this time around.

 

I’ve said it before but it’s amazing how many people borderline hate the players in every single position (maybe wingers excepted) but then also expect the team to be challenging at the top. It’s mad some of the expectations for a proven to not be Prem level defence with no-one at left back and an arguably best choice of striker whose current scoring rate is one goal a year.

 

The point is more don’t take Southampton or anyone else with a new manager bounce as an example to follow. Remember Shakespeare here etc. Even if we sacked Marti and won the next four, it wouldn’t last unless we chanced upon a miracle worker or you went for someone proven. I’m sure you saw the opposition to the idea of us appointing the latter though when the likes of Dyche/Moyes. Sacking managers every few months à la Watford is a short term solution for a long term problem. 

[The Doctor]

10 hours ago, FoxinNotts said:

Nah. You've gone too far here

Dicked his QPR side 6-2 and all the football we've played this season has been as rancid as RvNs tenure. he's right, RvN would have been no worse than this chancer

[Stevosevic]

8 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

We have a tough run of games. Taking Sheffield United out of it, even though I think that game will be tough, we've got a run of Derby/Bristol City/Ipswich. By the time we reach boxing day we could well be mid to lower table.

We already are mid table? 

[Fox92]

Just now, Stevosevic said:

We already are mid table? 

I know yeah but OP said "after Christmas" so I'm saying we're not going to move..

[fazzyfox]

If the players think that the degree of chasing back for the 2nd goal is acceptable and he agrees by picking them again then he should go straight away, it’s about minimum standards.

 

Similarly players who go in for all or nothing challenges when there’s no cover rather than stand ground and buy time, mainly Faes and more often it’s nothing. And players who sit gesturing at referees for a free kick that’s never coming whilst the man they should be tracking goes bombing up the pitch. Call it out, stop the rot, raise the standards.

 

 

[ceebeefox]

3 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Marti has been dealt a really tough hand given how many players have ended up still here stinking the gaff out despite wanting out. However Marti does seem absolutely wedded to this 4-2-3-1 system even though we have barely had a recognised number 10 available all season. 
 

This has been a massive issue as I feel our shape has been unbalanced with a square peg in a round hole most games hence our lack of fluidity. Surely it would have been more sensible to play with a single pivot and 2 higher 8’s similar to the shape Enzo used. It certainly would be better than playing JJ out of position especially when he is head and shoulders above the rest of our team. 
 

This tactical stubbornness is having an impact and definitely influencing performances and results and given the options available I am at a loss as to why he is so rigid and continuing to persist with it. 
 

I have a lot of sympathy for what he has inherited it’s nothing like when Enzo came in however I am finding some of his team selections, tactics, shape and substitutions absolutely baffling. 
 

There has been a massive change in his approach since the Fiorentina friendly and some of the personnel he has deployed since the transfer window closed which suggests some influence from elsewhere but beside that he is looking and like a man who knows his race has been run. 

I’m astounded that since Enzo, where we played 2 high 8’s not a ten, we’ve never done it! When Cooper came in I can’t believe he didn’t at least start the season playing the way we were promoted. And RVN followed suit as well. We know it wouldn’t have been enough then but it is a system that gives our wingers a closer option. Now it’s take the full back on or pass back 20 yards! Fatawu and Mavadidi ( our only threat ) looked the better for it.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

3 months we took to appoint him

 

We're so ****ed under this ownership.

[StonyFox]

Nothing is going to happen until they appoint someone to the new technical director role. And when it eventually does, whoever they appoint will be dealing with the same bunch of players brought together under Rudkin, so the results will stay the same. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

26 minutes ago, Jazzy_Jeff said:

I think a lot will depend on this hearing.

 

If we get off lightly, we may have the funds remaining in this period to replace him and give the new manager some money in January.

 

If we are unable to spend anything, we may have to sit tight until the summer and reassess. What Top needs to realise though is that if that is what he decides to do, we are very much hoping to stay up than go up.

The uncertainty of this has hamstrung us for the past 3 seasons. No decent manager or player wants to come here and we've had to be cautious in our spending.

 

Yes, our fault for getting in that situation, but the EPL/EFL have only compounded it. How does that help stop clubs from going bust?

[Fox85]

9 hours ago, Nobbyburton said:

What on earth is that based on? You know they can both be as bad as each other right?

 

People are rewriting history with RVN, that was the worst football we’ve ever witnessed. Record breaking bad. 

Im not sure under RVN it was the worse football ever witnessed, based off the opposition he was against.

 

However this season is much worse playing against absolute dross. Marti is a fraud, he is literally a Lawyer he isn't even a manager ffs.

 

I'd have confidence that even you would be getting more out of this team than that stubborn twat 

[Foxin_Mad]

11 minutes ago, Fox85 said:

Im not sure under RVN it was the worse football ever witnessed, based off the opposition he was against.

 

However this season is much worse playing against absolute dross. Marti is a fraud, he is literally a Lawyer he isn't even a manager ffs.

 

I'd have confidence that even you would be getting more out of this team than that stubborn twat 

This Marti fraud is the absolute pits, this division is utter dogshit, Cov are shit and top by a long way with Lampard, we beat Stoke who look likely to finish second, they are nothing special, the top 6 is made up of misfits and nearlys.

 

To fail to be in the top half in this division with the most expensive wage bill its utterly one of the worst managers I have ever seen. He has no authority, no style, no plan. 

[lgfualol]

Awful, get rid, King wouldn’t do a worse job surely. This guys stinks.

[Noahfence]

He isn’t the biggest problem I think we’ve established that. 
 

But to not have a single good performance as we approach December is ridiculous. 

 

We've been rubbish in every game and individual quality is the only reason we have the points we do. 
 

I was honestly very worried about him at HT open game of the season. 
 

 

[LeePhilpottsBaldSpot]

He won't be fired unless we're in high risk of relegation.

 

Hopefully the club aren't too blind to that possibility like they were with Rodgers.

 

If Pearson is healthy, we should be finding a role somewhere for him - even if Cifuentes is still the manager.

[Pliskin]

If you don’t have the resources to play your preferred style, you have to compromise…. You have to come up with a different way of playing. 
 

Marti isn’t doing this, he’s just continuing with his style regardless of the results and isn’t changing anything other than personnel. 
 

We’ve got a team of professional footballers, this notion of “they’re just shit” doesn’t wash, and frankly isn’t a good enough excuse to not act. It’s been said many, many times there are severe limitations within this squad, but it is still more than good enough to operate at this level better than it currently is. 
 

It is abundantly clear the players just aren’t getting on with Marti’s methods and style of play. 
 

Yesterday was a complete tactical mess, it’s basic football logic that if you leave your defence exposed, no matter their quality they will concede goals. It looks like we defend in a zonal system, so Marti has players defending set areas rather than what’s in front of them….. and this was before the sending off, Southampton just exploited the space left between the midfield and the defence and this has been happening for weeks and weeks…. It happened at the weekend, but Stoke just didn’t take their chances, sooner or later we were going to get pasted by a team that were having a good day in front of goal…. We give up far too many chances, and it’s not through quality, it’s through tactical instructions from the manager….

If the players don’t get or aren’t getting on with the managers preferred methods, the system falls apart, they need to be inspired by the manager and believe in his product to then go out and produce it…. Many of these players have done this previously and can do it again, regardless of their personal inhibitions, they can be inspired to play to a heightened level…. Limited players have been inspired to perform to a better level countless times over the years…. It’s just basic Psychology to get there. Players don’t hate playing for clubs because of the clubs, it’s 90% of the time down to who their supervisors are and the environment they create… again the notion “well they earn loads of money so that’s not an excuse” again, doesn’t wash, they’re human beings like you or I, who happen to be footballers, they have the same shortcomings as my other person which has a major impact on their performance. 
 

In an ideal world we would change the ownership and the players, but that isn’t an option, especially sort term….. 

 

A manager can made the world of difference, ultimately they make or break the group, any group of people can be inspired with the right manager, unfortunately it’s the only thing you can change with relative ease, and you can’t just do nothing. 

 

[Muzzy_no7]

I’m not sure why people think King is a good idea as some kind of interim or even as an option till the end of the season? 
 

Hes hardly pulling up trees as a coach is he? All aspects of our play look pants as well as our work rate and mentality. 
 

I dont know why some are thinking he will be a sound choice as the man in charge I mean he was hardly a strong character or leader on the pitch when he played? 
 

If we were to get someone like Carrick in I’d let him sort all his staff out and put Kingy in charge of the 23s or something.