Cifuentes OUT

[whoareyaaa]

Just now, HankMarvin said:

The quality of the players is subjective to the league, Skipp would’ve probably walked in to every team in the division prior to this season and the same with Ayew with 5 goals in a struggling prem team and Okoli.

Just because they have been underwhelming for a underwhelming manager doesn’t mean they should all be written off as dog shit in this league.

 

Steve Cooper walked into a forest team bottom who finished 17th the previous season.

They didn’t get 11 new players before getting promoted the same season. He installed “belief” and he had experience of 2 play off finishes.

We got a manager with experience of mid table and that’s where we are heading.

Our defense is garbage and we have lost to many quality players, MON would give us a short term fight just because of his previous with the club, a bit like Wilder but any other manager would have the same problems because we don't have a goal scorer for starters and are relying on youth prospects in various positions, the squad is bare thin with a few good players who give a shit.

[Claudio Fannieri]

When you are halfway through the season and you are looking upwards at teams like Preston, Millwall, Hull, Watford, Derby and QPR amongst others, with the squad at our disposal in comparison to there’s then it’s an absolute joke, players are a massive let down but the inability of the manager to create a cohesive unit that is at least capable of maintaining a place in the play off positions as a minimum is absolutely criminal and now as we approach halfway he has had more than sufficient time to at least get us playing well enough and consistently enough to be digging out results. 
 

Truth is after 22 games our form is all ice the place and we are regularly getting turned over by absolute slop. This cannot continue and I think a manager like Mowbray would get us competitive and consistent pretty quickly. We look incapable of putting together any more than 1 or 2 runs on the spin under Marti. 
 

Sad thing is we looked better organised and in better shape as a team under Kingy in the pre season friendlies than what we have for the majority of this season. It’s time to make a change. 

[coolhandfox]

Let's be honest the last 3 manager hires have deen dreadful 

[RoboFox]

The amount of absolutely indefensible performances is telling.

 

Edited 21 December 2025 by RoboFox

[whoareyaaa]

13 minutes ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

When you are halfway through the season and you are looking upwards at teams like Preston, Millwall, Hull, Watford, Derby and QPR amongst others, with the squad at our disposal in comparison to there’s then it’s an absolute joke, players are a massive let down but the inability of the manager to create a cohesive unit that is at least capable of maintaining a place in the play off positions as a minimum is absolutely criminal and now as we approach halfway he has had more than sufficient time to at least get us playing well enough and consistently enough to be digging out results. 
 

Truth is after 22 games our form is all ice the place and we are regularly getting turned over by absolute slop. This cannot continue and I think a manager like Mowbray would get us competitive and consistent pretty quickly. We look incapable of putting together any more than 1 or 2 runs on the spin under Marti. 
 

Sad thing is we looked better organised and in better shape as a team under Kingy in the pre season friendlies than what we have for the majority of this season. It’s time to make a change. 

I bet most of these teams have players on modest contracts who give a shit and are capable of playing as a team.

 

People are making out like we have 22 players of Premier league quality.

[HankMarvin]

13 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

People are making out like we have 22 players of Premier league quality.

What you seem incapable of grasping is that nobody is claiming we should be walking the league or that these are Premier League-standard players.
 

The point is simply that, in this poor league, we should not be getting turned over 4–0, 3–0, and 3–0 — including conceding these goals in a single half, especially when we have a squad that would be the envy of several of the clubs mentioned above.

There is enough quality in this group to be competitive for the majority of matches over 90 minutes.

 

You do realise that managers have a significant impact on a squad’s performances.
Football is not as simplistic as “the players are all rubbish and even Pep would struggle.”

 

Recent example such as O’Neil and Nancy clearly show how a change in manager can transform a group of players in a short period of time, without any change in personnel.

[whoareyaaa]

20 minutes ago, HankMarvin said:

What you seem incapable of grasping is that nobody is claiming we should be walking the league or that these are Premier League-standard players.
 

The point is simply that, in this poor league, we should not be getting turned over 4–0, 3–0, and 3–0 — including conceding these goals in a single half, especially when we have a squad that would be the envy of several of the clubs mentioned above.

There is enough quality in this group to be competitive for the majority of matches over 90 minutes.

 

You do realise that managers have a significant impact on a squad’s performances.
Football is not as simplistic as “the players are all rubbish and even Pep would struggle.”

 

Recent example such as O’Neil and Nancy clearly show how a change in manager can transform a group of players in a short period of time, without any change in personnel.

 no one is envying this group believe me.

 

Like I said MON would get a short term fight out of them maybe but we would end up with Russel Martin or some other bog standard manager.

 

And we still don't have a great as squad as you seem to think we don't have a striker for starters.

 

you said it logic sometimes arrives late at the party.

Edited 21 December 2025 by whoareyaaa

[Richmondfox]

2 hours ago, Chelmofox said:

You can't make players do things they are not capable of. Vestergaard cant be transformed into a dynamic, fast matching winning CB. He plays how he plays. Same with Bobby and Ayew. Younger players however, have the opportunity to develop by it takes time.

 

I think Marti isn't good enough, but I feel he had to be pragmatic with what hes got. I imagine he gets as frustrated as i do watching Ayew hold up the play then fall over (and get nothing) and we watch our opposition counter attack.

 

I bet he would love the version of Ricardo Rodgers had. I bet he would love a functioning Striker. 

 

He is limited with what he has.

He doesn’t need to turn them into those type of players, he needs to stop them trying to be them and play to their strengths. 

[Foxdiamond]

If only it was as simple as changing the manager again. Financial problems, inept senior leadership, players of questionable quality to name a few issues. Just hope we can survive in this division this season and reset in the summer and get rid of some of the deadwood 

[Richmondfox]

1 hour ago, Lambert09 said:

I have a very strong feeling that Marti has told them to just go and do their thing. And as you’ve pointed out, both probably benefitted from someone like Enzo having specific instructions. 

Enzo turned Ndidi into an assist machine and focused all the energy KDH had to driving and passing into space.  JJ is that version but no one else is on the same wave length and set plays aren’t drilled in. 

 

Marti is like a Sunday dad giving the kids McDonalds and haribo so they like him.  His tactics are like my dad, failed to show up. 

 

The wingers need discipline and purpose.  The skills are to get them out of tricky spot yet they seemed to be focused on that rather than working as a team. 
 

Fatawu has shown that he is really good when he runs with the ball in space and gets a cross in the box quickly.  We get battered by lower league full backs and wingers yet ours get a nosebleed if they had to face forwards. 

 

It’s sad how Ricardo is now as he was always one of my favourite players. There was a point yesterday where he got the ball from Fatawu in the edge of the box, no pressure so could’ve lined up a good cross.  He just stood still like my dog looking at his empty bowl, then he sent it sideways and it broke down. 
 

Any manager should be able to get simple attacking plays out of JJ, Reid, Ricardo and Fatawu that would rip open defences.  Yet when it looks like it will happen someone will always slow it down. 
 

[Wymsey]

300 pages or he's staying..

[trooky]

13 minutes ago, Richmondfox said:

Enzo turned Ndidi into an assist machine and focused all the energy KDH had to driving and passing into space.  JJ is that version but no one else is on the same wave length and set plays aren’t drilled in. 

 

Marti is like a Sunday dad giving the kids McDonalds and haribo so they like him.  His tactics are like my dad, failed to show up. 

 

The wingers need discipline and purpose.  The skills are to get them out of tricky spot yet they seemed to be focused on that rather than working as a team. 
 

Fatawu has shown that he is really good when he runs with the ball in space and gets a cross in the box quickly.  We get battered by lower league full backs and wingers yet ours get a nosebleed if they had to face forwards. 

 

It’s sad how Ricardo is now as he was always one of my favourite players. There was a point yesterday where he got the ball from Fatawu in the edge of the box, no pressure so could’ve lined up a good cross.  He just stood still like my dog looking at his empty bowl, then he sent it sideways and it broke down. 
 

Any manager should be able to get simple attacking plays out of JJ, Reid, Ricardo and Fatawu that would rip open defences.  Yet when it looks like it will happen someone will always slow it down. 
 

Marti is miles from the level or Enzo and worse than RvN IMO. 

 

The current structure is clueless, we  already had Brian Barry-Murphy at the club, who's had a similar coaching journey to that of Enzo, yet we let him go to Cardiff. 

 

I would keep Marti until we get this new structure in place and then start a fresh then.

 

 

[Guest]

I know some people get very cross when xG or anything similar is mentioned but to reinforce how unimaginative and reliant on wondergoals we are, per FBref we've created 2 or more xG once in our 22 league games. That was on the opening day against a Sheffield Wednesday team who'd had a disaster pre-season, were a man down for the last 20 minutes and even without points deductions would be rock bottom and 12 points from safety. At the other end we've got the fourth-worst xG against and up until fairly recently Stolarczyk was outperforming every other keeper in the league for shot stopping - it's not like we're sacrificing attacking potency for the sake of defensive solidity, we're just ****ing crap and I think even a moderate points deduction of our own will be sufficient to have us bang in trouble.

 

Mid-table results, bottom half performances and some people continue to be amazed by the suggestion it could be any better.

[HankMarvin]

30 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

 no one is envying this group believe me.

 

Like I said MON would get a short term fight out of them maybe but we would end up with Russel Martin or some other bog standard manager.

 

And we still don't have a great as squad as you seem to think we don't have a striker for starters.

 

you said it logic sometimes arrives late at the party.

There are a whole host of options at striker. Just because we have a manager unwilling to experiment does not mean other managers would take the same approach.

Mavididi has previously scored 12 goals from midfield and has also played as a centre-forward during his career.
BCR featured as a centre-forward in several games during the season he scored 19 in the Championship.

 

If we truly “don’t have a striker,” as you suggest, why hasn’t the highly rated Evans been given any minutes? Why have none of these alternative options even been explored?

 

There is a fundamental flaw in this team, and it lies in creativity. Simply signing a new striker will not suddenly fix the problem.

 

The statistics back this up, we are 18th in the league for big chances missed.
Ipswich, by contrast, are top of the table for big chances missed, with more than double our total. That alone shows that merely bringing in a new striker is unlikely to significantly change our fortunes.

[coolhandfox]

1 hour ago, whoareyaaa said:

I bet most of these teams have players on modest contracts who give a shit and are capable of playing as a team.

 

People are making out like we have 22 players of Premier league quality.

No, but we have more than enough players of championship quality not to be mid table.

[Chrysalis]

20 hours ago, HankMarvin said:

What a load of shit 

Ok Top.

[Gamble92]

1 hour ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

When you are halfway through the season and you are looking upwards at teams like Preston, Millwall, Hull, Watford, Derby and QPR amongst others, with the squad at our disposal in comparison to there’s then it’s an absolute joke, players are a massive let down but the inability of the manager to create a cohesive unit that is at least capable of maintaining a place in the play off positions as a minimum is absolutely criminal and now as we approach halfway he has had more than sufficient time to at least get us playing well enough and consistently enough to be digging out results. 
 

Truth is after 22 games our form is all ice the place and we are regularly getting turned over by absolute slop. This cannot continue and I think a manager like Mowbray would get us competitive and consistent pretty quickly. We look incapable of putting together any more than 1 or 2 runs on the spin under Marti. 
 

Sad thing is we looked better organised and in better shape as a team under Kingy in the pre season friendlies than what we have for the majority of this season. It’s time to make a change. 

This is really well put and what everyone should be thinking.

 

To think that some think being 3-0 and 4-0 at half time was inevitable with this squad is unbelievable. 

 

The resources available compared to what the teams you mention have is night and day. We've just become so hateful of everything about the club as a fanbase and I get it. It doesn't mean that we should be thinking this squad should be where it is. It's a ****ing disgrace and Marti has to take a lot of blame. 

[Chrysalis]

19 hours ago, Parafox said:

Do people think The man-baby cares about style of play?

Aside that he talked about it in his east mids tv interview when Sven was our manager, yes, because Enzo revealed he had conversations with both Rudkin and Top about it.

Edited 21 December 2025 by Chrysalis
usual typo

[whoareyaaa]

22 minutes ago, HankMarvin said:

There are a whole host of options at striker. Just because we have a manager unwilling to experiment does not mean other managers would take the same approach.

Mavididi has previously scored 12 goals from midfield and has also played as a centre-forward during his career.
BCR featured as a centre-forward in several games during the season he scored 19 in the Championship.

 

If we truly “don’t have a striker,” as you suggest, why hasn’t the highly rated Evans been given any minutes? Why have none of these alternative options even been explored?

 

There is a fundamental flaw in this team, and it lies in creativity. Simply signing a new striker will not suddenly fix the problem.

 

The statistics back this up, we are 18th in the league for big chances missed.
Ipswich, by contrast, are top of the table for big chances missed, with more than double our total. That alone shows that merely bringing in a new striker is unlikely to significantly change our fortunes.

Evans has never played at this level and like I said before we are relying on youth prospects and you want us to be challenging at the top of the league or in and around the play offs and with being only 5 points off the playoffs it's not that far off where we should be.

 

If we 18th for big chances missed then surely a new striker who is capable of scoring would improve that ?

 

You just want the manager to start playing players up front who have barely played there before and think its going to work.

 

The flaw is not creativity, it's the people running the club that has over the last few seasons crippled us to where we are now.

 

A lot of our fans are living in the past, delusions of grandeur rears it's head again.

Edited 21 December 2025 by whoareyaaa

[whoareyaaa]

21 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

No, but we have more than enough players of championship quality not to be mid table.

I don't believe it.

[coolhandfox]

47 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

I don't believe it.

You only have to listen to other manager and pundits talk about our squad to know it is.

 

You only have to watch us to realise it's a team thats poorly coached.

[HankMarvin]

5 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

If we 18th for big chances missed then surely a new striker who is capable of scoring would improve that ?

 

You just want the manager to start playing players up front who have barely played there before and think its going to work.

 

The flaw is not creativity, it's the people running the club that has over the last few seasons crippled us to where we are now.

 

A lot of our fans are living in the past, delusions of grandeur rears its head again.

What are you talking about, living in the past.

I highlighted the options because you said no club envies our squad because we don’t even have a striker.
 

If our xG is low and we are not missing many big chances, it clearly indicates that we are not creating enough opportunities.

Simply putting a different player up front will not change much if the chances are not there to be converted in the first place.

 

The player in our squad with the most big chances missed is Daka, with six.
Ayew does not even appear on the list.

Only 16% of our goals have been scored by a striker

 

 

Ipswich for example, on the other hand have missed 29 big chances through their strikers, compared to our eight.

That points towards a significant potential increase in points for them if they improve conversion or bring in a more competent striker, a situation that is fundamentally different from ours.

 

[whoareyaaa]

Just now, coolhandfox said:

You only have to listen to other manager and pundits talk about our squad to know it is.

 

You only have to watch us to realise it's a team thats poorly coached.

It's a bit of both I would say, we certainty don't have a team capable of competing at the top of the championship regardless of the manager.

 

Apart from a few good players we have an average Championship side with youth prospects coming through.

 

We don't have an actual goal scorer either.

[CrazyKopCorner]

2 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

Let's be honest the last 3 manager hires have deen dreadful 

Place them in order of shiteness is likely to produce vests off and scrapping in the car park. 
 

I’d go 

RVN

and it’s tough between Cooper and Marti - I think Marti edges it. 

 

Top doesn’t have a Scoobie Doo

[whoareyaaa]

2 minutes ago, HankMarvin said:

What are you talking about, living in the past.

I highlighted the options because you said no club envies our squad because we don’t even have a striker.
 

If our xG is low and we are not missing many big chances, it clearly indicates that we are not creating enough opportunities.

Simply putting a different player up front will not change much if the chances are not there to be converted in the first place.

 

The player in our squad with the most big chances missed is Daka, with six.
Ayew does not even appear on the list.

Only 16% of our goals have been scored by a striker

 

 

Ipswich for example, on the other hand have missed 29 big chances through their strikers, compared to our eight.

That points towards a significant potential increase in points for them if they improve conversion or bring in a more competent striker, a situation that is fundamentally different from ours.

 

I would say not having a striker who is able to make his own chances by making the right runs and being a threat for the other team to worry about is harming this stat of not being able to create chances it mean's teams can double up on wingers, midfielders as we do not have a striker who would cause the other team to be worried.

 

Ayew is to slow to play up front and Daka can't take his chances even when he gets them and is easily pushed off the ball.

 

Losing Vardy means other teams don't see us as a threat no more especially after not replacing him, he was pulling us along on his own.