Cifuentes OUT

[Tommy Fresh]

1 minute ago, Taz_The_Fox said:

I feel that hes just too much of a nice guy. Some of the "seasoned pros" who are also the ones that cant be arsed wont respond to him. 

We need a disciplinarian to sort out some the half arsed brigade and then if they dont respond, cut them out the squad. 

 

I think thats why Enzo worked so well. You knew if you dont pull your weight you are out. Funny how Thomas never got a look in whilst he was here 🤔. 

 

 

Guessing Thomas didn't get a look in because Enzo didn't fancy him dropping in to centre half when we had the ball

[sylofox]

13 hours ago, JacobLCFC1234 said:

I think discussions on possession percentages and certain stats are a bit irrelevant. In a game of football, one team will have more possession than the other whatever their styles are predominently, one team will have the bigger share of possession.

 

But its context.

 

Teams that tend to have lots of possession dont have a lot of possession as the goal, it just happens to come with their domination of the game, i.e. winning the ball back quickly, passing to team mates instead of giving the ball away, managing situations in the game like protecting a lead by being on the offensive rather than sitting back and hacking clearances away. 

 

Their high possession numbers came as a by-product of doing things RIGHT in the game, and not because they set out with the intention that having the most possession in the game was the goal.

 

The couple of things that stand out to me as being very wrong with Leicester watching matches and not going on a stats basis are:

 

1) Any time we lose the ball, we look all over the place in transitions. This shows that the team with little possession can often win because when they get the ball off us, it doesnt take much to make a good quality chance, whereas we work hard to create chances of extremely low quality when we have the ball.

 

2) Game management,understanding WHEN to pass short, WHEN to be direct, and having more tactical flexibility than predictable patterns of play that focus on wide areas a lot and creating the same passing moves too often.

 

 

Not having a go at you. I've said for years since the started putting them up on screen when the whistle is blown only 2 count goals for and goals against.

 

90% possession if I'd reads goals for 0 goals against 1.

 

Did we not win the prem with the lowest possession ever or close to it.

 

Oh and how did we manage that, oh yes goals for MORE goals against LESS.

[filbertway]

32 minutes ago, murphy said:

Jakub, Ricardo, Faes, Vestergaard, Fatawu, Daka and Mavididi have all been part of a championship title winning team. 

 

Kristiansen, Okoli, Skipp, Ayew, Reid, Thomas, Hamza and Soumare were all signed to play in the Premier League or have extensive experience at that level. 

 

Our loan signings (discounting Carranza) have arguably been our best players.  Throw in a smattering of promising academy graduates and why shouldn't we expect them to be playing like a top 6 championship side.  We should be demanding it of them as a bare minimum. 

They were signed to play there, by us. Like I've said before, people equate experience to talent. I don't know how much more evidence is needed to prove that experience doesnt really matter if your talent or personality don't match the level your club happened to play at.

 

Ricardo is ace, but can only play about 60-70% of games.

 

The others were part of a team that put in plenty of grim performances at this level. Having a player like KDH was the difference in a lot of games being a win instead of a draw. 12 goals and 14 assists. Ndidi in midfield. 

 

Feel free to expect it, but the stats and eye test tell me that a majority these are players are perceived to be better than they are.

 

I think if we brought in 2 or 3 leaders they would help elevate general performance levels. But we've got far too many wet blankets and few of them have winner mindsets.

 

The money they earn they should be top 2. However we all know the reason why were overpaying. I just don't think we have enough players that really want to do well.

 

Plenty know that theyre either in their last good contract or are free to leave the club in the summer, so how the club does isn't really relevant to them.

 

Ability wise they should have enough, but you need the mindset to go with that and weve managed to get into a position where a lot of senior players have little reason to be motivated to do well.

[Noahfence]

What performance do you think was our best this season? 
 

it’s probably Birmingham right? Completely nullified them whether that was down to them or us idk but probably our most “complete” performance. 

[Claudio Fannieri]

I will say it again, a disciplinarian will not solve these issues unless they receive the full backing of Top and Rudkin to change the culture at the club. RVN came in and tried to change the culture, punish poor behaviour and standards and didn’t get the backing from his bosses and the players threw him under a bus. 
 

Even if a Pearson type character came in he can only be successful if he is supported and backed, not undermined by players running to the DoF or owner behind the managers back. 
 

Whoever the next manager is has to be backed to the hilt to manage and remove the bad eggs, this is only way the club can rebuild and move forward as a collective unit and group. Currently it feels like the culture is rotten which makes the job of the manager pretty much impossible. 
 

If Marti is sacked it will be 3 managers potted in circa 50 games, that is unsustainable and there appears to be no long term planning, strategy or project. 

[AjcW]

2 minutes ago, Noahfence said:

What performance do you think was our best this season? 
 

it’s probably Birmingham right? Completely nullified them whether that was down to them or us idk but probably our most “complete” performance. 

We were terrible that day as well though. 4 shots, somehow scored the 2 we had on target  

 

Birmingham left their shooting boots at home, could have easily been the same score the other way round.

 

We scored early and then scored late when they were chasing.

 

The midfield 2 was Soumare and Skipp and they got 90 mins!!

[Noahfence]

1 minute ago, AjcW said:

We were terrible that day as well though. 4 shots, somehow scored the 2 we had on target  

 

Birmingham left their shooting boots at home, could have easily been the same score the other way round.

 

We scored early and then scored late when they were chasing.

 

The midfield 2 was Soumare and Skipp and they got 90 mins!!

Christ we really are shit aren’t we  

 

 

[AjcW]

7 minutes ago, Noahfence said:

Christ we really are shit aren’t we  

 

 

Yes, sorry  

[Muzzy_no7]

100 pages before Norwich or GTFO

[Gazza3]

 You have to say , his options are limited but we are getting worse almost every game. Some strange selections looks like he's not sure what to do and is getting desperate. Saturdays game is a race for the sack . Probably both managers will be out before the next game

[filbertway]

17 minutes ago, Noahfence said:

What performance do you think was our best this season? 
 

it’s probably Birmingham right? Completely nullified them whether that was down to them or us idk but probably our most “complete” performance. 

I think i said before but it feels like any game we play is a 50/50 whether its top of the league or bottom. I imagine mentally its easier to raise their levels against the perceived better sides.

Its a really odd squad we have at the minute.

 

If theres someone out there capable of getting those elevated performance levels out of the team of a weekly basis we would be alright. Just struggling to believe that this person exists atm haha

 

We probably need to hire a bastard of a manager, but they invariably have 6 good months then it tails off when the players begin to detest them.

[Lionator]

I think what’s telling is that what he’s saying and what he’s doing are completely misaligned. I hate to compare him to Enzo, and it’s a tad unfair as Enzo had a better squad, BUT from day one, you knew the players were hearing the message from him. They played his way, and yes at times it was dull but it was clear what we were doing. Here there is absolutely nothing. This club historically has thrived with big characters who are clear and concise in their message. That’s the difference. There is no leadership from the manager, and from the boardroom. No wonder the players look rudderless.

[sm1]

Regardless of our players Marti doesn't help himself with some strange selection and tactics. Against Boro he was playing Okoli as a hybrid RCB/RB who was trying to help Fatawu in attack. When you know the weakness of a player is on the ball, why are you giving him that role. It would've made more sense to have Nelson in that position and Okoli on the left, where Nelson was playing purely as a CB. He plays Skipp, for what reason, he's never going to get better. When Enzo pushed Ndidi forward, he had a clear role of making inside runs for Fatawu. That's why he was pretty successful, whereas JJ is pushed forward but we dont see the same kind of direction from Marti. The one area he cannot improve is the strikers, but everywhere else he can certainly do better.

[Pliskin]

4 hours ago, filbertway said:

What does that look like in your opinion?

 

If we remove the senior players that contribute little and bring in the younger lads, you have to accept that results won't likely improve in the short term and be willing to accept the pain that comes with development. Which I would be all for, knowing that they'd be gaining invaluable experience and would stand us in good stead in the longer term.

If you think a 4th manager is suddenly going to have the senior players playing with the ability and confidence of a top 6 championship side then I think that's incredibly unlikely.

 

It's imperative that we get a few out in Jan and bring in some proper leaders and physicality in January if we have any designs on going up. Still standing by my shout that Barry Bannan would have been an excellent signing this summer. Great mentality and a grafter at this level, something we're massively lacking overall.

I’ll start with the manager.

 

In my opinion, since Maresca we’ve largely got it wrong…..

 

Maresca was exactly what we needed at the time he arrived, and he did exactly what he needed to do to get the job done. He showed some inexperience, but that’s expected with his first proper job as a head coach. 
 

But what I really admired, was his my way or the highway approach, he quickly binned off those who didn’t fit his plan, but the obvious difference was he was backed. 
 

Since then we’ve got it wrong. Cooper was the right kind of manager, but he had the wrong character, he was the opposite to Enzo, he wasn’t cut throat enough, and I imagine wanted to be everyone’s mate rather than manager, and I think he lost respect for this. However, I think his slightly more pragmatic approach would actually be ideal now for us.
 

Ruud was terrible, and Marti seems to be going the same way.
 

We’ve had three managers with personalities that just don’t fit with the club. Cooper I think probably did to some degree, but perhaps he was too far on the left, and too nice of that makes sense.

 

The problem is, Top seems to want to hire coaches to play “total football”…… he’s hellbent of possession, so that’s the type of coach he is constantly lusting over.
 

The first thing to change is the type of manager, and to think of a style I’m talking Dyche style manager. As unattractive  proposition as it is, it is unfortunately what we need. Or a Pearson style manager. We need someone who will play a style of football that benefits the team, a manager to come in, analyse the squad and with their coaching staff say “right we need to play like this to maximise the potential in the team”, we’ve simply not seen this recently because the managers we’ve had since Brendan (excluding Enzo)…. Haven’t done this. Dare I say it a Dean Smith may have been an option. 
 

If something is on its arse and not working, by constantly hiring the same type of manager, will yield the same result. For arguments sake, if we Sack Marti tomorrow and appoint Russel Martin, nothing will change. Top has got to now consider a manager who will play to the squads capabilities, not their individual ideology. We need a fixer upper, because that is where we are. We need more of a motivator, we probably need a “manager” coach combination, Ala Pearson Shakey, the manager to focus on managing the group, and the coach to coach. 
 

When times are hard you have to go back to the basics, and build. Regardless of where we are and what the stats say, this group of players is better than its current showing…. Even with 6 months left on a contract players can be motivated, they just need to right kind of coach to motivate them. 
 

In terms of playing staff, we’ve simply got to inject some bite into the team, and this means potentially sacrificing “technical ability”. The championship is competitive not because of quality, because of fight, and the reason we’re losing so many points, is because we’re soft…. We don’t win 50/50, we don’t scrap, we will continue to play “football” with minutes left trailing or drawing a game, we don’t throw the kitchen sink in, in fact, I don’t even think Marti knows where it is. 
 

As unpopular as it may sound, we may need a Hamza in midfield, just to add some bite and aggression, we may need to start being more direct, well, we do….. we need to start looking to attack in the transition…. We need to be getting more balls into the box, because then Daka, Ayew and Carranza may be presented with more clear chances. 
 

At the moment, it’s just rinse and repeat, we sack like for like and expect a different outcome. Marti is doing what he can, but it probably isn’t his fault, because he’s the wrong fit….. Top wants him to play a certain way, and it’s clear he can’t, the imbalances within the squad just means his philosophy fails before it’s even started. 
 

In short, Top needs to hire a firefighter, a leader and someone who will maximise the potential in the squad and play to its strengths. Thats how you potentially break the cycle in my opinion, but it’s likely to get a lot worse before he even considers such a move, by then, it could be too late.

Edited 7 November 2025 by Pliskin

[Freddy]

4 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

I’ll start with the manager.

 

In my opinion, since Maresca we’ve largely got it wrong…..

 

Maresca was exactly what we needed at the time he arrived, and he did exactly what he needed to do to get the job done. He showed some inexperience, but that’s expected with his first proper job as a head coach. 
 

But what I really admired, was his my way or the highway approach, he quickly binned off those who didn’t fit his plan, but the obvious difference was he was backed. 
 

Since then we’ve got it wrong. Cooper was the right kind of manager, but he had the wrong character, he was the opposite to Enzo, he wasn’t cut throat enough, and I imagine wanted to be everyone’s mate rather than manager, and I think he lost respect for this. However, I think his slightly more pragmatic approach would actually be ideal now for us.
 

Ruud was terrible, and Marti seems to be going the same way.
 

We’ve had three managers with personalities that just don’t fit with the club. Cooper I think probably did to some degree, but perhaps he was too far on the left, and too nice of that makes sense.

 

The problem is, Top seems to want to hire coaches to play “total football”…… he’s hellbent of possession, so that’s the type of coach he is constantly lusting over.
 

The first thing to change is the type of manager, and to think of a style I’m talking Dyche style manager. As unattractive  proposition as it is, it is unfortunately what we need. Or a Pearson style manager. We need someone who will play a style of football that benefits the team, a manager to come in, analyse the squad and with their coaching staff say “right we need to play like this to maximise the potential in the team”, we’ve simply not seen this recently because the managers we’ve had since Brendan (excluding Enzo)…. Haven’t done this. Dare I say it a Dean Smith may have been an option. 
 

If something is on its arse and not working, by constantly hiring the same type of manager, will yield the same result. For arguments sake, if we Sack Marti tomorrow and appoint Russel Martin, nothing will change. Top has got to now consider a manager who will play to the squads capabilities, not their individual ideology. We need a fixer upper, because that is where we are. We need more of a motivator, we probably need a “manager” coach combination, Ala Pearson Shakey, the manager to focus on managing the group, and the coach to coach. 
 

When times are hard you have to go back to the basics, and build. Regardless of where we are and what the stats say, this group of players is better than its current showing…. Even with 6 months left on a contract players can be motivated, they just need to right kind of coach to motivate them. 
 

In terms of playing staff, we’ve simply got to inject some bite into the team, and this means potentially sacrificing “technical ability”. The championship is competitive not because of quality, because of fight, and the reason we’re losing so many points, is because we’re soft…. We don’t win 50/50, we don’t scrap, we will continue to play “football” with minutes left training or drawing a game, we don’t throw the kitchen sink in, in fact, I don’t even think Marti knows where it is. 
 

As unpopular as it may sound, we may need a Hamza in midfield, just to add some bite and aggression, we may need to start being more direct, well, we do….. we need to start looking to attack in the transition…. We need to be getting more balls into the box, because then Daka, Ayew and Carranza may be presented with more clear chances. 
 

At the moment, it’s just rinse and repeat, we sack like for like and expect a different outcome. Marti is doing what he can, but it probably isn’t his fault, because he’s the wrong fit….. Top wants him to play a certain way, and it’s clear he can’t, the imbalances within the squad just means his philosophy fails before it’s even started. 
 

In short, Top needs to hire a firefighter, a leader and someone who will maximise the potential in the squad and play to its strengths. Thats how you potentially break the cycle in my opinion, but it’s likely to get a lot worse before he even considers such a move, by then, it could be too late.

Is Top even having a say in appointing managers? Is he interested? He may not be the problem other than saying ok to Rudkin all the time. Rudkin was in place 10 years ago so he thinks he's not the problem. 

[filbertway]

37 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

I’ll start with the manager.

 

In my opinion, since Maresca we’ve largely got it wrong…..

 

Maresca was exactly what we needed at the time he arrived, and he did exactly what he needed to do to get the job done. He showed some inexperience, but that’s expected with his first proper job as a head coach. 
 

But what I really admired, was his my way or the highway approach, he quickly binned off those who didn’t fit his plan, but the obvious difference was he was backed. 
 

Since then we’ve got it wrong. Cooper was the right kind of manager, but he had the wrong character, he was the opposite to Enzo, he wasn’t cut throat enough, and I imagine wanted to be everyone’s mate rather than manager, and I think he lost respect for this. However, I think his slightly more pragmatic approach would actually be ideal now for us.
 

Ruud was terrible, and Marti seems to be going the same way.
 

We’ve had three managers with personalities that just don’t fit with the club. Cooper I think probably did to some degree, but perhaps he was too far on the left, and too nice of that makes sense.

 

The problem is, Top seems to want to hire coaches to play “total football”…… he’s hellbent of possession, so that’s the type of coach he is constantly lusting over.
 

The first thing to change is the type of manager, and to think of a style I’m talking Dyche style manager. As unattractive  proposition as it is, it is unfortunately what we need. Or a Pearson style manager. We need someone who will play a style of football that benefits the team, a manager to come in, analyse the squad and with their coaching staff say “right we need to play like this to maximise the potential in the team”, we’ve simply not seen this recently because the managers we’ve had since Brendan (excluding Enzo)…. Haven’t done this. Dare I say it a Dean Smith may have been an option. 
 

If something is on its arse and not working, by constantly hiring the same type of manager, will yield the same result. For arguments sake, if we Sack Marti tomorrow and appoint Russel Martin, nothing will change. Top has got to now consider a manager who will play to the squads capabilities, not their individual ideology. We need a fixer upper, because that is where we are. We need more of a motivator, we probably need a “manager” coach combination, Ala Pearson Shakey, the manager to focus on managing the group, and the coach to coach. 
 

When times are hard you have to go back to the basics, and build. Regardless of where we are and what the stats say, this group of players is better than its current showing…. Even with 6 months left on a contract players can be motivated, they just need to right kind of coach to motivate them. 
 

In terms of playing staff, we’ve simply got to inject some bite into the team, and this means potentially sacrificing “technical ability”. The championship is competitive not because of quality, because of fight, and the reason we’re losing so many points, is because we’re soft…. We don’t win 50/50, we don’t scrap, we will continue to play “football” with minutes left training or drawing a game, we don’t throw the kitchen sink in, in fact, I don’t even think Marti knows where it is. 
 

As unpopular as it may sound, we may need a Hamza in midfield, just to add some bite and aggression, we may need to start being more direct, well, we do….. we need to start looking to attack in the transition…. We need to be getting more balls into the box, because then Daka, Ayew and Carranza may be presented with more clear chances. 
 

At the moment, it’s just rinse and repeat, we sack like for like and expect a different outcome. Marti is doing what he can, but it probably isn’t his fault, because he’s the wrong fit….. Top wants him to play a certain way, and it’s clear he can’t, the imbalances within the squad just means his philosophy fails before it’s even started. 
 

In short, Top needs to hire a firefighter, a leader and someone who will maximise the potential in the squad and play to its strengths. Thats how you potentially break the cycle in my opinion, but it’s likely to get a lot worse before he even considers such a move, by then, it could be too late.

Wasnt expecting war and peace but thats a very good response mate

 

Agree with your sentiments

 

[Pliskin]

16 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Wasnt expecting war and peace but thats a very good response mate

 

Agree with your sentiments

 

I’m not creating an account for Porn Hub!!!!! so I’ve got more free time on my hands now! 

 

[Pliskin]

46 minutes ago, Freddy said:

Is Top even having a say in appointing managers? Is he interested? He may not be the problem other than saying ok to Rudkin all the time. Rudkin was in place 10 years ago so he thinks he's not the problem. 

I don’t know, I half expect Top to interview in his underpants, he that useless. 
 

I suspect you’re right though, I think Top says I want this, Rudkin then goes and finds who he wants, and Top says “brilliant choice gromit”.

[Dan]

5 hours ago, iancognito said:

Despite anything else I've said, he's had a shitty hand at times. Ramsey, one of our few threats gets a stupid red, scores 2 in 3 then gets injured til possibly Christmas. Page is now away with England, our general recruitment was garbage aside from the two loanees. You also can't legislate for Mavididi's shit finishing which has cost us 3 goals so far. 

 

But you can't get away from the fact that this isn't the Prem. Sides far worse than us create more, score more and play better. Virtually every substitution weakens us and we do have kids to blood or recall from loan who are better than the SAS in midfield. If he doesn't sort out those issues, starting at Norwich, he's finished here.

Fair analysis. He's had a rubbish hand but like Van Nistelrooy before him, for me, he only needed to not be terrible for me to give him a bit of a pass and to funnel everything at those above him. While those above are a far bigger problem, he looks frankly terrible. We're a very badly coached side.

 

Maresca's the only manager since 2021 to get a tune out of our side.

 

Cifuentes lost me very early to be honest. Was pretty obvious what was happening. He never seemed tough enough, we needed somebody ruthless, somebody who will not tolerate these players or his bosses taking the piss. The sketchy performances even early doors combined with this - knew he was a dud pretty early on in all honesty.

Edited 7 November 2025 by Dan

[kingfox]

18 hours ago, DezFox said:

Best I can do mate. 
 

 

[winteriscoming]

1 win in 10 in this league is absolutely pathetic. 
This league is distinctly average and I include sides like Cov and Middlesbrough at the top. 
I’m gonna get shot down for suggesting this but I would start Daka with Mavidi behind him with Monga and Fatuwo out wide. 
At least it gives us pace up front both centrally and out wide. 
We could win at Norwich tomorrow and then not win again for 5 or 6 games. 
We’re not going to win enough matches with him in charge. 

 

[Dan]

3 hours ago, Noahfence said:

What performance do you think was our best this season? 
 

it’s probably Birmingham right? Completely nullified them whether that was down to them or us idk but probably our most “complete” performance. 

Genuinely probably Coventry. The one game all season where we've allowed little at our goal and should have scored ourselves. Also put into context the opposition. I'd imagine Coventry have some regrets about that game - they've got a terrible record here and completely passively gave up their best chance to win here in a generation.

 

Praying we don't get them in the cup, they'll slaughter us now that the spiel of us being a decent side at this level has been exposed.

Edited 7 November 2025 by Dan

[BigC]

If we win on Saturday he stays? Think he needs sacking regardless. Won't be too arsed if we don't win and it means he's gone unfortunately. 

[Noahfence]

15 minutes ago, Dan said:

Genuinely probably Coventry. The one game all season where we've allowed little at our goal and should have scored ourselves. Also put into context the opposition. I'd imagine Coventry have some regrets about that game - they've got a terrible record here and completely passively gave up their best chance to win here in a generation.

 

Praying we don't get them in the cup, they'll slaughter us now that the spiel of us being a decent side at this level has been exposed.

How the hell did I forget about Coventry  

 

[Larry_LCFC]

The only thing that can get this squad of misfits playing to an acceptable level is by having a manager that they fear, commands respect and takes no prisoners. We have had too many soft as shit managers that the players clearly dont respect. 

Ayew summed it up the other night just swaggering around in the last few minutes. Quite clearly couldn't be arsed to defend the throw in and put any effort in to maintaining the lead. Was happy to stand around after the final whistle throwing his arms round and moaning. The attitude in our team is toxic. Never seen so many players look like they couldn't find a flying ****.

Edited 7 November 2025 by Larry_LCFC