Gary Rowett

[Molson Canadian]

He needs to get this team playing more direct style football and sit a bit deeper and counter, in my opinion and grind out the wins.  Won't happen though.  The players actually look a step slower than the opposition sometimes.

 

Or get Ayew playing to his strengths (yes he has one) trying to draw fouls.  And send some of the other players to slip and fall school, because at this point even if it's ugly cheap football to get wins go for it. 

 

I am upset and rambling. 

[Chrysalis]

On 09/04/2026 at 03:01, SafewayFox said:

Whilst I agree with the majority of this post, do you genuinely believe that Enzo signs Skipp, Ayew and Reid?

 

Those signings alone, made us weaker than the year before (losing our best player in KDH).

 

For me, it was so simple, replace KDH with a like for like player - don’t spunk £70m on the above and even Bilal (we had Buonanotte on loan already).

 

Search Europe for a striker who can play up top on his own and has the benefit of learning from Vardy/rotating.

 

We’d have been in such a better position, or in even simpler terms….do what Sunderland did this year….look at their signings compared to ours, hideous mis-management from our two clowns and Glover, when will he get the much deserved criticism that he deserves on here btw?

These are Rudkin issues as some of us have tried to explain.

[Chrysalis]

10 hours ago, Molson Canadian said:

He needs to get this team playing more direct style football and sit a bit deeper and counter, in my opinion and grind out the wins.  Won't happen though.  The players actually look a step slower than the opposition sometimes.

 

Or get Ayew playing to his strengths (yes he has one) trying to draw fouls.  And send some of the other players to slip and fall school, because at this point even if it's ugly cheap football to get wins go for it. 

 

I am upset and rambling. 

Sadly his hands are tied on the direct football, Top simply wont allow it.  If he tries it, he will be fired within a few games.

[SafewayFox]

16 hours ago, inckley fox said:

I wouldn't argue with you for one second on Glover. I appreciate that this environment might not be a great one for him to thrive in, but the track record - on expensive and budget signings at both this level and higher - suggests a major overhaul is needed at recruitment level. That'd cover his unceremonious dismissal and that of Rudkin, you'd tend to think.

 

For that reason, the failures of our post-Puel managers in the marketplace (and I'd include Enzo in that for the money spent on Cannon, Coady, Winks etc.) has to be put in the context of five different managers, some of which haven't been entirely awful in their recruitment elsewhere, failing at LCFC. Rodgers will get zero sympathy for that because he brought in his own incompetent Head of Recruitment, but he still had to deal with Rudkin, and everyone since him has additionally been saddled with Glover and a whole raft of financial difficulties.

 

So when I say that Enzo did well, I'm not just saying it for a little balance before I go on a rant about how his achievement was nothing remarkable, how the wheels were already coming off, or how his team-building did nothing to establish foundations for on-going development. He really does deserve ample credit for what he achieved. He was a good City boss in an era of managers who were either substandard, or unable to cope with the cascade of **** splashing down from 'them upstairs'. That doesn't apply to him. Was he a shining light in the darkness? Hardly. But he did a sound enough job for a while.

 

Would he have signed Okoli, Skipp, Ayew or Reid? Regardless of them being well-known players, and Cooper publicly embracing the need for experience, it still doesn't mean that the recruitment department weren't the main players in preparing that shortlist. Nor does it mean that Enzo had had no involvement in creating the shortlist, or disagreed about the need for top flight 'know-how' in the months before his exit. After all, targets are usually prepared over a period of months rather than weeks.

 

Enzo's own aforementioned errors in the market mean that we can suppose he would have (together with Glover and co., of course) made mistakes of his own, whether they were the same mistakes or not.

We seem to agree on the majority but I sadly don’t have the same faith in this version of our club scouting a player for months that you referenced.

 

Remember, we’re the club that paid over £6 million in agent fees when hadn’t spent a single penny on transfer fees.

 

We’re also clearly a manager led transfer club, Enzo wanted Sensi, that was the most obvious Enzo connection.

 

Cooper definitely played a huge part in Skipp and Ayew as a minimum.

[whoareyaaa]

16 hours ago, Foxin_Mad said:

Its a very different dynamic to come into a team thats shite 2/3rds into a season that can not defend or keep a clean sheet, has the worst pressing stats, the worst running stats, the worst distance covered per game, to worst xg. Has genuinely been coached awfully. 

 

All of this mess is down to Cifuentes and Cifuentes only. 

When was the last time we looked good though ? even under Enzo we was scraping through most games by the odd goal from

memory.

 

under Cooper we was getting battered most weeks, under RVN we couldn’t score for toffee and Cifuentes and Rowett have carried on the trend.

 

squad is simply not good enough, unbalanced with hardly any completion for places. The keeper has been poor we have one striker at the club who is not very good baffling anyone thinks the manager is the main problem at this stage.

 

[Foxin_Mad]

5 hours ago, whoareyaaa said:

When was the last time we looked good though ? even under Enzo we was scraping through most games by the odd goal from

memory.

 

under Cooper we was getting battered most weeks, under RVN we couldn’t score for toffee and Cifuentes and Rowett have carried on the trend.

 

squad is simply not good enough, unbalanced with hardly any completion for places. The keeper has been poor we have one striker at the club who is not very good baffling anyone thinks the manager is the main problem at this stage.

 

I dunno there were a few games in the Enzo season where we were different class to the shite in this league. And a few games toward the end of last season where we looked better. There has been 2 games this season where I think we deserved to win with Cifuentes.

 

Managing in the Premier League and this division are 2 different things. Yes Cooper and RVN were poor but they would both have been way ahead of that Cifuentes clown.

 

Regardless of the squad assembled by the football operations team being shit, this squad has more than enough NOT to be in a relegation battle, there is some utter dross in this division. Any manager with an ounce of credibility should be able to form a team that can keep it tight. Cifuentes seemed to embed in us this weird suicide football where we did none of the basics like defending, running or shooting in pursuit of this weird total football where we passed it around at the back and didn't do anything other concede, every now and then James or Abdul came up with a wonder strike to save him, and the cycle started again. I dont know why people make excuses for him really, he is as bad a manager we have had. I guess that now we have to accept thats the kind of crap bucket we are shopping in.

[filthyfox]

Some people actually WANTED Rowett as manager!

[ceebeefox]

1 hour ago, filthyfox said:

Some people actually WANTED Rowett as manager!

To his detriment, he’s not improved us enough.

 In his favour, he talks sense and his after match comments are a breath of fresh air, as he appears to have been at the same match as me. 
We’re just crap and if we want to see us win more games we’ve probably got to go down, the thought of Wolves,  Burnley, and one of Forest or Spurs next season if we stay up frightens me to death.

[Gamble92]

23 hours ago, Molson Canadian said:

He needs to get this team playing more direct style football and sit a bit deeper and counter, in my opinion and grind out the wins.  Won't happen though.  The players actually look a step slower than the opposition sometimes.

 

Or get Ayew playing to his strengths (yes he has one) trying to draw fouls.  And send some of the other players to slip and fall school, because at this point even if it's ugly cheap football to get wins go for it. 

 

I am upset and rambling. 

Genuinely think if we won 4-0 tomorrow being direct he'd be called in Rudkin's office asking why Winks and the two centre backs weren't stood on the ball for 60 minutes.  

 

 

 

 

[whoareyaaa]

41 minutes ago, ceebeefox said:

To his detriment, he’s not improved us enough.

 In his favour, he talks sense and his after match comments are a breath of fresh air, as he appears to have been at the same match as me. 
We’re just crap and if we want to see us win more games we’ve probably got to go down, the thought of Wolves,  Burnley, and one of Forest or Spurs next season if we stay up frightens me to death.

I think he has improved us as much as any other manager would have done tbh, this squad lacks quality and has a load of players off in the summer, players on loan and academy players coming through a poor defence, keeper and striker.

 

Looking back now Cifuentes didn't have the mental strength to manage this squad and some players have took the piss just like previous managers suffered like Cooper and RVN

[Lionator]

2 hours ago, filthyfox said:

Some people actually WANTED Rowett as manager!

Structurally we are MUCH better under Rowett and the stats back it up. Unfortunately we have a bunch of bottleless, pathetic numpties that take to the pitch game after game who are either not arsed or who have a panic attack when they have to make a decision. Marti’s stats were always skewed by James and Fatawu scoring worldies. We have been one of the worst teams in the league all season.

Edited 10 April by Lionator

[Foxin_Mad]

If he had come in earlier like he should, he probably would have done enough to keep us up. Yet a gain the clueless leadership fannying around will cost us. 4 draws in the King games suddenly looks a lot healthier. Not getting beat by Oxford and Charlton would have been helpful

[Frankel1981]

He’s awful he suits our awful players and awful owners.

 

Loose tomorrow and he’ll be gone though deflect the blame.

[whoareyaaa]

3 minutes ago, Frankel1981 said:

He’s awful he suits our awful players and awful owners.

 

Loose tomorrow and he’ll be gone though deflect the blame.

If they have any sense left Fuchs should be the new manager next season if Rowett isn't.

 

Rowett is exactly what this management has been missing someone with a bit of bite and passion, Fuchs would be a step in the right direction and Rowett wouldn't do any worse than other managers imo.

Edited 10 April by whoareyaaa

[Craig]

I definitely prefer watching us under Rowett than Cifuentes (despite what the turd is spouting on Sky right now). 

 

But he needs to start getting some proper results and fast. 

 

 

 

Edited 10 April by Craig

[Buzzell]

Not good enough. I know the players are shit but he’s basically grabbed the batton from Cifuentes and followed suit.

 

Shit manager.

Shit players.

Shit owners.

Shit fans.

Shit club.

[funkyrobot]

Rowett needs to perform wonders in the last 5 games to have a better points per game than Cifuentes. 🥴🤣

[Craig]

33 minutes ago, funkyrobot said:

Rowett needs to perform wonders in the last 5 games to have a better points per game than Cifuentes. 🥴🤣

In Cifuentes' final 5 league games he was averaging 0.8 points a game...

[Guppys Love Child]

42 minutes ago, Buzzell said:

Not good enough. I know the players are shit but he’s basically grabbed the batton from Cifuentes and followed suit.

 

Shit manager.

Shit players.

Shit owners.

Shit fans.

Shit club.

Totally agree.

 

It's what frustrates me enormously, that this clown has just continued 'as is'.  He's just a case of, new face same sh1t.

 

No attempt to change the god awful 4231 formation that has worked so well to date.

 

Utilising the same old underperforming, uninterested "experienced" players each match and then scratching his head in confusion when the same outcome rears its ugly head.

 

Unwilling to even try a different tactic, just once.

 

The so called set piece coach/ specialist needed sacking 3 weeks ago.

 

Playing youth when your senior players have failed week on week is an alien concept.   Incredibly short sighted IMO.

 

Deep down I think Rowett knows come the end of the season he's out on his ear, and possibly doesn't really care...  

 

 

 

 

[CrispinLA in Texas]

We really needed a manager who good on the training ground and can coach the players 

[winteriscoming]

He has 1 win in 9. 
Really don’t get the logic that had he came in earlier we would be in a better position. 
He’s a draw specialist and an Oxford reject. 

[blueharmie]

No one is getting the best out of a team going to league 1. We're ****ed 

Edited 11 April by blueharmie

[LCFCJohn]

11 hours ago, Lionator said:

Structurally we are MUCH better under Rowett and the stats back it up. Unfortunately we have a bunch of bottleless, pathetic numpties that take to the pitch game after game who are either not arsed or who have a panic attack when they have to make a decision. Marti’s stats were always skewed by James and Fatawu scoring worldies. We have been one of the worst teams in the league all season.

Agreed. I think if you had given Rowett James in the side and removed James from the number of games he has missed for Rowett, from Cifuentes during his time, Rowett’s results would be much better.

 

Not that it is a defence of Rowett as you can’t rely on one player. But if people are using PPG to defend Cifuentes over Rowett, James and his availability for both managers is literally the difference.

 

Under Cifuentes, there was barely a game I thought we deserved anything from. We were regularly out of games by half time, it was embarrassing and awful. Under Rowett, the stats are much stronger, chance creation and xG (even though I’m not a massive fan of it). Obviously it’s about results and he is not getting them but let’s not rewrite history where Cifuentes is concerned.

[teblin]

1 hour ago, winteriscoming said:

He has 1 win in 9. 
Really don’t get the logic that had he came in earlier we would be in a better position. 
He’s a draw specialist and an Oxford reject. 

By that logic maybe he’d have got a couple of draws instead of loses. But it’s been not good enough points wise.

 

Its all not down to him, its down to all that has come before and he is a symptom of where we have ended up.

 

He’s only lost 2 out of 9 too, but as you say too many draws.

[winteriscoming]

7 minutes ago, teblin said:

By that logic maybe he’d have got a couple of draws instead of loses. But it’s been not good enough points wise.

 

Its all not down to him, its down to all that has come before and he is a symptom of where we have ended up.

 

He’s only lost 2 out of 9 too, but as you say too many draws.

Not just him but Cifuentes, Ruud and Cooper they all do the same thing tactically and expect us to find form. 
Do something different. 
The opposition know exactly how we are going to set up. 
If the system isn’t working during the game change it. 
It’s not rocket science. 
I know the options are shit but at least try 2 up front.