So after a week or rumour and talks with the likes of Sean Dyche, Chris Wilder, Gary O'Neill et al, it looks like the King Power managerial roulette has finally settled on former QPR manager Marti Cifuentes.
Of all the options bar Rohl, Cifuentes is probably the best option available. He did a solid job at QPR under difficult circumstances and plays a style not too dissimilar to Maresca, which I do think is the best style for this group of players. The fact that he is reportedly paying some of his own release clause is also a good sign of commitment - he knows that, despite the mess behind the scenes, this is still a good option for an up and coming manager.
He also has a good track record of bringing through young players, which is important for the future of the club as 1) we have good young players at the club, 2) we aren't going to be able to buy much in terms of experienced personnel (not a bad thing IMO given our recent track record) and 3) we may finally see some ROI for Seagrave and the facilities that are suppose to bring through young players.
I would absolutely love to know what the thinking with this board is, though. How you go from Enzo Maresca to Steve Cooper, and then lurch to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, before speaking to Dyche and Wilder and eventually ending up with Cifuentes, all within the space of 14 months, is just beyond me. It just goes to show that the management of the club has absolutely no idea what they actually *want* or what the future of the club should be.
The last few weeks and months have shown very clearly that the club is an absolute shambles. No wonder 90% of fans don't trust these owners with the future of the club.
Hopefully we get lucky with Cifuentes like we did Maresca, though the chaotic start to pre-season makes me think that this time around will be much harder than 2 years ago, and that's before the threat of a points deduction looming....
Marti Cifuentes
posted on 12/7/25
From what I have heard, whilst Cifuentes plays an Enzoball style of football, he doesn't seem to be as dogmatic as Maresca was and has changed styles and formations when needed, most notably in a 4-0 win over Leeds. He's also much more accustomed to quick counter attacks, Which would benefit the likes of Fatawu, Mavididi and Monga - the latter two were sometimes hamstrung by Maresca's unwillingness to embrace pacy attacks.
For me, flexibility and a willingness to change and adapt is important. Maresca was very rigid, as was Martin at Southampton, which is a problem when you come up against better teams than yourselves. Cifuentes at least seems to have a bit more pragmatism baked in to his philosophy whilst still having the core principles.
We didn't play Enzoball last season, and we ended up with a muddled mess under both Cooper and RVN. Nobody can know for sure how we would have done under Maresca, but I struggle to imagine we would have done any worse. You shouldn't need to regress to Pulis era Stoke City to survive in the Premier League, and clubs like Brentford and Bournemouth provide blueprints for how you can stay up, thrive and still play decent football.
posted on 12/7/25
Yes ,as good as we are going to get given our current situation.
Better than some of old faithful types we could have gone for,so could be an exciting appointment.
Just wish Top would man up and do the right thing, acknowledge the fans,and get rid of the parasites who are just stealing a living from our club.
posted on 12/7/25
I hope your faith in someone who has only managed a struggling Championship team in England proves to be justified. Always assuming that Top and Rudders extract their digits and appoint him before the season is over!
I don't care how we get up - and crucially, stay up. Whether that's Enzoball, Pulisball or something in between doesn't bother me in the slightest. I base my comments on what I've observed, that teams which dominate possession in the EFL are increasingly likely to fail at the higher level as they come up against teams with far superior players. Make the game messy, defend as if your life depends on it, be given licence to attack quickly (even if you lose the ball at times) and you may have a chance to garner some points.
Stay up, and you can develop from there.
posted on 12/7/25
It’s a bit of a meh appointment. Not great but not rubbish. Better than wilder or Dyche in that it’s an up and coming manager but not fully proven and o really dislike Enzo ball personally. Just my preference but it’s dull and unlikely to keep us up if we were so fortunate to get promotion.
As always he’ll have my full support if/when he comes. Let’s hope he can get us more creative than we are right now!
posted on 13/7/25
I also dislike the Man City lite that we've been subjected to for so much of the last 10 years. I can see it being very effective when there are some top quality players (eg Mahrez, Madders, Tielemans) in the frame, but we don't have this any longer. Most of the time the obsession with keeping the ball results in a negative pass backwards or passing around the back 5 - the players being clearly under instruction not to lose the ball and thereby terrified of being dropped for the next match. It's awful to watch and not very effective at the higher level against a much better standard of player.
I can tolerate it if Cifuentes proves to get us playing at peak Brendan, but I just can't see it working in the EPL with the mostly Championship level squad we have now.
posted on 14/7/25
comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 20 hours, 38 minutes ago
I also dislike the Man City lite that we've been subjected to for so much of the last 10 years. I can see it being very effective when there are some top quality players (eg Mahrez, Madders, Tielemans) in the frame, but we don't have this any longer. Most of the time the obsession with keeping the ball results in a negative pass backwards or passing around the back 5 - the players being clearly under instruction not to lose the ball and thereby terrified of being dropped for the next match. It's awful to watch and not very effective at the higher level against a much better standard of player.
I can tolerate it if Cifuentes proves to get us playing at peak Brendan, but I just can't see it working in the EPL with the mostly Championship level squad we have now.
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Absolutely this
posted on 14/7/25
Worth remembering that the 'Man City-lite' dictat has come directly from Top and the King Power ownership - the same owners that many of you guys have spent several years trying to defend and justify Frankly, the preferred style of play is the least of our problems right now.
Anyway, if it's not announced today, I will begin to think that it's not happening. I know the club works at a snails pace at the best of the times, but it's ridiculous and damn shambolic that we are almost half way through pre-season and we still don't have a manager.
Maybe you guys will get your wish for Dycheball or Wilderball after all....
posted on 15/7/25
Well it’s happening! Let’s hope he can sort this mess out!
posted on 15/7/25
It's good that they have finally got there. Just in time for the trip away apparently. We'll see what he can do. Also there might now be some movement in the transfer market, if we are to lose Mads and BEK, Coady, N'didi and Kristiansen then let it be soon.
posted on 17/7/25
Agree Nuneaton. I don’t want us starting the season with a bloated squad, players that don’t want to be here and a continued PSR disaster. Let’s get rid of players that we can recoup money on and keep the hungry players ready to fight for the new manager. I’m sure he’ll be assessing who both camps are on the trip.