The Fosse Way

On the up

Iain Wright

As with all new managers, I sincerely hope he’s a success and can play his part in uniting the fanbase.

I fear, though, his biggest challenge is the unknown. Granted there’s recent speculation around a 9-point deduction, but it is still just that, speculation. What Martí Cifuentes can’t control is what’s gone on, or not gone on, in the past. The EFL seem desperate to hit us with something, but the club appeared to suggest the 2023/24 books were in order.

What is certain is this dragging on won’t help him settle in. If I can have one hope for the season, it’s that this is resolved soon so we know what we’re aiming for. The league already looks tougher than last time, with Southampton, Ipswich, Birmingham and Wrexham well ahead of us in their preparations.

As for Martí, I’m reasonably excited by his appointment. Given the financial issues, squad issues and 3 of the previous 4 managers going on record to say there are communication issues, we’re no longer the attractive proposition we once were.

Therefore, we were never going to appoint a manager with universal approval, like Brendan Rodgers in 2019. Nor are we in a position where we could have the pick of almost anyone, as would have been the case back in September 2021 when Arsenal were sniffing round Rodgers.

That said, I think Cifuentes will be more popular, initially at least, than some of the other names that have been linked over this long summer.

The reason for this is that he’s a manager on the up. He’s not got baggage or failure attached to him, and he’s received generally good reviews from QPR fans. I always feel that having a policy of signing managers, and indeed players, on their way up should be the way for a club like us to go. Yes we obviously had success with Claudio Ranieri, Brendan Rodgers and a player like Esteban Cambiasso, but we’re not that club any more.

So going for a manager who knows the league and whose stock is on the rise is the right choice at this point. The style of football also suits the squad we have, for both the older players and the technically gifted younger ones. Hopefully he uses the latter, who are on their way up too.

The downside is he’s not got long to implement his ideas. In addition to this, in keeping with our ‘one thing at a time policy/capability’, it appears like zero work has occurred with negotiating exits for the 10 or so players we need to remove from the squad, for financial reasons and footballing reasons.

So hola Martí! If you’re reading this, I wish you luck. Get some discipline installed into this unruly bunch, ignore some of the proven failures and use the incredible young talent coming through.

Enthusiasm, experience, connection

Helen Thompson

Hopefully. It feels like a lot of whether he can be a success hinges on things that he isn’t in direct control of. He can’t control what punishment the EFL dishes out or which players we sell and whether we can bring in anybody he actually wants. A lot of it then comes down to how he can play the cards he gets dealt.

But he knew all of this and still paid QPR off to be able to take this job. His enthusiasm is certainly winning and that has to send a positive message to the players, he believes in us and (some of) them enough to take the plunge. He seems to be suggesting he’s excited to get to grips with the current squad, new faces coming in or not. 

He’s coming in with experience of the league which is never a bad thing. Plus it seems like he plays a more exciting brand of football than we’ve been treated to in a while. The thought of having Abdul fit again soon and with a manager who might actually deploy him properly is something to look forward to. 

Here’s hoping he’s a success and that the fans can form a decent relationship with him because that connection, and others, has been sorely lacking.

Can’t get away from the moment, seems like it’s time to begin

David Bevan

Amid all the focus on Cifuentes’s style of play, what stood out for me in his first interview as Leicester City manager were these words:

“Obviously everyone is aware of what happened ten years ago.”

It sounds like some tentative reference to a terrible tragedy. It is, of course, a reference to the greatest sporting story of all time and the shadow it has left over almost everything that has happened since at this football club. And it has always coloured what success looks like for each subsequent manager.

After all, there have been plenty of them. I certainly sensed some fatigue among the fanbase with having to welcome yet another new man – a shrug of the shoulders as if to say “well, we’ll see what this one’s like” rather than genuine enthusiasm or excitement. But there are also a lot of people who think this might be the perfect fit at this moment and I’m definitely in that camp.

A points deduction might not help the club achieve its goal of promotion this season, but it could aid Cifuentes in being seen as a success by the fanbase. We have needed a reset in our expectations and mentality for so long that being on the back foot while also being competitive could be a healthy scenario.

Without a points deduction, the benchmark at Championship level is a near-100 point season in very recent memory. Take away some of those points before we’ve even earned them and things look very different.

There is, in fact, no precedent in Leicester City’s history – a damning reflection of the club’s hierarchy if it does happen but also an opportunity for Cifuentes to deal with a difficult situation. It’s clear from his previous management experience that he copes well with adversity and a succession of fanbases have responded to his efforts.

Success in the face of adversity is Leicester City at its best, and perhaps we’re gearing up for more.