22 Mar 2026 03:57:14
For a couple of seasons Caicedo has literally carried our team. He has deservedly been named POS by virtually every fan group.
He started this season as he had finished last season but for some reason his performance levels have dropped since LR became our manager. This drop in form maybe because he is carrying an injury or just playing tiredness or maybe because he is being asked to play in a slightly different midfield system.
I have no doubt he will return to his magnificent best and I remember saying the similar things about Colwill towards the end of last season and he burst back to form in the last eight games, showing tremendous leadership as well as top performances.
We desperately need MC back to his best but this sort of thing happens at other clubs with a key player losing form or being injured, the difference is most other teams find a solution, our manager also has to find a solution because when MC isn't playing well we struggle big time.
22 Mar 2026 07:56:31
Spend billions on players and get rookie managers is what I never understood. It's like buying a mansion and getting the council to do it up.
22 Mar 2026 08:26:44
I like council workmanship. It always seems more solid than private contractors.
22 Mar 2026 09:20:46
So if our left back plays well, we're alright. What about the creative midfielders we've bought, the strikers we have (if you can call Delap a striker), and all the fabulous wingers that amaze us each game? The team, the squad, is awful, not working together, and the frustration is now starting to show.
22 Mar 2026 09:22:54
Tom, it is not just Moises who has gone backwards under Liam; it is all of them. He is totally out of his depth, and unless he is relieved of his duties before the next game, even more damage will be done, with players and their agents demanding moves. Blueboy1, you are totally correct. We have assembled a very good young squad of players, and an elite coach was/is required to lead them forwards.
Maresca might not have been elite, but he was respected by the players and was tactically sound. He should have been managed better by the sporting directors, at least until the end of the season, when a full review could have taken place, but there lies another problem, the SDs, as others have mentioned. Surely an interim is now needed, just to see the season out and restore some credibility at the club.
22 Mar 2026 10:57:35
Just to add to our worries Caicedo is on 9 yellow cards. One more and he gets a two match ban.
I also think we clearly have some fine young players but clearly we have big problems in terms in central defense and GK plus only Neto has shown much cionsistency among our endless totation of widemen and Pedro cannot be expected to do virtually all the heavy lifting on his own up front. Would have thought Delap might have been given game time hyesterday (he may have been brought on after their third goal - haven't checked and couldn't bear to watch our lowlights on Match of the Day - but I had switched the tv off then!).
We took huge gambles with employing Maresca as coach - so ineexperienced - but he did seem to have some tactical ability in bigger games though as pretty useless as most we've had against 'lower' teams in the EPL. Though the v bad run before he left may have been as Ed001 suggest because his mind was set on City (or Juventus) come the summer. But like Tom and most others I was not calling for him to leave and had hoped/assumed he would be with us until the summer. But seems it was as much his decision as the club's that he left us.
Hadn't also heard anyone on here suggest LR as replacement. Problem is often who is available when 'parting ways' with a manager mid-season who is definitively more likely to succeed and available.
It has been a terrible couple of weeks for CFC and morale must be pretty low right now. Suddenly not just necessity to beat Port Vale but to do so playing ten times better than we did yesterday to have some chance of still rescuing our season from potential collapse.v big challenge for LR and will he be up to it? City then United to come at the Bridge. 4 points absolute minimum required I'd think.
Otherwise European football next season likely only in the form of Uefa Cup or possibly back to the Conference League again or if complete collapse - like in Lampard's caretaker period - no European football at all.
So who would be right now? Well Big Sam perhaps?! or Harry Redknapp?!
Otherwise some among the recently sacked or parted ways eg Postegoclu, de Zerbi, Anorim, Xavi or Maresca (?!). Oh, and then ther's Sir Gareth Soughgate.who else have I missed?! Allegri.? But which of these would be a good permanent manager for us if any?
Or in the summer?
Tom I know you've only wanted the bloke from Stuttgart.Sebastian Hoenes is he.could you put the case for him?
Can anyone else make persuasive case for a potential longer term manager than 18 months for us who might be available and willing to.unfder BlueCo management in current set up with SDs? Can they adapt 'the project' sufficuintly to attract one?
Oh well at least the weather's ok still. goog day for long walk with the dog!
22 Mar 2026 13:44:25
I am not sure what an lb has got to do with anything.
My point was, and is, that us not playing well has coincided with Caicedo not playing. Of course, this is not just a Chelsea issue; when an important player at any club doesn't play, it can affect performances and results.
22 Mar 2026 14:04:35
Jbs, the Stuttgart manager gets his team playing a very high press. He generally goes man to man, but, and this is a big but for me, he occasionally plays with inverted FBs.
His midfielders try and get the ball forward quickly, and, this will sound bizarre, lots of players don't appear to have a set position.
Please note: my choice of him as our manager is based on his team's performances last season.
I had the good fortune of watching a lot of German and Dutch football last season, but virtually zero this season.
A mate also told me we approached him pre-Maresca, and he had no interest at that time. I think the chances of him changing his mind are very slim.
22 Mar 2026 16:27:49
Tom, thanks for taking the time to explain your choice. There seems to be, to some, a question mark over an element of SH's tactics, but perhaps he is one of those managers/coaches who is able to get the best out of his squad, and thus get good results.
Perhaps he can make a team that is better than the sum of its parts. Anyway, if he wasn't interested pre-Maresca in the CFC job, he may be even less interested now or in the summer.