Sheffield United supporters chanted ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ towards the Leicester City boss during Saturday’s 3-2 defeat and some home fans joined in
Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes during the Sky Bet Championship match between Leicester City and Sheffield United at King Power Stadium
Marti Cifuentes has asked Leicester City fans to let him fix the club after some supporters joined in with sack chants directed at the Spaniard.
Cifuentes was teased by Sheffield United fans just before half-time in City’s 3-2 defeat on Saturday, with the travelling Blades chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning”, and with a handful of home supporters then joining in.
City were 3-0 down at the time, but produced a creditable second-half response, getting back two goals and falling just short of an unlikely comeback.
Still, boos followed at the full-time whistle. City are now as close to the relegation zone as they are to the automatic promotion places and while frustration over the running of the club remains high, some of the anger is now turning towards Cifuentes.
He says the club needs fixing and hopes City supporters will back him to do so, the Spaniard expressing confidence at overcoming the negativity like he says he managed to do at previous sides.
“We need to give much more to the fans than what we are doing so far,” Cifuentes said. “I knew about the situation when I came to the club and I knew we had a fanbase where many feel disappointed about what’s happened over the last seasons.
“I’m aware of that. I can’t hide from that. Despite not being here, I know that’s the feeling. We need to instil this togetherness and I never said it would be easy.
“But I have achieved that in the other clubs I’ve been. It’s not the first time I’ve had this song before. Fortunately for me, I’ve always got the confidence to turn things around because that’s what I’ve done in different clubs in different countries.
“I hope together with the club we are aware of things we need to improve. I understand the frustration and it was completely fair, the reaction at half-time. The first half was absolutely below the level.
“I’m very committed to giving the fans something back. I just hope they understand that I came here to fix something and that they let me fix this.”
Cifuentes feels that he has the faith of those above him as well and is working with chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin to find solutions.
“I have a good relationship with the chairman and director of football,” he added. “We have constant meetings about how we can improve things. It’s not an easy moment but I feel full confidence on that task I was signed for to try to improve things.
“Everyone knows that during this summer we tried to make certain decisions that were not easy. We didn’t spend money at all, while you see at Southampton and Ipswich, the other two clubs who were relegated, they spent a lot of money. It’s not an easy league.
“We are in this rebuilding process and we need to make sure we stick together in this process and understand that we need to set high demands.”
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