Marti Cifuentes is striving to lift the spirits and transform the atmosphere at Leicester City, urging for patience as he works toward that goal.
The Foxes aren’t where supporters anticipated after a third of the campaign, with Cifuentes’ men sitting 12th in the Championship standings.
Still, there are significant factors at play beyond performances on the field. The club is still recovering from relegation, while lingering Profit and Sustainability Rule complications continue to restrict them from overhauling the squad last summer.
Rallying behind a group of players who, in some instances, were partly involved in two demotions has proven tough for the fanbase.
Meanwhile, the players themselves are struggling to shake old patterns. In recent defeats to Millwall and Blackburn, City played as though they had already accepted loss — a trait that was all too common last season.
That’s why the determination displayed in the final 20 minutes to mount a comeback win over Norwich meant so much to Cifuentes.
“I’m happy for the group,” he said. “Cultural changes take more time. What we’re trying to implement here, we will have some ups and downs and it will take some time.
“We cannot be complacent because we won. There are things we still want to get better at.
“We will try to work as much as we can on the pitch and build on the last two games I would say, because some of the things I want to see from the group were definitely there.”
A single result isn’t enough to restore optimism among the fans, and Cifuentes recognises that improving the general atmosphere around the club, not just within the dressing room, is part of his role. For now, he believes Leicester are still in a recovery phase.
“I’m aware that one of the bigger tasks I have as a manager here is to change the mood,” he said. “It’s very easy to have this negativity around the team and the club because of the last couple of relegations. This takes time to heal, for all of us, for the supporters and for the players.
“My task is to help everybody understand that Leicester is a fantastic club and we have a lot of possibilities as a club to improve. Sometimes in life you need to fail to understand how difficult it is to succeed.
“I think being a manager is a high percentage of understanding the psychology, not only of the players but also the place.
“When I went to QPR, we were eight points from safety and it was a huge task to avoid relegation. Every club and every situation has its own challenges. I’ve been lucky to coach in five different countries and I’ve always achieved the club targets.
“In that sense, I’m completely convinced we have everything we need as a club to meet the targets we want to achieve.
“It’s not going to be perfect. Life is not perfect. You need to keep pushing and working and you need to accept that sometimes there’s going to be criticism.
“As a club and as a team, we need to stay united, together with our fans. We need to understand the frustrations.
“But, guys, we need to change, because it can get worse. We need to change the mindset to push together. In that sense, we’re moving in the right direction.”