We played better than Everton. Obviously the nerves set in the closer it got to the end, but were it not for bizarre reffing we would have won. Swansea, well, we didn't look great there I have to say. We set up wrong really, not expecting them to launch as much. But h/t talks have become relevant & subs now work. Can't believe you don't see it!
Yes, we deserved to beat Everton. We dominated them from start to finish. Swansea was more equal, but hey-ho, we kept a clean sheet. Keep a clean sheet, and then any piece of good fortune can get you the extra two points. A definitive example of 'making your own luck'. How often did we keep a clean sheet with Pellegrino? Anyway, I'm not gonna argue. If you swear Hughes made no difference, that's your opinion. But surely you recall the Newcastle performance?
Wait, what do you expect? You want us to start playing like Liverpool over night? It's a relegation scrap. No time for the pretty stuff. Passion and commitment is the key. Give Hughes a preseason to be able to implement his own playing style.
He has improved the team ethic and has made an improvement. Taking off my mega excitable glasses, I don’t think we’ve really been very good. Some good. Some ok. Some poor. Wigan - first half shocking (he’d been there a day, not a Hughes issue). Second half, you could see he upped their game, although they weren’t great really. One negative, he took off Boufal at a time when he was ripping their full back a new one, West Ham. - shocking Arsenal - (reserves). Watching the game I felt that despite how ok we looked, it was false and that proved correct as Arsenal just upped a gear and scored. Chelsea - much improved, but against a team that looked like they were on a beach. As soon as Conte kicked their Arse, they destroyed us. Leicester - we just didn’t go for it against a team everyone was beating and there for the taking. Very negative. Chelsea Cup - so, so negative. I thought we wanted a coach to unleash us a bit. Bournemouth - in patches very good. We were hanging on at times and just got the win. Similar to a few of MP2’s games. Everton - very controlled performance. Good team work. Swansea - got the result, moments of good play. Not a great performance; some poor stuff too. Hughes has (assuming no disaster) done what we asked, but I’m under no illusions that we are suddenly much, much better. He has to be given the job because he has earned it, but I am extremely cautious and think next season will be tougher than some think. I haven’t seen a sudden change in style or move to an attacking style. It’s been better, but it had to be.
I think another reason why I want him to have the chance with us, is because I don't fully trust the board to make a good pick somewhere else.
I think the biggest change has been the visible display of unity (Boufal apart) and spirit, Tadic looks like a man rejuvenated and the noises from the dressing room are all positive regarding Sparky. Getting results always come before pretty football especially in the predicament we found ourselves in. I don't think we can judge too much on this manic period. Give him a pre-season and a few quid for transfers in the Summer and see what happens, I don't see the point in getting yet another new face in just for the sake of it.
Difficult and perhaps unfair to judge the style of play from Hughes. His remit was to keep us up. He had a very very limited amount of time to do this and we have been better, if not markedly or stylistically so. He has managed games and our players well, has instilled confidence, belief and rallied our players into a team that has responded by fighting for him, each other and the club. You rarely get pretty games when in the relegation dogfight, and not from a group of players that have been struggling all season. Not to mention we still have several deficiencies in our squad. Do I want Hughes to stay and see what he can do with a group of players that are clearly behind him with a fresh slate next season? Absolutely! Do I think he's the messiah and we're suddenly going to be the Saints of a few seasons ago? Nope. We need to rebuild, and having a manager in that knows the club, that has knowledge and nouse in the league and most importantly, that the players believe in should provide a good basis for this rebuild.
I’m convinced too. All the chap is saying is that it hasn’t been all that good. As I said above I am very cautious about Hughes. I think we should give him the job, but I’m not expecting a sudden change in style and I’m not convinced with Hughes yet. Happy to be convinced 6-10 games into next season though.
Nothing you’ve said there disagrees with anything I’ve said. A lot of it agrees with my points. I’m Sorry I ruined the Party just tried to throw some caution on what had appeared to be a lot of enthusiasm riding the crest of a wave. I think there is some validity in what he says. I’ve said several times he needs to be given the job. My feet are firmly on the ground though.
I don't think that anyone is expecting us to be the 2015/16 Saints and storm into Europe, I just want a period of stability that we are not going to get by appointing yet another new manager..
We’re agreed then. I don’t want another close to relegation battle though. I’m just sort of sticking up for ISIRTP because his comments also have some validity.
Which is why I’ve said he should have the job. Just pointing out that I don’t think we’ve played that well.
There is really only one stick against which to measure Hughes and that is whether or not he has kept us in the EPL. Let’s not understate this, we were getting relegated, there’s no question about it in my mind. In my opinion he took on a Herculean task, root out the problems, transform the team morale, fix a leaky defence and get us scoring goals again. This period has not been about playing good football it has been about frantically bailing out a ship about to go under. I am incredibly impressed with what he has done so far, he has managed to create a team again, he’s thrown a player or two under the bus where needed, he’s rallied around the right individuals and found a way to secure the points he needed to. Kudos, he’s almost done it. This team needs a massive overhaul in the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are looking at an almost completely new back line and our forwards are in a right state. As a club we have slid massively from European contenders to relegation dogfighters once more. MH isn’t the manager to get my heart racing but I am confident that he is an improvement on both Puel and MP2. I can’t say that about an unknown. We need to get back to basic rebuilding, my vote is to give him the job, we will at least have a head start goin* into the summer and have manager who knows who he can count on in his squad and who he can’t.
I'm loving the Tadic 2.0 though, that has been very enjoyable. Worth giving him the job for that alone!
Another factor is that Hughes clearly has the majority of fans on his side and that support will manifest itself from the stands, so there will be generally a more positive vibe at SMS than we have experienced for a couple of years, I mean, how many Puel and Pellegrino songs can you remember?..
I also think our style of play has been better then it has been under our previous managers, not that it was a hard task to achieve. With Hughes solely focused on keeping us up in 2 months, I doubt he's been able to get his playing style and ideas across fully.
Tadic has done this too many times for me. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a decent player and on balance he is maybe a little underrated. But he has his streaks of greatness and then he disappears again. That’s kind of what you get with creative players like that, and I accept it. I’m not going to blame Hughes when he goes missing for a 3-4 game stretch but I can’t really give him credit for turning a corner with Tadic either. He’s been the same way now for several seasons and several managers.
