Thought it would be good to compare Hughes’ record with Pellegrino, someone who I’m sure we all agree was dreadful manager for us. These are averages of course as Pellegrino managed 30 league games to Hughes’ 18 so far (although a good amount to judge I feel, with 10 this season). Points per game: Pellegrino - 0.93 Hughes (overall) - 0.83 Hughes (this season) - 0.7 Win %: Pellegrino - 16.67% Hughes (overall) - 16.67% Hughes (this season) - 10% Goals per game: Pellegrino - 0.96 Hughes (overall) - 0.78 Hughes (this season) - 0.6 The home form is also interesting, with Hughes winning only 1 of his 8 (12.5%), and Pellegrino 3 of his 16 (18.75%). I was genuinely interested to see how they compared and it’s clear that Hughes’ record across the board is worse than even Pellegrino’s. Not saying it is all his fault, as a club we have regressed significantly in recent seasons, but the stats don’t look good.
It's not incredibly far-fetched, but that's kinda the thing: barring a massive change in fortune, the upper bound for what we can reasonably hope for is 14 points in 17 matches.
What amazes me still is how many Saints fans seemed to expect something different from Hughes. He isn’t a manager with a reputation for fresh, attacking football. We’ve played and delivered pretty much how all his teams have, give or take a little movement of the barometer needle. We are where I expected. I blame the Board though above him. He’s just doing what he does. How the board or any fans expected any different is optimism beyond any I, as an optimised have. We’ve just got to suck it up and hope.
Lemina did have a good game, but against better sides his slow decision making will be exposed again imo. He was actually quite good retaining the ball today, but he takes far too long to pick a pass, and you can’t get away with that at this level - except when you are playing Newcastle. Definitely need PEH back, and I’d still like to see Gabbiadini ahead of Austin - even though he wasn’t great when he came on today. At least he moves.
Agreed. I thought that we had to keep Hughes simply because he had buy-in from the players, but I wasn't exactly hopeful that he'd lead a turnaround. He is, effectively, a replacement-level manager...which is exactly what you'd expect a team in the relegation zone in March to find. It's tough to escape that trap once you have landed in it, but beyond the on-pitch benefits of ridding ourselves of the underperforming board, putting in a new management team at least gives us to restore our mystique as a progressive club (and hopefully appeal to better-calibre staff as a result).
Make a weekend of it if you can. There´s a wonderful Science Museum, great shops, Old Trafford (for a guided tour of the cricket ground), the ITV studios and so much more. The football is a side issue.
I thought he looked our most threatening attacker, but rusty. He needs a run of games alongside Ings.
I suspect you may have been wearing Italian sunglasses with a bit of a tint, but I’d definitely give him that run of games. He did link up well and make himself available a couple of times (before making the wrong decision).
I think after today I'd definitely give Cedric and Austin a rest. There must be room for Targett and JWP in this side (the latter for his deliveries alone). For me, Ings and Long would be the better option up front although would personally like to see Ings / Gallagher get a shot together (no pun intended)
Although being at Saints seems to put the curse on strikers. Charlie’s best goal at St Mary’s remains the one he scored for QPR. And probably always will.
