Hughes out

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What could we have done at RB to counter Bale? Dyer, despite my general derision, was better than I could have hoped.

Hughes changed the game v Liverpool remember.

Also, why change when we were winning - we were still dominating until the first goal and did so again after the second (until we had to stretch the game).

The substitutions were timely and correct IMO.

Hughes changed the game at Liverpool as much to the crowd reaction - who were screaming at him to get Barton off as much as anything. IMO - Wright Phillips was carrying an injury from the first half and we should have swapped him for Mackie. Junior was looking tired / slow / unconfident and I would have left BZ on and given our lovely midfield a different game to play with.

What is the job of the coach? Get the team fit. Have plan vs the opposition. Change tactics in play. Motivate.

BTW - I think Dyer (assuming he stays fit) was EXCELLENT and claimed a regular spot - assuming he stays fit and shows this form. Again - not part of Hughes plan - but how many runs started with Dyer or had Dyer intercepting today.

My point is that the team was forced upon Hughes - not a plan - and they responded well.
 
I totally agree with this post. Just came back from the game. Yes we dominated the game. This seemed to be the skill of the players - esp our midfield who were gorgeous.

One thing I loved about Warnock was that we were a 2nd half team - we changed things when down, brought players on, switched players etc. Good managers do this. Bale was a different player in the 2nd half. Great tactics from AVB - all he did was take off an attacker for a defender and switched their formation and suddenly we were 2nd to every ball.

If I take the 'rose tinted' approach that we need to give Hughes time and that he is some kind of tactician - how do you explain the lack of fitness across the team that meant that Spurs seemed to have more pace and energy on every 50 50 ball that we were winning in the 1st half? Either they had a great team talk and we did not - or they were fitter and we were not or they changed formation - and we did not. All of which point to the manager in my opinion.

I feel sorry for the team - really great exhibition - no one slacked - great skill. We dropped two points because of the manager today not the team. I am not one of the negatives - I had us to win 2 0 . Took my 7 year old to his first away game today. All bodes well - but we need a playbook or the ability to give a team talk or take some risks..
I was watching a stream with Tony Gale commentating for Fox and he called the Spurs half time change after about half an hour - he wondered if AVB would see it. Tony Gale is no Mourinho as far as I know, but he was spot on with his criticisms of AVB and the Spurs team formation in the first half. What I mean is the change did give them a boost, but I'm not sure it was 'great tactics' from AVB. Bale is their best player and to play him at left back in the first half was a big mistake. With a bit of luck we would have been out of sight by half time and Hughes would have seemed a master tactician. They came back at us second half, they are a good team playing at home and it would have been a shock if they had not. Even then they needed an own goal to get level and if hoilett had a strikers instinct we would still have got a point. Spurs fans are all praising the tackle their defender put in on Hoilett, they know they were lucky to get all 3 points. Not sure Hughes is to blame today.
 
You could write what Yappy knows about football on a postage stamp and still have room for the Queen's head, now f*ck off please...
 
about time a few on here didn't get so hung up about results. You are as good as your last game that is called Form and i am happy with ours. Otherwise why lets all **** ourselves now because the only time th eleague position is important is when the league is a final table. I challenge therefore any fickle focker on here to explain how they think we can beat anyone above us in the table because based that mentality there is no point playing and we should get a new team a new manager until we win a game.
 
...all the good work Sparky is doing is being undone by hamstrings etc...

Worth adding (for the benefit of the age-ists) that the three hamstring injuries happened to players 30 and below (da Silver, Ferdinand and Bosingwa). As far as I know, young Traore's recovering from something similar. And then there's Diakite, M'bia and Taarabt on Friday.

All YOUNG men...

Reinforces my view that you can overdo fitness / development training.

Note the oldies, including Sicknote seemed to have come through fine so far - it'll just take them longer to recover if and when they do get injured. Touching wood (me nut!) that they don't.

Verdict: Hughes IN - but don't go too far with the current physical training regime.
 
/
He got lucky in the 1st half as the Spuds had the wrong tactics with their players out of position in the wrong formation, and we scored. 2nd half the Spuds reacted to match us with the 4-4-1-1, and they took away our width and we let Bale run amok.
Goodbye Hughes.

<laugh>
 
It's a big must to have more players than just Bobby Zamora scoring for us. Cisse on his previous is the most likely to do this, but he needs to play into top form by starting games either instead of BZ, with or just behind BZ, or in an attacking midfield position in a 3 or 5. He came on today when we lost control of our midfield and didn't get much to feed on. Same most of his season. He must start against Reading in the LC this week, and hope he gets some goals to give him the confidence to do same next Monday and forward.

Agree with that. It's a balancing act. He needs to score/perform to get game time, and he needs game time to score/perform. A definite starter against Reading, and if he succeds against the fakes I would very much like to see him start against West Ham. With WH's dodgy defence there's bound to be oppurtunities, and a Cisse on song will have a field day. Here's to hoping he gets some much needed confidence in midweek.
 
I thought we were excellent in the first half,probably the best first half performance from a rangers side since i dont know when.If anybody had been asked how many points we would get out of the last three fixtures even the most optimistic person might have said three.Not many teams will go to Spurs and Man City and win,and not many teams will beat Chelsea at home.The fixtures coming up are against teams of the same quality and ability as us,so we should start to pick up points.Only five games gone and already a vast improvement on last year so imo MH stays.
 
Oh god. Any criticisms of Hughes after the best performance of the season is just depressing. There were clear indications in that game of the good work that's been going on in training and behind the scenes, which is a credit to hughes and his team. I don't think in our wildest dreams we expected to see such slick interplay from the side so soon after that swansea performance.

[incidently, I went, and thought Cisse looked poor for the 20 minutes he was on. He lost the ball at one point and they broke, and he just stood there and let the rest of the side do his running for him to regain the ball. Even if he's not match-sharp, he can still put the effort in that the rest of the side does. Playing him ahead of our top scorer BZ who's been ratcheting up his performance levels lately is just ludicrous, fullstop. It stinks of a conspiracy theory to suggest it's somehow MH's fault he's not playing well because he's not being selected. Cisse hasn't played well all season, that's why he's not getting selected. He's not the messiah. He needs to earn his place in the team like everyone else, and i'm confident he will do eventually]
 
Worth adding (for the benefit of the age-ists) that the three hamstring injuries happened to players 30 and below (da Silver, Ferdinand and Bosingwa). As far as I know, young Traore's recovering from something similar. And then there's Diakite, M'bia and Taarabt on Friday.

All YOUNG men...

Reinforces my view that you can overdo fitness / deelopment training.

Note the oldies, including Sicknote seemed to have come through fine so far - it'll just take them longer to recover if and when they do get injured. Touching wood (me nut!) that they don't.

Verdict: Hughes IN - but don't go too far with the current physical training regime.

This is a great post Brixton!! challenges assumptions I had made and not thought through. Nelson a star today again and Dyer.
 
Oh god. Any criticisms of Hughes after the best performance of the season is just depressing. There were clear indications in that game of the good work that's been going on in training and behind the scenes, which is a credit to hughes and his team. I don't think in our wildest dreams we expected to see such slick interplay from the side so soon after that swansea performance.

[incidently, I went, and thought Cisse looked poor for the 20 minutes he was on. He lost the ball at one point and they broke, and he just stood there and let the rest of the side do his running for him to regain the ball. Even if he's not match-sharp, he can still put the effort in that the rest of the side does. Playing him ahead of our top scorer BZ who's been ratcheting up his performance levels lately is just ludicrous, fullstop. It stinks of a conspiracy theory to suggest it's somehow MH's fault he's not playing well because he's not being selected. Cisse hasn't played well all season, that's why he's not getting selected. He's not the messiah. He needs to earn his place in the team like everyone else, and i'm confident he will do eventually]

Grifter. Agree with the Cisse bit - had an argument with fellow next to me about him at the game. He did not track back. Did you see Faurlin shout his head off at him as well for not tracking back and then later telling him which players to mark and where to go - this was interesting and may indicate what we do not see on the training pitch. HE is not match fit either. Great points.