I do agree with that and have not become quite as extreme as KIO yet He does deserve until mid-December this year to prove a point (ideally 25 points+) If it is the same old, same old then I think there will be too much pressure that will have built up that the board will have their hand forced, or CH will have his hand forced one way or another.
Dave, I'd hope by now you'd have realised that I am generally a fully paid up member of the glass half-full society, but I even I struggle to find anything remotely positive about a single one of our performance in 2013 apart from the odd clean sheet here and there. It is ghastly to watch, and if this is Hootun simply assembling his team then I'd sincerely hope that we'd be showing some kind of progress as the season draws on. Instead we are showing no green shoots whatsoever and are gradually getting worse and worse, playing more and more fearful and negatively week after week and if that isn't a MASSIVE cause for concern then I'm sorry but I don't know what is.
How very true Sporting events, like theatre, galleries, live gigs etc are meant to be a form of entertainment. I know it's competitive and either team can lose, whereas, for example, if you like The Strokes and go to see them live, you're virtually guaranteed a great evening. But watching Norwich (Sunderland apart) in 2013 has been an nothing but a very expensive waste of time and a source of angst and frustration. I'm with Thai, DH, Dave etc in hoping that this is a temporary playing style, which will be abandoned once he gets his own players in. But it's not the players' fault! Pilks, E Benno, Fox, Holty etc all managed to survive with some to spare last season, so we can't blame them. I'd rather be heaping lavish praise than looking for sacrificial lambs - but I can only speak as I find. Sorry if that leaves a nasty taste The London Pride won't, not if the main man is in the chair!!
Look I know you're all cheesed off but it could have been worse, you could have employed mark Hughes and e fired the worst ever premier league start to a campaign! Sadly i think you'll stay up purely by virtue of already having 34 points and will fall over the finish line. The only fly in your ointment is Sunderland & vanilla who might just turn it on enough to better your results
I was one of those most critical of the call for clean sheets last season.Firstly it didn't matter as long we scored more than the opposition, secondly it was great to watch.I can't summon up the same interest this year and I am pretty certain that it's down to the large number of 0-0 draws.I think we will survive though but more by the failings of others.I really don't want to see another season of these dour defensive tussles.
TMC has said it all really. There are no green shoots. I am trying to remain positive and join in with the 5 more points thoughts. 5 might not be enough of course. But I really can't see where a goal is coming from. On another post it was mentioned a Wigan supporter thought we were the worst away team he had seen at the DW this season. If we had lost that game but played attractive football, he wouldn't have said it. So not only did we lose a game that after 20 minutes looked one we could easily win with some ambition and invention, we lost playing unattractive toothless defensive football. My son said to me during the game that we weren't crossing it into the box early enough and I countered that by saying it would be a waste of time because there was nobody in the box anyway. And yet quite clearly, Johnson and How son controlled the middle and Wes should have been trying his tricks in and around the box, not 40 yards out! Bennet's only thoughts were to control it and knock it back to his full back. No thoughts of taking on his man at all. Mind you, in Hughton's defence, surely any player at that level should have enough nous to take matters into his on hands rather than following the script endlessly.
It's a right old pickle and no mistake. Will we survive this season? Yes, I think so, just about. We have 4 games at home which are all winnable in theory at least, and I don't think Wigan, Villa and Sunderland will all overtake us. But, it's going to be nip and tuck and it really shouldn't have been. Hughton seems to have the view that if we stop the other team getting 3 points, that is a successful outcome, regardless of the opposition and the occasion. We do look pretty solid at the back in the main, and I think I would be even more worried if we were being beaten 4-2 every week. The big question is, will Hughton change his tactics dramatically next season? Unlikely. However, with a bit more quality in the midfield in terms of attacking options, and some additional options up front, I am confident that we can build from this season and turn some of the draws into wins.
Hi bors, for good or worse, I feel CH has committed us to our present style of play. Only time will tell if he made the right decision. Looking on the glass half full, there are five teams that would like to be in our position right now and would unhesitantly change places with us. The current situation does have a deja vu appearance, liking it to the last time we got relegated from the PL. Just hope our team has more guts that those who capitualated to Fulham. No professional footballer wants to be associated with failure, hopefully their pride will carry the day for them. Re Holty and the Press. Wouldn't attach too much to what you read in the Press, if Holty has a grievance he knows the proper place to air any grievance is in the manager's office, not the gutter press. Keep the faith, I've mentioned previous years, that relegation is not the end of our club, we have endured in the past and with our current squad, I have no fear we can rise to the occasion again.
What I'm struggling to understand is the 'give him time to assemble his own team' crap. He had all of last close season plus January FFS. He's had plenty of time to, at the very least, bring in the nucleus of what he's looking for. Some have said that he's brought in a better quality of player to the club, if that's the case why are we playing such dire football ? I'll tell you why, it's because he hasn't got a clue how to play expansive, attacking football. Defend, defend, defend and try not to get beat that's all he does every game. I'm sick and tired of him telling us post match about the 'quality' that the opposition has, even when we're playing those below us in the table. Frankly Mr Hughton, I just don't want to here it and neither do the players. Try telling them just how good they are and how good they can be and instill the will to win into them. Or is that beyond your capabilities of man management ?
I can understand the frustration and feel it myself, but football isn't an exact science. If it was, PL's Villa would be storming through the league this year. I watched their match against Liverpool and the commentators were going on and on about their lack of clean-sheets at home. The OP quoted 9 points from 14 matches, but had he gone back 3 further, that stat would be 18 points from 17 matches, so I'd rather look at the season as a whole (34 points from 31 matches). All teams have lean runs, but it's also true that they don't last forever. Like everybody, I hope that spark up front returns soon (and I'm willing to bet that CH and all the team do as well). We're in a fight to be sure, but let's help that fight and get City back 'On the ball'!
