The headline says it all. Two thrashings, two inept performances, and a number of injuries has really put the pressure on the manager. If I didn’t think he was under much, if any serious pressure before the Cardiff game, Chris Hughton certainly is now! The last time I watched Norwich concede eleven goals in four days was against West Brom and Port Vale in the late 90s - so some consolation that this time around it was the two Manchester giants? Well no, not really.
The players have done him absolutely no favours. Against Cardiff we did everything but score - we should have won by at least a two or three goal margin. Against Manchester United, an admittedly understrength yet still capable side buckled as soon as our opponents were gifted a dubious penalty and on Saturday the white flag was waved before they even crossed the white line - you could see it in the warm up that they didn't fancy it - and they put no pressure whatsoever on the home side during the 90 minutes. Players failing to turn up get off relatively scot-free. It will always come back to bite the manager on the behind. It’s clear confidence is fragile - no, it’s non-existent. If we fall behind next weekend I would not expect us to be able to recover.
But could Hughton recover from a 0-7 reverse? I personally don't see why not. But will he?
I think its getting to the stage where a few positive results aren’t going to be good enough for some people - they have made their minds up now and they won’t be for turning - they won’t be happy until he has left the club. That’s a poor attitude for a ‘supporter’ to have but I’ve come to expect it from fans these days and whoever replaces Hughton (when the time comes) will face exactly the same problem. I think Hughton is a ‘club builder’. This is why I like him - he was perfect for us in our position - and this is why he should remain in charge of our club. I think if Hughton goes we may well blow our best chance of sustained top flight football since the early 90s. I do not believe we will go down under Hughton. I also believe we would have been within proximity of the relegation zone under most if not all managers with our current squad.
Problem is, that isn’t going to wash with some people, especially those blinded by the wonga spent whilst failing to appreciate the context under which it was spent. In my opinion, too many people have also had their head turned and are jealous of Southampton and Swansea - two comparable clubs who are doing better than us on the field - as illustrated by those who suggest we should go down the foreign route because it ‘worked for them’. Football doesn’t work like that - it might not work for us. I do not believe there is a stand-out candidate within English football right now as far as I’m concerned, so the only thing we could do is appoint from abroad (or Scotland - and god do I hope it's not 'him'), but boy oh boy, it would be a massive, massive risk. There is far less risk involved by keeping the current manager and sticking to our long-term plan.
Is Hughton still the right man to take us forward? My confidence has taken a knock - more than a knock - in the last week but I still believe so. However, I’m not stupid and there’s little doubt that the tide has turned strongly and I would think its probably far less than 50/50 as to whether he sees it through to the end of the season. The fence-sitters will have hopped off the fence after the past seven days, and who can blame them after those two no-shows? However, I do not believe he has lost the dressing room, as some will no doubt insist. He certainly hadn’t lost it last weekend.
It strikes me that the inability to put the Cardiff game to bed has played heavily on our already-low confidence. Add to that the fact we had many key players missing and we faced a side with world class talent who were on the rebound from a home defeat against the same opponents last season, a team with a point to prove... hmm, I think a heavy defeat was always likely. We’ve been unlucky in recent weeks, absolutely no question - some of the goals on Saturday summed up our recent (lack of) luck, but at the end of the day you do tend to make your own luck and we just aren’t doing enough right now. We deserved to lose 7-0 - it was a fair reflection of the game.
Manchester City are capable of hitting most teams for 7. Hell, they almost did it to the Red Devils a couple of years ago - losing at the Etihad is to be widely expected, as it is at Old Trafford. Getting beaten heavily is understandable to a degree, but not trying to compete? I cannot abide that. As I say, there was a total lack of effort and belief at the weekend. The midweek game was bad - this was even worse. This was beyond rubbish. Nowhere near good enough and definitely not acceptable.
Should Hughton be sacked this week? Absolutely not - it would be utter madness. Amazingly, despite a terrible run of fixtures and goals conceded we are still just one win away from the top half of the table. But he is going to have to beat West Ham on Saturday in my opinion. I don’t think that’s right, nor particularly fair but that is my opinion - I suspect the atmosphere will be brutal should we lose that one, maybe even if its only a draw unless we play like we did against Cardiff. And it's on telly too. And they play in claret and blue. Anyone know where this is heading...?
Whatever happens, there’ll be no knee-jerk reaction this week. Should we get a positive result against West Ham then I expect him to be given until at least Christmas but fan pressure is building and I'm beginning to feel it is almost inevitable his time will be up in the coming weeks/months. I just happen to completely disagree with it. Modern football fans really aren’t my cup of tea. No patience at all. But to be fair, Hughton hasn't helped himself in the past 7 (sorry, SEVEN
) days.
OTBC
The players have done him absolutely no favours. Against Cardiff we did everything but score - we should have won by at least a two or three goal margin. Against Manchester United, an admittedly understrength yet still capable side buckled as soon as our opponents were gifted a dubious penalty and on Saturday the white flag was waved before they even crossed the white line - you could see it in the warm up that they didn't fancy it - and they put no pressure whatsoever on the home side during the 90 minutes. Players failing to turn up get off relatively scot-free. It will always come back to bite the manager on the behind. It’s clear confidence is fragile - no, it’s non-existent. If we fall behind next weekend I would not expect us to be able to recover.
But could Hughton recover from a 0-7 reverse? I personally don't see why not. But will he?
I think its getting to the stage where a few positive results aren’t going to be good enough for some people - they have made their minds up now and they won’t be for turning - they won’t be happy until he has left the club. That’s a poor attitude for a ‘supporter’ to have but I’ve come to expect it from fans these days and whoever replaces Hughton (when the time comes) will face exactly the same problem. I think Hughton is a ‘club builder’. This is why I like him - he was perfect for us in our position - and this is why he should remain in charge of our club. I think if Hughton goes we may well blow our best chance of sustained top flight football since the early 90s. I do not believe we will go down under Hughton. I also believe we would have been within proximity of the relegation zone under most if not all managers with our current squad.
Problem is, that isn’t going to wash with some people, especially those blinded by the wonga spent whilst failing to appreciate the context under which it was spent. In my opinion, too many people have also had their head turned and are jealous of Southampton and Swansea - two comparable clubs who are doing better than us on the field - as illustrated by those who suggest we should go down the foreign route because it ‘worked for them’. Football doesn’t work like that - it might not work for us. I do not believe there is a stand-out candidate within English football right now as far as I’m concerned, so the only thing we could do is appoint from abroad (or Scotland - and god do I hope it's not 'him'), but boy oh boy, it would be a massive, massive risk. There is far less risk involved by keeping the current manager and sticking to our long-term plan.
Is Hughton still the right man to take us forward? My confidence has taken a knock - more than a knock - in the last week but I still believe so. However, I’m not stupid and there’s little doubt that the tide has turned strongly and I would think its probably far less than 50/50 as to whether he sees it through to the end of the season. The fence-sitters will have hopped off the fence after the past seven days, and who can blame them after those two no-shows? However, I do not believe he has lost the dressing room, as some will no doubt insist. He certainly hadn’t lost it last weekend.
It strikes me that the inability to put the Cardiff game to bed has played heavily on our already-low confidence. Add to that the fact we had many key players missing and we faced a side with world class talent who were on the rebound from a home defeat against the same opponents last season, a team with a point to prove... hmm, I think a heavy defeat was always likely. We’ve been unlucky in recent weeks, absolutely no question - some of the goals on Saturday summed up our recent (lack of) luck, but at the end of the day you do tend to make your own luck and we just aren’t doing enough right now. We deserved to lose 7-0 - it was a fair reflection of the game.
Manchester City are capable of hitting most teams for 7. Hell, they almost did it to the Red Devils a couple of years ago - losing at the Etihad is to be widely expected, as it is at Old Trafford. Getting beaten heavily is understandable to a degree, but not trying to compete? I cannot abide that. As I say, there was a total lack of effort and belief at the weekend. The midweek game was bad - this was even worse. This was beyond rubbish. Nowhere near good enough and definitely not acceptable.
Should Hughton be sacked this week? Absolutely not - it would be utter madness. Amazingly, despite a terrible run of fixtures and goals conceded we are still just one win away from the top half of the table. But he is going to have to beat West Ham on Saturday in my opinion. I don’t think that’s right, nor particularly fair but that is my opinion - I suspect the atmosphere will be brutal should we lose that one, maybe even if its only a draw unless we play like we did against Cardiff. And it's on telly too. And they play in claret and blue. Anyone know where this is heading...?
Whatever happens, there’ll be no knee-jerk reaction this week. Should we get a positive result against West Ham then I expect him to be given until at least Christmas but fan pressure is building and I'm beginning to feel it is almost inevitable his time will be up in the coming weeks/months. I just happen to completely disagree with it. Modern football fans really aren’t my cup of tea. No patience at all. But to be fair, Hughton hasn't helped himself in the past 7 (sorry, SEVEN
) days.OTBC
