I think that's a fair point, Vietnam, but CH was criticised by many for bringing Wes on against Chelsea, who then broke away to score the winning goals. Are people saying that he should have replaced Redmond with Murphy earlier? I can't see that myself. His argument after the match was that if he took Johnson off earlier and City conceded, it would have been game over. As long as it was 2-1 there was a chance. These judgments are much easier after the fact, rather than in the heat of the moment when the outcome is still uncertain.
True. My point wasn't to criticise him for making or not making the change. I just can't see the point in the 88th minute if we're losing and he really does open himself up to cries of 'you don't know what you're doing'. It seems almost masochistic of him to keep on doing it and inviting the sneers.
I really do admire people who are so sure about what Chris Hughton ought or ought not to have done, or do. After all, it takes great self-belief and huge amounts of courage to give an opinion! Actually managing a team must be a doddle in comparison.
Isn't that the whole point of a football debate forum? I've been in Camp Hughton for a long time but I'm afraid I've already started to climb the fence to the other side. As long as we keep winning at home, all's well and good but we can't be so reliant on home form. Every other week, we are almost guaranteed a loss and to deny that is to deny all evidence. There is a real bad vibe around the club for the first time in 5 years and that isn't nice. I want Hughton to succeed more than anyone, as he's a wonderful person and a real credit to himself. But I just don't think he's a good manager anymore. On the Ball City. Edit: I should add that, despite what I've said, I still want us to win every game, starting with Palace on Saturday.
Managers are not "good" or "bad", they are more or less capable in the job. There is currently no reason to say that Chris Hughton is less capable than the managers of at least eight other clubs in the PL, and there is no reason to think any feasible replacement would be more capable than Chris Hughton. The bad vibes are supporter-generated; there is nothing seriously wrong with the club, the management or the team; on the contrary, the club is in the best shape it has been for two decades, both on and off the field. The only problem is the support, or increasing lack of it.
You are sounding increasingly exasperated, Robbie, with most of us on here and with the fans in general. Several people on here have said that we (the fans) are struggling to adjust to a new reality after four seasons of meteoric progress. I think that's largely true and goes a long way to explaining the general feeling of discontent that seems to pervade the club at the moment. But it's not only 'spoilt brat syndrome' or whatever we want to call it. I think it's also a genuine fear that we are going to fall back down the greasy pole, and the unhappiness of fans is actually as much a product of a feeling of insecurity as of arrogance. All of these conflicting emotions are centering on CH, who has become a kind of lightning rod.
As Robbie said the only reason there are "bad vibes" is because of the supporters. We are in good shape off the pitch and while not playing well we are not cut adrift or even in the relegation places. Maybe we have just been spoilt the last few years?
Exasperated? Not at all; I quite enjoy theatre of the absurd. As for fans being fearful and feeling insecure, as JWM pointed out, it is simply ridiculous to invest football with that degree of importance. But then football fans are uniquely ridiculous.
I don't think it's ridiculous. Football really matters to a lot of people. Most of us have crappy jobs where we get lectured to by ****wit managers who have the intelligence of a peanut (and that includes universities, by the way - the rise of the cancerous, self-serving, jargon-ridden middle management class is thriving there, I assure you). So whether our club does well or not is often the defining moment of our week. Sad, but true. And that's probably a big part of the reason why we take it all so seriously and come on here and shoot our mouths off.
Football has the ability to make most rational people irrational. People need a sense of perspective and that doesn't mean those who do lack passion.
I was under the impression that these boards are designed for passionate debate about our beloved club, i`m pretty sure if i spent all day banging on about our current plight to my wife she would be pretty bored . When i log off i get back to all the other important things i need to get on with but like sex football pops into my mind throughout the day and it`s good to let it out in a controlled environment . That sounds terrible....
No this is a dictatorship! Now ****ing behave! haha I think I understand what you are saying but that sounds weird
