the manner in which we entered the final games is a key reason to why he has gone. but of the big four we face, hughton has beaten two of them as norwich manager. that shouldn't just be dismissed as irrelevant. i'd also argue we've played some of our best football under hughton in the big games, even in defeat. peter grant* had a 'good footballing brain' according to our board - that's one of the reasons why he got the job. doesn't make him a good manager... * not saying adams will end up like grant by the way, just using it as an example
The thing is, I suspect all of that is irrelevant to the board's thinking. I know I have no evidence, but I really can't envisage a situation where Hughton's sacking wasn't a request of the players (though I accept that McNally has form, and successful form at that, for similar actions). So it was not a case of "who will be better placed to keep us up?" it was more a case of "the players are no longer able to play under him". If the players weren't playing for Hughton, then the board had no choice because that really would mean we would lose our last five matches.
When McNally was asked if the players wanted it he repeated that "ALL stakeholders were consulted" to me that implies that some players were spoken too and clearly didn't back the manager fully enough that they prevented anything.
Just to play devils advocate, could it be that the players have under performed and like the fans, were only too happy for Hughton to take the rap for their failings? I think its more likely they were as unhappy as most of us with his safety first approach but you never know! bah!
Seems the right conclusion to me. I was confident that Hughton would keep us up and then (with an element of relief all round) he would depart by mutual agreement or some such thing in the summer. I'm not disappointed to see him go from a footballing point of view, but it is without a doubt high risk and plenty of people are justified in being very worried. So I have to say, if we do end up going down, the players need to take a sizeable share of the rap because when it comes to Hughton losing his job I really think the buck stopped with them. Of course, the media will be only too happy to slam the board and the fans.
I think some fans expect us to be better now the ''negative'' manager is now gone, and if we lose then no doubt they will say the damage was already done. But I do share your concerns, got a bad feeling about Saturday but trying to keep positive.
Perhaps you're so used to a bad feeling about Saturday that you can't shake it?, does look like Parker might be back from injury though, not good. Edit: for those that don't recall, scored against us at home in the 87th minute.
one last thing... hughton's norwich amassed 20 points from the established top 7 teams from last season and this (liv, man c, che, ars, eve, tot, man u). it was not out of the question that we would have pinched a win or a point somewhere. his record was not shoddy against the better sides. all irrelevant now! lets hope we do the business on saturday
five. but we do have two home games - we don't play all our games away from home (thank god!) surely none of us go into away games at the top clubs thinking we'll win? we want to compete and not roll over but we don't expect to gain points. at home though, its a different story and we've done pretty well over his tenure - that's the point i was making. i felt we'd win of those last four games - probably one of the home games - i feel that is less likely now.
From my memory of watching our winning run in the FA Youth Cup last year, NA likes to play with 2 wingers (ie the Murphy twins - I know Jacob is on loan till the end of he season!!), so team selection/formation/tactics on Sat is going to be fascinating. I wouldn't mind seeing Snodgrass dropped, playing Pilks if fit and Redmond, with Josh coming on with say 20-30 mins to go. PS - rbf, I understand your feelings, but having sat through that abysmal performance on Sat, IMO, CH HAD to go!!!
Do you really, honestly think we would have got anything at all against Liverpool, even at home? I can't realistically see how anyone could possibly expect us to even draw - let alone win - that game with the irresistible form they are currently on, bulldozing everyone in sight which effectively leaves the Arsenal game on the final day. Admittedly that game is nowhere near as tricky sounding as it would have been earlier in the season, or even a month ago, and I know we got an amazing result at the Etihad last year, however it is looking more and more likely that the race for fourth place will go down to the wire so there's not much chance that Arsenal will be "on the beach", even though they do have the FA Cup final the week after. Our best scenario would be for Everton to falter and for Arsenal to win their next four games to cement fourth place before they rock up at Carra Rud, and then maybe, perhaps they might rest a few first-teamers and give us a chance that way. Or of course we could just go and smash Fulham on Saturday and put ourselves on the brink of safety that way, I think that's the method I'd prefer personally.
The Fulham game is the game, win and we are pretty much safe, but what do we do if we lose? Do we bring in somebody else? I think NA has one bite of this cherry and one bite only and if we don't take it on Saturday we are sunk. I feel sad that we have jettisoned CH and thank you Rob for sharing the quote above which says a lot about the man, but I do think that the decision shows panic at the top.
I think we can. On any given day, one premier team against another, anything can happen. That's why I bet on Wigan to beat Man City in the League Cup and us to beat them on the final day, both priced at 11/1. It's never that long. Certainly not for a draw. Yes, they are on great form, but good form comes to an end. I'd rather not win this way, but they could also get injuries. More to the point, they're hardly rock solid - conceded three to Cardiff and could have lost. We are definitely a better than Cardiff! I agree it's unlikely, but I give us a 1 in 4 chance of winning this and 1 in 3 we'll draw it. That's right, I'll put my money where my mouth is! I'll give you a tenner if Liverpool win, so long as you give me fifteen if we draw or twenty if City win (which by my maths are the correct odds by the above). You don't actually have to take that bet (I certainly wouldn't bet against Norwich!) but I'd prepared to do it. Spot on. Certain teams could do us a big favour...
Sorry Supers but that's utter tosh, McNally has made this decision purely based on football related reasons. Do you really, honestly think that he would have sacked Hughton just to 'appease' the fans ? The Fulham game is '**** or bust' regardless of what Neeyul says and just like every man and his dog McNally could see that we were never going to win this with Hughton in charge. He's rolled the dice, gambled and is hoping it pays off for he knows he's as much to blame for our current plight for not acting months ago. OTBC ... CTI .... IAWT
I would have thought fan appeasement was undeniably a major factor. I'm certain that if the fans had backed Hughton on Saturday he would still have a job so I'm struggling to see the decision as purely football related. That doesn't make the decision frivolous. Getting the fans onside was important.
RBF, as an Outer, I promise you I am not euphoric about what has happened and I certainly don't expect us to suddenly turn it all around and soar out of danger. To be honest, I still expect us to go down, although my hopes for survival have probably gone up from 1% to maybe 15%. I do, however, feel a sense of relief that this period of our history is over and fully expect a more expansive approach to our football from now on. Earlier this week, to cheer myself up, I watched highlights of the Derby game from the promotion season. Now I know the opposition were much, much weaker, but I couldn't believe my eyes. When one of our players had the ball, the other players were MOVING. I'd forgotten that could happen. Really. I compared the fluidity and thrust and inventiveness of that movement with the static, ponderous way we played when we had the ball under Hughton. Yes, it was higher risk I suppose (although our defensive record this season isn't exactly great), but it was so much more enjoyable and stimulating. I was always one of those whose gripe was not our league position but how we attained it. I personally have a lot to lose if we go down - no more matches on tv or decent streams. But I'm glad that turgid football has gone forever, I hope. And as much as I accept that CH had qualities as a manager, I think these were severely outweighed by his limitations.
