I think you will all agree that I was one of Hughton's staunchest defenders, and I still believe he should have stayed till the end of the season. Firing him with 5 games to go made it an impossible task for anyone taking over. Like Supers, I was completely underwhelmed by Neil's permanent posting, but as a loyal fan was prepared to give him my backing, he set off like a house on fire after the Wolves debacle, and even though he was making errors, good or lucky strikers were papering over the very obvious cracks. Have you not thought that, maybe, Supers and I and the few others that supported Hughton, may have learned the error of our ways and are now losing patience with a manager who doesn't know his best set of defenders and continues to play his favourites out of position rather than drop them to the bench?
Dave - the point is that in the last couple of matches we have won! And deserved to do so. I've no doubt we could pick holes in all manner of Wenger's tactics in individual matches during the invincibles season, but the fact is that would really be petty. We won 5-0 Saturday, Adams showed all manner of improvement in terms of his set-up (I still don't get why people are blaming him for the first half - it was a winning team he sent out and Huddersfield played seriously well) and his understanding of the game. What more do people want? Would 6-0 have pleased you? Or should we have had 100% possession? Should they not have had a single shot? All I'm saying is that your post above was spot on three matches ago. I was exactly the same as you in that regard. But how can you still be "losing patience" when we've won two on the bounce? How can you convincingly criticise our defensive performance when we have kept two clean sheets? I can't change your opinion, but I do think I am being fair when I say: (1) I am pleased with the results, but Adams is still treading a fine line and if results dip much again he will need to go (2) We are still re-building confidence so we can't expect every match to be a 10/10, but at least we are now showing touches of class - I will reserve judgment on style to when we have our most stylish players fit (3) Whether it's Phelan or not, we are at least playing as a team (even if the passing isn't always there) as evidenced by our generally solid defending over the last two matches (for all the criticisms it has been two clean sheets) (4) The second half on Saturday was absolutely outstanding - it's difficult to know exactly how much credit to give Adams for that, but he at the very least gets a wedge of it (5) Having seen the options on the bench I am prepared to give Adams the benefit of the doubt that we have struggled with focused injuries (i.e. to players of the same position), just as I gave Hughton that benefit of the doubt (6) Adams has definitely been learning. That's the one thing I stand by and won't really accept any opposing argument, I'm afraid. He's a long way from the finished article, but to suggest he's not developed at all would be blind or stubborn. So there is plenty to be positive about. Yes, we aren't running away with the league. Yes, we are still 6 points from the top. Yes, we aren't playing fantastic football for large stretches of games. Yes, Adams still hasn't worked out how to set up the team perfectly. Yes, there still seem to be question marks over the defence. But come on, we're not out of it. Things are a lot rosier than three matches ago. And as the Binners so rightly pointed out when we were top of the league after match (?)8, it's a marathon not a sprint and there's more than half a marathon to go. Trust me, the moment performances show signs of being on a downward curve again, I will join in the criticism. But don't tell me to be negative after we've won 5-0 please
Sorry - a bit of a rambling essay there. If you can't be bothered to wade through the undigestible (and I don't blame you) just read the last line
You're basing everything on the last two games, I'm talking about the whole season so far. How can you defend the length of time he took to make the very obvious change needed in the Huddersfield game? I won't accept it would have destroyed confidence, any player who understands the nature of the game will accept being substituted if it's explained to him!
It was obvious before the sending off that the system we were playing was too negative with no penetration. The dismissal only highlighted it,and Adams and Co should have had the balls to recognise it and take the appropriate action. Changes made should be for benefit of the team as a whole and not individual players
I can understand the criticism of the tactics, the line up at least in midfield should be marked "away team only". That said and I agree the changes could/should have been made earlier, they were made,the game was won, a second clean sheet too. So whilst it was not s perfect managerial performance it was plenty good enough on the day. I still have reservations about him and they will only grow/go with time and results. For now Woohoo 5-0! Bah!
Sorry Dave, but this has to be nonsense. I was one of those who supported Hootun until the end (and the only reason I actually came round to the idea of sacking him was once the fans turned really ugly, and started throwing things at him after the WBA game which was the point of no return. I wouldn't have sacked him for football reasons personally, I actually thought he was doing ok!) and I was prepared to be patient with him, as I am with our current manager. I don't think we're far off, I really don't, and if we can beat Derby at the weekend (which I really, really think we can) then that will put a marker out there and set us up very nicely to put a run together and get ourselves back in the automatic promotion places in the new year. This nonsense about "playing his favourite players out of position" is just that, utter nonsense. Neeyul knows a hell of a lot more about the game than we do on here, he trains with the players and sees them in action on a daily basis so to question his professionalism by suggesting he picks the team based on anything other than for tactical reasons and/or form is garbage. Nearly everyone on here had already decided Michael Turner is nailed on as player of the season, that he's the only consistently good player, that we would be lost without - and someone even suggested "he'd not put a foot wrong in two years!". All this whilst Rusty is apparently our weak link, a useless CB who should never play there again and is only playing there because he wants to and has managed to convince our lily-livered manager to let him play there. I'm not disputing that Tina is an excellent CB, and I rate him highly, but he's been left on the bench the past two games (after he was at fault for both Reading goals from set pieces) with Rusty back in the middle and what happened? Two wins and two clean sheets - I call that good, and brave management personally, and muchos kudos to Neeyul for making that call We're 7th in the table, six points off the top and looking like we might be starting to create some good momentum again. Confidence is coming back, we've just had two very good wins and things are looking up - why are you basing everything on the dodgy run we had in the past couple of months (when we only lost one game by more than one goal, and things really weren't as bad as are being made out by some) rather than the season as a whole?
How do you read that? I am basing my opinion on the entirety of the season so far - Adams is treading a fine line, but we are currently on an upward arc. That explains our entire season to date in a nutshell. How can I defend it? I don't need to defend it. We won the game 5-0! The team that started against Huddersfield was essentially a winning team from the previous week against Wigan and was designed to be solid and give ourselves a base. We should have scored at least one in the first half anyway! No it wasn't pretty by all accounts, but I have rarely heard of a manager making a change straight after a red card for the team that didn't get a red card! That would be ridiculous. Yes, change shape (which by some accounts we did) but there is no need to change personnel until half time, which is normal. And when he did, we scored 5 goals! Like I said, what exactly more could you have wanted? We had a shaky, low confidence team and a nervous defence. The set-up was spot on for keeping it tight in the first half, we got a lucky break with the sending off, and then Adams nailed the substitution at the earliest plausible opportunity. I am honestly astounded that anyone could criticise a match where we have won 5-0. Bravo to Huddersfield for keeping it to 0-0 at half time, I suppose. But come on. I feel the need to quote 300 right now: "THIS IS MADNESS"
My thoughts stated much more concisely than I have. Dave - I think you are assuming that I am now Adams no. 1 biggest fanboy. Far from it. I'm just happy we've won two on the bounce.
Before long: THIS IS NOT606 NORWICH!!! Honestly Munky I think I must be going potty because this forum seems to have turned completely upside down. All I need is for you to morph into Carrabuh and use an insensitive term to describe Adams ("marshmallow" perhaps?) Then I'll check into the priory.
Honestly, it beggars belief! Many people (myself included) were underwhelmed by Adams appointment as permanent manager. "No experience at this level" / "rookie" / "cheap cop-out option" etc. As was mentioned above, he is still learning, although at least he has a wily old head alongside him for support and guidance (why the fook did the board take so long to find somebody after Royle pulled out). And whether the last two performances / results are down to Adams gaining in technical nous or Phelan's input...who gives a toss, as long as NCFC appear to be on the 'onwards and upwards' curve again. And as for being critical after the boys have just kept two clean sheets and picked up 6 points, scoring 6 goals along the way, <headslapemoticontemptation> I'm still not wholly convinced he's the right appointment, but he clearly is improving tactically (no Lafferty as left winger this week {sarcastic } and confidence and togetherness throughout the entire squad can only be stronger after Saturday. So can we just for once applaud a job well done. If we implode vs Derby, then by all means sharpen the knives but in the immediate term, the boys done good
Throw yourself over the Niagara Falls, or perhaps off the Eiffel Tower? There's no way he'll ignore you then.
My perspective, and I've tried to avoid the Adams "Right or Wrong" debates/arguments/rows/spats all season, is that we were poor in the first half, took too long to build attacks, lacked width, lacked pace, lacked invention and lacked panache - however, we missed three clear chances (Bradders, Jerome, Hooper) and could have gone into the interval 3-0 up without having to force Smithies into a save. Adams made the right call at half-time, introduced Redmond, gave us pace and width and within 5 minutes we were romping home and could have had 10 (Ruddy made 2cracking saves as well). Adams substitutions were right on the money and although I though the initial team selection has a touch of the "away side" about it, he can't be faulted for the changes he made in the second half. Well done to him and Phelan for making the right calls at the right time. Finally, and this also shows the fact that Adams is maturing as amanager in my book, the selection of Cuellar gives us a more solid feel at the back - I thought he was class on Saturday. I'd still prefer to see Rusty at RB (Whittaker's touch, marking and passing in the first 45 minutes were truly dire) with Ryan Bennett partnering Cuellar. It was a great day on Saturday and it all came good in the end. Let's be positive and see this as a progressive step for a manager who is still learning his trade.
Excellent analysis OCF and I would add that Cuellar had Holty in his back pocket all game. To be fair Holty was ploughing a lonely furrow after the sending off though.
Any particular reason for that ?. Sorry if i offended your cult leader but i'll stop short at returning the appeal to see you die an agonising death from suicide. I don't even know who you are you odd man.
Oh dear. If you re-read your original post about SUPERMAN ignoring you, and my reply, you'll see that it was an (albeit fairly lame) attempt at a joke to lighten the you/supers heat. Superman doesn't ignore people falling off towers / into falls etc. I assure you he's not a cult hero of mine. Not Christopher Reeve, not Dean Cain and definitely not any posters on here. I don't know who you are either, which is probably just as well.
