I listened to the game today and it was like listening to an away game. We were dominated from start to finish and Hughtons comments afterwards were quite frankly delusional about it being an even game that we were unlucky not to win. We deserved to loose that game and anyone who says any different is either clinically insane or plane dumb. I hope things change next season because we have a lot of work to do. I am getting a bit bored now of the way we are playing and it is starting to detract from the experience of being an NCFC fan who enjoys watching football. I do not see where we have improved from last season, our gd is worse we have scored very few goals and I have not watched match of the day since the Fulham game as it is just too late to watch the dire football we are playing these days. I do not want to be too hard on CH as he has almost done his job that he was tasked with this season but I hope that given money he can build his own team and we can play a more expansive style next season. People have been commenting that the PL is weaker this season than the european leagues and looking at todays performance it is hard to argue with it. The jury is largely out on Hughton so far, but he is doing himself no favours with the performances recently and things will have to change next season to appease the growing number of fans that are starting doubt him and turn against him.
I want us to stay in the PL but need to be entertained as a priority that was dire and on the back of the Newcastle game and the first 75 mins of the Everton match leaves one thinking is this the best entertainment I could get for £1500 a year
The thing is people have varying views on it which is great, but surely no one can deny that that we are poor and the football is negative and predictable can they? After the last few matches is there anyone who really enjoys watching the rubbish we are playing? I do not know anyone who does. The quality of play is terrible we have some good creative players such as Hoolahan, Snodgrass and a few others. But the football is dire and it is not a one off. The tide is turning against CH now, there are still a few that think all is rosy such as Superman, Carla, Dave, Beefy and a few others. More and more are getting fed up with the way we play though.
Hughton has tried to improve us defensively and he has, but it's been to the detriment of the side as an attacking force and we seem to be going into games with the instruction not to lose as opposed to going out and trying to win. We've also become very predictable. Every time we get the ball one of three things happens: 1. We make three sideways passes, pass back to Bassong, Turner or Bunn and they lump the ball forward to Holt, Becchio or Kamara who win the header but have no-one up with them as the midfield is sitting far too deep. 2. One of the midfielders gets the ball, gets his head down and runs, gets tackled and then looks up to see if he could have passed it 3. We give the ball to Hoolahan, he beats a player, turns in a nice, tight circle to get the ball back on his left foot and then gives the ball away. All three of these stem from there being no movement what-so-ever from the team as they're all holding there position on the pitch. Our full backs no longer overlap the wingers, our central midfielders don't join in attacks and our wingers always need to cut back onto their stronger foot before they can cross because they're playing as 'inverted wingers'. It all adds up to us being very difficult to break down, but no threat at all going forwards.
I don't think you'll find anyone happy with the way we're playing at the moment. But for most of the season people have said CH is too negative for playing with just 1 striker upfront, so we play the 442 formation with 2 strikers and still Hughton is being too ''negative''. He's changing it up and at least trying. Also to be honest if anyone told me we'd be in this position at the start of the season, I would have taken it. I think if we do survive, then Hughton will add more quality like Bassong, Kamara, Tettey etc and I expect we'll improve next season. I don't care if I'm seen as being too positive, but what ever happened to giving a manager time to build his team and giving him time? Lets be realistic, for his first season (which isn't even over yet) he's not doing too bad.
Your not Drunky I'm always behind the boss but today in the cold the snow I just wanted some fun for my £s and I'm hacked off I did not get it Back to work tomorrow to get grief from the Leeds fan I work with brill!
I can understand that You're not getting your money worth, and have every right to to be annoyed and be frustrated. Just remind your Leeds co-worker where we'll be playing our football next season and where Leeds will be, sure that'll shut him up
Hey, Saints fan in peace here. I can understand your frustration with playing negative football, but grab a bit of perspective, barring an absolute disaster your team is going to stay up this season and you'll have the chance to add a bit of flair over the summer. The players you currently have in the forward positions, aren't ever going to win you a beauty contest so Hughton has got you set up in a way that you don't get slaughtered every week. We are currently playing attractive attacking football every week, but it's not exactly getting us too far, not sure what the answer is to be honest. There's probably a healthy middle ground somewhere that we should both be occupying. Anyways, good luck for the rest of the season, and hopefully we'll still be here next year to play you guys again.
Really tough game. Hard to take but one that you have to suck up. Fact is, couple of wins and we change as a football entity, I'm a long termer. Big time.
You'll be OK, and so will we. Thanks for the sensible post. Funny how many fans seem to suffer from memory loss; there wasn't much frustration about when we were on our 10-match unbeaten run and sent Arsenal and Man U packing.
The reality is People can't appreciate where we are compared to 4/5 years a go. People moan too much. We are still in the Premier League, 9 points clear. We will be debt free in the summer. The team will be improved for better football and a stronger finish in the Premier League next season
The reality is People can't appreciate where we are compared to 4/5 years a go. - I don't agree. We all know where we were and how far we have come. People moan too much. - For you perhaps but if they feel entitled to, then that's what is going to happen. We are still in the Premier League, 9 points clear. - True We will be debt free in the summer. - Also true The team will be improved for better football and a stronger finish in the Premier League next season - How can you be so certain? That is what "should" happen but it does not mean it's going to. Every team will be looking to improve their squad in the hope of showing progress but there are always 3 teams that go down, and normally 2 or 3 of them showed no progress from the previous season, in fact they went backwards to end up in the bottom 3 places, we could easily be one of them.
Show some positivity, Thai. It could well happen. Just look at our defence for an example. As I said in another thread, Rome wasn't built in a day.
Houghton should be judged on what he does next season. This season the only thing that matters is staying up.
It's not a case of being positive or negative Carla - it's the reality of Norwich City. We may well survive for several seasons with either inspiring or totally uninspiring football, maybe a mixture but surviving will always be the primary aim for us and probably another 8-9 teams. I am not going to bury my head in the sand and think we have no chance of relegation at the start of each season because the possibility is all too real
Thai, I understand what you are saying, what I DON'T understand are the one or two on here, and a lot more in the Pink'un, saying they are going to stop watching! In my 55 years of watching and supporting NCFC, I've witnessed a hell of a lot worse than this, but it would never, ever enter my head to stop supporting them! They are my team!
