'Me neither, a few weeks back we're praising him for bringing defensive solidity to our side through our formation, now people seem to want out?' No one is saying we want Hughton out. Not at all. I still think that on the whole he has done a very good job so far. But we look tired and uninspired, and we need to show more than we have in the last two matches, that's for sure.
A manager that reacts, hmmm! Leaves Fox out, poor subs (as you say), no change in formation, plays left footed players on the right and vice versa ( you could try swapping wings you know)...etc Really does look like he has fixed our defence after gaining 1 point from the last 18.What is our goal difference by the way.?
Last time we were poor Hughton sorted the issue which began a 10 match unbeaten run, he is a manager who reacts to problems until they're fixed. He'll do it again.
Agree, I am not saying Hughton out ( yet) but he needs to rethink his strategy or we will be in trouble.
He'll react these coming weeks after two poor performances, no doubt. When I say react I mean between games to be fair. Snodgrass does not have the pace to be able to get good crosses in on the left hand side. On the right he doesn't really have to beat the player on the left he will have to attempt to outpace a fullback to get it on his left foot. I don't think that'll work myself, I see no logic in putting Snodgrass on the left hand side, especially when him and Pilks have been scoring from their positions. He fixed the defence, we had a few consecutive clean sheets and generally look more solid as a team, taking today out of it I think defensively we are a lot better than last season. I have complete faith in Hughton and am perplexed from the fallout in this Christmas period, we are on course to survival we were always going to hit a bad patch.
One positive we're at least in the position where we can fix this luckily, just a couple of good purchases so two decent forwards please. Another observation from yesterday even though he didn't have the service I really don't think Holt is fit and it's not like he has much competition. We also need a creative spark in the team Fox can provide that but I would like to see us get a player of his standard in who can tackle.
The 4-5-1 is starting to look abit stale!! Getting abit tired of not having many attacking options and the continued reliance on Holt holding it up and creating things from there. We looked inept today. Totally out of new ideas and unable to get any control of the game or the ball. Hate to agree, but this one dimensional formation, with no option for changes is starting to look a little old. Was crying out for two up front today, with some pace to run towards goal. Holt looked isolated, alone, and no positive changes were made. Worrying times!!!
There's a few murmurings of it from a few people I think. A small minority, but I was very surprised to come on here and find even the slightest hint of it. I thought we were all a fairly level headed bunch agreed that stability in management was key, but perhaps not in some cases. I agree that Hughton's done very well. I think tired is the key. I don't like the idea of throwing matches, but perhaps against Chelsea or Man City it might have been worth playing a weakened side so the players have something left for the West Ham game. That's a pretty hard call for a manager to make though. We're still suffering with injuries, and the form of our central midfield players has been dreadful of late, I agree the last 2 games, particularly Newcastle because we had a chance of 3 points, have been poor. We do need to turn things around, if we haven't taken at least 2 or 3 points by the end of the Fulham game, and brought nobody in, I'll start to get worried, now isn't the time.
I think the results have been an amalgamation of a few things, injuries to key personnel in Holt, Ruddy and Bassong and a tough and hectic fixture list. I'm confident as soon as Bassong is back the thumpings will cease. But we don't have the ability to keep the ball more than 5 passes before losing it. I'm not sure even if Fox is going to be able to solve that as the structure of the team restricts what we do. I think we are incredibly easy to read, particularly without Hoolahan, at least he thinks before he passes.
Reasons to be positive? About Saturday? None. More generally? Plenty. And to restore some semblance of perspective, here is a fact: our record after 20 games this season was almost EXACTLY the same as our record after 20 games last season: Played 20, won 6, drawn 7, lost 7, points 25. The only difference was that last season our GD was -5, as opposed to -9 this season, which is explained by our poor start to this season before the team had adjusted to CH's way. We are now only THREE points behind where we were last season. Last season, in games 21--23, we beat WBA away, drew at home with Chelsea, and were thumped away at Sunderland (after a performance every bit as dire as against Liverpool on Saturday). This season in games 21--23 we have lost narrowly away at West Ham, drawn at home with Newcastle, and been thumped away by Liverpool. I have followed City for over 50 years through all the ups and downs. As carrabuh says, it is a mistake to allow yourself to be be held emotionally hostage by the latest result. I recommend taking a much longer term perspective. NCFC is a work in progress. Three years ago the progress ceased to be downwards and everything about the club now is positive. We could usefully be discussing how we would like to see the club and team develop longer term (I'm with carrabuh also on the style of football I hope the club aspire to). I am not appalled by the thought that we may be relegated; we should remember that our past spell in the top flight took many years of steady progress to achieve. Swansea, Wigan, Stoke have all built slowly, constrained like us by limited finance. From next year, whatever league we are in, our money will be invested in our team and academy, not the balance sheet of this or that bank or creditor. The future is rosy. And we should also remember that winning is great whatever division one is in!
