Match Day thread: Norwich vs West Ham

If anyone is wondering what CH said at half-time it can be found here:

 

And people want rid of the guy! We are lucky to have him managing us. The knee-jerk presumption that managers in CH's situation on Saturday throw teacups and tantrums in the dressing room at half-time is so wide of the mark it is ludicrous. What a team needs at times like that is help to find a solution to the problems they are having. A good manager will give them that help. CH is a good manager.

 

I really, really hope that is the case rather than solidarity with the big man because he was left out. I have to admit, from where I was sat (Jarrold side of the lower N&P) I thought they'd all piled onto Hootun, which would have just been brilliant! When I saw that it was Seb they had run straight over to, and when I also saw that nobody actually went up to the manager himself, I must confess it did make me wonder everso slightly whether all really is ok between the players and the gaffer.

I have almost certainly misread this and am no doubt worrying about nothing - I really hope so anyway.

 

I don't think it's really Hughton style to be honest. The team is obviously still behind the manager.

 

So last week at citeh he was not a good manager? He certaintly didn't help them sort the problems then. As for dismissing teacup throwing etc, I wouldn't be completely dismissive of it. Situations need to be guaged and sometimes football boots need kicking at heads! other times a more reassuring rallying cry!
It'll take more than 1 second half come back for me to be convinced he's a good manager. he is still for me somewhere between inadequet and adequet at his job. This weekend he lurched a little bit closer toward adequet. May be he will prove in the long term to be good and it would appear that he did get something right at half time, so well done to him and the team.
Great to win, me n me Dad we're jumping round like overly harribo'd school kids when the 3rd went in, but I'm a long way from convinced that Hughton is good.

Bah!

 

I was thinking similarly. Is there a clique forming? Was it a you've been dropped but we still think of you as number 1, CH was wrong. Or is it just that he is captain and at least off the field has a hugely positive influence on his team mates? Probably the latter but even in sunday league you see cliques form and they can be damaging if unchecked, look at some of the England team rumours of past unrest!

Bah!

 

Don't think you've any cause to worry there Munky. By the way, I should have included Elliott Bennett with Fer and Redmond among Seb's "boys". They are the four musketeers! Given the make-up of the group, and CH's long-standing relationship with Bassong, going back to Newcastle days, I would think there's a deal of solidarity with him rather than the reverse.

 

I think the calm approach from Hughton at half time was definately what was needed, when your low on confidence and a goal down at half time the last thing you want is the manager shouting at you and telling you its not good enough - when you already clearly know it isn't.

 

Absolutely. The manager should be reminding the players of what they are capable of.

 

Yeah, I think you're right One thing that's for certain is that Seb was absolutely over the moon at the result which is an absolutely fantastic reaction from the captain who has just been left out. Superb call from Hoots to leave him on the bench as well, it's exactly what I would have done but would have taken a brave man to do so so massive kudos to him from me for that.

Also talking about solidarity, I love the quote from Snodgrass on the BBC when he speaks of "Putting his body on the line for the club" as being "the most important thing". That's exactly what I want to hear, brilliant stuff Snods - an absolute legend already

 

I didn't say throwing teacups was never the right thing to do. No doubt it sometimes is. I was criticising the general presumption that "a kick up the backside" is the general rule when things are going badly -- general presumption of fans, commentators, etc. What I was saying was that good managers know that what teams need is help to do better. Nor did I say that it always works. I have no idea what CH said at half-time at Man City. Could anything have been done by the manager to transform things at half-time? Did Pellegrini "fail" as a manager yesterday because his team couldn't get the ball in the Sunderland net? There's such a lack of perspective on so many issues on here.

 

Maybe, maybe not, but there should of been a reaction and greater fight to try to take some positives away and give the fans something to cling too. even if the second half could of been drawn it would of shown fighting spirit perhaps that we all didn't really see. At 4-0 the game was most definitely lost but confidence was still up for grabs.

As for Pellegrini, in a way, yes he has failed. That was not the 1st poor performance Citeh have put in on the road. He has some of the best players in the world at his disposal and confidence in abundance doubtlessly after thumping us. So his ongoing failures on the road (This was sunderland!) could cost them dearly.

Bah!

 

I think some people, and i'm by no means singling you out GM, will be anti-CH whatever he does. If we beat palace 3-0 it still won't be good enough. the fence-sitters are probably more "firmly" on the fence now, some may have jumped into the pro-camp.

what we had at the weekend was like the watford win, which we converted into the stoke win. we then had that horrible run of games that blew our confidence away. this time around, it's not so bad coming up (no disrespect to Newcastle)

 

I don't think Hughton is the sort of manager to approve if getting bundled. I thought it was fantastic that Seb was up celebrating so much despite being dropped. Showed a real team unity.

 

That just about sums me up, sitting slightly more comfortably on the fence, certainly until the next home game, when I expect to become even more comfortable off the back of another home win. The good news is, I will not get in the slightest agitated if we get nothing from Newcastle, Liverpool or West Brom, although 3 tough away games could easily see doubts being raised once again by some, but the important factor is the performance levels, I do not want to see what we have seen in the last two and half games, again this season. If the team are altogether, behind the manager, and have improved confidence, I see no excuse for such shocking performances again (certainly not in two consecutive games).

 

So what do you put those two performances down to Thai? It is pretty clear that the players are behind CH, and there is no serious dressing room split. Demoralisation caused by the failure to score against Cardiff and the subsequent upsurge of supporter negativity?

 

I really don't know what the underlying problem was Robbie. It may have stemmed from the Cardiff game, and let's face it, when you batter a side so convincingly and get a mere point with no goals to show for it, I guess the player must have wondered what was going wrong.

Having said that, they are professional sports people, and perhaps should not let that kind of result effect them so much. You could maybe allow for the odd player to be a little despondent, but all of them or the majority of them? I feel there was/is something else, but just what I could not guess.

 

Really well said TC and I hope we don't see the SEVERE lack that was so in evidence against a mediocre Wet Sham team first half on Sat!!!

 

As Shearer said on MotD, the game is all about confidence and shouting at players doesn't give that. I did think that City came out positively in the second half at ManCity, but the subsequent goals drained it. In this case, the penalty gave a further boost the other way.