I'm still very worried because history is full of teams who play well and lose, and then start to play less well as their confidence goes, and continue to lose. But, other than take off Tettey and put on Wes, I can't really see what CH has done wrong in the last four games. And even that decision was perfectly understandable - a gamble that didn't pay off. And one of the things which those of us who are critical of CH were asking for was that he take more risks, so I don't see how people can now turn round and say he shouldn't have done it.
Hughton wasn't,and if I am honest still isn't my first choice for manager.But he's the one we have got and a genuine, unbiased assessment of his performance to date sees him doing OK as far as I am concerned.Seven points from our first eight games has left us eighteenth but only three points off eleventh place. As has already been pointed out by me and others those eight games have not really reflected a fair spread of teams. We have played five of the top seven,and before someone uses the old chestnut that they are top because they beat us we won against Saints (Their only defeat) and drew against Everton. There are a couple of posters on here who have it in for CH and a few for whom he can do no wrong.I am in the middle and while I think things could be better there are a lot of positives.Taking over from Lambert was always going to be aan uphill task.We were spoilt.
i think you're wrong cruyff. i don't think ANYONE feels hughton can do 'no wrong' as you put it. he makes errors, he's made quite a few during his reign, but has he made enough to warrant the sack? not a chance. has he made enough for talk of the sack? nope, not in my opinion. he gets things wrong but he's got much more right than he has wrong! we all wanted us to start the season better - and my point about how many points i felt we'd have at this point (10), which went straight over carrabuh's head, was that we are only one win behind where i felt we should be, and i know others felt 10 points at this stage was about right looking at our fixtures before the season started - as it happens, the fixtures have proved harder than we all thought. that is why i asked how many points he felt we should have if he's so against him? had we won 4 games so far, i guarantee carrabuh would still want rid. if we sacked hughton tomorrow it would be the biggest risk the club has taken for years and years and years. of course, any appointment might pay off but equally it is more likely to cause unnecessary disruption to a group of players who hughton brought in, we'd have to pay off and replace all the coaching staff, and at great cost if you want talented people in. it makes no sense when one win and we sit where we all realistically expected us to be at this stage. and who would we get? we currently have a safe pair of hans in charge. he's not flamboyant like some want, but what we need at this stage is a safe pair of hands. long term projects require patience and understanding. some aren't prepared to wait to see how things progress. totally agree with the bit about following lambert though - and some people were never going to accept his replacement.
You speak for a good number of people here, CT Many people with a Hughton agenda tend to overlook the fact that our most recent opponents have just spent £42.5m on a single player. While it must be nice to "spend" your way to trophies and league titles, for 14 clubs in our league, this is unrealistic - and so we have to cut our cloth accordingly. We have a decent squad, who are still improving game by game, plus a club in the rudest of health, financially, to support. Anyone who can't see that we will never again be able to compete (over the course of a season, not in a one-off fixture) with yer Chelskis, Spurs, Gooners and Citeh needs to ask father christmas for a replica shirt of one of those clubs, because for us - and most of the clubs in the division, survival is the bread and butter, and that is how it will remain for the foreseeable future. To suddenly change manager when the current team are working towards a medium to long term goal would be counter productive, I feel. Unless things go totally tits up, which on the basis of our four most recent performances is quite clearly NOT the case.
Couldn' t agree more Cromer. I believe CH is here for the long term as part of the clubs gradual improvement strategy. No realistic fan expects us to stride imperiously up the table. We have improved our playing strength this season quite dramatically. But so have all our rivals.
This Hopefully, we'll have a clearer picture of how well each of our rivals have been successful in their stengthening by the time we get to Xmas. I'm hopeful that we'll be closer to mid-table by then, rather languishing in the bottom 3!!
O/T but probably not worthy of a seperate thread, no disrespect to him, but daniel ayala has joined the ex-canary brigade at middlesborough on a 3 month loan
