Nuts - I see what your saying but to the same extent If you have the likes of Hill and Derry in the side we will not see one touch football. Derry can't not paas a ball first time , but he can tackle and win the ball for the team. I suppose what i'm trying to say is we need a new breed of player to play a different brand of football. This will take time and those players cost money. It will be interesting to ee how it goes but i think we won't see much change next year.
'Primary possession'. Sounds like you've swallowed FA level 2 coaching manual Nuts. I think your getting a bit carried away with any criticism.: - Had we Faurlin rather than Derry or Barton in the side then our 'primary posession' would have been a lot better. Not much Hughes can do about Barton cocking up 5 yard passes. - We were in a relegation scrap with players who especially away from home were low on confidence. Strategy was to scrap away from home and win the home games. We won the home games well against the big teams and that got us through. - As you mentioned Hughes joined mid way through the season - Importanly you are also forgetting how many red cards we had. Pretty hard to keep hold of possession and play pretty at any level With a pre-season and a few signings I reckon we'll see a much imporved side next year. I do however admit that Hughes record as a manager has far too many draws. Hopefully he isn't too conservative next year
Based on what I've seen we are still incapable of playing out from the back, all our back line seem to do is hoof the ball. Sometimes that is the best policy but not always. The danger of playing possession football is that you get great statistics for pass rates and successful pass completion rates but you get the tits bored off you like we saw against Swansea. Tippy tappy across the back four certainly keeps hold of the ball but snoooooooooooooozzzzzzzzzeeeeeee (sorry, drifted off thinking about Swansea again) it is boring as feck! With Diakite in the middle of the park I think we have a potential gem and he could be used effectively to either bomb forward or distribute the ball to more creative players (Adel, if he stays), or the killer pass to our front men. Sparky looks to have worked on getting us to look more solid but the negative is that we are not a quick side, something we need if breaking out on the counter attack is going to be used. Traore/Mackie against Citeh was an example of how well this could work.. Zamora isn't quick and I don't think running around all over the place is the best use of Cisse. It remains to be seen what other players are going to be brought in but a player with a decent turn of speed AND an ability to actually finish off a move with a decent pass or shot (put your hand down SWP) would be most welcome. Sparky does look as though he puts a lot of thought into each game so I expect us to change tactics depending on what team we are up against, a major step up from Mr Warnock's approach IMO. The test will be when Sparky thinks he has his own squad and not one he was stuck with when taking over, that is when we can really judge his, and our, style.
I don't know about 'dominating possesion' but after last season's pain I wouldn't mind seeing us simply having a decent share of the ball in the majority of games. It's probably an exaggeration but I can't remember a Rangers team that looked less comfortable on the ball. The loss of Faurlin was a big part of that of course and MH spotted that gap and brought in Diakite to his credit. So, you're right that this is an area of concern but we do not have the ful picture yet. Hughes will have no excuses at the start of next season: the squad and the tactics will be his and his alone. We need to store this thread and resurrect it after the first few games.
A great question Sooperhoop, and a loaded one at that. I want to see our beloved club be successful at any cost, of course. However, i would like to think that along the way we can play a relativey attractive brand of football. I am not asking for us to be the new Barca or Arsenal, just not a team that sets up against WBA to give them the ball and chase shadows for 90 mins hoping they don't score first.
MH and the whole team bar a couple pulled off the impossible last season, how can anyone moan or criticise lets at least give them until xmas and see how it is working out.
