Interesting article. Beyond just the headline, some intriguing quotes in here... http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/16191618.Tadic__Hughes_must_stay_long_term/?ref=rss
Reading between the lines, it sounds like the team have been starved of meaningful coaching and training for nearly 2 seasons, and Hughes has got them enjoying themselves again.
I have said it loads of times (often to ridicule) that MP2 coached the skill out of them. I’ll rephrase, he uncoached them. I work in IT and am waiting (it’s a good thing) for my company to finally give me redundancy, but I am rapidly de-skilling. This is the same as MP2 did to our players. They rapidly lost what we bought them for and all confidence went. If we manage somehow to stay up, we could do a lot worse than Sparky next year.
I'd quite like Hughes to stay on even if we go down. Obviously him wanting to stay if that happened is another issue.
Agree. You can see on the pitch he is a man manager. I don’t really get the hate some people have. He improved stoke and got a bunch of long ball cloggers to play football. He just isn’t a trendy foreign name I guess?
If he keeps us up he deserves a chance (if he wants to stay) and, if we go down, he could be what we need in the Championship. We didn't do so badly last time with a British coach familiar with the game.
Smiley face should tell you that was light-hearted.....merely trying to link Hughes with our last Sainted manager in the Championship. I want him to be as successful as Adkins. I put that smiley there because I know how sensitive many are to any suggestion of racism....because some can see it if you say you prefer fish and chips to pizza.
I wasn’t being sensitive to racism, I was really saying it has to be the right person, whether English, non-English or a Jedi Knight.
Must be a difficult time for some players at the moment. Hughes has little time to be kind or give players chances....if you are out at the moment, you are out. This will separate the good lads from the bad....as in the removal of Boufal from the first team squad. Players should be aware that he may stay and it might be a good idea to look positive and do as told willingly....most will, such as JWP, but this is not the time to show attitude,,,however miffed you are.
I diagree. I'd take the Jedi knight even if he is the wrong person. Just imagine the sneaky use of the force to push the ball into the net or a mind trick to correct a refs mistake!
The last time we were in the Championship there was a huge amount of positivity around....created because we had a group of good players all with one aim, being urged on by Nicola. The place was full of belief...confirmed by unexpectedly good results. It was a real team. Will be different this time round...more despondency because they were previously EPL players and not just striving to become one.
Quite a lot, I think. Football fans are an odd bunch, generally quite deluded; foreign managers are seen as glamorous and exotic, at least until results go against them, at which point the football genius quickly becomes the "fat Spanish waiter", "useless Frenchman" or whatever.
Like him or loathe him Sam Allardyce said he wont manage a top 4 club unless his name was Allardici . He said it was tongue in cheek , but he has a point IMHO .