Yes, I really like the guy, and I hope he succeeds, but mainly because if he does then that means Norwich do. I dont think he is as bad as some say he is but at the same time some of our performances have been woeful. They was we played against Chelsea and Arsenal were both great, done in by much better teams with much better squads. If we had of played like that against teams like Fulham we would of blown them away, and yet we were so poor. Barcelona are being hammered this morning for their result last night with many saying where is the plan B? At least their plan A usually works.
Well I suppose there are two prongs to this: Firstly finishing in 12th and five points from the drop would be a very respectable position.We can see from the developing table that everyone from Saints upwards is out of it.So to finish third of the remaining eleven,above Swansea and WBA would be an achievement. As regards the second I suppose it's the manner in which the success was achieved that would rankle.But I think it's too introspective.What is the worse result losing two- nil away to Everton or three- one at home to Spurs.If we had had Swansea's result the clamour for Hughton to go would be louder.OK Cardiff were not disgraced by the 4-2 at Citeh but they still got nothing.Lose to United next week and they are left with a must win against us.It's not even as if Hughton is an arrogant sort.It seems that some people just don't like him.
While this scenario might perhaps suggest that he is capable of keeping us in the PL, I would still not be convinced that he could improve the team, in terms of what happens on the pitch. So to that end, I would probably not be his biggest supporter, but would put up with it providing there were no further signs of performances getting even worse.
In a way it would be the worst thing for Hughton in my eyes. Right now I would have him in my mind as well short of what we need in order to improve on the pitch long term. As welcome as saturdays win was. It's the first we have seen some proper fight in for a while (encouraging but still can only be seen in isolation) we still can't fashion any great scoring chances for our forwards with any regularity, there is still little creative spark. Right now with confidence hopefully bouyed by the result and more players coming to fitness and possibly another signing, could he actually pull some of us back to the fence or even over it? (For the record I am with others that I still think he should have achieved more/had us playing better with the players he had at his disposal) I strongly doubt he is capable of the improvements necessary, but if the season finished now then I think he would have to go. If (a big if) he can build on this win then maybe he may have a future with us. It's not a case of dislike, it is a case of a belief that he is not up to the job. If the job is purely to keep us up then he is probably up to it. That said McNally made reference to our playing style as a club and I too want more from a manager and my team, than the joyless specticle CH has generally been serving up for the last season and a half. Bah!
That's all fair comment Melchie old bean,and I can see exactly where the antis are coming from.I suppose with me it's frying pan/fire syndrome,just frightened of kicking out a Worthy and getting in a Rodent.Believe me when I say that I don't want to be posting "I told you so" next season.
Very good question canario. I would stick with CH because as I have said many a time, I don't see a panacea elsewhere. Overall the managerial changes made through percieved under-achievement have not been beneficial. Mark Hughes, Solksjar, Laudrup? - it is not any easy science and the squad that we have assembled now looks pretty decent on paper, it just need to gel on the pitch but I am convinced that it will come. We held our nerve on Saturday and it came good, we currently lie 12th and the world looks a lot rosier. We are talking very fine margins here at the end of the day but it looks to me that CH has the dressing room and that spirit would not neccesarily tranfer to another manager.
If the team can use Saturday's performance/result as a stepping stone to further improvement then most fans will accept that, but should we EVER revert to the abysmal display we witnessed against Fulham on Boxing Day; then I feel the clamour to get rid of CH would be so deafening that even DM and the board couldn't resist it. I have to agree that I believe CH is not the manager to improve our playing style and offer the long suffering fans more in the way of entertainment, but that may change with the return of our injured players and any new acquisitions between now and the end of the month. I'm more optimistic re our PL survival than I have been for the last month!!!!
Re. Boxing Day, I've supported Norwich for longer than most on this board and in my experience Boxing Days when we HAVEN'T witnessed an abysmal display have been few and far between. Indeed, not just Boxing Days but the whole Christmas/New Year period. As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to "Christmas holidays", the Canaries usually take the phrase at face value. Re. taking the club forward, you say you don't believe CH is the manager to improve our style and provide better entertainment, then immediately say the opposite (i.e. you think it quite possible that these will improve with the return of injured players and a new acquisition or two)! If you really don't believe CH can produce an attractive and entertaining football team, what difference would it make if X, Y or Z weren't injured or A, B or C were brought in?
The principal reason why I am a strong advocate of a winter break! Nothing to do with player fitness or the England squad, purely Norwich biased!!
Slightly OT, but interesting none the less. We have manage to pick up atleast a point from all games against bottom half sides since Hull away... Could this type of form keep us up?
I've always wondered about this, I'm sure a lot of professional sports stars do indulge during the season especially around Christmas, you could tell they'd been on the sauce leading up to the Fulham game on Boxing Day. When people are in good nick they'll take the piss on the nutrition front from time to time, a couple of days pigging out and drinking isn't going to put the weight on most physically fit people.
If the season ended now I'm sure there would be a lot of very annoyed TV execs seen as they've paid millions of pounds to show 16 more games!
Apart from the obvious fact that we'd finish 12th, I wouldn't like the season to end today. We've just got this crucial win against Hull. Now let's see if we can follow that up with a good performance against Newcastle and then again at Cardiff. Let's see if CH and the team can build on that win or whether we lurch back towards the next crisis must-win game. I'm tired of the endless Hughton in-Hughton out loop. Personally I'd like it sorted once and for all. (I know this may not be possible if we stutter on in the way we've done all season, but it would be nice to have some clear idea whether he's going or staying until the end of the season at least.)
