I think a quicker question might be; What is right with Hughton? That would be a very short list. 1) We avoided relegation 2) We temporarily improved defensively 3) erm.....................................................little help needed, transfers looked good on paper! Bah!
Thats not quite fair though 1950. I was at our game at the Emirates this season where we were the better side for much of the second half and after Jonny had pulled one back Hootun threw on Wes at the expense of Tettey in an attempt to convert the pressure we had been putting on them into an equaliser. Ok it didn't work, and we got caught out on the break by some world class players - as we did against Chelsea a week or two before that - but we definitely showed intent and "got at them" so it's neither fair nor accurate to label Hootun negatively in this example.
The majority of us South of the Border think that Hughton is a top bloke, an excellent tactician and an all round great manager and you should all be delighted to have him! We certainly are!
This time last year, after 21 games we had won 6, drawn 7, lost 8 - 25 points This year results won 5, drawn 5, lost 11 - 20 points. It is accepted that the team was strengthend so fans would have expected the team to move on or, at the very least, remain stable mixing it with all but the top 8/9 teams. This has clearly not happened and so most fans are disappointed and being passionate about our team we are seeking reasons for this underperformance. Hughton, for whatever reason, is not producing results that match our expectations (in my view our expectations are reasonable) and with a drop to the Championship looking a possibility, unrest is now accelerating to a pitch.
I know that it's not exactly in your time perameters, but how did selling Holt fit in with your idea of strengthening the team?
Are the expectations realistic though?, the signings we made were enough to keep us up, as I've said before we spent a pittance in PL terms, not sure where fans are expecting us to be?, top ten?
This phrase has been used way too much in my opinion. The only people mentioning Paul Lambert are those in favour of Hughton, by saying he's never been accepted etc. He's never been accepted because he's drained the entertainment out of the football at Carrow Road and although we finished high last year were absolutely dreadful for the majority of 2013. Yes Paul Lambert was a good manager for us, and Chris Hughton hasn't been anywhere near as good. It's literally as simple as that. The squad doesn't seem to have that spirit anymore, which was a huge part of our success in recent years.
So Hughton is worse than Lambert even though we finished higher under Hughton? If you think it's only pro Hughton fans claiming he's not liked because he's not Lambert, you have obviously not read all the threads or you have a selective memory!
Lambert got you back to back promotions from League 1 to the Prem, do you really think that if Hughton had been appointed after Gunn that he would have done the same? It's a moot point, but I would suggest not.
As have been said by myself plenty of times, Hughton will do well when he is given a side that is strong for that division, he doesn't really improve clubs as such. I have said before, Newcastle was way too strong for the championship, and probably got them to level they should be with the players they had. nothing more, nothing less. At Birmingham, He didn't really improve them, he just got them through a tough long season. Whereas Lambert, got 110% out of every player (even squad players) and got players punching above their weight which got you guys promoted 2 seasons on the trot.
I haven't been on here in a while, so you are right, I haven't read all the threads. But I have not seen anyone say it's because he isn't Paul Lambert. I think it's more he isn't nowhere near as good a manager as Paul Lambert and I agree with that. Crofts, Lappin, Wilbraham, Tierney, Ward, Surman etc. All held their own in the Premier League, they are mediocre Championship players now, Lambert got the best out of absolutely every player at the club. We finished 12th with those players. Exactly what Welly said, I'm not going to go back to the Lambert era but our squad wasn't as good as last seasons. Neither were we close to relegation that season. We flirted with it last season and let's be honest West Brom and Man City were not anywhere near their best in those games. Our form was so bad in that second half of the season last year. I thought with another transfer window it would be better this year, personally I think it's worse. The camaraderie doesn't seem to be there anymore, he has yet to figure out how to get the best of the new £14 million pound strike force and he still insists on Elmander rather than Wes. I personally think Wes with a run in the team would work wonders with RVW/Hooper but he continues to have someone there who will win headers. He made the wrong call on captaincy and our best centre back from last season is now a liability, yet he keeps Bennett, who hasn't done much wrong in the last 12 months, on the bench. He couldn't get a system to fit Holt our talisman in the last few seasons, our captain, the lynchpin in the dressing room, who will no doubt do well at Villa. I don't think it has worked, we're not progressing as a club under him. Surely we should always strive to progress, we've spent more and I can't see any evidence of progress this year. Our defence is worse and we're scoring less.
I've had a quick read through this thread and my take on this season so far is that we played well against Chelsea and got caught on the break by two world class players when going for the win ourselves. The following week, Arsenal scored a sublime goal against us, but we more or less held our own. We then lost 2 games which we could easily have won - Hull and Villa (which I think was when Campbell raked his studs down Tettey's shin and causing him to be substituted). IMO, our season started going downhill from then. We suffered humiliating defeats against Man Utd in the Capital one Cup, followed by being thrashed my Citeh, but for me the lowest of low points was our game against Fulham on Boxing Day. We opened the scoring and then sat back instead of chasing every ball and going for more goals and 'gifted' them the equaliser. Mind you, we had a decent performance against ManUre and were undone by a lucky rebound and a world class player, so we have the ability to play well in the absence of Tettey. I agree that CH seems TOTALLY unable/unwilling to change tactics (something at which PL excels [and other managers do well] and this HAS to change. I'll be at the game tomorrow and my only hope is that the fans get behind the team and that we don't concede a soft goal early on, otherwise it could be a horrendous atmosphere in the ground.
I have no gripe with him, I like him; it's just if results don't start to pick up soon then he might be dismissed. I don't believe that all that many fans hate his guts so much; when I went to gym today I spoke with two canary fans in their 50s and 60s and we all agreed we had no problem with him and all we wanted was Norwich City to do the best they can. The only problem in my eyes is that we haven't been playing anywhere near as well as we can under Hughton but I have every faith that he will be able to turn it around. OTBC.
The question is those, how long do you give a underachieving manager to turn things around? He's had a year of generally poor performances and results. We are well and truly in a relegation battle at the moment, time isn't exactly of the essence. I think Hull is make or break for him.
Just remind us though Dave, who got more points? As for not liking him because he's not Lambert, it's as laughable a comment now as it was when the happy clappers first rolled it out. I don't like him because he is systematically destroying the team spirit, mystifying us with poor selections, isn't getting the best from any of the players, has reduced the squad to a collection of strangers! Take your pick, any competent man I will like and respect. Bah!
The rewards from position at the end of season is granted on position attained, not points scored! His selections have been limited by horrendous injuries to key players! BAH to you too!
Has Wes been injured which would explain Elmander playing ahead of him constantly? Has Bennett been injured which explains why Bassong has kept his place despite being piss poor? Biggest problem has been feeding the strike force, who is the most creative player we have? Wes, who warms the bench. Guttierez barely creates anything, he's a workhorse. Why the **** have we signed him? Carrabuh pointing out Hughton only buys physical players is so true (Apart from RVW and Hooper, I suppose). That's why we don't create **** all for a brand new £14 million strikeforce.
Hughton certainly has his limitations, but to claim he only buys physical players is not true. In addition to the two you state, there is Redmond, Olsson, Garrido.
