There has been much conjecture on here about Mark Hughes in the near eleven months he has been in charge, but stripping down all he has done in that time shows that he has failed in so many areas that there is no hope of him turning things round. Firstly, last season we were abysmal in the first two months he was in charge. So many games in which we were fortunate to get what little we did get, but played some dreadful football, especially away. One win, against Wigan, was all we had to show and with ten games to go and Blackburn, Wigan and then Bolton moving ahead of us we looked done for. The miracle of the Liverpool game was the catalyst for our survival but was more down to Liverpool's ineptitude rather than MH's divine tactical intervention, they'd subbed at 2-0 thinking it was game over and we gubbed them, pure and simple. The following four home wins flattered to deceive, our away tactics and performances were simply not good enough and fortunately Bolton and Blackburn were as bad as us and we escaped by the skin of our teeth. This was the point at which our glaring weaknesses needed to be addressed, centre back, left back and striker the most obvious, but not to MH. I'd lost count of the midfielders we'd been linked with, an area that was not that important in the bigger picture, but in they came with our weaknesses met by Nelsen, Bosingwa and Johnson. Underwhelming was my view of things and the Rob Green saga epitomised the scattergun approach to transfers that the 5-0 shaker on the opening day of the season underlined. By the close of the window we'd brought in Cesar, M'Bia and Granero. The Spaniard a club record £9 million and looked a bargain in his first few outings. However, as results went against us it became clear that the tactics (if any) were disjointed and hampering us from playing to our strengths. MH just doesn't seem to have leadership qualities and, on the pitch, Park as captain emphasises this perfectly. We are rudderless and each game frustrates as we take one step forward and then two backwards, Stoke a perfect example, a team there for the taking end up stitching us up and we couldn't respond. Yesterday was, without doubt, the worst performance since the Paul Hart days and how anyone can defend MH after that performance in such a vitally important game is beyond me. Tony Fernandes has to show the balls his manager is lacking and make the decision regardless of whether someone is or isn't lined up and pay top dollar to get a motivator in, I still think we'll go down, but if we go down kicking and screaming, showing some bottle for the battle and winning a few games on the way we'll have a platform to bounce back, it's not gonna happen with Old Sparky..
I wouldnt disagree with much of that but I thought that in the four home wins that lead to our survival we actually had the right tactics and deserved to win particularly the games against Reading and Arsenal. I was in favour of Hughes staying but its clearly not working out and a change is needed. I have no problem with people wanting Hughes out but he has not done anything to justify being called some of the things that have been spouted on this board. It is fair enough to disagree with his appointment, his tactics etc but none of us know the guy and none of us have anywhere near enough evidence to call him a c*nt or tosser or whatever.
It is a lack of tactical awareness Failure to play a settled team - even when the same team have played well the previous week Played players totally outside of their best position when other options were available - this is SO important Can't do a half time team talk Does not understand tactical subs Is negative - we had no one at the half way line yesterday for their corners - plays for the draw too often Has not gelled a team of players who seem to have potential - we have seen glimpses of what the team are capable of - but he has faield t motivate stubborn (or plain stupid) in sticking to 442 Arrogant - hubris Mark - think before you say stupid things that journos are going to love quoting back to you TBH - never liked him - never say a record that one envy Would love to have had Holloway or Warnock back right now for the rest of the season. Oh. Been a fan for 30+ years - I'm not going anywhere....
Difficult to argue with anything that is being said in the myriad threads created since yesterday's debacle. Here's yet another perpective... http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/0,,12382_8257273,00.html
Sums up my feelings exactly (except for Warnock or Holloway, wouldnt touch them with a bargepole). Never liked the bloke, never wanted him and he hasnt proved me wrong in a single thing I thought about him, to top it off, hes a twat of the highest order. The good news is we will start feeling good again when hes gone.
