A question to the Hughes Outers

[Failsworth_Blue]

The next few games are a big test for Roberto. At the moment I'd say he has done no better or worse than Hughes was doing at the point he was sacked. People can trot out points per game stats all they want but I am looking at the actual games. It's fair to say that you cannot take a limited sample of games and use that as proof we have a better manager now than we did in November. I'm looking at performances, opposition and the trend of results.

The difference is I understood Hughes. I could see what he was trying to do and I'll still maintain that under him we were desperately unlucky at times (I know fans always feel hard done by but it seemed to me that every break was going against us). Luck alone though is not enough to explain the poor run we had. Mancini on the other hand completely baffles me. I can't tell what he is aiming for or where he wants to take the team. And what is worse, I suspect the players feel the same way. If that is the case he needs to either win them round quickly or, if he gets the chance, bring in a load of his own players. That raises the usual City problem of instability and an unsettled squad. If he cannot win the players round quickly and we are banking on him doing well when he gets his own men in you have to wonder why he was brought in at the time he was. Personally I think we do have a good squad. I think we do have the players that are capable of finishing fourth. We just need to get them in the right set-up and working together. Let's hope Mancio can do that.

With regards to the 1st paragraph. What really should we be saying with regards to Mancini then? At the end of the day we've taken 16 points from 8 games. Of course the opposition hasn't been the best but you've seen this season how we struggled at times against teams we should be beating at home under Hughes. We weren't playing free flowing football under Hughes and while we were doing well enough to be on course for the top four under Mancini we have picked up enough points to put us in pole position in the race for 4th

 

[pee dubyas crayons]

I have to hold my hands up, I was 100% Hughes out, and happy that he went before the January window, thinking that the new manager would have the time to spend and improve in January to push us on to top 4.

I also thought I would be happy with Hughes out if either Mourinho or Hiddink replaced him - I was surprised at Mancini's appointment.

The spend never happened and we are playing worse football under Mancini. Every change of manager brings a run of good results, but now this effect has worn off and we are playing terrible football.

Sometimes I despaired at Hughes' tactics but Mancini is making him look like a tactical genius. The final straw for Hughes in my eyes was on a freezing February afternoon in the FA cup at COMS. I was hungover and watching Hughes sub an attacking midfielder for a defensive one at 2-0 down at home vs Championship opposition was ludicrous.

But Mancini has done this on numerous occasions now. His tactics defy common sense:

- Petrov on the right
- Johnson on the right
- Not starting SWP
- 3 DMs
- Faith in Zabaleta who is clearly not good enough


Im clinging on to the belief that Mancini is short term and Mourinho WILL be here in the summer and we WILL spend big again on the likes of Torres.

 

[Pigeonho]

I have to hold my hands up, I was 100% Hughes out, and happy that he went before the January window, thinking that the new manager would have the time to spend and improve in January to push us on to top 4.

I also thought I would be happy with Hughes out if either Mourinho or Hiddink replaced him - I was surprised at Mancini's appointment.

The spend never happened and we are playing worse football under Mancini. Every change of manager brings a run of good results, but now this effect has worn off and we are playing terrible football.

Sometimes I despaired at Hughes' tactics but Mancini is making him look like a tactical genius. The final straw for Hughes in my eyes was on a freezing February afternoon in the FA cup at COMS. I was hungover and watching Hughes sub an attacking midfielder for a defensive one at 2-0 down at home vs Championship opposition was ludicrous.

But Mancini has done this on numerous occasions now. His tactics defy common sense:

- Petrov on the right
- Johnson on the right
- Not starting SWP
- 3 DMs
- Faith in Zabaleta who is clearly not good enough


Im clinging on to the belief that Mancini is short term and Mourinho WILL be here in the summer and we WILL spend big again on the likes of Torres.

Post of the thread.

Personally I don't think Mourinho will be here, just got a feeling he sees us as an accident waiting to happen. I think he is overhyped too, but his pedigree is unquestionable. I would like to see Mancini let loose with a cheque book if we get to the CL, but my fear is if he doesn't get to the CL and the owners sack him, who comes in then cos it certainly won't be Mourinho.

 

[JULES]

talk about wishing to turn the clock back, cook, marwood and co must know they have dropped a right clanger.

we are dreadful, truly dreadful under mancini, we were very lucky yet again tonight, we will get hammered on sunday, hammered at chelsea should we get to play them.

time will tell how good hughes was.

errrr, how could it?

 

[M18CTID]

The next few games are a big test for Roberto. At the moment I'd say he has done no better or worse than Hughes was doing at the point he was sacked. People can trot out points per game stats all they want but I am looking at the actual games. It's fair to say that you cannot take a limited sample of games and use that as proof we have a better manager now than we did in November. I'm looking at performances, opposition and the trend of results.

The difference is I understood Hughes. I could see what he was trying to do and I'll still maintain that under him we were desperately unlucky at times (I know fans always feel hard done by but it seemed to me that every break was going against us). Luck alone though is not enough to explain the poor run we had. Mancini on the other hand completely baffles me. I can't tell what he is aiming for or where he wants to take the team. And what is worse, I suspect the players feel the same way. If that is the case he needs to either win them round quickly or, if he gets the chance, bring in a load of his own players. That raises the usual City problem of instability and an unsettled squad. If he cannot win the players round quickly and we are banking on him doing well when he gets his own men in you have to wonder why he was brought in at the time he was. Personally I think we do have a good squad. I think we do have the players that are capable of finishing fourth. We just need to get them in the right set-up and working together. Let's hope Mancio can do that.

With regards to the 1st paragraph. What really should we be saying with regards to Mancini then? At the end of the day we've taken 16 points from 8 games. Of course the opposition hasn't been the best but you've seen this season how we struggled at times against teams we should be beating at home under Hughes. We weren't playing free flowing football under Hughes and while we were doing well enough to be on course for the top four under Mancini we have picked up enough points to put us in pole position in the race for 4th

Nobody is more happy with 16 points from 8 games than me and if that continues through to the end of the season we'll have a very good chance of getting 4th spot, particularly if we can win the 6 pointer head-to-heads against Liverpool, Villa, and Spurs. However, all masterwig and myself are saying is that the level of performance needs to increase considerably than what we've seen of late for us to continue picking up as many points as we have been doing. Playing badly and winning is a good thing, but only if it happens every now and then. No team can get away with doing it on a regular basis because sooner or later the luck will run out. Thankfully, Mancini knows this as much as anybody else and I'm fully expecting a good performance against Liverpool on Sunday.

 

[JULES]

I have to hold my hands up, I was 100% Hughes out, and happy that he went before the January window, thinking that the new manager would have the time to spend and improve in January to push us on to top 4.

I also thought I would be happy with Hughes out if either Mourinho or Hiddink replaced him - I was surprised at Mancini's appointment.

The spend never happened and we are playing worse football under Mancini. Every change of manager brings a run of good results, but now this effect has worn off and we are playing terrible football.

Sometimes I despaired at Hughes' tactics but Mancini is making him look like a tactical genius. The final straw for Hughes in my eyes was on a freezing February afternoon in the FA cup at COMS. I was hungover and watching Hughes sub an attacking midfielder for a defensive one at 2-0 down at home vs Championship opposition was ludicrous.

But Mancini has done this on numerous occasions now. His tactics defy common sense:

- Petrov on the right
- Johnson on the right
- Not starting SWP
- 3 DMs
- Faith in Zabaleta who is clearly not good enough


Im clinging on to the belief that Mancini is short term and Mourinho WILL be here in the summer and we WILL spend big again on the likes of Torres.

I ,get the feeling you will never be satisfied

 

[markbmcfc]

I would'nt say being 4th in the league with a game in hand is being poor.

I think expectations of excellence every game are the problem.

How many time over the years have you had a chat with your red friends, and they have said they did'nt play well, but they still won?

We are not out of the cup, we are 4th in the league, with a game in hand.

Is there nothing positive you can take from this that will make you optimistic?

Excellent post.

 

[Fuzzmaster101]

Just a bad run of form that's all. We weren't dreadful at any point (except Brum away, I will accept that we were woeful that day). We are dreadful at the moment though but pulling off miraculous wins/draws against the odds. I hope we can keep it up because I see no signs that our performances are going to get any better.

Have you thought that, although our form is not great now, we are STILL getting results,
Mancini has won all 4 of his home games in the League, O.K. the away record of 1 win 1 draw and 2 defeats is not great, but remember Hughsie had only won 1 away game at the point of his departure in December. Also you did not mention the bloody good hammering Tottenham gave us in the "master's" penultimate game, it was quite the worst City performance i can remember and we got absolutely hammered, your own history of events is not as accurate as you say!

I'm sorry, I was tired and not really with it when I wrote this. I was actually thinking in terms of the run of draws when I said Brum was the only poor performance. Tottenham was indeed dreadful and I'd never claim otherwise. I also in retrospect have to say we didn't do enough to beat Hull at home and even though we were unlucky to concede a penalty at the end we should have been out of sight by then against a team that barely worried us all game.

Let me just re-itterate, I don't think we should have Hughes back although I wanted him to be given the rest of the season. I also don't want Mancini out, likewise I'd like to see what his big plan is. My problem is that at the moment I don't enjoy watching us and think we are fluking wins/draws and this luck may run out. I see no improvement every time I watch and I sit there thinking where the hell is a goal coming from and that we could concede at any time from any angle. That's not good, but a win against the Dippers this weekend would settle my nerves a bit and give us some daylight.

 

[Gelsons Dad]

I have to hold my hands up, I was 100% Hughes out, and happy that he went before the January window, thinking that the new manager would have the time to spend and improve in January to push us on to top 4.

I also thought I would be happy with Hughes out if either Mourinho or Hiddink replaced him - I was surprised at Mancini's appointment.

The spend never happened and we are playing worse football under Mancini. Every change of manager brings a run of good results, but now this effect has worn off and we are playing terrible football.

Sometimes I despaired at Hughes' tactics but Mancini is making him look like a tactical genius. The final straw for Hughes in my eyes was on a freezing February afternoon in the FA cup at COMS. I was hungover and watching Hughes sub an attacking midfielder for a defensive one at 2-0 down at home vs Championship opposition was ludicrous.

But Mancini has done this on numerous occasions now. His tactics defy common sense:

- Petrov on the right
- Johnson on the right
- Not starting SWP
- 3 DMs
- Faith in Zabaleta who is clearly not good enough


Im clinging on to the belief that Mancini is short term and Mourinho WILL be here in the summer and we WILL spend big again on the likes of Torres.

Petrov was at one time the only fit winger we had.
Playing wingers on their opposite side is quite common.
SWP has been at various times a) injured b) off form c) too lightweight
1 DM and two supporting midfielders.
Zab is a good player and offers a different option at right back. I prefer him to Micha and so does RM sometimes. This is a subjective point.


So His tactics don't defy common sense. Just your understanding of it.

 

[The Pink Panther]

This by no means is a 'I want to get your back up' kind of question. Its a genuine question which, in most cases, (depending on the mental age of the poster), should be a one word answer. My question is this. You wanted Hughes gone, fair enough that was your opinion, however based on how we're playing and how we STILL are not beating teams we 'should' be beating, are you still of the mindset that he should have gone? As i say its a genuine question and i'd appreciate genuine answers, not answers off little no-marks like Soulboy who just berate anything against anything Blue. I know you weren't 'Hughes outers, Mancini Inners', therefore Mancini was probably not on your minds, but now you have had your wish and Hughes is gone, we're out of the cup and doing equally as poor in the league under Mancini, do you still think it was right to get rid?

We're fourth in the league with a game in hand over everyone else. I'd hardly call that poor.

Out of the cup!! We won the first leg and the game changed at the swamp when Bellamy got "bottled." Hughes's team also got beat there.

Where we struggle is by getting "bullied" by big teams. This was the same under Hughes especially away from home.

To come back to your question of, "do you still think it was right to get rid?"

Yes, for two reasons.
1/ We honestly don't know where we would be now if Hughes was still in charge, but my opinion is we wouldn't be in as strong position in the league.

2/ I have never known a City manager who had divided the supporters so much.