Ambivalent towards Hughes

[PistonBlue]

From a negative viewpoint, the thing that has surprised me most is our lack of organization, closing down of payers/tackling and work rate when we aren't in possession. This was one area where I thought Hughes would really improve us and that just hasn't happened. Some of his tactical decisions have also been somewhat baffling.

Couldn't agree more with this, I would also add that even with addition of Zabaleta, defensively we've gone backwards.

 

[PragueBlue]

From a negative viewpoint, the thing that has surprised me most is our lack of organization, closing down of payers/tackling and work rate when we aren't in possession. This was one area where I thought Hughes would really improve us and that just hasn't happened. Some of his tactical decisions have also been somewhat baffling.

Couldn't agree more with this, I would also add that even with addition of Zabaleta, defensively we've gone backwards.

I would agree with that though I think it is perhaps due to having a quite lightweight and not very defensive-minded midfield that, with the exception of Kompany, doesn't really help the defence out too much. Sven's midfield 5 provided much more defensive cover on the whole (until they gave up towards the end of last season). The net result is a weaker defense but more potent attack. Hughes hasn't got the balance right there yet.

I think Hughes' main problem is that he was brought in during a time where we expected to be not too financially strong with the remit of turning us into a team like Blackburn, one that could survive on a limited budget and gradually add a bit of quality year on year to quietly and gradually move us up the table (perhaps something akin to what Villa/Everton have done).

Then, all of a sudden, we are the richest club in the world, we have Robinho, we are very much in the public eye and expectations shoot through the roof. Not exactly the scenario that was envisaged when Hughes took the job and I think it has taken Hughes out of his comfort zone and sidetracked him to some degree. His targets for this transfer window suggest that he is trying to is trying to get back to what he knows and does best but unfortunately for him expectations and the pressures have now amplified.

Is he the right man for the job? Unfortunately, I suspect not but I would like him to prove that conclusively before getting rid. Maybe he can step out of his 'comfort zone' (though his transfer targets suggest not). Therefore I am in favour of keeping him until the end of the season and reviewing then.

 

[myblueheaven]

This is just absurd. No it isn't

How long you been supporting the lads? I'm 35, been a season ticket holder since I was 10, although what this matters I know not

If the players are going to argue then it's down to them. The performance was utterly shambolic and the lads who were on the pitch deserve the blame.
It's alright saying it's all down to the players, but the fact is it's actually down to the manager. If players aren't happy it down to the manager to find out why and find the solution. What worries me is that some of the players, too many of them from are unhappy BECAUSE of the manager! And you're right it was shambolic, that is the most disorganised bunch of players I've seen in a long time.

To me it was a wake up call.Fucking right it was!

If we are to make the necessary strides then these lads have to pick themselves up and start beating the sides they should beat. Hughes wasn't going to give them a bollocking in the middle of the pitch. he'll sort it out behind closed doors. Will he now? You'd have thought Hughes had learned a lesson when he picked a weakend side to play Brighton

If they can't fucking beat Forest then what fucking hope do we have in the League?My fears exactly

As for turning us into Blackburn, Robbie Savage is a dirty little shit and he was a dirty little shit before he played for Hughes. FACT.Mark Hughes signed Savage for Blackburn. FACT. Because Savage is Hughes's kind of player

As for getting knocked back for Bellamy, like it or not the word is out fella. We've got money now. Other clubs are going to see it as a payday. FACT. My point being, fella, we are loaded but Hughes wants us to buy players like Craig Bellamy, and we'll end up paying way over the odds for a journeyman player like Bellamy, ditto for RSC. He's going for these players because he's struggling to persuade top notch players to come and play for him

Take your blinkers off. I'll take mine off if you take yours off

Well i've been about as long as you then - and unlike most it seems on this forum i remember when we weren't prone to rideculous flights of fancy and we were the stronger side in this great city. how fucking long its been. the long and short of it though is that to be saying get rid after such a short time is the fucking height of hypocracy. you KNOW what it will take to rebuild this club. you KNOW it is going to take time and patience to get us anywhere close to the competition and that is a stone FACT.

 

[Big Liam]

Well i've been about as long as you then - and unlike most it seems on this forum i remember when we weren't prone to rideculous flights of fancy and we were the stronger side in this great city. how fucking long its been. the long and short of it though is that to be saying get rid after such a short time is the fucking height of hypocracy. you KNOW what it will take to rebuild this club. you KNOW it is going to take time and patience to get us anywhere close to the competition and that is a stone FACT.

the only FACT that matters is that it's going to be a long and slow process. I cringe when i think of all the giddy bastards who were jumping up and down in August shouting that we were going to win the league. stupid stupid stupid. We can't attract the big names yet, which means we need to be like everton and consolidate top 6-7 before we can start moving forward, at the moment we fail to consolidate top 15 and we're trying to run before we can walk. I'd just love the press, the rags and the giddy giddy sections of our support to shut up for a minute and take a step back.

it's a horrible thought but Stretford united pull in 65,000 for a home cup game and we struggle to get 30,000 in with reduced ticket prices thats a massive difference in revenue and support.we need to change what happens on the pitch to sort it. I honestly believe it's time to start playing effective, not pretty, football. Lets get ourselves into a position that we can kick on from, not try and win the league in the first season we've got some brass to flutter. everything else will follow from there.

 

[BobKowalski]

the only FACT that matters is that it's going to be a long and slow process.

Actually the length of the process will be dictated by the ability of the management in charge of implementing the process. To become a major force in terms of football honours currently involves 2 main factors. Money and the ability of the people in charge of the club. Other factors like size, history, location are less important and in any event we have a good fan base, excellent stadium and facilities and are in the most high profile league in world football so for us its money and ability.

We have the money so if it is indeed a long and slow process then you have not employed the right people to implement the process. Simple really.

I cringe when i think of all the giddy bastards who were jumping up and down in August shouting that we were going to win the league. stupid stupid stupid. We can't attract the big names yet

Robinho. 24 hours. You can do it once you can do it again.

To think otherwise is just to excuse failure.

Unfortunately we are doing a lot of that at the moment.

 

[blue 1992]

Let me start off by saying this is no way of Pro-Hughes thread but if you look at some facts from our club and other clubs then you won't change your mind-we've all got our own entrenched beliefs, the abuse fellow City fans give each other staggers me, the red scum must be lapping it up. Anyway back to my reason for posting this.

last season was spent bemoaning Sven playing 1 up front-hughes is still playing 1 up front but with closer supporting players and we've scored 38 goals. We are easier to beat cos our central defenders go walkabout.

The problem at our club is the players, earn too much money and don't have the personality to want to win things. Our current squad are said to be de-motivated by Hughes, they were shocking last season from dec-May under Sven- whom i liked but lest we forget we got slaughtered 6-0 by Chelsea, 8-1 by Middlesborough, got beat by 2 out of the 3 relegated teams, drew with the worst premiership team ever, before that under Pearce-guess what? they were shocking again- Ball, Dunne, Micah, Hamman, Hart, Johnson, Vassell all have played under Sven, Pearce and Hughes, only Dunnie(in previous years) has been anything like a experienced player another team would covet . Micah & Johnno are strutting about like they've made it. So if 3 doctors say you're ill then you're ill, if 3 very different managers can't motivate you then you can't be motivated. They capitulate far too easily for any of the fans watching but those fans still think that it's hughes' and his staff fault.

Hughes has his faults, but unlike previous managers he's prepared to give all players a go even if he doesn't like them-elano, TBH, Jo, Hamman, Ball. Anyone remember Machin steadfastly refusing to play Moulden cos he didn't like him, Royle with Terry Cooke & Kinkladze, Keegan with Eyal. I think he's trying everything in his power to get results from players that he would get rid of tomorrow-and they know it. We've not won anything for 33 years and changed our manager constantly, now we can afford it i say keep the manager and let the players change for once, then i'll judge Hughes.

3 or 4 seasons ago we beat Everton 5-1 in the last match of season to finish 15th or 16th everton finished below us, Everton's manager was Moyes, he let 5 or 6 players contracts run out and turfed them, the next season they finished 4th and qualified for the champions league.

a bit of patience for the manager, any manager for once please.

good post.

 

[PistonBlue]

Well i've been about as long as you then - and unlike most it seems on this forum i remember when we weren't prone to rideculous flights of fancy and we were the stronger side in this great city. how fucking long its been. the long and short of it though is that to be saying get rid after such a short time is the fucking height of hypocracy. you KNOW what it will take to rebuild this club. you KNOW it is going to take time and patience to get us anywhere close to the competition and that is a stone FACT.

Why is it hypocrisy?

You talk about 'rebuilding' this club as if we're back in the third division. We have a squad that should be good enough to finish top 10, we don't need rebuilding we just need improving.

And in my humble opinion, now that we have money, the most critical signing we can make is in the managers position. Can you honestly say you believe Mark Hughes will get us CL football, the Prem title etc etc? I don't.

 

[Bigga]

the only FACT that matters is that it's going to be a long and slow process. I cringe when i think of all the giddy bastards who were jumping up and down in August shouting that we were going to win the league. stupid stupid stupid. We can't attract the big names yet, which means we need to be like everton and consolidate top 6-7 before we can start moving forward, at the moment we fail to consolidate top 15 and we're trying to run before we can walk. I'd just love the press, the rags and the giddy giddy sections of our support to shut up for a minute and take a step back.

I'm never surprised at the belief of City fans anymore! From the moment that stupid MUEN poll about Elano came out and the voting of him going into the Top Four City players, within the first 3 months of him being here, sealed that for me! I just shrug my shoulders and ignore the delusions of grandeur, we fans(as a whole) have.

What annoys me is the total abandonment of that belief from the fans that were loud enough to state such delusions! I have the same said delusions(cos that's what being a City fan is all about Belief!), but I keep them to myself.

 

[Mike D]

Which ever way you dress it up its results that count and Hughes isn't getting them. He can't keeping making excuses despite having spent £90mil and brought in 8 new players. The buck has to stop at his feet and if we don't putting in some descent performances and more importantly getting results sooner rather than later then he's a gonner

I agree that if the performances don't pick up, then he'll be gone at the end of the season and he might well be gone even if performances do pick up.

However, I think this comment that he has signed so many players and spent so much is, although factual, still a little misleading. Let's look at the players he has signed:

TBH - Not a success and as such he hasn't featured much of late but was supposedly good enough for Mourinho to sign. A risky purchase that hasn't really contributed anything.

Jo - Probably not Hughes' buy and hasn't yet settled to the premiership and thus hasn't contributed anything either.

Kompany - An excellent buy and at a reasonable price too. Unfortunately the pluses that he has brought to the team have been pretty much negated by the continuing absence of Johnson and the fact that Hamann (who provided us with much stability in midfield last year) has played a season too far.

SWP - Again a good buy but any positives from a pacy right winger have been negated by losing our pacy left winger and IMO, player of the season last year.

Robinho - A definite plus and I'm delighted to have him at City but perhaps at times makes the team a little unbalanced.

Zabaleta - Quality full back as was Corluka, so they cancel each other out.

Bridge - Not played yet.

You said 8 and I have only come up with 7 so I guess I'm leaving someone out but my point remains the same. There has been one bad buy that can really be attributed to Hughes (and that's TBH) and one where the blame perhaps lies elsewhere (Jo - although the optimist in me still has hope). Other buys have basically been cancelled out by injuries and sales to players in the same or similar positions.

So IMO Hughes has got pretty much a squad of similar ability to the squad of last season plus Robinho. Therefore while I would have expected results to have been a bit better than what we have seen so far, I wasn't expecting too much more from a team that surrendered all too easily last season. Hughes took over at a difficult time when team morale was supposedly low and our squad is/was quite unbalanced with a lack of ball winning ability, leadership and no real fit striker of any quality. These are the issues that I would expect Hughes to address in this window if he wishes to keep his job.

From a negative viewpoint, the thing that has surprised me most is our lack of organization, closing down of payers/tackling and work rate when we aren't in possession. This was one area where I thought Hughes would really improve us and that just hasn't happened. Some of his tactical decisions have also been somewhat baffling.

All in all, I think he has done just about OK and no more than that. If he address our major problems during this window, as well as on the training ground, I would expect to see us finish around 8th place which would be a reasonable achievement, though one which is unlikely to keep him in the job I feel.

what about the other 2 he signed

Ben Haim - 5 mil for this turkey, I'm just gobsmacked nobody could see how bad this guy was at Chelsea and how big a suckers we were for taking him. Only good thing about him he's got Hughes rattled and hopefully he'll finish the job off and leave out of the same door himself.

Galber Berti haaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa!! yes we did sign him he is a player

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

If, before the end of this season, the RedGreyWelshWizard(my spells are not working)Hughes, engages in a Rafa Benitez-style rant, directed at the PurpleNosedTosser, then I would say YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS, he is our man! But I'm only giving him until the end of the season.