As a defence to the Hughes outers, I keep hearing the following...
"we're 6th with a game in hand"
"we've only lost once all season"
"we're in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup"
the City of old would have lost (insert games)"
On the surface all seems well but there is also another side to these quotes/cliches. I hope we can use this thread to discover what the majority deem is acceptable when assessing our performnces this season. I'm going to explain why i don't think the above quotes (and again i stress, they are quotes i have seen multiple times on this forum over the last few weeks)are very good yardsticks of how the team is performing and in how the management are performing...
"we're 6th with a game in hand"
We are 6th, but we've won less than half our games, against what you would call poor sides. Infact only Villa, Scum and Arsenal have been opponents most people would be wary of. I'd imagine that even before the takeover, the majority on here would predict a win for us over the likes of Birmingham, Portsmouth, Wolves, Burnley etc. It's also worth baring in mind that games against Wolves, Blackburn and Portsmouth could have quite easily ended up as draws (if it wasn't for Given). You'd also have to say he saved us from defeat against Birmingham. A bad refereeing decision stopped West Ham from equalizing against us at home, and shocking finishing was the only reason Fulham didn't put 4 or 5 past us on our own pitch.
"we've only lost once all season"
We might have only lost once all season, but there is no trophy or reward for not losing games. Draw's don't put many points on the board. Infact 38 draws would probably see you relegated. That's the sort of form we are showing at the moment. 5 games against mediocre opposition (villa aside) and 5 draws. Only Given and lady luck prevented us from losing to Birmingham and Fulham. Hell even Wigan had a goal disallowed.
"we're in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup"
We might also be in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup, but again i point to the opposition. 2 really poor championships sides and the reserve team of a mediocre (this season) Premier League team. We even needed extra time to win that one. I understand we can only beat what's infront of us, but i'd take heart from at least looking comfortable in doing so.
the City of old would have lost... those 5 games"
And the final quote i keep reading is...."The City of old would have lost this game". This is a quote in which i was familar with last season, because it was said on here everytime we drew a game that we should have won, and has been used after every single one of our last 5 draws. Strictly speaking, it's true. The City of old has yo-yo'd between the top 2/3 divisions over the last decade or so. The very best City side of the last decade finished 8th. The problem is, we are not the City of old. We are a team of supposedly very talented and expensive players. We aspire to beat the very beatable sides of the division and when we show no indication of doing so, despite on paper having one of the strongest squads in the league, it does become quite worrying.
Moving away from the above, the thing that worries me is the fact that on the field, we look a mess. We look like an accident waiting to happen at the back. We have nobody who can control the midfield and nobody to drive the game to our opponents. We have pacey flair players who aren't creating many chances. We have an abundance of players who quite clearly don't fit into Hughes' new 4-4-2 formation. We just don't look like a good side. Even when winning.
Now i've not actually made my mind up about Hughes. I like him, he comes across well, he says the right things, he backs the club 100% in the media, he almost tapped up John Terry, he got the best out of Ireland last season, he tries to shut the media up about Robinho. I like the guy. But the above worries me. I feel eventually he probably will become a very good manager, but at the moment i'm worried about our team. I guess time will tell and gelling will help a lot, but in the mean-time, are the Hughes outers justified?
