Hughes' Legacy

[Fuzzmaster101]

I don't think also that Hughes was buying players to fit Mancini's bizarre 4-3-1-2 formation but to fit his favoured 4-3-3 where only 1 attacking midfielder is needed and 2 players who are wingers/strikers (i.e. Petrov, SWP, Bellamy, Tevez). I don't think he could have envisaged a subsequent manager playing two tall target men up front and no wingers on to cross balls in for them as on Tuesday. If the team is deficient then I can't see where. We had 3 central midfielders on against Stoke (all of whom do not get forward enough) and three attacking midfielders sitting on the bench. Wierdness!

you have to remember swp did nothing when he came on and has been inconsistent since re joining city, also ireland has been average now for a while, it seems to me that if a manager tries different players and different formations and performances are still pretty average then maybe the problem is that the players arent good enough collectively to reach the next level, its a cop out to say if so and so played we would turn into a decent team

But was given MOTM in the cup game against Stoke! I thought Bridge was to be honest but Sweep was pretty decent. You need a mostly settled team playing regularly together to accurately assess a players true abilities. We haven't had that all season due to one thing or another (suspensions, injuries, ACN, manager changes). I think Ireland is a potential top four quality player given consistant games in a fairly stable squad. He is still very young.

 

[hilts]

you have to remember swp did nothing when he came on and has been inconsistent since re joining city, also ireland has been average now for a while, it seems to me that if a manager tries different players and different formations and performances are still pretty average then maybe the problem is that the players arent good enough collectively to reach the next level, its a cop out to say if so and so played we would turn into a decent team

But was given MOTM in the cup game against Stoke! I thought Bridge was to be honest but Sweep was pretty decent. You need a mostly settled team playing regularly together to accurately assess a players true abilities. We haven't had that all season due to one thing or another (suspensions, injuries, ACN, manager changes). I think Ireland is a potential top four quality player given consistant games in a fairly stable squad. He is still very young.

problem with ireland and swp is consistency, top four players put in 7/10 performances most of the time, city's wekaness is that we never seem to get most of the team playing to a high level at the same time, there has not been many games this year when we could say all the team played well, even in the games we have won there have been periods in the game when we have been outplayed, i cant think of many games if any when we have dominated and looked comfortable

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

I apologise in advance for the length of my post but I feel a thorough assessment is required.

I have to say that for the money Hughes was given, he should have been able to assemble a top 'team.' It is all well and good for people to say that we should have given him more time, but you have to understand that there is nothing in Hughes' past that suggests that he is good enough to be a top manager. All the talk about best 'up and coming' manager is an attempt to mask the distinct lack of quality British managers (anyone remember what happened to the last best 'up and coming' British manager who was given a top job, that Steve 'wally with the brolley' McClaren). You cannot give people time based on a distinct lack of previous credentials. This is the case in all walks of life, if someone's experience extended to filing their dad's tax returns, they could not just walk into a job at KPMG! Hughes did not qualify for a major tournament with Wales and the highlight of his managerial career is finishing 7th with Blackburn. Many give comparisons with Ferguson and say well he did not achieve in his first few seasons with the Rags but was still given time. The important difference between the situations is that Ferguson had already achieved something is his career having broken the Rangers/Celtic duopoly with Aberdeen and then going on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way!

A taste of Hughes as a manager was when at the end of last season he said that it was unfair that Harry Redknapp got a lot of praise for finishing 9th and he did not for finishing 10th! Twitcher took the Tottenham job with them bottom of the table with 2 points from 8 games! Hughes took a team which finished 9th the year before (would have been higher but Sven was told he was out before the end of the season hence the shocking end of season form i.e. 8-1 loss to 'boro) spent over 70m (NOT including the 50m signings of Jo and Robinho, as much as everyone hates the latter he was our top scorer last year) and finished one place lower in 10th and wanted praise for such an outstanding achievement!

Although many on this forum have said Hughes bought well, I am afraid I disagree, any 12 year old with even rudimentary knowledge of the Premier League could have bought those players. He did not seem to want to leave his comfort zone, so decided to not to look further then the end of his nose for talent without any thought about how they would play together. There were no unearthed gems or inspired signings, bar perhaps Kompany. Some may argue that De Jong was an exceptional buy but that was for 17m (would have been 2.5m at the end of the season), hardly cheap. You may argue well 'we can afford it' so who cares, but I think that is an extremely immature viewpoint. If you were a millionaire and wanted a Ferrari would you pay twice the price for it, just because you could afford it?

The team assembled by Hughes is very disjointed and I am amazed at the lack of players who can actually pass the ball. If you look at any of the top sides, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barca, Madrid, Inter, Milan, they move the ball around with consummate ease. For the amount of money spent we should have players who can pass the ball better.

I have nothing against Hughes personally and in fact I do have some sympathy for him, in that we were never going to sign the big players (Kaka, Terry) and it was very difficult to attract good players to the club, but I still think he should have done better. I feel many people on this forum wrongly believe (perhaps due to the limited success of this club and lack of top players for the last few decades, or maybe the good results against, Arsenal and Chelsea) that many of our players are among the best in the League. Prime examples of this are the superlatives thrown at players like De Jong and Barry. I have said on this forum before that I believe this is where the main weakness in our team lies. I find the comparisons between De Jong and Makelee completely unwarranted the latter was the engine of a Real Madrid team that won the Champions League and could actually pass the ball around. De Jong does things well, he is a fighter, he puts his foot in, he gets into the oppositions faces, but for the level we want to be at he should be able to pass the ball much better. His first instinct when he gets the ball is turn around and pass it backwards, when in reality that should be the last choice, once all other options are exhausted. Barry, again is praised and while he has produced for Villa and England, he looks poor in a city shirt. If he is carrying an injury then I am prepared to give him time, but a couple of decent performances does not warrant him to be classed among the best midfield players in the league (Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Gerard, Mascharano, Fabregas).

People keep blaming Mancini for not playing Ireland and SWP, but fail to remember that these two players are out of form and are unlikely to just produce in the middle of a match. Lots of people also wanted to see Santa Cruz and Adebayor play together but when that happens, Mancini is again criticised for poor team selection. Understandably, many are feeling frustrated by our recent performances, but Mancini can only work with what he has got until the end of the season. The reason I feel that he deserves some time is that unlike Hughes he has achieved success in his previous clubs. Whatever people think about the standard of the Seria A, not anyone can just become the manager of Inter, the are owned by Billionaire Moratti and he has high standards. Of course, Mancini had a lot of luck but 3 Seria A titles (in a row) and cup wins with Fiorentina and Lazio are not to be hastily dismissed.

Also, to Mancini's credit he identified our weaknesses in midfield, while everyone on here was still going on about our defence and attempted to address the problem in the January window, but unfortunately we could not sign Mariga, Gago or Flamini. I also, feel that good results have masked a lot of our deficiencies (namely our lack of passing and movement). Mancini probably thought he did not need to do add too much to a winning team and spent most of his time planning for the CC semi with the Rags and by the time he realised that we had problems the window had closed.

It will take time for the players to adjust to a completely different system and although early signs are not encouraging we are somehow still 4th in the table with a game in hand and have a cup replay at Stoke to look forward to. Whatever peoples view, Mancini will be our manager until at least the end of the season, so let us wait until then to make up our minds about him and who if anyone should replace him. Mourinho is not taking over next week, no matter how badly people want him to and I would like to add, even if he did, it would take him at least a few months to stamp his authority on the squad and turn the team into winners.

So let us put all the rumours to bed and back the team to finish the season on a high, there is plenty of time in the summer to assess the situation if things do not improve!

I wholeheartedly agree.

For me the problems stem from the end of last season. He sold Elano, which upset Robinho, which disrupted the Ireland, Elano, Robinho that was the creative force in our team for the team last season, especially at home.

For me I think some of our players are tired, or unfit. Barry is so 1-paced it's silly, and Ireland should have taken a holiday last summer instead of his training regime. There's a lot of uncertainty in the side because no-one bar the ineffective partnership of De Jong and Barry and Given play every game. Also it seems impossible for us to have a team with everyone on form. Either Tevez is on fire, or SWP has a great game or Bellamy shines, but very rarely do all 3 come together in a game. We haven't hammered anyone this season, there's no consistency or creativity, we're really limited.

Mancini is getting used to us, the players are getting used to him. It was the worst time for him to come in, and he probably saw our results, saw all the games we conceded 2 or 3 goals a game and focused on the defence. I think he may be over-compensating but it will take time, TIME, something City fans have no concept of because it's been driven into us to expect managerial changes if we're not winning all the time, that because we've had chairmen who were trigger happy it's filtered into the fans who have become increasingly impatient, and now they're targeting Mancini, because well, it's how we've learnt to expect things. We have to give him time, we have to be patient and realise it won't happen overnight, and we have to have absolute faith in him, in a manager for once.

Mancini just has to work with what he's got, it's not ideal, but it's life. We as fans should grow up and be patient for once, from where we were 10 years ago it's astonishing how people can complain. I trust Mancini, and want him to see out his contract, we have to build a long term thing now, I just wish other fans would be as patient and realistic.

 

[scorer]

I apologise in advance for the length of my post but I feel a thorough assessment is required.

I have to say that for the money Hughes was given, he should have been able to assemble a top 'team.' It is all well and good for people to say that we should have given him more time, but you have to understand that there is nothing in Hughes' past that suggests that he is good enough to be a top manager. All the talk about best 'up and coming' manager is an attempt to mask the distinct lack of quality British managers (anyone remember what happened to the last best 'up and coming' British manager who was given a top job, that Steve 'wally with the brolley' McClaren). You cannot give people time based on a distinct lack of previous credentials. This is the case in all walks of life, if someone's experience extended to filing their dad's tax returns, they could not just walk into a job at KPMG! Hughes did not qualify for a major tournament with Wales and the highlight of his managerial career is finishing 7th with Blackburn. Many give comparisons with Ferguson and say well he did not achieve in his first few seasons with the Rags but was still given time. The important difference between the situations is that Ferguson had already achieved something is his career having broken the Rangers/Celtic duopoly with Aberdeen and then going on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way!

A taste of Hughes as a manager was when at the end of last season he said that it was unfair that Harry Redknapp got a lot of praise for finishing 9th and he did not for finishing 10th! Twitcher took the Tottenham job with them bottom of the table with 2 points from 8 games! Hughes took a team which finished 9th the year before (would have been higher but Sven was told he was out before the end of the season hence the shocking end of season form i.e. 8-1 loss to 'boro) spent over 70m (NOT including the 50m signings of Jo and Robinho, as much as everyone hates the latter he was our top scorer last year) and finished one place lower in 10th and wanted praise for such an outstanding achievement!

Although many on this forum have said Hughes bought well, I am afraid I disagree, any 12 year old with even rudimentary knowledge of the Premier League could have bought those players. He did not seem to want to leave his comfort zone, so decided to not to look further then the end of his nose for talent without any thought about how they would play together. There were no unearthed gems or inspired signings, bar perhaps Kompany. Some may argue that De Jong was an exceptional buy but that was for 17m (would have been 2.5m at the end of the season), hardly cheap. You may argue well 'we can afford it' so who cares, but I think that is an extremely immature viewpoint. If you were a millionaire and wanted a Ferrari would you pay twice the price for it, just because you could afford it?

The team assembled by Hughes is very disjointed and I am amazed at the lack of players who can actually pass the ball. If you look at any of the top sides, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barca, Madrid, Inter, Milan, they move the ball around with consummate ease. For the amount of money spent we should have players who can pass the ball better.

I have nothing against Hughes personally and in fact I do have some sympathy for him, in that we were never going to sign the big players (Kaka, Terry) and it was very difficult to attract good players to the club, but I still think he should have done better. I feel many people on this forum wrongly believe (perhaps due to the limited success of this club and lack of top players for the last few decades, or maybe the good results against, Arsenal and Chelsea) that many of our players are among the best in the League. Prime examples of this are the superlatives thrown at players like De Jong and Barry. I have said on this forum before that I believe this is where the main weakness in our team lies. I find the comparisons between De Jong and Makelee completely unwarranted the latter was the engine of a Real Madrid team that won the Champions League and could actually pass the ball around. De Jong does things well, he is a fighter, he puts his foot in, he gets into the oppositions faces, but for the level we want to be at he should be able to pass the ball much better. His first instinct when he gets the ball is turn around and pass it backwards, when in reality that should be the last choice, once all other options are exhausted. Barry, again is praised and while he has produced for Villa and England, he looks poor in a city shirt. If he is carrying an injury then I am prepared to give him time, but a couple of decent performances does not warrant him to be classed among the best midfield players in the league (Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Gerard, Mascharano, Fabregas).

People keep blaming Mancini for not playing Ireland and SWP, but fail to remember that these two players are out of form and are unlikely to just produce in the middle of a match. Lots of people also wanted to see Santa Cruz and Adebayor play together but when that happens, Mancini is again criticised for poor team selection. Understandably, many are feeling frustrated by our recent performances, but Mancini can only work with what he has got until the end of the season. The reason I feel that he deserves some time is that unlike Hughes he has achieved success in his previous clubs. Whatever people think about the standard of the Seria A, not anyone can just become the manager of Inter, the are owned by Billionaire Moratti and he has high standards. Of course, Mancini had a lot of luck but 3 Seria A titles (in a row) and cup wins with Fiorentina and Lazio are not to be hastily dismissed.

Also, to Mancini's credit he identified our weaknesses in midfield, while everyone on here was still going on about our defence and attempted to address the problem in the January window, but unfortunately we could not sign Mariga, Gago or Flamini. I also, feel that good results have masked a lot of our deficiencies (namely our lack of passing and movement). Mancini probably thought he did not need to do add too much to a winning team and spent most of his time planning for the CC semi with the Rags and by the time he realised that we had problems the window had closed.

It will take time for the players to adjust to a completely different system and although early signs are not encouraging we are somehow still 4th in the table with a game in hand and have a cup replay at Stoke to look forward to. Whatever peoples view, Mancini will be our manager until at least the end of the season, so let us wait until then to make up our minds about him and who if anyone should replace him. Mourinho is not taking over next week, no matter how badly people want him to and I would like to add, even if he did, it would take him at least a few months to stamp his authority on the squad and turn the team into winners.

So let us put all the rumours to bed and back the team to finish the season on a high, there is plenty of time in the summer to assess the situation if things do not improve!

Possibly the best and most articulate post ever posted on this site.

Gold star - 10/10 - go to the top of the class and you're milk monitor for the rest of the term!!

PS are you a Times Journalist?

 

[City Raider]

the three signings he made for central midfield, kompany, de jong and barry, have collectively scored four goals in ninety-eight appearances. i think this is what i think mancini is referring to when talking about 'changing the mentality' - we just don't have the midfield to drive us forward and why we never seem to have enough players busting a gut to join the attack. can't explain why bobby bought vieira though!
it would have been interesting to see if this mariga fella could have done the business.

but he keeps picking them!

 

[M18CTID]

What I don't get is that many people were saying Hughes should've had us higher up the table at the time of his sacking - some were even saying that we should've been aiming to win the league this season because of the players Hughes signed. That may well be true and perhaps Hughes wasn't the man to take us on to the next level. Indeed, Mancini stated at the time of his appointment that top 4 was his aim this season. A week or so later he made an even bolder statement, saying that the players he had were better than he originally thought and that we should be aiming for the title this season. While I never thought this was realistically possible, what his comments told me is that he was very happy with the squad of players he inherited aside from a couple of areas that needed strengthening so as to give him the chance to impose his own style on the team.

Now all of a sudden some of those people are saying Mancini has inherited a shit squad with shit players. What a crock of shit. I fully accept that he has to change a few things and bring a few new players in to get us playing his style of football and playing it well, but the quality of players at the club is better than any I've seen in the past 30 years. How people can suddenly say Shay Given is crap on the back of a few dodgy games when he's been outstanding for most of the last 12 months is utterly beyond me. As for De Jong, almost everyone was raving about him a few short weeks ago - now he's complete bobbins. The signing of Gareth Barry was almost universally praised at the time but because he's not been at his best recently - understandably because he's been carrying a groin injury - he's now turned into a one-paced, one-dimensional player who's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Of course all this is being blamed on Hughes in some quarters because he left Mancini with a worse squad than we had under Alan Ball and Frank Clark according to some.

 

[Shooter 83]

I apologise in advance for the length of my post but I feel a thorough assessment is required.

I have to say that for the money Hughes was given, he should have been able to assemble a top 'team.' It is all well and good for people to say that we should have given him more time, but you have to understand that there is nothing in Hughes' past that suggests that he is good enough to be a top manager. All the talk about best 'up and coming' manager is an attempt to mask the distinct lack of quality British managers (anyone remember what happened to the last best 'up and coming' British manager who was given a top job, that Steve 'wally with the brolley' McClaren). You cannot give people time based on a distinct lack of previous credentials. This is the case in all walks of life, if someone's experience extended to filing their dad's tax returns, they could not just walk into a job at KPMG! Hughes did not qualify for a major tournament with Wales and the highlight of his managerial career is finishing 7th with Blackburn. Many give comparisons with Ferguson and say well he did not achieve in his first few seasons with the Rags but was still given time. The important difference between the situations is that Ferguson had already achieved something is his career having broken the Rangers/Celtic duopoly with Aberdeen and then going on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way!

A taste of Hughes as a manager was when at the end of last season he said that it was unfair that Harry Redknapp got a lot of praise for finishing 9th and he did not for finishing 10th! Twitcher took the Tottenham job with them bottom of the table with 2 points from 8 games! Hughes took a team which finished 9th the year before (would have been higher but Sven was told he was out before the end of the season hence the shocking end of season form i.e. 8-1 loss to 'boro) spent over 70m (NOT including the 50m signings of Jo and Robinho, as much as everyone hates the latter he was our top scorer last year) and finished one place lower in 10th and wanted praise for such an outstanding achievement!

Although many on this forum have said Hughes bought well, I am afraid I disagree, any 12 year old with even rudimentary knowledge of the Premier League could have bought those players. He did not seem to want to leave his comfort zone, so decided to not to look further then the end of his nose for talent without any thought about how they would play together. There were no unearthed gems or inspired signings, bar perhaps Kompany. Some may argue that De Jong was an exceptional buy but that was for 17m (would have been 2.5m at the end of the season), hardly cheap. You may argue well 'we can afford it' so who cares, but I think that is an extremely immature viewpoint. If you were a millionaire and wanted a Ferrari would you pay twice the price for it, just because you could afford it?

The team assembled by Hughes is very disjointed and I am amazed at the lack of players who can actually pass the ball. If you look at any of the top sides, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barca, Madrid, Inter, Milan, they move the ball around with consummate ease. For the amount of money spent we should have players who can pass the ball better.

I have nothing against Hughes personally and in fact I do have some sympathy for him, in that we were never going to sign the big players (Kaka, Terry) and it was very difficult to attract good players to the club, but I still think he should have done better. I feel many people on this forum wrongly believe (perhaps due to the limited success of this club and lack of top players for the last few decades, or maybe the good results against, Arsenal and Chelsea) that many of our players are among the best in the League. Prime examples of this are the superlatives thrown at players like De Jong and Barry. I have said on this forum before that I believe this is where the main weakness in our team lies. I find the comparisons between De Jong and Makelee completely unwarranted the latter was the engine of a Real Madrid team that won the Champions League and could actually pass the ball around. De Jong does things well, he is a fighter, he puts his foot in, he gets into the oppositions faces, but for the level we want to be at he should be able to pass the ball much better. His first instinct when he gets the ball is turn around and pass it backwards, when in reality that should be the last choice, once all other options are exhausted. Barry, again is praised and while he has produced for Villa and England, he looks poor in a city shirt. If he is carrying an injury then I am prepared to give him time, but a couple of decent performances does not warrant him to be classed among the best midfield players in the league (Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Gerard, Mascharano, Fabregas).

People keep blaming Mancini for not playing Ireland and SWP, but fail to remember that these two players are out of form and are unlikely to just produce in the middle of a match. Lots of people also wanted to see Santa Cruz and Adebayor play together but when that happens, Mancini is again criticised for poor team selection. Understandably, many are feeling frustrated by our recent performances, but Mancini can only work with what he has got until the end of the season. The reason I feel that he deserves some time is that unlike Hughes he has achieved success in his previous clubs. Whatever people think about the standard of the Seria A, not anyone can just become the manager of Inter, the are owned by Billionaire Moratti and he has high standards. Of course, Mancini had a lot of luck but 3 Seria A titles (in a row) and cup wins with Fiorentina and Lazio are not to be hastily dismissed.

Also, to Mancini's credit he identified our weaknesses in midfield, while everyone on here was still going on about our defence and attempted to address the problem in the January window, but unfortunately we could not sign Mariga, Gago or Flamini. I also, feel that good results have masked a lot of our deficiencies (namely our lack of passing and movement). Mancini probably thought he did not need to do add too much to a winning team and spent most of his time planning for the CC semi with the Rags and by the time he realised that we had problems the window had closed.

It will take time for the players to adjust to a completely different system and although early signs are not encouraging we are somehow still 4th in the table with a game in hand and have a cup replay at Stoke to look forward to. Whatever peoples view, Mancini will be our manager until at least the end of the season, so let us wait until then to make up our minds about him and who if anyone should replace him. Mourinho is not taking over next week, no matter how badly people want him to and I would like to add, even if he did, it would take him at least a few months to stamp his authority on the squad and turn the team into winners.

So let us put all the rumours to bed and back the team to finish the season on a high, there is plenty of time in the summer to assess the situation if things do not improve!

Good post but...

De Jong was an exceptional buy but that was for 17m (would have been 2.5m at the end of the season)

God know's how many time's we have been through this. That is not true.

Lots of people also wanted to see Santa Cruz and Adebayor play together but when that happens, Mancini is again criticised for poor team selection.

You play them 2 if you have 2 wingers, not 3 defensive minded Mid's.

 

[Balti]

These players have beaten Chelsea, Arsenal and Manure. It's not the players for me although form of course varies.

It's the formation and the square pegs in round holes. Mark Hughes cannot be blamed for that. Mancini did what I hoped he would do and changed us so that we could finally see a game out. Trouble is he now seems intent on doing this from kick-off rather than changing things once we have built a decent lead!

 

[IFeedGoats]

His legacy is the damage the usless c*nt inflicted on the club at every level.

Take bow son, lol.....
My sentiments exactly, we sold good players and replaced them with mediocre players.
Dunne and Elano in this team would be wonderful

Semi final and 4th in the league with the players he bought, hardly inflicting damage is it?

 

[Blue Train]

I apologise in advance for the length of my post but I feel a thorough assessment is required.

I have to say that for the money Hughes was given, he should have been able to assemble a top 'team.' It is all well and good for people to say that we should have given him more time, but you have to understand that there is nothing in Hughes' past that suggests that he is good enough to be a top manager. All the talk about best 'up and coming' manager is an attempt to mask the distinct lack of quality British managers (anyone remember what happened to the last best 'up and coming' British manager who was given a top job, that Steve 'wally with the brolley' McClaren). You cannot give people time based on a distinct lack of previous credentials. This is the case in all walks of life, if someone's experience extended to filing their dad's tax returns, they could not just walk into a job at KPMG! Hughes did not qualify for a major tournament with Wales and the highlight of his managerial career is finishing 7th with Blackburn. Many give comparisons with Ferguson and say well he did not achieve in his first few seasons with the Rags but was still given time. The important difference between the situations is that Ferguson had already achieved something is his career having broken the Rangers/Celtic duopoly with Aberdeen and then going on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way!

A taste of Hughes as a manager was when at the end of last season he said that it was unfair that Harry Redknapp got a lot of praise for finishing 9th and he did not for finishing 10th! Twitcher took the Tottenham job with them bottom of the table with 2 points from 8 games! Hughes took a team which finished 9th the year before (would have been higher but Sven was told he was out before the end of the season hence the shocking end of season form i.e. 8-1 loss to 'boro) spent over 70m (NOT including the 50m signings of Jo and Robinho, as much as everyone hates the latter he was our top scorer last year) and finished one place lower in 10th and wanted praise for such an outstanding achievement!

Although many on this forum have said Hughes bought well, I am afraid I disagree, any 12 year old with even rudimentary knowledge of the Premier League could have bought those players. He did not seem to want to leave his comfort zone, so decided to not to look further then the end of his nose for talent without any thought about how they would play together. There were no unearthed gems or inspired signings, bar perhaps Kompany. Some may argue that De Jong was an exceptional buy but that was for 17m (would have been 2.5m at the end of the season), hardly cheap. You may argue well 'we can afford it' so who cares, but I think that is an extremely immature viewpoint. If you were a millionaire and wanted a Ferrari would you pay twice the price for it, just because you could afford it?

The team assembled by Hughes is very disjointed and I am amazed at the lack of players who can actually pass the ball. If you look at any of the top sides, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barca, Madrid, Inter, Milan, they move the ball around with consummate ease. For the amount of money spent we should have players who can pass the ball better.

I have nothing against Hughes personally and in fact I do have some sympathy for him, in that we were never going to sign the big players (Kaka, Terry) and it was very difficult to attract good players to the club, but I still think he should have done better. I feel many people on this forum wrongly believe (perhaps due to the limited success of this club and lack of top players for the last few decades, or maybe the good results against, Arsenal and Chelsea) that many of our players are among the best in the League. Prime examples of this are the superlatives thrown at players like De Jong and Barry. I have said on this forum before that I believe this is where the main weakness in our team lies. I find the comparisons between De Jong and Makelee completely unwarranted the latter was the engine of a Real Madrid team that won the Champions League and could actually pass the ball around. De Jong does things well, he is a fighter, he puts his foot in, he gets into the oppositions faces, but for the level we want to be at he should be able to pass the ball much better. His first instinct when he gets the ball is turn around and pass it backwards, when in reality that should be the last choice, once all other options are exhausted. Barry, again is praised and while he has produced for Villa and England, he looks poor in a city shirt. If he is carrying an injury then I am prepared to give him time, but a couple of decent performances does not warrant him to be classed among the best midfield players in the league (Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Gerard, Mascharano, Fabregas).

People keep blaming Mancini for not playing Ireland and SWP, but fail to remember that these two players are out of form and are unlikely to just produce in the middle of a match. Lots of people also wanted to see Santa Cruz and Adebayor play together but when that happens, Mancini is again criticised for poor team selection. Understandably, many are feeling frustrated by our recent performances, but Mancini can only work with what he has got until the end of the season. The reason I feel that he deserves some time is that unlike Hughes he has achieved success in his previous clubs. Whatever people think about the standard of the Seria A, not anyone can just become the manager of Inter, the are owned by Billionaire Moratti and he has high standards. Of course, Mancini had a lot of luck but 3 Seria A titles (in a row) and cup wins with Fiorentina and Lazio are not to be hastily dismissed.

Also, to Mancini's credit he identified our weaknesses in midfield, while everyone on here was still going on about our defence and attempted to address the problem in the January window, but unfortunately we could not sign Mariga, Gago or Flamini. I also, feel that good results have masked a lot of our deficiencies (namely our lack of passing and movement). Mancini probably thought he did not need to do add too much to a winning team and spent most of his time planning for the CC semi with the Rags and by the time he realised that we had problems the window had closed.

It will take time for the players to adjust to a completely different system and although early signs are not encouraging we are somehow still 4th in the table with a game in hand and have a cup replay at Stoke to look forward to. Whatever peoples view, Mancini will be our manager until at least the end of the season, so let us wait until then to make up our minds about him and who if anyone should replace him. Mourinho is not taking over next week, no matter how badly people want him to and I would like to add, even if he did, it would take him at least a few months to stamp his authority on the squad and turn the team into winners.

So let us put all the rumours to bed and back the team to finish the season on a high, there is plenty of time in the summer to assess the situation if things do not improve!

Possibly the best and most articulate post ever posted on this site.

Gold star - 10/10 - go to the top of the class and you're milk monitor for the rest of the term!!

PS are you a Times Journalist?

Agree totally. Gets it spot on for Hughes's shortcomings as a manager and his comfort zone signings. The only thing I'd argue with is the bit about De Jong and how we could have bought him cheaper at the end of the season. Not true. But spot on with how limited that player really is.

Post of the Year, for me.