in the defence of the hughes outers

[Anonymous]

I never said I think Jose would take the job. I think those two are probably the world class managers who are referred to in the article you were talking about. Personally, I think there is zero chance of Mourinho joining us either now or in the summer.

As for why the club shouldn't make the change now or mid season? Because it would be a fucking joke and would go against everything that they have preached about Hughes being given a chance to deliver. It would be knee jerk, it would be reactionary, and it would not be in keeping with the professional, calculated, and clever way in which they do business. If they sack Mark Hughes now, or in January, it begs the obvious question of why not just have done it in the summer...

a 17 month tenure is hardly knee-jerk.

i would have got rid last year, and at least i am consistent in my view, however i feel that Khaldoon has placed a lot of trust in Garry Cook and as has been covered on here before i think Cook and Hughes have done a good job of covering each others back through this transitional period.

i now believe though that the sands of time are running out for Hughes and that he realises this and that is why he is going safety first as one horrific result could mean the end, i also think that Cook has been conspicuous by his absence recently and has not come out making any statements bar the one in Abu Dhabi when he said that our start had been o.k., nothing bad but not great.

I suppose things could be viewed like that.

Like I said, any change during the season would fly in the fact of everything which ADUG have preached since they took over. I think they are men of their word, and as such Hughes will be given a chance to fulfill whatever targets have been set for him this season. If he fails, the summer will be the time to act...

 

[Anonymous]

For many, they may get their wish a lot sooner than they think...

I imagine it won't be long before the ITK's will be out in force telling us that Mourinho is nailed on in Jan or the summer...

We had the same for most of last season...forgive me if I'm a little skeptical...

 

[blueonblue]

I ment a trip as in fall over............an notice no one answered if they were confident

 

[lionheart]

For many, they may get their wish a lot sooner than they think...

I imagine it won't be long before the ITK's will be out in force telling us that Mourinho is nailed on in Jan or the summer...

Jose Mourinho will be coming in January to make absolutely certain that we reach the Champions League, while Hughes will move to Bolton in a fight for Premiership survival, more his style. You read it here...

 

[Bill]

For many, they may get their wish a lot sooner than they think...

i said a while back that the jan window will tell us everything, if we get say 10m to spend hughes is a dead man walking, get 100m and he's here for the duration.
will he make it to january? not if we draw another 6.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

last season Arsenal finished fourth with 72 points, and the season before, it was liverpool with 76, so I do understand where you are coming from, but over the last ten years the average has been 67.5 points (1.77 points per game). We are currently on 1.66, which amounts to 63 points over the season, which is around the average for 5th and 6th.

No we're not, we're currently on 1.75 which is not enough this season so far!

Einstein & Turing must be quaking in their graves.

If you did your research properly you'd realise we've actually played 5 home games and 7 away. To get an average of 2 points per game we need to get 3 per home game and 1 per away game. Obviously we won't win every home game and we would hope to win some away games but that's a much better way of assessing progress. The last few seasons 4th place points have been 72, 76, 68, 67, 61 so that 2 points per game should be good enough for top 4.

So to be on target for top 4 we should be on 22 at the moment (5x3 plus 7x1) and we've actually got 21.

 

[onceabluealways]

yes we ar still learning and growing as a team, but some thingsjust don't sit right.

We have played at home with 2 defensive midfielders against average oposition, WHY. IMHO this is just sheer bad management from someone with our squad looking to break into the top 4. Rafa is making the same mistake playing Lucas and Mascherano which is one of the reasons they are having the same problems. The difference is he doesn't have many other options but we do. Whe MH dropped Dejong for the home game against burnley anyone who has watched City this season knew that in the run up to that game He was playing much better than Barry (who looks tired IMO, maybe carrying an injury).

I understand some of the results are also down to individual mistakes, that happens. But lets be honest here someone tell me a game were we have dominated from start to finish except the odd 5-10 minutes, Burnley have still scored more at City than against th other 5 teams they have played away, evn west ham, Fulham and pompey had good spells in their games against us. This is down to Team formation / tactics and commitment from start to finish which MH ownes the responsibility for.

I'm as patient as the next man, but i expect to at least see major improvement especially when you spend 150mill. What i actually see is a lot of good players who play well at times in spite of th formation / tactics.

 

[C_T_I_D]

If Benitez is making the same decision as Hughes in terms of that tactic and both are aiming for top four then there must be something about it in my opinion onceabluealways. One of the above won the European Cup once upon a time and pushed the rags all the way last season for the title. That's his credentials despite this seasons antics.

I think Hughes needs time. He's improved us by making us harder to beat, we've lost one game this season, we're not losing games that we would have last season and once the defence improves we'll be fine. We're still in touching distance with the top four so chill your beans and relax. 6 draws on the trot isn't that great but it hasn't done us major damage either.

 

[onceabluealways]

C_T_I_D - As I said rafas problem is he doesn't have options he has to play Lucas and Masch as he never replaced alonso except for a guy thats injured.

I beg to differ the last 6 results have damaged us - we were in a commanding position now even with a game in hand we can't catch Tottenham, only wolves have got less points from their last 6 games than us. We look at times like a team who can't WIN. Yes it might improve as we do have a lot of very good players but IMO Hughes is making mistakes and he is paid a lot of money to do a better job. its no good MH spouting about all the stuff that has improved behind the scenes is main focus is what happens on the pitch and thats were i think he is getting it wrong. Hopefully he'll turn it round and I'll hold my hands up that i was wrong.

 

[Anonymous]

I've backed Hughes from the fence so far this season.Having now acquired "his" team I thought that it made sense to let him see it through.
And we're not far away from being a top-quality side able to compete with anyone.When it clicks we're great-we just don't do it consitantly enough,or go on to kill teams off clinically like Chelsea.
Arguably,it has to be said- down to tactics.
The Hull game is a real watershed for me.
On paper,it's lambs to the slaughter.The sort of match Chelsea,Arsenal or the rags would probably relish with glee after a decent point at Anfield.
We won't get many better chances than this to get ourselves back on track.
If we fail to perform in this game the way we should and begin to fall into mid table,then I think that Hughes will start to come under justifiable pressure.