Players have their say - and we should listen

[JohnMaddocksAxe]

Here's another interpretation.

Squad behind the manager - whenever has there been a "we hate the manager" story at any club? Even at the most divided club they can always wheel out someone to spout this line. Professional football is full of people for whom spin (that's lying to you and me) is seen as just something you do. Very few of them will ever say they are not backing the manager, even if their performances and other actions suggest otherwise.

For what it is worth, I suspect the vast majority of the squad do back the manager, even if some may not. They are virtually all his buys and that counts for something.

On the other hand, who gives a shit whether they love him or don't particularly like him, It's his ability to get them playing, not be their best mate that I'm interested in (although interestingly many of the most respected managers are seen as inspirational or father figure type personalities by their squads - something that Hughes himself admits is most definitely 'not him')


Blame the players, not the manager - What, again? Just like last season?

Well, some of us were eager to blame the players and not the manager last season. Are the same people going to swallow the same stuff again this season?

Is it not true that most top managers actually do their best to deflect pressure from their team and take the responsibility? And if so, why does this look like the start of a second consecutive season of stories that look designed to actually do the opposite and put pressure on the players and not the manager.

Hughes resorted to the old "the players are suffering because the crowd are making them nervous" line at the weekend. So how exactly does the players being depicted as being responsible for everything help with that? Surely, if that line were correct then the only correct tactic would be to do everything to take the pressure off them - not to let them take public responsibility whilst acknowledging no responsibilty yourself?

Or was it just anothr in a long line of throw away excuses?

I am not accusing De Jong of lying - many players feel they have broad enough shoulders to take responsibility in public and he is probably genuine in his desire to shoulder responsibility. But, FFS, I would think that something of a similar line coming from the management would be much more in order before they are sanctioning "it's the players' fault" stories for a second season.

 

[blueinsa]

Feck me, £17m for a Press Liason Officer!

I knew we were rich but this is unbelievable.

RSC should concentrate on getting his legs to move...

Nothing but spin from the Hughes 'spin' machine.

 

[PaulPowre]

Quoting Santa press ofiicer Cruz...

"We are a team, a family, all of us are involved in this together"

If this is the case why do they look like a team of individuals on the pitch?

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

I think no matter who came out and said what - even were the good sheikh himself to come on this forum and say whatever, someone would find fault with it.

Criticism is easy, construction is a little more difficult.

 

[Shooter 83]

Player's are doing nothing wrong imo(well most of them). It's the way Hughes set's them up.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

Player's are doing nothing wrong imo(well most of them). It's the way Hughes set's them up.

Agreed. On Saturday I thought the players, individually, played pretty well. Yet as a team we still didn't look very good

 

[moomba]

Is it not true that most top managers actually do their best to deflect pressure from their team and take the responsibility? And if so, why does this look like the start of a second consecutive season of stories that look designed to actually do the opposite and put pressure on the players and not the manager.

Agree with all of that post (not just the highlighted bit), but after reading what De Jong had to say yesterday I was thinking exactly the same thing. Jose was a master at taking the pressure of his team after a bad performance, all the top managers do it. And if we are to believe that there is a crisis of confidence in the squad (no reason not to believe they are lacking a bit of confidence) why aren't we going into the press with stories backing up the players that are suffering most.

If Hughes has the confidence of the chairman and owner (as we're repeatedly led to believe he does) theres absolutely nothing to be gained from this continual talking up of his abilities, lets start focussing on getting the players performing to their capabilities, individually and collectively. Only then IMO will Hughes start to look a competent manager at this club.

 

[moomba]

what would there be to stop one of them saying 'he's not doing his job'. The coffin of Hughes would really be sealed properly if a player did that.

Last person to try something remotely similar was Elano - fined, dropped, publicly criticised, subject of "leaked" articles throughout the year, packed off to Turkey and still being blamed for everything wrong at the club nearly a year later.

 

[whp.blue]

I'm sure these have been posted somewhere before, but bear with me for a good point:

Santa Cruz
Striker says squad all behind manager
link: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11679_5735643,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 43,00.html</a>

De Jong
Blame the players
link: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11679_5734505,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 05,00.html</a>

Two ways to take this

a) Players saying they need to toughen up and perform to their capabilities, hence, the best we can do is back the team on wednesday and make sure they know they have our support to reach the heights they are capable of

b) Players saying that through the 'Hughes media machine'. Means Hughes is, through the backing of higher staff, here for the long run. Moaning won't change that. Instead of drooling over the thought of Hiddink/Mourinho/etc. back Hughes to improve as the Saudi lads so are bright enough to make a couple of mil every hour seem to think he has what it takes.


As biblical and hopeful as it may sound, I just hope we put aside our differences when the team walk onto the pitch and we make the noise to tell them we support them, through thick and thin. Whether we believe in a) or b), the fact is, we need to show to them that they have our support and not hurl abuse at any individual error (on or off the pitch).


No matter how sceptical you are about the media machine, these articles clearly state to me - Hughes ain't going no-where. The players accept (or welcome) it. So should we.

who the fuck are the saudi lads?

 

[JohnMaddocksAxe]

Is it not true that most top managers actually do their best to deflect pressure from their team and take the responsibility? And if so, why does this look like the start of a second consecutive season of stories that look designed to actually do the opposite and put pressure on the players and not the manager.

Agree with all of that post (not just the highlighted bit), but after reading what De Jong had to say yesterday I was thinking exactly the same thing. Jose was a master at taking the pressure of his team after a bad performance, all the top managers do it. And if we are to believe that there is a crisis of confidence in the squad (no reason not to believe they are lacking a bit of confidence) why aren't we going into the press with stories backing up the players that are suffering most.

If Hughes has the confidence of the chairman and owner (as we're repeatedly led to believe he does) theres absolutely nothing to be gained from this continual talking up of his abilities, lets start focussing on getting the players performing to their capabilities, individually and collectively. Only then IMO will Hughes start to look a competent manager at this club.

This is the most distasteful part of the whole regime imo. The constant, and it has been constant, stream of stories, interviews and quotes over the past 18 months, designed to always pass the buck onto someone else - last seasons' players, previous management, this seasons', the fans (unbelievably now), the media and various other candidates and others excuses. Combined with the simultaneous stories banging on about the 'ultra professional', 'football factory', 'man who knows more about Europe's top clubs than any other manager' (playing for Barca, Bayern etc), 'the best coaches in the league', blah, blah, blah.

Now, I'll lay my cards on the table now.

The reason that I do not want him to be given any more time is that I think that this constant, constant spinning, excuse making, blaming and self confessed inability to form relationships with players is a sign of a serious flaw in his managerial personality. He wouldn't be the first or last manager to have a flaw but I, and it's just an opinion, am convinced that he has such a flaw.

I cannot stand people in any line of business who are not honest and who are self serving excuse makers, willing to pass the buck to anyone or say anything to save their own skin. And that is how I view Hughes now. In fact, I have done for some time. Perhaps I have become slightly obsessed but there's plenty of evidence to back up my point of view.

He might be a nice bloke in person - no reason to think other wise - but I am in a position where I now loathe his professional image/style. More than the tactical mistakes, more than the bad results, more than anything else, I just can't stand seeing someone in charge at City who exhibits such traits.

It won't bother some people - fair enough. Some people will think I am going over the top - fair enough. But I just can't stand it and behind all that is the opinion that someone who is so obsessed with never acknowledging responsibility cannot be good for where this club wants to be going. It is not what top managers do. Top players will not respond to it.

No-one, imo, who exhibits this trait to the extreme extent that Hughes has and continues to do so, can ever be successful manager at the very top level.

I would just love him to once, just once, come out and say, "the team has not performed for a long time, just like last season and I take responsibility for that. I've got to work harder and improve my performance because the buck stops with me. So gt off the players' backs."

Even though I wouldn't change my mind on him, he would (not that it's of any concern to anyone) gain a bit of respect from me. But I won't hold my breath. Being full of excuses and constantly being referred to as "not a players' manager" was a hallmark of his time at Blackburn. It's not going to change here.