bizzbo
Well-Known Member
Re: DISGUSTED
wrong, maybe
but how was this handled badly? once they decided, they did it as quickly as they could, they didn't leave him hanging out to dry. it would have been plain irresponsible to get rid of him before a replacement was lined up. it's always ugly when someone is sacked but hughes went out with his head held high, on a win and a wave.
I know he's had some bad luck, but I am suprised he wasn't given the next few games to turn it around, but you could see today just what is wrong with us... complete defensive chaos. I can't agree with those who think it would have been easy for Hughes to sort out. It was first highlighted after the derby: over the last 6 weeks it has got much, much worse.
I also wonder if he was having problems in the dressing room. I'm not convinced that he had much support. Players aren't idiots. Succesful professional football teams are built from the back. The defenders have been made to look like complete idiots, and the forwards have repeatedly turned in incredible performances but still ended up without the win. Let's not forget we have the best goalkeeper in the land, but still managed to concede 15 in our our last six, many of those to very poor teams. I also think his behaviour in this time has been a little odd, his interviews and statements have been at times poorly judged, he's picked some silly fights, and made a lot of excuses. He was extremely agitated in the Arsenal game, he looked a bit out of control.
After a great result and performance against Chelsea we went straight back to square one against Bolton, were we were unlucky, tenacious, brilliant in attack and shocking in other areas. Everything came to a head in the crucial Tottenham game, and it was probably the final straw when his glaring, inexplicable failure to address their threats led to an abject performance and result. The performance of individual players was shocking on the night, which may excuse him, or suggest they felt let down by him. Personally it sat very badly with me that he blamed the Tottenham defeat on the players, when we all know his gameplan put some of them in an impossible position.
Happily today he was back to his dignified self.
Player problems, excuses, defensive lapses, bad line-ups. These are the same problems that dogged him a year ago, and he was responding in the same way, shifting the blame onto the players, and seeking security in more expensive 'premiership proven' players. It was a recipie for a bad situation, another 5 months of bickering and infighting, whilst he fought to stay in the job. It was looking unlikely he could reignite the season, we risked alienating more players, and there was no prospect of any real work being done for the long-term.
He said 'give me my own players and staff, and it will be different', but the same problems were emerging, the same quick fixes were being sought.
We are talking about hundreds of millions of pounds of someone's money.
If they felt uneasy about giving him any more, I think I understand that fully.
They call the shots. They gave him an unbelievable professional opportunity, and they have the right to decide it's not working out. They could have treated him infinitely worse, humiliated him, dragged it out over months whilst they courted others. As it happens he left on a good note, and on the face of it the win makes the decision to remove him look particularly harsh.
Having said all of that, I am not convinced about the appointment. We'll see. I hope we improve tactically and technically, that our transfer horizons now extend beyond the limited pool of established, mature, phsyically capable premiership players who are available at that time. We have too many good players who don't fit together. A few genuinely technical players and a world class defender might be the missing links that give us 1 or more genuinely balanced, competent, tight formations. We have to start taking control of games and shutting out opponents, rather than being nicking the odd winner in a chaotic free-for-all. Maybe Mancini has some ideas on this. He's been on gardening leave (for contractual reasons) for a long time, and he will have been watching us closely for over a year. And he speaks English, don't worry about that. If it doesn't work out, so be it, but it's worth trying something different at this point.
wrong, maybe
but how was this handled badly? once they decided, they did it as quickly as they could, they didn't leave him hanging out to dry. it would have been plain irresponsible to get rid of him before a replacement was lined up. it's always ugly when someone is sacked but hughes went out with his head held high, on a win and a wave.
I know he's had some bad luck, but I am suprised he wasn't given the next few games to turn it around, but you could see today just what is wrong with us... complete defensive chaos. I can't agree with those who think it would have been easy for Hughes to sort out. It was first highlighted after the derby: over the last 6 weeks it has got much, much worse.
I also wonder if he was having problems in the dressing room. I'm not convinced that he had much support. Players aren't idiots. Succesful professional football teams are built from the back. The defenders have been made to look like complete idiots, and the forwards have repeatedly turned in incredible performances but still ended up without the win. Let's not forget we have the best goalkeeper in the land, but still managed to concede 15 in our our last six, many of those to very poor teams. I also think his behaviour in this time has been a little odd, his interviews and statements have been at times poorly judged, he's picked some silly fights, and made a lot of excuses. He was extremely agitated in the Arsenal game, he looked a bit out of control.
After a great result and performance against Chelsea we went straight back to square one against Bolton, were we were unlucky, tenacious, brilliant in attack and shocking in other areas. Everything came to a head in the crucial Tottenham game, and it was probably the final straw when his glaring, inexplicable failure to address their threats led to an abject performance and result. The performance of individual players was shocking on the night, which may excuse him, or suggest they felt let down by him. Personally it sat very badly with me that he blamed the Tottenham defeat on the players, when we all know his gameplan put some of them in an impossible position.
Happily today he was back to his dignified self.
Player problems, excuses, defensive lapses, bad line-ups. These are the same problems that dogged him a year ago, and he was responding in the same way, shifting the blame onto the players, and seeking security in more expensive 'premiership proven' players. It was a recipie for a bad situation, another 5 months of bickering and infighting, whilst he fought to stay in the job. It was looking unlikely he could reignite the season, we risked alienating more players, and there was no prospect of any real work being done for the long-term.
He said 'give me my own players and staff, and it will be different', but the same problems were emerging, the same quick fixes were being sought.
We are talking about hundreds of millions of pounds of someone's money.
If they felt uneasy about giving him any more, I think I understand that fully.
They call the shots. They gave him an unbelievable professional opportunity, and they have the right to decide it's not working out. They could have treated him infinitely worse, humiliated him, dragged it out over months whilst they courted others. As it happens he left on a good note, and on the face of it the win makes the decision to remove him look particularly harsh.
Having said all of that, I am not convinced about the appointment. We'll see. I hope we improve tactically and technically, that our transfer horizons now extend beyond the limited pool of established, mature, phsyically capable premiership players who are available at that time. We have too many good players who don't fit together. A few genuinely technical players and a world class defender might be the missing links that give us 1 or more genuinely balanced, competent, tight formations. We have to start taking control of games and shutting out opponents, rather than being nicking the odd winner in a chaotic free-for-all. Maybe Mancini has some ideas on this. He's been on gardening leave (for contractual reasons) for a long time, and he will have been watching us closely for over a year. And he speaks English, don't worry about that. If it doesn't work out, so be it, but it's worth trying something different at this point.