This could be one of the truest Articles of the season......

[m27]

2 decent articles - this in the MEN and the Winter one in the Telegragh both addressing all the issues and problems - written by people with access to players, to people within football, to other professional observers etc etc
Still the Hughes Outs don't even stop to think and re-assess - straight in with insults about the authors and accusing the club of propaganda.

I'm on an 'on the fencer' but I'm just not as easily fooled as some it seems.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

2 decent articles - this in the MEN and the Winter one in the Telegragh both addressing all the issues and problems - written by people with access to players, to people within football, to other professional observers etc etc
Still the Hughes Outs don't even stop to think and re-assess - straight in with insults about the authors and accusing the club of propaganda.

Forget the professional observers fella, or the views of Hacks, or 'other' people in football, all that matters is the views of thousands of Blue's and at the moment, the view of Hughes tenure and the job he is doing is not a good one!

One day they will back him, the next demand his head, then they will heap praise on our owners patience, then when he does go, they will delight in slating our owners for knowing nothing about football!

point taken - so does the opinion of the majority - ie Hughes ins and "give him timers" count

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Yeah it was me who said that. Other than the Hull game, perhaps the Burnley one too, why 'should' we be beating teams? Is it cos of the money we've spent? I don't think we should expect rock all to be honest,

]

The reason we should be beating these teams is that we have 11 players who are significantly better players than the 11 they put out.

So to not beat them is underperformance.

 

[m27]

2 decent articles - this in the MEN and the Winter one in the Telegragh both addressing all the issues and problems - written by people with access to players, to people within football, to other professional observers etc etc
Still the Hughes Outs don't even stop to think and re-assess - straight in with insults about the authors and accusing the club of propaganda.

How are they "decent articles" "addressing all the issues and problems" when Hughes escapes without any criticism of substance? Surely even his fiercest backers won't claim he's not made mistakes.

 

[mike24]

The most cringe-worthy part of that article is the 'Chelsea have lost double to amount of games that City have' bit.....FFS they have however many points more than us and are easily the best team in the country. Talk about clutching at straws.

I think people need to realise there is a difference between not being satisfied with our current run of form against opposition we should beat, and as one post said 'going on like its division 2 again.'

Yeah it was me who said that. Other than the Hull game, perhaps the Burnley one too, why 'should' we be beating teams? Is it cos of the money we've spent? I don't think we should expect rock all to be honest, as those players need to get onto each others games and that will take time. I look at it like this. We lost to Villa, Wigan and Fulham last season, but we took points this season, progression. Burnely are going to get erratic results like that, as they are doing a Hull from last season, and fair play to them too. Hull is the only one I would say we had a right to win, because last season we shit all over them and so based on that, and with the players we have, we should have beaten them. Yes, many will say about how shit it was losing a 2-0 lead to Fulham and to go behind so shit to Burnley, but like I say last season we lost to Fulham, this season we didn't, and slow as it maybe, that is still factually noted as progression, as it is 1 point more than we got out of that game last season. Next season, with the players 1 full year into each others games, we should be beating Fulham, Hull, Burnley et al, at home. That is why I think Hughes needs this season, and half of next, at least, to get the ball rolling.

I have to disagree with the start of your post mate. Although no game is a given....Teams with our aspirations and our players should be expecting to win at home against Fulham (especially with a 2 goal lead) Burnley and Hull.

 

[Pigeonho]

Ok, i take those points, but if you had a choice, what would those 'required changes' be?

Well, realistically there is a big possibility that Hughes will be given until seasons end (although if we continue to regress i will be amazed if the owners dont take action sooner), but my worry is that if he does get till the end and City end up out of the CL spots and even worse out of the Europa spot, where the f*ck can he expect sign any players that will take us to a higher level than those he has signed already.

I like you, thought he signed vey well and was genuinly hopefull that we could poss do a top4 with those players. But if this fails, he has absolutely nowhere else to go when it come to new signings.

So ofr me, lets do sooner rather than later what is becoming increasingly inevitable and get a manger in that can also bring big name players almost regardless of the position we are in the league.

Like Mourinho? Listen to any Italian based journo and you will hear how the Inter fans are pissed off with Mourinho's lacklustre team producing lacklustre performances, something I have heared Hughes and his team be accused of. Changing the manager won't solve anything in my eyes, as he will be given a bunch of players he might not rate, meaning this time next year, (when that manager has had a full summer to assemble his squad), we are int he same position of that squad taking time to gel, and people moaning and groaning and calling for Mourinho's head, or whoever it may be. There has to be some stability9 and real time given to a manager to be allowed to work, especially when an almost entirely new squad has been assembled.

 

[blueinsa]

Forget the professional observers fella, or the views of Hacks, or 'other' people in football, all that matters is the views of thousands of Blue's and at the moment, the view of Hughes tenure and the job he is doing is not a good one!

One day they will back him, the next demand his head, then they will heap praise on our owners patience, then when he does go, they will delight in slating our owners for knowing nothing about football!

point taken - so does the opinion of the majority - ie Hughes ins and "give him timers" count

I respect your opinion mate i really do. Wanting Hughes out like i do gives me no pleasure i promise you and i only think that way as i believe he is simply not good enough to do the job in hand. The poll on the top of the board though paints a very different picture to the one that you suggest. We are not that much of a minority and the fence sitters at this moment in time i would suggest are much closer to our thinking than your's?

Just my opinion and like i said, regardless of the outcome for Hughes, i will certainly not be falling out with other Blue's over it!

 

[BobKowalski]

It's a crying shame that the players need to come out in support of the manager at a time when personally, I'd want the manager to be coming out at backing his underperforming players and taking the "heat" so to speak...

Agreed. We need a rallying call and the manager to inspire the players and the fans for the game tomorrow which is very winnable for us right now. Arsenal will be wounded from the defeat against Chelsea, we have dicked them once already and did so last season as well plus it will be the Arsenal second string.

Hughes needs to step up to the plate and lead from the front.

One question Billy given you are closer to things then me. Are we seeing the beginings of a Hughes v The Players scenario developing here with a drip feed of stories about players not been good enough, questionable attitude etc etc or am I being unnecessarily suspicious?

 

[Pigeonho]

Yeah it was me who said that. Other than the Hull game, perhaps the Burnley one too, why 'should' we be beating teams? Is it cos of the money we've spent? I don't think we should expect rock all to be honest, as those players need to get onto each others games and that will take time. I look at it like this. We lost to Villa, Wigan and Fulham last season, but we took points this season, progression. Burnely are going to get erratic results like that, as they are doing a Hull from last season, and fair play to them too. Hull is the only one I would say we had a right to win, because last season we shit all over them and so based on that, and with the players we have, we should have beaten them. Yes, many will say about how shit it was losing a 2-0 lead to Fulham and to go behind so shit to Burnley, but like I say last season we lost to Fulham, this season we didn't, and slow as it maybe, that is still factually noted as progression, as it is 1 point more than we got out of that game last season. Next season, with the players 1 full year into each others games, we should be beating Fulham, Hull, Burnley et al, at home. That is why I think Hughes needs this season, and half of next, at least, to get the ball rolling.

I have to disagree with the start of your post mate. Although no game is a given....Teams with our aspirations and our players should be expecting to win at home against Fulham (especially with a 2 goal lead) Burnley and Hull.

Arsenal lost 2-0 to Hull last year at the Emirates. They 'should' have beaten them as their squad is one which has been together for ages, with perhaps the odd 2 or 3 additions per year. Our entire squad is almost brand new to one and other, and it is simply a matter of time before theresults start to happen in my eyes. Like I say though, this time next year, when the squad has had its time to gel and no more excuses can be found, I will be on the anti Hughes wagon if resulsts are worse than what they are now, but as it stands I am firmly behind him and until we start losing I can only look at what is in front of me, and that is a team sitting pretty, 3 points behind 4th spot, a good chance of gettng into the semi's of a cup for the first time in years, and with a game in hand to put us right amonsgt that top 4 contendership, if that game is won.

 

[simon23]

the origional article is absolutely spot on

and the other thing thats needs remembering is that football is not an exact science.....sometimes even the best teams lose.....just cause we have player x and y doellsnt mean that we will win all the games we are expected (by some fans) to

That is the beauty of football...on any one given day any team can beat another.....what gives us the god given right to beat burnley, fluham at home.......why should it be a forgone conclusion.....football doesnt work that way

At present 18 out of 20 teams in the prem can pretty much beat each other on any given day....(Im leaving utd and chelski out of it as they will pretty much beat most people but even they lose.....chelsea have lost two games this season and utd lost to burnley away)..............

Some of our fans seem to have got way ahead of themsleves with their expectations in my opinion