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

[Blue2112]

All the people who say only lost one game all season, yes we have but i look on it as only winning 5 out of 13 games and lets be honest, none of them have been great performances, ie lucky Nugent missed a sitter at Portsmouth, had help from the Woodwork at home to Woves, scored with our 2 shots at Blackburn when Shey kept us in the game.

As for the qaurter finals tonight, lets be honest, we have beaten 2 championship and 1 reserve team to be here. Sure in years gone by, we probably would have lost to one of these, but after spending 200 million, we should no longer be on a yearly basis.

I love the way Highes conducts himself in interviews and i think mostly he has bought very well but i just dont see any improvements from the training ground to match day. We look a very poor "team", have no fluidity in our play, give the opposition all the time in the world to play thier game whislt constantly looking under pressure when we have the ball. And it just doesnt seem to be improving and the sheer lack of efforts on goal we have game to game is awful for the players we have in the team.

There is no point sacking him if no one is available to take over but i just dont have confidence in him to turn it round. perhaps its our coaching staff who arnt upto scrath at this level. Who knows, but something is not right.

x2 and my thoughts 100%.

 

[Balti]

Agreed
Of course the matter lies with the Sheikh
We differ i feel as to the when we are judging Hughes by.
You are factually correct - I concede - in choosing to Judge him on last season too. However - due to him only having one window (January) last season with the new money, due to unrest with Elano etc , and due to this seasons squad being the new start, full of new faces I`m choosing to judge him on that - all I`m saying is after 13 games I can't get a true picture and want to see him have more time.

In all honesty mate, despite the talk of Mourinho or Hiddink, i think it is just that, talk and that Hughes will get this full season before any move is made as to his future.

Like ive said, he still has time to turn it around, he has the players of that ive no doubt, it is now his turn to put the performances in, his turn to accept the responsibilty of getting the quality players we have playing as a team and his responsibilty to get us winning football games.

If he does that, if we put performances in, if we see motivation and leadership from him then i dont have a problem with him staying for the next 10 years or more, but it is up to him to show us he is the man and if we have another failed season, his time will be up and he will only be able to blame himself. It wont be the fault of us unpatient fans i can tell you.

Couldn't agree more. I don't consider myself a Hughes outer and have only recently sidled up to the fence. I'd love for him to do the business. But what I am currently seeing is engendering no confidence at all. I would LOVE to be wrong but there is a real feeling of deja vu watching the team at the moment, and we seem to be getting worse not better. The fundamental problems that were evident earlier in the season are still evident. If they continue to be evident then we are not going to gatecrash the Top 4 when it is there on a plate to be had. If we meander through the next seven games in the same way then it will be clear that the opportunity is going to be wasted and that the rest of the season will be more of the same unless there is a radical change in the coaching staff.

Of course we have no right to beat these teams. The fact is though that if you watched the games you will know that we should have beaten them easily if we had only matched our opponents for desire and work-rate. The players are clearly good enough. If MH cannot instill the same commitment, work-rate and discipline into his team, in a formation that works, for the full 90 mins, then he is the wrong man for the job.

In saying all that I will continue to cheer the boys in Blue to the hilt during games and hope that Hughesy will turn it around. I want him to succeed. I've seen enough managers ta.

 

[stonerblue]

read this today and have to agree with every word.

 

[Soulboy]

Nah if you're an outer you're an outer - inners and I include myself fluctuate between in and fence.
Look - I'm not King Canute - he has clearly got to show us more - I want him to be a success and I want stability for once at the club, I want all the things you do in terms of success and improvement - I just think 13 games with a new squad is a little early to put so much emphasis on wanting him out. I`m not an inner without stipulations - there needs to be a vast improvement in fortunes but I`m not ready to call for his head yet.

This is what I don't understand with some people. I'm not calling for his head but I'm unconvinced by him (as you appear to be) and I am not going to spare him of criticism just because I don't want him out at this very moment. You can say you don't want him fired but slate him as well you know?

What worries me, and many others, is that this kind of article has been predicted by many posters on here (Soulboy and JMA to name but two)over the past few weeks. It tries to dampen our expectations and quite frankly it insults our intelligence at the same time.

Our squad is as good as any of the Top 4 bar Chelsea so Hughes needs to sit down and stop wasting time trying to save his reputation through his sympathisers in the Press and whip them into some sort of shape that gets us winning games again. That's his job after all.

Mark Hughes greatest talent as a manager has always been self-preservation.

His political antennae would make Alistair Campbell appear to be an illiterate.

Has always surrounded himself with trusted lieutenants... the same people he had at Wales followed him to Blackburn... then to City. So, as far as Hughes is concerned, those 3 or 4 diehards are the best coaching staff he could ever appoint.

You don't seriously believe that, do you?

A genius at dropping stories in to the media, getting coaches and players to vouch for him... and rarely, if ever, standing up front and taking it like a leader should.

A weasel of a manager, whose behaviour can be predicted because he always follows the same script.

Yes, I did predict this rush of stories a week or more ago, and should the bad run continue they will only increase.

Next one? I think it's another "we have to clear out the troublemakers and slackers" again.

We've not had that this season, so it's due for an airing.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

This is what I don't understand with some people. I'm not calling for his head but I'm unconvinced by him (as you appear to be) and I am not going to spare him of criticism just because I don't want him out at this very moment. You can say you don't want him fired but slate him as well you know?

What worries me, and many others, is that this kind of article has been predicted by many posters on here (Soulboy and JMA to name but two)over the past few weeks. It tries to dampen our expectations and quite frankly it insults our intelligence at the same time.

Our squad is as good as any of the Top 4 bar Chelsea so Hughes needs to sit down and stop wasting time trying to save his reputation through his sympathisers in the Press and whip them into some sort of shape that gets us winning games again. That's his job after all.

Mark Hughes greatest talent as a manager has always been self-preservation.

His political antennae would make Alistair Campbell appear to be an illiterate.

Has always surrounded himself with trusted lieutenants... the same people he had at Wales followed him to Blackburn... then to City. So, as far as Hughes is concerned, those 3 or 4 diehards are the best coaching staff he could ever appoint.

You don't seriously believe that, do you?

A genius at dropping stories in to the media, getting coaches and players to vouch for him... and rarely, if ever, standing up front and taking it like a leader should.

A weasel of a manager, whose behaviour can be predicted because he always follows the same script.

Yes, I did predict this rush of stories a week or more ago, and should the bad run continue they will only increase.

Next one? I think it's another "we have to clear out the troublemakers and slackers" again.

We've not had that this season, so it's due for an airing.

Any manager not surround himself with trusted lieutenants?
Any manager not interested in self preservation?
Nice conspiracy theory about players like De Jong and Ireland being "used"

 

[ManCityFC]

Somebody posted this after the article, and this makes more sense to me:

Again this is intended to gloss over the glaring deficiencies in Mark Hughes's managerial capabilities. No, I'm not justifying a knee jerk reaction sacking of a manager, but when you consider the ones we have fired over the years, are there really any that didn't deserve it.

To say we have lost once all season is only kidding ourselves, yes we all want stability and to build a dynasty, but do we sacrifice the opportunity of a proven manager on the slim off chance that Hughes might come good. If I could say during Hughes reign that there has been a glimmer of improvement I would happily get behind him, but the truth is despite the massive financial outlay we are no further on in terms of improvement. I don not earn massive amounts of money and over the years have had to make do with a distinct lack of success, however during those times I have at least derived some entertainment from going to the match, something that cannot be said of the football on display this season. As for this author of this article in general, if you paid for your own season card, as opposed to getting freebies, maybe you would see the point of view of many loyal supporters, who have simply had enough of watching dross.

The MEN is just a red rag and they seem to want to do their best to placate the fans in the hope they won't notice what a fucking shambles we are. IMO.

 

[ManCityFC]

Hughes is over 300 games in now as a professional manager, he is no novice at this! He should have gone when we got took over as the job he was brought here to do under Thaksin was not the job required by our new owners.

But he didnt go, he got his money, he got his team and he has had 18 months. I see no improvement in performances, in fact i see us going backwards. I see a team lacking in direction and motivation and one that lacks leadership both on and off the pitch.

His time is up imo, but my opinion is just that, the matter lies with the Sheikh!

Agreed
Of course the matter lies with the Sheikh
We differ i feel as to the when we are judging Hughes by.
You are factually correct - I concede - in choosing to Judge him on last season too. However - due to him only having one window (January) last season with the new money, due to unrest with Elano etc , and due to this seasons squad being the new start, full of new faces I`m choosing to judge him on that - all I`m saying is after 13 games I can't get a true picture and want to see him have more time.

I have been waiting for this shite to be trotted out.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Agreed
Of course the matter lies with the Sheikh
We differ i feel as to the when we are judging Hughes by.
You are factually correct - I concede - in choosing to Judge him on last season too. However - due to him only having one window (January) last season with the new money, due to unrest with Elano etc , and due to this seasons squad being the new start, full of new faces I`m choosing to judge him on that - all I`m saying is after 13 games I can't get a true picture and want to see him have more time.

I have been waiting for this shite to be trotted out.

So an honestly held opinion is shite is it ?
Who cares what the fuck you have been waiting for .

 

[blumoonrisen]

Has anyone seen Gary Owens column on the same page..? he clearly supports a similar view bout Hughes... I'm shocked to learn he's part of the propaganda in the rag inspired M.E.N...

 

[adelaidecity]

It wouldn't matter if the article, or any article in support of Hughes for that matter, was 10 times the size of that, some people just refuse to take to him for whatever reason that is, and there will be no convincing them.

its like having a one eyed scottsman running the country,or ,a black president of the usa,some people will never accept it no matter how good/bad they are