Chunky Norwich

I think quite possibly one of the worst managers in the history of the game

You mean Sammy ''It could have been you'' Clingan.It''s a valid point but I think that the players do seem to be trying for the most part. It''s more our manager who keeps trying to play negative, defensive football. I also think if we go down with a whimper and strikers aren''t scoring, midfielders aren''t shining etc then they won''t engineer a move as easily as if we went down all guns blazing.When we went down last time, I believe the only player that actively tried to go were Francis, Helveg and Svensson; the last two because they had clauses in their contracts. Ashton, Green, Hucks, McKenzie, Safri, Jonsson et al stayed for at least half a season after we''d gone

What a find!

Propaganda appeasement

Something I''ve been wondering for a while - and just thought I''d put it out there - but where does Hughton''s ''Nice Guy'' moniker actually come from? It seems his name cannot be mentioned without the tagline "he''s a nice guy".I most wonder because Gunn, Lambert, Rioch, Walker, Hamilton and many others seemed like funny, erudite guys but they never earnt that label. One of the sticks used to beat Worthington was that he was too pally with certain players and board members and so his ''nicety'' was used as a negative. I think the only manager we''ve ever had who was a proper jerk was a certain Mr Roeder. "Impatient" Lambert built a fantastic rapport and will-to-win out of his squad and they clearly loved playing for him.Since Hughton''s been here, he''s frozen previously first-team players out of the squad (Fox, Surman, Ward etc), clearly seemed to upset Holt, has clearly upset Hoolahan, has clearly upset Becciwho, appears (imo) to have drained confidence out of the squad and appears (imo) to have his favourite XI and doesn''t utilise rotation policies to keep people happy.Now this is all his prerogative and I''m not trying to start yet another debate on his managerial qualities.I''m just genuinely interested to know who, when and why he got the Nice Guy nickname. Is it just from how nice he is to the opposition in pre- and post-match interviews?

Jesus

Howe or Dyche

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Chunky Norwich"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak7J3AOElXk[/quote] Is that supposed to be aimed at me?  All I am doing is defending a post I wrote earlier.  [/quote]OP. Not EVERYTHING is about you, LDC ;-)

If we''re going to stick with our slower, ''chocolate-sided'' wingers I think the formation above would work of:                RuddyCafu-Bennett-Bassong-Olsson          Tettey-Johnson    Snoddy-Fer-Gutierreuz                HooperWhat it lacks in pace it makes up in solidity and the ball can be zipped down the centre.

Maybe hard to pick for us fans but not for Hughton. Loves Snoddy on the right, won''t play Redmond so will play a half-fit Pilks instead, won''t play Hoolahan and seems to like Hooper and RvW together at the moment.The only surprise will be who starts at right-back or if maybe Tettey can force Johnson out of centre-mid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak7J3AOElXk

BJ was good tonight but kudos to Murphy who was our best player in the first half (before completely disappearing in the second)

I''m not rabidly anti-Hughton but do think he''s not really the right man for the job. We''re never going to improve under him and I think every season and every game has a nervy defeatist approach. Hughton out and Eddie Howe or Sean Dyche in. If we want more experienced managers, Coppell or Curbishley.

I assume Hughton was joking in the interview anyway seeing as one has a big ''31 Josh Murphy'' on his back and the other has a large 32 and ''Jacob Murphy'' on his

Strange about Holt. Started quite well for Wigan, scored a few goals at the beginning of the season and then got injured didn''t he? I didn''t think he was doing overly badly. Better than Morison anyway

[quote user="lake district canary"]For all you troubled fans, I will put the record straight.   Hooper is starting to look quality.  Howson has been nutured by Hughton and is beginning to show his worth.  E. Bennett was another who looked as if he was going to push on this season.   Redmond and Bassong came here because they know Hughton will bring them on well and get the best out of them.   R. Bennett has improved, most would say.    Russell Martin recently has looked very good.  RVW hasn''t settled yet - its not uncommon for a new striker to take time to start scoring.   Fer has been very good until recently, acclimatised well - but maybe needs a break (had and enforced break today).   Olsson looks a class act.  Johnson has been good in Tettey''s absence and Tettey himself looked class until he was injured.  Hoolahan played as well as I have ever seen him play against MU.   I think that''s most of the team...........   [/quote]That''s your opinion - which you are entitled to. But I would still say that the only players who have improved under Hughton''s management - who has come in to the club and RAISED their game would be potentially Ryan Bennett and Redmond.Elliot Bennett, Cafu, Howson, Johnson and Hoolahan all played well under Lambert in our return to the Premiership. Since Hughton came in - in my opinion - Howson took a massive step back before coming back into it recently, Johnson, Benno and Hoolahan have played less under Hughton than they did under Lambert. Lambo might too have bought new players and given these players less game time but they''ve hardly improved if they''re playing less.As for the rest, they''re Hughton signings; Hooper who scored 30 goals every season (albeit in Scotland), Bassong who played like a Trojan last season and a Durex this - same with Tettey, RvW who came in with a load of fanfare and is not being used properly or at all and Olsson has played in the Prem for years and is a Swedish international.I''m not saying that all these players play badly, I''m just saying have any raised their game? Conversely quite a few players have come in and performed well below expectation and what they have proven they are capable of at other clubs. Similarly, players like Holt, Howson, Ruddy and Pilkington seemed to take a step back in terms of quality and confidence. Others like Vaughan, Fox, Surman and Ward were just booted out of the club. Butterfield and Becchiwho were bought and then never played!

He does buy good players, I''ll give him that

We have to win at Craven Cottage first!Also on current form I really wouldn''t want to play Ipswich right now. Maybe we could squeak through a non-league team at home? Oh wait...

Yes. Under Hughton, Holt went backwards in both ability and attitude, Morison disappeared, Howson looked a pale shadow of his former self until very recently, Bassong has dropped off the radar this year and so on.Serious question but has any player improved under Hughton?

I can''t work out the formation from that starting XI. Garrido at left-back which means Olsson left wing? Which would mean Murphy must be right wing? Which must mean Snoddy is...central midfield?                            BunnWhittaker - Martin - Bennett - GarridoMurphy - Snodgrass - Fox - Olsson                Elmander - WolfieUnless it''s some kind of diamond?

Great news for him if true. Although I doubt he''d have been given this chance had Tettey, Howson and Fer have been available

Absolutely cracking player on his day but I must admit I forgot he even existed this season. Someone say he was crocked?

To keep us up this season - justTo progress us as a football team - not at all

Then RvW would be played up front on his own and probably score the odd goal here and there. If Ricky gets injured then Elmander would be played up front on his own and would probably score the odd goal here and there. If Elmander gets injured then Becchio would be played up front on his own and would probably score the odd goal here and there.RvW has laboured away as the lone striker at the start of his career and - like most foreign players and even admitted by Fer a couple of days ago - probably took a while to get used to the English game. Since then he has been injured and then benched, normally coming on as a lone striker for the last ten minutes of a game.Elmander has predominantly played in ''the hole''. Becciwho predominantly hasn''t played.Interestingly on Football365 there was a stat about Snoddy creating 36 ''chances'' (whatever they are) without a single assist this season. Does this mean our strikers are awful? Or does this mean that they''re not getting in the box or being swamped by the opposition defence and the opportunity to take this ''chance'' is really bloody hard?A previous poster said that the teams that score the most goals normally play with one up front. I don''t know if they''re referring to one specific team but normally if a brilliant team is scoring loads playing with only one out-and-out striker supported by wingers, these wingers will normally be of the standard of Robben, Pires, Henry, van Persie, Silva, Ben Arfa etc and it''s almost more akin to a 4-3-3.