Beefy is a legend

The amazing thing for me is how he has come back after a pretty grim spell under Roeder and Gunn. I''ve heard that when Lambert brought Colchester to Carra for that ill-fated match, he took one look at our teamsheet and told his players that they would run riot down their right as Hoolahan was a stone overweight and couldn''t run. The rest is history... That also explains why Wes really had to fight his way in Lambo''s plans in the early part of that League One campaign - he almost left but did enough to get back in and has never looked back. His physical limitations have, at times, been exposed in the Premier League but against sides like Man U and Arsenal when he had space to play he was outstanding. He''s still made a big contribution this season and almost forced Hughton to build the side around him.

fan68, I''m just not sure it''s true to say that current performances and results are unacceptable. Yes, we haven''t won in 9 games but we are looking reasonably solid and most will have seen the Spurs and QPR results as one point gained. What we are doing is looking fairly solid and, Liverpool aside, no one is really giving us a hiding. We are gradually accumulating points and still edging toward safety. To put into context the strength of our position, 1 win, 6 draws and 5 defeats, or if you like 2 wins, 3 draws and 7 defeats from here will probably keep us up.

In response to your reference to matches since Dec 15th, most of the people around me said that the first half v Spurs was the best 45 mins they''ve seen at CR all season. But if you all you want to see are negatives then welcome to a fairly miserable existence. Personally I''m pretty much a defender of Hughton on here, but that doesn''t mean I think everything is perfect. It''s just an acceptance that after Lambert left this was going to be a difficult season, and Hughton has to be given the chance to recruit his own players and do it his way. He''s only had 1 summer window to work in so far and at that time didn''t know his squad that well. Even Lambert took a while, in the depths of league one, to get us going. It is much more difficult in this unforgiving league. I don''t think we are seeing the best football in the world but I''m prepared to accept that this is something of a necessary evil to retain our status, which we look as though we are going to do, needing only about 9pts from 12 games. If we do survive then we will need to see an improvement next season, but then if we do then Hughton will be able to improve his playing squad significantly.

What I will say is that I think there will need to be a ''tweak'' next season if we are able to survive and invest. Hopefully if we can bring in 6 or 7 quality players that will make a big difference, but undoubtedly I do think that there could be a growing swell of opinion against the manager if the general trend of low-scoring games were to be repeated in the early part of next season. As I''ve said earlier, I think if he gets more quality in then Hughton will take a more positive approach, but of course we won''t know until next season...

Some good points in response to the OP already. The board will have set objectives for the manager. How he achieves them is up to him. I doubt that ''attractive football'' is high on the list. Points is at the top of the list, and no matter how many times people want to break down the season into good runs and bad runs for their own purposes, Hughton will only, and should only, be judged on the season as a whole. As a whole, right now we are about 6 points better off than the bare minimum that the board would have made his objective. Moreover, I''ll say this. Whilst the football isn''t pretty, we are not in a position to be football snobs. The pot of gold on the horizon is of huge importance to the Club, and may allow us to recruit the players that will allow us to be expansive going forward. All those who keep seeing Hughton as some sort of ''anti-football'' manager obviously didn''t watch much of his Newcastle team tearing up the Championship. He just thinks it is the best way to keep this team in the division, and looking at 29pts, it''s working. There have, also, been some really entertaining games that I have been to or watched on the telly - Man Utd, Arsenal, Swansea, Man City to name a few. The other issue is that most posters who simply say ''Hughton out'' have no cogent plan for how that will benefit the Club. They just say it with no idea of what the Club might be able to do in terms of recruitment and the no doubt large cost that a change in management team will bring. Most sane supporters recognise that DM and the board are in the best position to judge what is best for the Club, that''s why those who agree with their approach, in my view, have right on their side.

Fan68 - I never said it would be easy. I just highlighted 6 or 7 games from which 2 wins are achievable. Other teams below need to win many more. The bottom 4 are horribly adrift now. We have a nice home run in and the stats say that we don''t lose many at FCR.

I am getting mightily jarred off with the miserable minority on here. A record of 2 wins, 3 draws and 7 losses will get us to 38pts now which is surely enough to survive. For the likes of QPR, they now need some 21pts for 12 games to secure the same record, meaning a record of 6wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats. I don''t see that happening. Likewise Wigan, Villa are desperately struggling and Reading still need 4 wins and 3 draws to equal 38. None of those sides have less resources than us, most have more, yet we are way above them. Please, please realise we have done very well to get to 29pts. I''ll take 9 more draws from our last 12 games if that''s what it takes, but for the record, Reading, Soton, Villa, Swansea and WBA home and Sunderland and Wigan away provide plenty of chances for the 2 wins we could do with to stay up...

Huggy, I can see you are new to this forum - if you were a regular you''d know that most of the posters on here are pretty much anti-establishment - see the amount of stick Hughton has been getting despite achieving a healthy league position. It does strike me as somewhat harsh to blame DM for our bad away form though! Last time I checked, he didn''t pick the team and tactics. He helped to pick the manager, and so bears responsibility in relation to that, but DM can only really be judged on the number of points that the manager has accrued, which has been a very healthy 28 so far. In my view, only the naive could say that Hughton has been a failure this season. The arguments regarding prices etc are perhaps more justified. All I will say is that the Club has moved mountains to improve the financial position, I cannot see us ever being in the mess we were in 3 years ago under DM''s watch. The fact that we are even in the mix to sign a £7m rated striker is a tribute to how far we have progressed under his leadership. No one is saying DM is perfect, but he couldn''t have done much better in my view since walking through the door.

That''s an excellent point Shef. If we were to lose DM to another Club willing to reward him more highly, I''m sure the club would be slaughtered for its ''small potatoes'' approach. DM has done a great job and deserves everything he gets. Don''t forget he''s the man that recruited Lambo in the first place.

As much as I wouldn''t mind seeing the side you''ve laid out, I would say that there is virtually no chance of it. We will be unchanged from QPR, and fair enough because we played very well against Spurs in the last home game with the same team. That is Pilkington excepted, who will be replaced by Elliott. I think if the game is level after 70 minutes we may see Becchio on though. A win would be monumental for us, if we can get to 31 points by this stage we really are close to securing survival with 3 or 4 games to spare.

It''s absolutely dreadful, I don''t know how he was allowed to sit on stage like that. Really hope he gets help

text me Danny

One ticket going in Barclay Lower. If you''re interested text 07789793865.

Maybe the OP would like to explain why he feels the need to change the Captain. Does it really make any tangible difference anyway?!

I pretty much agree with the OP''s assessment. I can see some fairly extensive surgery on the squad in the summer, this will be the window where we have the largest amount of money available since our return to the PL, with the debt gone and the new TV deal. I can envisage at least 6 or 7 new players coming in to really beef up the quality of the squad and look to establish ourselves as a solid, mid-table side like West Brom.

[quote user="Branston Pickle"]No, the Fulham game is not a must win, but it is certainly one that we definitely should win. Our form has picked back up (as most of us thought it would) and we have deserved (at least) the 2 points gleaned from Spuds and QPR, both form teams. It would be good (and ease some of the more moronic comments) to follow this up with a win next week.[/quote] I would never say it is a game that we ''should'' win. Luton was a game that we ''should'' win. Fulham have higher wage earners, higher transfer value players like Berbatov. I think we have a good chance of winning but I don''t think you can ever expect us to win or say that any game in this league is one that we necessarily ''should'' win.

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="K Lo"][quote user="Mister Chops"]It wasn''t an "excellent" result, that would have been a win.It was a good result.A 0-0 away at Man U or Man City would be an "excellent" result. If we think 0-0 away to the bottom club is an "excellent" result then we really are Little Old Norwich.[/quote]If you saw the match, you would have seen that that was a good result.[/quote]Which is what I said.(Bangs head on desk in frustration at people''s stupidity)[/quote] They are bottom right now, and they may still go down, but since Redknapp took over their form is much improved and they''ve taken points against bigger Clubs than us of late. Plus having added further quality in the window, I would say it is too simple to say that today''s result could not be considered ''excellent'' just because they are bottom. They are clearly showing the form of a side that is better than their current position. But ''good'' or ''excellent'' I suppose we are just arguing the toss. It''s certainly a result I would have taken before the match, perhaps you would agree with that Mister?

For such a bad manager, he''s performed miracles in getting 28 points, having us well above the drop zone, with one of the smallest wage and transfer budgets in the league.

[quote user="Mister Chops"]It wasn''t an "excellent" result, that would have been a win.It was a good result.A 0-0 away at Man U or Man City would be an "excellent" result. If we think 0-0 away to the bottom club is an "excellent" result then we really are Little Old Norwich.[/quote] I disagree. With the resources at their disposal and the players they have signed it is ridiculous to label them as ''the bottom club''. They aren''t exactly Peterborough are they? We''ve kept them down, 11 points behind, that was as important as the point that we gained. That is why, in my view, it was an excellent point. Yours, Mr Little Old Norwich.

Well usually a ''must win'' game would be thought of as one where not winning would leave the side in question in serious danger of not achieving their goal for the season. It''s not because ''we haven''t won for a while'' or other reasons being mentioned on here. Even if we lose the game we still have a good lead. It would be nice to win as it''s another step towards our goal. But as long as we''re picking up points we need not worry. A draw wouldn''t be a disaster IMO. I do HOPE we win though!

It''s certainly not pretty away from home but it''s clear that our policy is to set up hard to beat and hope to use our set pieces delivery to nick goals. Having said that, it was widely reported as an exciting game today so perhaps the criticism is a little harsh. At home I''d say we are more expansive and I think the way we''ve played at home against Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City and Spurs were excellent, entertaining games so I think the stereotype is a little harsh. It''s all about substance for us this year. Stay up and we will have a real war chest for next season and that may allow us to recruit more flair.

I thought it was an excellent point. It maintained the gap to the bottom 3 with another week gone, it''s another away game out of the way against a side in form who I definitely think will be picking up points regularly from now on and so keeping the 11 point gap to them was massive. We also have a real nice home run-in now with opportunities for wins and we have now got our best XI back out on the pitch and with Whittaker and Becchio in reserve. Every away point from now on is a real bonus because I fancy us to pick up some decent home points from hereon in.

We''ve maintained a very nice lead over the bottom three today so I don''t know why next week is suddenly a must win. I''d say Villa''s home game with West Ham is one that they need to win much more than us needing to beat Fulham. We maybe need 10 more points. We have games to come v Fulham, Soton, Reading, Villa, WBA and Swansea at home and Sunderland and Wigan away. I''d say we need to win 3 of those games to be safe. That''s 8 chances to win 3 games so Fulham is not a must win, it''s just a game where a win would put us well ahead of schedule. When you label a game ''must-win'' it just puts unnecessary pressure on the players and fans. Keep calm and carry on...

I''m sure if you asked Holt whether he would like to play for Barcelona, or Man Utd he would say exactly the same. It doesn''t mean a deal is in the offing or that Holt necessarily wants to leave. To say that he''s a ''shadow of himself'' seems to me to be slightly OTT. He is probably a little frustrated because he just isn''t getting much in the way of service and to score in this league you need service. It may even be that he preferred playing under Lambert because of the style and is a little down that he is slogging his guts out every week for little reward. But again, that doesn''t mean that he isn''t trying as hard or that he wants to leave. Give the big man a break, I''ll be very surprised if he isn''t leading the line v QPR on Saturday and he''s a Club legend.

We may have enquired as to whether an offer of £1.5m would be accepted, to which Brum have indicated that such an offer would be rejected.