Can we have Hughton back please :)? I note there''s some discontent with how you''ve started off, which is understandable, if a little unfair if I may say. I do wonder, however, if you''re suffering a similar scenario to us, in that your new manager isn''t the right fit for your current team. Lambert did an absolutely unbelievable job last season with probably the weakest squad in the division - possibly even the weakest squad the league has seen for some years. He got goals and performances out of middling Championship players (Morison in particular) and seemed to have a bespoke game plan for every match. By contrast, Hughton is a quite traditional 4-4-2 man, with a traditional way of playing (overlapping full-backs, crosses in) that is easily overcome if teams keep the ball off you and pack the middle. It''s almost as if, by virtue of being a coach and not manager for most of his career, and thus not being directly exposed to the progression of modern football, he''s stuck in quite a prosaic and antiquated mindset. He can also be a bit naive - see our pathetic performance in the away leg in the playoffs where the objective seemed to be to lose by one goal on the proviso that we''d win the home game. Last season we played decent football, scored lots of goals, but were a real soft touch away and lost the greatest number of points from winning positions of any team in any division. If we''d have hung on to even half of them we''d have been champions. I thought his summer signings were decent - for a Championship team. Snodgrass was never going to cut it at the top level, he''s just too slow; and Hughton didn''t seem to address your relative lack of pace. I would still give him time - he''s supposedly a fantastic coach and motivator, and our players all loved him - but I wonder if this is just a case of the wrong man at the wrong time; or in fact if anyone could have done the job that Lambert did with your squad. If you do get rid, we''d be delighted to have him back; he presided over a very, very difficult period for us with dignity and we became quite fond of each other. It''s a shame he decided that a sideways move was the only option available to him. Anyway: thoughts? Best of luck to Chris and yourselves for the rest of the season.
