J15asp

On reflection, I haven''t enjoyed much of the last two seasons. I was never going to be a fan of Hughton and felt deflated when he was appointed. He lived up to my expectations with the very odd exception. I have to say the rise and rise under Mr Lambert was a truly exhilarating experience and the sort of excitement seen in the 3-2 win over Derby will live long in the memory. I would be struggling to name any games when I''ve felt truly excited by what I''ve seen on the pitch under Hughton''s reign and was pleased to see him finally go.Hopefully after a good overhaul of the team and a new manager we can start scoring and creating chances with an exciting brand of football which will get me looking forward to the next match instead of watching a team that just doesn''t work.

[quote user="Daniel Taylor"]If he is frustrated then he should be so with himself. What I saw on Saturday was a player not willing to push forward and someone you could barely assign the word striker too. He dropped back into central midfield positions where there were already three city players and left a complete void so when Snodgrass or Redmond got free and forward and on one counter in the first half in particular he was nowhere to be seen. He just doesn''t show for it. He sometimes gets back and tackles in the full back positions which is all well and good for showing effort but he is playing with no tactical intelligence at all in order to try and get some credit. If he was to actually play through the middle there is an option for the midfield. Instead, nothing happens as we do not have the pace or power in central midfield to get forward and support, we bring on Hooper and then start slinging the ball up high to him which he stands no chance with against the likes of Hangeland and Diarra. In effect we have wasted 60 minutes with a striker not playing his position and making it more unlikely we will score. I am beginning to thibnk we have to go for broke now and remove Johnson for Hoolahan so there is some attacking support with the obvious consequence being leaving less support at the back. Johnson does a decent job but his distribution is lacking far too often sadly. OK against Liverpool we will probably be ripped to pieces doing that but we probably would anyway. However, against Arsenal and Man United I think it needs to be seriously considered so that there is support for whoever the striker is. [/quote]I agree with Daniel that a big part of his problem is that he must stay in a Striking position and not keep dropping into midfield. He needs to be more of what we used to call a goal hanger. Remember Ted Macdougall? A proper goal hanger who did very little other than score. And why did he score? Because he was always in the right place when the ball came into the area.However, Daniel, I''m not so sure about Hoolahan coming in for Johnson. Agreed that Johnson can be wayward at times and missed a real good chance on Saturday, however he also played a delightful ball over the defence for Olson to run on to and his effort and strength is not in question. Hoolahan on the other hand has looked poor in the last 2 games.Passes going astray and easily dispossessed.  Fer looked strong but when he was replaced by Hoolahan we looked a lot weaker in midfield. Don''t get me wrong, I think Hoolahan on his day is brilliant, it''s just that he only seems to do it occasionally nowadays. I think we''d all love for RVW to be a success but sadly I don''t think it will happen.

A draw would leave us with a chance where as defeat would leave us needing an outstanding result in the last 4 games. A win would virtually see us safe, so you cannot stress how big this game is. Perhaps we''ll finally get revenge for the 6-0 in 2004/5.

Surely one ex Spurs player as a manager is enough?

[quote user="Paul"]Got to play 2 up front and go back to the diamond Ruddy Martin Bennet Bassong Olson Johnson Fer Snodgrass/Redmond Hoolahan RVW Hooper[/quote]Should have included quote on last post! oops

I second that, although I''d like to see Tetty at the base of the diamond when fit.