Thoughts on today....

[HampsteadCanary 0]

Positives:

Ruddy had pretty much nothing to deal with

Redmond looks sharp, needs to work on his decision making, but we all know that.

RvW looks like he''ll convert if given the chance, just ONE HEADER TODAY!

Howson looks more comfortable in the middle, shooting was a lot better than BJ/Tettey etc

However, too many things were wrong with our game today...no creativity, no passing, no movement, no desire, no commitment.

Too many of our players are off the boil, and the result is we can''t even draw with a poor Hull team with 10 men. Snoddy looked appalling when he came on, Elmander was anonymous and Wes was stuck out on the left out of position. We all know Wes looks very poor on the left, that''s why he hasn''t played there for 4 years. Howson is NOT a right midfielder. Hughton really needs to learn how to set up his team with people in their natural positions, and then to motivate his players, because he won''t keep his job for long with performances like that.

His tactical decision making has been so poor for the last 12 months, bar the 10 game run. With roughly £24 million spent on the squad and a performance like that, you have to ask the question. Four central midfielders away from home against Hull? Are you kidding me?

We talk about Hughton wanting to play it out from the back, but the midfield actually have to be able to control the football, and then pass it to another play on our team for that to work. We''re playing it from back to middle, but not from middle to front! I don''t think its even the "Hoolahan" spot that needs work, its a CM to play with Fer.

Yes the new players might need time to gel, but the desire has to be there, and that can only be down to the manager.

Against Southampton, I''d like to see Bassong in for Russ, as I think the composure of the team relies on him heavily. Olsson has to come in for Garrido, he was basically camped outside the Hull box for the whole second half and only managed to put one good ball in, and that was with his right foot!

I have no idea about the best midfield combination, and I don''t think Hughton knows either.

All in all, very frustrated, and wondering how Hughton is going to rectify this situation. This is clearly unacceptable.

[Bill 1,788]

Good postbut the clock is ticking as are the excuses that are being ticked off

it looked today as it was lasts seasonplayers have lost the ability to pass the ball forward as they must spend so much time passing it back or sideways in training

this is now pretty much Hughton''s squad and they should be playing to his directionwe were up against a novice PL team, down to 10 mennever mind us not winning, it was the manner of the defeat that was most telling

[Monty13 2,229]

Well thought out, not another hysterical post.

I agree pretty much with your analysis, particularly that we need to invest in a ball playing midfielder (Wish we had splashed out on Huddlestone looks like our missing link to me).

I really like Hughton, I like his personality, his recruitment has been top draw, but I often find him a frustrating manager come 3 o''clock. But if he improves he looks like he could be the all round good manager we need, but after todays performance he needs to learn fast.

I think I have the same view of Hughton that some of our supporters have of Wes! He has talent but he is so frustrating to watch work at times.

[fleckyfan 0]

Agree with a lot of the op

We are crying out for Bassong to be back.

I''m very disappointed how Garrido has started this season.

Bradley Johnson started last season on fire but looked terrible today.

We all need a good performance next week to calm the nerves.

[Ivan Easter 0]

We''ve spent the money and now we must perform we have to do better now every week from now on, we have the team to do it !!!

[Bill 1,788]

"his recruitment has been top draw"

yes, because it''s him who is watching game after game all over the country and Europe day in day outhim that draws up reports for the board him that contacted the club a year before he joined to advice them to sign Snodgrass, and subsequently Butterfield before he joined

of course it is

[Ivan Easter 0]

Is Hooper still injured?

[Crossite 0]

Agree with that. Especially, the Garrido comments!

[Mason 47 1,371]

We can postulate and argue over tactics etc ''til the cows come home, but at the end of the day they are a professional football club with a greater knowledge than us.

Hence why it smacks a bit sour that a newly-promoted Hull team were approached with a set-up for ''stopping power'' over much else. Yes, it was an away game but after 3 PL years (and particularly 20mil+ spent) I think it''s fair for people to feel let down that we didn''t come out of the blocks firing today.

Looked more like we were waving our very expensive guns around and shouting ''Stay away!'' to a few militia with an air rifle.

[HampsteadCanary 0]

The trouble is, we will struggle to find a better manager if Hughton doesn''t improve. Who would you like to see here? Martin O''Neil hasn''t really done it since his successful Villa period. None of us wants to have a season like last year, and I can only think the board won''t take it if it doesn''t improve after the summer spend. We''re owed an apology, but Hughton doesn''t really seem to do that!

Lets hope the reserves give Bury a good hiding and we put a performance on against Southampton. If we lose that game, I can see Hughton being put under real pressure. McNally didn''t hesitate in getting rid of Gunn after that first game against Colchester...he''ll know the fans don''t want to see another season of clueless team selections and frustrating football.

We all had so much hope after the West Brom/Man City performances that we would kick on, but it really looked exactly the same as last season. The shackles are back on, we''d better get used to it!

[Bill 1,788]

I have to be honest Hampstead and say that it is not so much "the fans don''t want to see another season of clueless team selections and frustrating football" as it is the loss of PL status and the consequences on his salary bonuses etc - it is that PL place that is the motivation.As to another manager none of us had really heard of Lambert before the Colchester game, and given how the club were checking out replacements a year before Lambert left I don''t doubt the feelers have been out for somewhile.The question is whether the board will feel that these type of performances are an abheration or a fundamental part of his make up. Certainly the questions were being asked last season by the local media about what the players felt, and I doubt what provoked those questions didn''t escape the notice of the board members.How long he will be given is now the moot point.

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="City1st"]we were up against a novice PL team, down to 10 mennever mind us not winning, it was the manner of the defeat that was most telling[/quote]Indeed.  And you could point at all the money we''ve spent in midfield and attack, and yet we resorted to hoofing long ball after long ball into the box, which is the equivalent of buying a National Lottery scratchcard because you need a tenner....

[City 2nd 191]

H? canary wrote:

Yes the new players might need time to gel, but the desire has to be there, and that can only be down to the manager.

Four new additions to Hughtons squad started the game and all joined before pre season and played pre season. How long do they need to gel?

Every week in training videos are watched of forthcoming opponents, tactics played out, and a game plan employed.

Doesn''t matter if you have been there 1 day or years - you play to the game plan accredited to the manager and his coaches. The negativity with Hughton has been with us since his first day to the current day - and a good professional decreed that he did not like the way he was asked to play and the way the team was set up - and quite simply nothing has changed apart from a few staff - who do what they are asked. Gelling has nothing to do with it, playing to your strengths has!