Observations from yestrerday

[Tetteys Jig 830]

1) What was Olsson doing 4th goal, playing everyone onside and wasn''t even marking anyone. He needs to work on that and work on his understanding with the other members of the back 4

2) Great strike from Howson.

3) Absolutely no threat from Hooper. It seems you could play Falcao or Messi up there and they would be invisible. I don''t buy this ''can''t play 2 up top'' mentality. I do at the top end of the league, where the likes of Ozil, Hazard and Rooney don''t count as strikers, but the limited time we will get in the final third, we need way more prescence. Back to 2 up front for me please.

4) A bit like when you play 2 players on the same team on FIFA and your mate constantly barracks you for not passing. So you decide to make an extra special effort to pass even when it''s not on. We gave 2 of our goals away yesterday trying to play through balls to the isolated striker and the passes weren''t even on. I think we were just impatient and ill informed by the coaching team. If we can get a more robust threat in the final third, we will have the passes on to cause trouble rather than just trying to force the issue when it''s not there.

5) We looked again industrious like we do have the quality to pass the ball about. I think we''ve over compensated and lose out on having a genuine threat by packing the midfield. This may work against the lower teams, but the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea will just pick you off eventually.

6) I''d like to say ''if we play like that versus Cardiff we''d win'' but i don''t think we would, i think 0-0 or 1-1. We simply don''t create enough.

7) The next 4 games for me are a real test for Hughton. I think if they go very wrong, he could be gone. I''m hoping we''ll play a more expansive game and it will come of for us in at least two of them though. If not, it might be time to freshen up and give the new guy a month to suss the players out before some alterations in January.

I genuinely want Hughton to succeed but am losing patience with out attacking threat, we look the most toothless outfit in the league at the moment like we were under Worthy, you don''t stay up with 0-0 draws.

[The Big Bad Wolf 0]

I have to agree, particularly about point 7. I would also love it if CH turns things around. We shouldn''t be too quick to judge on the last two results. That said, the results and performances in the last calendar year have not been good. After four games folks were calling for his head, while others were saying it''s just a matter of time before things click. But there must come a time when enough is enough. The Hughton supporters keep saying it''s too early to judge, but I feel like Jimmy that the next four games is crunch time. Massive game next week. I remain hopeful but not confident.

[crabbycanary 2]

6 shots on target at the Emirates. Impressive

[City 2nd 191]

Really spit on JS: I was at the game and see it exactly as you say, especially point 4 and 5. Hoots bangs on out possession, and we are very adept at passing it across the middle and back to the defenders, but there really is no outlet at all going forward, Hooper looked dreadful yesterday, but quite simply he had nothing going for him, and when he did try to make the runs and space we missed the objective pass. Possession is no good if the end result is appears to happen in 90% of our game time . I also do not see a win v Cardiff, only a draw, and I cannot see us putting together a run like last season and that can only mean one thing! Confidence among the players looks rock bottom to me, Hopper and a Ruddy were livid leaving the park yesterday, and too many heads are down and there is a reason for it!

[The Great Mass Debater 1,075]

Wanted to reply to Reggie Streysums post during the Arsenal match thread but didnt want to bump that thread. Thought this was as good a thread as any as more current.

Reggie, you said that you didnt see any signs of improvement, but you pointed to the results. I agree we have still lost against Chelsea and Arsenal, and you cited the late goals. I see this as a sign of improvement though. Late goals are unfortunate, and the consequence of risk. Unfortunately the gamble did not pay off in either match, but at least we are gambling now.

This is a sign of improvement to me. The reslt is unfortunate, but swings and roundabouts and balancing over the season and all that jazz.

As I said, the improvement in the performance since the game against Tottenham and the recent games are marked. Against Tottenham we were meek, frightened and completely ineffective. Against Arsenal we gave it a good go and at one point equalising looked possible. We were never in the game at Tottenham, but we werent out of this one til the 3rd goal. First and 3rd goals just quality. I think if we put in that level of performance and that approach throughout the season we''ll pick up enough points. These games against the top six are bonus matches for us. Nothing expected, but we have to give ourselves a chance of some points. We did that against Arsenal, but as expected lost to a superior side. Adopt that approach throughout the season and we should beat enough of the rest to achieve our aim.

My concern with Tottenham game was not that we lost, but was the manner of the defeat. The natural order of these fixtures will be that we will lose all 6 away against the top teams, and at home will probably lose as well - we are against superior teams. Against Tottenham we did nothing in the game to have made any other outcome at all possible. Yesterday and against Chelsea we did. Yes we still lost, but for a while points seemed possible, The shipping of late goals was a direct consequence of trying to chase the points - which we never did at Tottenham. Unfortunately it wasnt successful, but we gave ourselves the chance, and sometimes it will pay off.

You cite the score margin, but really, unless you are going to obsess about goal difference - something that very rarely actually matters (most teams get relegated on points, not on goal difference) - it doesnt matter. The only outcome that matters is points.

At 2-1 down (and currently attaining 0 points) Hughton gambled to try to get 1. It didnt work, and we still got 0, but there will be occasions where the gamble does pay off. Conceding two goals later on really doesnt matter. I would rather we risked losing by a heavier scoreline to give ourselves the chance to equalise, that to try to keep the score down and give ourselves no chance of points at all - which is what happened at Tottenham.

I agree, overall outcome the same - but the performances have massively improved, as has the teams approach to games. The negativity and fear of the opposition has gone. The reluctance to risk an attack has gone. And this will serve us well over the course of the season, if, results-wise it hasnt in the short-term. Remember who we have been playing. Play like that against teams where there is less of a gulf and we will be more successful

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

We lack belief. We never believed we could go on and draw the game yesterday.

[andyc24_uk 58]

I''m less concerned after the last two games - in which we''ve at least displayed the hunger and desire to take the game to the opposition and not been scared off by the ''big names'' - than I was after the Spurs game, where we just curled up to die, or particularly the Hull game which I think was the worst performance since the 7-1 Colchester abomination - actually one of the worst performances in the history of the club.

The midfield is really starting to impress now, but this one-up-front business simply doesn''t work, and is never going to work. We have three good strikers - we need two of them up there attacking the goal.

Snodgrass, for me, doesn''t deserve a place in the team at the moment - he''s off form, playing lazily and has an attitude problem - possibly down to the lack of competition from Benno this season. I think it''s about time he was dropped for a few weeks, with 2 up front and either Pilks playing just off them to the left hand side, or him also rested and Hoolahan or Redmond brought in and given free reign to push forward from the middle and cause as much chaos as possible. We''re getting predictable, which isn''t helping us to create the chances we need.

[HerefordCanary 0]

Problem for me is, our midfield 3 is good and imo needs to stay in for a run of games in which i think they will get even better, but one striker leaves whoever it is just too isolated. But if you can''t replace one of the 3 in CM then it''d have to be a winger that goes. But that is where most of our goals have come from so far, so then you have 3 at the back and 2 wing backs maybe, but there''s a chance that a bold move like that could end in disaster.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

I''m hoping we show the great mentality we''re pretty famed for at the minute and pull off a result versus Cardiff. If you look at the Stoke game, that was pretty do or die, and the Southampton win was off the back of that awful day in Hull. Hoping the team channel their anger and disappointment and smash Cardiff. I remember a similar game in a similar situation where we ended a run of bad form just before starting some tricky fixtures last year when we beat QPR.

[ROBFLECK 132]

Problem for me is we are talking about all the positives etc... but we''re losing game after game. Sorry but losing games is not going to do the confidence of the players any good. They can say what they want...they''ve lost yet another game! I agree with Jimmy on the Hulll game , which was a shamefull performance...but I can''t be happy or even positive after another lost game and my team sitting third from bottom. In my book, the Cardiff match is a crunch game...people can rattle on as much as they want about the positives in the performances...I want three points on saturday, doesn''t matter to me how they come. I don''t think anyone who''s stayed really optimistic, can deny he/she wants that too!

[Mr Angry 1,542]

I thought that Arsenal always seemed to have an extra man on either wing, especially first half, not sure if that was down to poor positioning by Martin and Olsson or failure to track back by Snodgrass and Pilkington? Anyone else agree?

[......and Smith must score. 1,331]

[quote user="Mr Angry"]I thought that Arsenal always seemed to have an extra man on either wing, especially first half, not sure if that was down to poor positioning by Martin and Olsson or failure to track back by Snodgrass and Pilkington? Anyone else agree?[/quote]The only reason Arsenal always seemed to have a spare man is nothing to do with marking.It''s simply because their players are far better than ours.

[FCC 76]

Strangely have found myself warming towards Hughton after doubting him for over a year. I felt a togetherness in the team on Saturday, and we did as much as we could. We worked hard and pushed on when we could. I just hope we can put a performance in against the bottom half teams.

Certainly have some talent in our squad - just hope we can get some confidence and The Wolf can start firing.