sometimes the opinion of non city supporters is worth listening to.

[wcorkcanary 4,783]

I am the only city supporter round here( the other one emigrated) , most footy fans here tell me that all we are waiting for is Norwich to ''Click''..as jose puts it,and we''''l be fine, they tell me, we''re playing well . CH is a good manager, we''ve got a good squad.etc. I think they''re right. As i said in another thread we''re only 3 pts behind Swansea...and they''re 9th. 18th isnt a great position to be in but other supporters dont see us as having a problem. It''ll never be easy for us in this league, but it wont be boring either.

[lake district canary 4,830]

Agreed.   Its peculiar.  Its obvious to most people around the country that we have spent well, have a good manager and are destined to do well under him.  Improvements in evidence, still early days for some of our new players, yet it seems our own fans have a mentality that is stuck in the "we will fail" under him.    Why are they so defeatist?    

Every time the team improves, he gets no credit.   Every time.   We win - its because the other team didn''t turn up.   We attack well - no credit there either.    Going on about substitutes is clutching at straws too - subs are never easy to judge - and when Hughton does  make attacking substitutions, he gets no credit for being brave and going for it,  so its clear he gets no credit by some for anything he does - ever.

I''m not saying he is perfect.   I would think he is learning all the time - he''ll certainly be learning about his players still.  It still seems to me that success is in in the pipeline - after all his history of his previous clubs suggests it will happen - he just needs time.............. 

................time that some have never been prepared to give him, practically since the day he arrived. 

[Fleckys Flip-Flop 0]

I agree. I personally won''t be worried unless we are in the same position in around 5 games time. The last 4 performances have been encouraging. What mystifies me is how the Hughton-outters. Have been screaming for more attacking football, yet when they get it they still complain. Was the point not ''we would rather go for it and lose games than set up to draw''? I''ve seen us ''go for it'' 4 games in a row and take 4 points from those, still keeping 2 clean sheets and losing to 2 of the leagues best sides. Maybe it''s all about how you represent the facts, but I''m sure that once the players grow more accustomed to this more expansive, attacking style, the goals will come. I predict we will be in the top half by Christmas.

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

The Arsenal fans that I had the misfortune of sitting next to on the way back from the Emirates last week couldnt understand why I showed concerns about Hughton...

Of course if teams consistently beat you they''ll want you to keep the manager...

[lake district canary 4,830]

[quote user="RvWs 4 year contract"]The Arsenal fans that I had the misfortune of sitting next to on the way back from the Emirates last week couldnt understand why I showed concerns about Hughton...Of course if teams consistently beat you they''ll want you to keep the manager...[/quote]

Of course, we are always beaten by Arsenal, aren''t we...................

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="RvWs 4 year contract"]The Arsenal fans that I had the misfortune of sitting next to on the way back from the Emirates last week couldnt understand why I showed concerns about Hughton...Of course if teams consistently beat you they''ll want you to keep the manager...[/quote]

Of course, we are always beaten by Arsenal, aren''t we...................

[/quote]

Stop burying your head in the sand LDC with patronising comments like that.

6 league wins (no matter how encouraging the performances have been) is woeful.

[0 0]

Why would I want to listen to the opinion of someone who doesn''t watch us play?

[ron obvious 1,711]

What I see is a lot of "Little Norwich" mentality amongst those supporters complaining about others having such a mentality.

Underneath all the bravado, they''re insecure & cannot cope with the fact that Norwich are in the Prem. Lacking self-belief & frightened, they see any sign of failure as a harbinger of doom & inevitable relegation. Alarm & despondency rule the day.

I don''t know if Hughton is the best possible option as manager. But I think he''s a better bet than any of the Usual Suspects mentioned on here (overseas managers I know very little about) & he is improving.

Unless we have a top, top quality candidate, then I wouldn''t even consider replacing him. Replacing Worthington wasn''t exactly an unmitigated success, even though it needed doing at the end.

It''ll be a struggle - it always will be for a club with our financial constraints. Enjoy the fact we get to play - & beat - some of the best teams in the world.

[lake district canary 4,830]

[quote user="RvWs 4 year contract"][quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="RvWs 4 year contract"]The Arsenal fans that I had the misfortune of sitting next to on the way back from the Emirates last week couldnt understand why I showed concerns about Hughton...Of course if teams consistently beat you they''ll want you to keep the manager...[/quote]Of course, we are always beaten by Arsenal, aren''t we...................[/quote]Stop burying your head in the sand LDC with patronising comments like that.6 league wins (no matter how encouraging the performances have been) is woeful. [/quote]

Two things.  1.   You mentioned Arsenal, not me and we beat them last season.  2.   Stop looking backwards.  Look forwards to seeing more and more development/improvement - we are improving, aren''t we?

[KeelansGlove 0]

We have the best squad we have ever had but a manager that is tactically clueless who has shown no signs of changing this despite 6 wins in 36 games. Whilst I am happy to agree hat the basic shape of the team is probably a given these days in the Prem failure to make telling changes at any point other than like for like changes in personnel give me no reason to believe we have a decent manager.

[Gingerpele 0]

Just a quick note to you wcorkcanary, i believe the poster on here named Twitchy is also based in Cork...

[Joanna Grey 0]

KeelansGlove wrote the following post at 28/10/2013 12:58 AM:

"We have the best squad we have ever had but a manager that is tactically clueless who has shown no signs of changing this despite 6 wins in 36 games."

But ''the best squad we ever had'' has only been together for a quarter of those games.

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

The ''best squad we''ve ever had'' has now settled into an attacking, impressive team and improving week on week. They''ve only been together for 9 PL games and only 4 since our best formation has been deployed. Encouraging times.

[lake district canary 4,830]

[quote user="Joanna Grey"]KeelansGlove wrote the following post at 28/10/2013 12:58 AM:

"We have the best squad we have ever had but a manager that is tactically clueless who has shown no signs of changing this despite 6 wins in 36 games."

But ''the best squad we ever had'' has only been together for a quarter of those games.[/quote]

Agreed, and this is the thing that the anti-Hughton people seem to forget.     Conveniently focusing on the bad times, ignoring the good times (like the unbeaten run). 

The only logical way to look at the situation is to judge recent history - and that suggests we are improving, the new players are starting to gel and the prognosis is good.  Any other way of looking at it is unrealistic and unnecessarily harping backwards instead of looking forwards.

[wcorkcanary 4,783]

Thanks GP, even though i''m used to being alone in my support for City its good to know that there are others nearby. Incidentaly i sat among Arsenal fans at The Emirates Library last week and they were tense , nervous and not very confident in their own team , when Jonny Howson pulled one back for us you could cut the tension with a knife, then lo! at 4-1 it was a gloatfest. We are not the only club with fickle supporters. what was generally agreed, even by the great Charlie George(i won a Carlsberg VIP w/e trip..lucky me) ,was that Norwich played well and we''ll be fine. I know points on the board are important but lets not panic just yet....a faint heart never won the fair maiden.

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

[quote user="KeelansGlove"]We have the best squad we have ever had but a manager that is tactically clueless who has shown no signs of changing this despite 6 wins in 36 games. Whilst I am happy to agree hat the basic shape of the team is probably a given these days in the Prem failure to make telling changes at any point other than like for like changes in personnel give me no reason to believe we have a decent manager.[/quote]But we''ve won 4 of our last 11! That''s a 36% win percentage!!

[CambridgeCanary 0]

KeelansGlove said

"We have the best squad we have ever had but a manager that is tactically clueless who has shown no signs of changing this despite 6 wins in 36 games."

 

I accept that there are lots of different opinions and perspectives but to say this after the last four games when we''ve seen a change of tactics and lineup and attitude frankly is perverse.

[Juggy 0]

[quote user="RvWs 4 year contract"]6 league wins (no matter how encouraging the performances have been) is woeful. [/quote]

"6 league wins"..... that''s a bit of random figure to pluck from nowhere with no explanation. 

Because it certainly isn''t 6 league wins this season, or 6 league wins last season, or 6 league wins under Hughton.

So what is it exactly?

[Indy 3,471]

Fans from other teams of course have their opinions and base it on what they see of us. In general how can anyone who saw us against Cardiff say that it will click, but having seen us for the past year we have only clicked a few time. Even since Hughton took over we have never really spanked anyonw (WBA aside).

 

Again this is not black or white but very gray! on the one hand, some good signings, finished 11th, unbeaten run of 10 games and generally a very nice guy!

 

On the other hand, won only 18 out of 55 (32%) overall and with 6 wins in the league for 2013, playing some of the poorest football in recent times, questioned by some about his tactics and use of players.

 

The trouble is 6 wins in the league in 30 games is not a good return and most would agree that a manager with that return would certainly be under pressure and rightly so.

 

But the performances over the past 4 weeks show that the players are capable of good attractive football, yet the final part is missing GOALS.

 

Sometimes you need to listen to all fans, City, United, Pro Hughton or Anti Hughton, but in  general they are opinions and the board will call time when they feel the time is right, as other s have posted.

[Chip20 69]

Won ''only'' 18 out of 35? I''m sorry, but winning nearly a third of the games played isn''t bad for a team of our stature. Over a 38-game season that''s just over 12 wins, taking us to 36 points. It only takes a few additional draws to get us over that magical 40 point mark. Do you feel a Hughton team isn''t capable of grinding out four draws over the course of a season? It''s hardly relegation form is it?

[The Big Bad Wolf 0]

[quote user="Chip20"]Won ''only'' 18 out of 35? I''m sorry, but winning nearly a third of the games played isn''t bad for a team of our stature. Over a 38-game season that''s just over 12 wins, taking us to 36 points. It only takes a few additional draws to get us over that magical 40 point mark. Do you feel a Hughton team isn''t capable of grinding out four draws over the course of a season? It''s hardly relegation form is it?[/quote]

Look at the table...we are currently where we deserve to be. No good banging on about improvement; we can''t beat Cardiff at home! Just how long are we supposed to wait before things "click". By the time they click we''ll be in the Championship at this rate. I was not one of the "Hughton Out" camp but have changed my mind. Take off the rose coloured glasses.

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

[quote user="Feed the Wolf"][quote user="Chip20"]Won ''only'' 18 out of 35? I''m sorry, but winning nearly a third of the games played isn''t bad for a team of our stature. Over a 38-game season that''s just over 12 wins, taking us to 36 points. It only takes a few additional draws to get us over that magical 40 point mark. Do you feel a Hughton team isn''t capable of grinding out four draws over the course of a season? It''s hardly relegation form is it?[/quote]

Look at the table...we are currently where we deserve to be. No good banging on about improvement; we can''t beat Cardiff at home! Just how long are we supposed to wait before things "click". By the time they click we''ll be in the Championship at this rate. I was not one of the "Hughton Out" camp but have changed my mind. Take off the rose coloured glasses.[/quote]We still have time, given we''re only one win off 9th. We''re where we deserve to be. So are a host of other clubs, about 10 of which were within one win of catching or overtaking.Take a chill pill people. We''re looking good everywhere but the scoreboard. It''s only a matter of time before it catches up.

[The Big Bad Wolf 0]

[quote user="The ghost of Michael Theoklitos"][quote user="Feed the Wolf"][quote user="Chip20"]Won ''only'' 18 out of 35? I''m sorry, but winning nearly a third of the games played isn''t bad for a team of our stature. Over a 38-game season that''s just over 12 wins, taking us to 36 points. It only takes a few additional draws to get us over that magical 40 point mark. Do you feel a Hughton team isn''t capable of grinding out four draws over the course of a season? It''s hardly relegation form is it?[/quote]

Look at the table...we are currently where we deserve to be. No good banging on about improvement; we can''t beat Cardiff at home! Just how long are we supposed to wait before things "click". By the time they click we''ll be in the Championship at this rate. I was not one of the "Hughton Out" camp but have changed my mind. Take off the rose coloured glasses.[/quote]We still have time, given we''re only one win off 9th. We''re where we deserve to be. So are a host of other clubs, about 10 of which were within one win of catching or overtaking.Take a chill pill people. We''re looking good everywhere but the scoreboard. It''s only a matter of time before it catches up.[/quote]

Chill pill has been swallowed...many take some time to work!

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="Feed the Wolf"][quote user="Chip20"]Won ''only'' 18 out of 35? I''m sorry, but winning nearly a third of the games played isn''t bad for a team of our stature. Over a 38-game season that''s just over 12 wins, taking us to 36 points. It only takes a few additional draws to get us over that magical 40 point mark. Do you feel a Hughton team isn''t capable of grinding out four draws over the course of a season? It''s hardly relegation form is it?[/quote]

Look at the table...we are currently where we deserve to be. No good banging on about improvement; we can''t beat Cardiff at home! Just how long are we supposed to wait before things "click". By the time they click we''ll be in the Championship at this rate. I was not one of the "Hughton Out" camp but have changed my mind. Take off the rose coloured glasses.[/quote]

 

Lol! They''re usually yellow & green glasses[8-|]

 

For now I see improvement and think that makes it more of a gamble. If there was no sign of improvement I reckon the gamble would be worth taking. But it is a gamble because there''s no guarantees a new manager would improve anything. I reckon if we''d have sacked Hughton after Hull and the new manager had overseen the improvement since most people would be happy with it. But that''s the way I see it and am not posting this to try and change anyones mind.

 

 

[Indy 3,471]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

[quote user="Feed the Wolf"][quote user="Chip20"]Won ''only'' 18 out of 35? I''m sorry, but winning nearly a third of the games played isn''t bad for a team of our stature. Over a 38-game season that''s just over 12 wins, taking us to 36 points. It only takes a few additional draws to get us over that magical 40 point mark. Do you feel a Hughton team isn''t capable of grinding out four draws over the course of a season? It''s hardly relegation form is it?[/quote] Look at the table...we are currently where we deserve to be. No good banging on about improvement; we can''t beat Cardiff at home! Just how long are we supposed to wait before things "click". By the time they click we''ll be in the Championship at this rate. I was not one of the "Hughton Out" camp but have changed my mind. Take off the rose coloured glasses.[/quote]

 

Lol! They''re usually yellow & green glasses[8-|]

 

For now I see improvement and think that makes it more of a gamble. If there was no sign of improvement I reckon the gamble would be worth taking. But it is a gamble because there''s no guarantees a new manager would improve anything. I reckon if we''d have sacked Hughton after Hull and the new manager had overseen the improvement since most people would be happy with it. But that''s the way I see it and am not posting this to try and change anyones mind.

 

 

[/quote]

That''s the issue I have too Nutty, there is no doubt that we are performing better and controlling periods of the game, a huge improvement in the way we apply our style and system over the past 5 games.

 

But as they say you need to press home that advantage when you are controlling the game and creating chances, we don''t appear to know how to do that.

 

I don''t see who would come in to make that much of a step change, we are improving and with a bit of luck might turn a corner very soon.

 

As for the 18 games won in 55, let''s not forget only 12 wins from 47 in the league (25%) so not that fantastic in the league.

 

I really am a fence sitter, as there really isn''t anyone out there who I want in to replace Hughton, people are listing managers who have questionable history with other clubs or lack experience at this level all of whom are a gamble and agree with Nutty that there is no guarantee that a replacement would be any better.

 

I''ll wait till MacNally decides it''s time to change, I think the board deserve the right to make that choice given where they have lead us in this short space of time! Let''s be honest none of us expected to have three seasons up here when we got promoted!

 

[KeelansGlove 0]

I have to agree that performances have been much better of late and scores against Arsenal and Chelsea do not reflect our football recently.

However I find it difficult to put a significant amount of this down to bad luck. Yes we had a large number of shots on Saturday not many that in hindsight you would have expected to bulge the back of the net, Marshall was decent but none of the stops he had to make come close to the one that Ruddy somehow kept out.

Any manager who has not got tactical alternatives should not be managing at this level, and any opposition manager will have any easy life nullifying any threat from us.

Start doing some training at Colney and adapt a team during a game to try to exploit and opposition weakness and im happy to have a manger for the rest of the season regardless of outcome. Add to this the fact we can all see that since the beginning of last season there has been a failure to Link midfield with strikers regardless of personnel. I cannot believe that even I will no experience whatsoever couldn''t improve this through coaching.

Have a rigid system where the only options are to switch personnel and hope and we may as well give up now.

[sgncfc 1,330]

[quote user="Curious Orange"]The ''best squad we''ve ever had'' has now settled into an attacking, impressive team and improving week on week. They''ve only been together for 9 PL games and only 4 since our best formation has been deployed. Encouraging times.[/quote]

This.

I''m not at all worried, having seen all our games. The improvement is huge and it is only a matter of time before we start to win games. I even fancy us tonight at OT.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

I wonder if the opinions of Newcastle and Birmingham fans are worth seeking out, as he was fairly successful there - albeit in the division below. I wonder what they make of all this. Anyone know any?