View From The Far East

[Farkes The Herald Angels 0]

I live in Hong Kong and although I see every game live on TV (Saturday night is NCFC night, much to my Chinese wife''s bewilderment) it''s not the same as going to live games, living in the city (as I did from 1971 until 20 years ago) and sensing the feeling on the ground.

I cannot have the same sense of what''s going on as those of you who are there.

Which is why I perhaps find the current frenzy amongst some of ''Hughton Out Now'' stuff and the reactions to losses to Chelsea and Arsenal and a draw at home to Cardiff a bit bewildering.

Sat there with beers in hand each Saturday night I have witnessed three pretty damn good performances. Yes, losses in concentration at the back and missed opportunities at the front have been difficult to stomach, but I have not come away with the same feeling as some of last season''s games (e.g. Sunderland) and this season''s games (e.g. Hull and Spuds). In those games I went to bed feeling really dejected and it spoilt my Sunday meet-up with others who support the ''big boys''.

So the dejection amongst some I witness on these boards is a bit perplexing. I realise I don''t see it all on TV, and I''m not witnessing things up close, but are things really that bad that we would consider sacking the manager?

Some of the set-ups have been a little surprising and some of the substitutions (or lack of them) have been counter-intuitive, but in each of the last thre games I have come away feeling optimistic about our prospects.

Naturally I don''t like being 18th and I''m worried, but it seems, in terms of the ''panic'', I''m missing something.

Please enlighten me!

[Phillip J Fry 0]

You''ve pretty much summed up my thoughts there. 

[lake district canary 4,531]

Well, Ferry, from my perspective, you can''t look in from afar and be allowed to say things look ok.  Those that go every week will tell you its all about the things that have happened in the past that matter - the fact that they had to sit through some dire matches last season and they can''t get those performances out of their head.  Its the fact that they "know better" because they are there. 

I too sit from afar, although I do get to some matches, more away than at home - but I have been told on many occasions, you have to go every week to appreciate the problems.    Personally, I think its all bollox, its more that when you''re so close to a situation its more difficult to get a sense of perspective.   The anti-hughton vitriol is imo unbalanced - or seems so on here - but I think that with improved results resulting from improved performances, those voices will go quiet and things will be happier on here. 

I''m with you though - I see improvement and promise in our play and hope it carries on improving and translates into goals and victories.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

I''ve been to all our away games this season and I agree with the OP 100%.

The spurs game was depressing because we sat back and invited them on to us, and at no point did we look like we might get anything. Whereas against both Chelsea and Arsenal we competed all the way and on another day we''d have come away with something.

Ditto the hull game was frustrating because our front players just didn''t click, it was obvious they weren''t familiar with each other. Whereas on Saturday we created many chances and none of them went in, football''s like that sometimes.

So for me the improvement is obvious, of course we need the results too but if we sustain our recent form they will come.

At the start of the season, the last few games stood out as tough, but to have four league games including Chelsea and trips to Arsenal and Man C isn''t exactly an easy run either.

[Farkes The Herald Angels 0]

Interesting, and thanks for your perspectives.

In some sense, even though I don''t walk down Carrrow Hill, or get on a bus to an away game to watch the team play, I still have my own Saturday evening ritual and I watch the whole thing on TV.

I see hope, not pessimism.

And I also see a lot of utter vitriolic and unpleasant nonsese in those who are keen to add a confrontational element to the debate.

You lose so much potency by bashing and slamming others.

[Dubai Mark 0]

Interesting thread particularly for an ex-pat. I too am very fortunate to be able to watch every home and away game live on TV here (many I watch a second time, like this weekend and trust me it was even more one sided the second time) and of course many other Premier league games too, and I agree it is a different experience to being at the match actually sitting in the ground. BUT, like many ex-pats I do manage to get to the occasional game each season, and this always helps keep you in the loop so to speak. Over the years what I have noticed is that when we are on a great run of form and playing "brilliantly" for example, when I then go to a live game it''s not as brilliant as I was expecting and conversely when I go during the times when we are on a bad run and playing negative or defensive football, then it''s always better than I had been expecting. So I agree that you can actually get dragged into some of the over hype and negativity when you attend live week in week out, and nothing wrong with that. I can also remember that when I was a season ticket holder (for many years) and went to many away matches, I was far more critical of what''s happening than I am now, far more.