Hughton - Swings and Roundabouts

[Canary02 IV 0]

It''s been interesting over the past few weeks to see the swingometer of public opinion on Chris Hughton. It seems like the majority have now turned against him.

I was, from about February, hugely frustrated by Hughton and his tactics. There were several performances last season where we played so deep and with so little ambition we may as well have agreed a defeat before kick off, phoned in the result to the FA and saved us all a journey out. The first few games of this season were no better and I was calling for a long overdue change at the helm.

However, since the Stoke game I think there are genuine signs of us having turned a corner, if not in terms of results, then at least in style of play. The Tettey/Fer/Howson midfield is working and our possession stats are improving. Olsson''s attacking play on the left is allowing a rejuvenated Pilks to link up with the striker and giving us the kind of linking play which we simply didn''t have until Stoke.

I''m not for one second saying I''m converted and Hughton is suddenly a better manager. We may find that tactically other teams will suss out the new formation and we''ll soon return to looking clueless again. I just find it strange that this is the point where opinion has turned. For me, the football we''re playing at the moment is the best we''ve played under Hughton. We might not have scraped the results we did when we had the unbeaten run last year, but performance-wise we''ve been far superior for my money.

Maybe this is about what you look for as a supporter. For me, I can get behind a manager when the team is competing and giving a good account of itself, regardless of whether the results are going our way. For other people, results are all important and if we lose it''s terrible, if we win, it doesn''t matter how we do it. I can understand this to a certain extent. It''s just interesting how different people view the situation.