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Daniel Brigham

Getting off the fence about Chris Hughton

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Hello all, here''s my latest blog. Must admit it''s not one I saw myself writing this early in the season ...

After supporting and defending Chris Hughton throughout his time as

Norwich boss, the manager''s time may finally be up. By Daniel Brigham
I am sat on a fence. Either side of me is a different version of Carrow Road.To

my left I can see the Norwich dug out, a dapper Chris Hughton surveying

events on the pitch. To the right I can see an anonymous figure on the

touchline, barking out orders, with Hughton nowhere to be seen.I''ve

been sat here for a while and it’s getting uncomfortable. The splinters

are beginning to dig in. The problem is that I can’t make up my mind,

unsure about which side of the fence to clamber down, which scenario to

embrace. Hughton in, Hughton out? Just as I think I''ve made my

mind up either way, something sways me to reconsider. But I don''t like

heights and I''m beginning to feel like Simeon Stylites, the bonkers

saint they teach you about in RE who spent 37 years sat on a pillar. He died up there. So a decision needs to be made soon. At

half-time against Manchester City I was swinging a leg over to the

Hughton out side. At full time both legs were dangling down, ready for

the final leap into the unknown, into a world that could have offered

the unlikely delights of Marcelo Biesla or the likely horror of Tony

Pulis. A few hours later, with a sense of perspective regained

after the emotion of a 7-0 defeat, I had scrambled back to the top.

After all, a manager shouldn''t be judged on defeats to the two

Manchester clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea. The decision would be based on

results in home games against West Ham and Crystal Palace, and on the

performance away to Newcastle. Now, after another four

contrasting halves of football, I am once again descending into Hughton

out territory. My feet are almost touching terra firma, but there are

some things to consider before the descent is completed.Hughton

is a good manager. Until recently I’ve been quick to back him, quicker

to point to his good managerial record. He was the right appointment

and, whichever way you look at it, and whatever you believe and don''t

believe – teams on beaches, player revolts, lucky unbeaten runs, boring

football – there is no way last year could be considered anything other

than a triumph. Only 10 teams in this whole football-obsessed nation

were better than us, and that shouldn''t be underestimated.But there was always a caveat: that we would improve as an attacking force this season. Not

only has that not come close to happening but, in striving to achieve

something alien to him, Hughton has allowed Norwich’s defense to become a

brittle mess. It''s like an agoraphobic finally plucking up the courage

to venture out of his house and returning to find it burgled. In

strong mitigation, Norwich''s spine has taken a battering this season.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel – looking better with each game, Alex Tettey –

finally providing the midfield with the necessary balance, and Seb

Bassong – our stand-out player last year, have all been victims of major

injury setbacks. At the base of the spine, John Ruddy has started

performing like a lousy covers band, leaving you pining for the much

better original version. Now the problems are spreading out from the

spine, with our wingers resembling a wrap party on Total Wipeout.Despite

these injuries, Norwich''s squad should be good enough not to concede 16

goals in six away games. It should be good enough to eek out more

chances per game. It should be good enough to allow Jonny Howson and

Leroy Fer the freedom to terrorise midfield opponents. It should be good

enough to provide match-changing options off the bench (and to use

them). It should be good enough not to leak goals as embarrassing as the

two against Newcastle. Most significantly, it should be good

enough to know what to do with the ball at their feet. Instead they

treat the football like the Incredible Hulk faced with a Quinoa and

roasted butternut squash salad. Angry, confused, hesitant, panicky. When

a talented squad isn’t performing, the finger has to be jabbed at the

manager. So why is my foot still dangling above the ground rather than

touching it? Because the relentless and often needless sacking of

managers is one of football’s most depressing trends; because there are

few desirable replacements; because we’re not even in the bottom three;

because we’ve performed decently at home; because changing the manager

is a dangerous step into the unknown.But there is a

claustrophobic, fearful malaise around the club and Hughton has got to

the dreaded ‘one game to save his job’ stage. When a manager reaches

that point he should go. The next result shouldn''t be relevant; what’s

relevant is the sequence of results that have led to the ultimatum. After all, if you’ve watched five episodes of Mrs Brown’s Boys

you wouldn''t watch a sixth just on the off chance it might not be

utterly cack again would you? No, you''d never watch it again, threaten

to harm any relatives who might be thinking of buying it on DVD for you

at Christmas and write a strongly-worded letter to the BBC asking them

to never, ever commission something so dreadful ever, ever again and,

while you''re at it, ask them what the hell Miranda is all about.Hughton is, thank goodness, no Mrs Brown’s Boys (that''s Neil Warnock, of course). Hughton is more like The Simpsons:

very good to start with but now so dry of ideas that it’s beginning to

get awkward to watch and, significantly, the fans are starting to turn

off. A failure to take three points off Palace, or even a poor

performance in a scrappy win, and my foot will hover no longer. The

fence will be left behind, the splinters removed and the land of a new

Norwich City manager will be embraced. Probably.

Daniel Brigham is Features Editor of The Cricketer magazine. You can follow him on Twitter: @cricketer_dan

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I''m very much in the same camp as you Dan, loved the Agoraphobic analogy! Perfect summary of Hughton trying to play exciting football!

I to agree that whether he deserves it or not, he should be given the next game (Palace at home) as given it''s two days away and we actually have a recent victory at home to go on, it''s not worth the hassle and the risk it might affect our game even more by sacking Hughton.

Leave the unsettling until after saturday at least.

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I think you have tried to be neutral when writing this blog however it is very clear you do not like Chris Hughton and want him out.

Not sure if you were trying to make it that obvious, but thats how your blog reads.

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Great read, personally don''t think he should be still due to the run of results, however I think your right this really is his final chance and a scrappy performance against palace just won''t cut it

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Hi Ref - quite the opposite. I''ve always been a staunch Hughton fan, and I''ve blogged my support for him before. I''d hoped that the paragraph that starts ''Hughton is a good manager'' made that clear.

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Like me, Dan you''ve tried very very hard to give CH the benefit of the doubt. I have done likewise, but I''ve certainy been a sceptic for a year now.

I''ve been consistent, from September, in saying that if we are on a point a game or less at the end of Nov, then he should go. Things have reached such a pretty pass that the only way this can be avoided is if we beat Crystal Palace in 48 hrs time.

I suspect that there are not many people left on the fence about Hughton now.

Oh, and get some ointment from Boots for those splinters!

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Not wanting to be picky but is there not something of a contradiction in your statement that he shouldn''t be judged on the next game but then ultimate conclusion that if we lose to Palace you will have to enter the Hughton out camp?

Not having a go, I think that we have all now inevitably been plunged into this sort of position and face a string of "must win" games at Carrow Road but its for this reason i still think the club should either have come out and backed him for the forseeable future or got rid after the Man city game.

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Jim - yep, it''s a deliberate contradiction to mock myself for still sitting on the fence. Even though I believe he shouldn''t be judged on the next game and should go whatever the result, there''s still a tiny part of me thinking ''but what if we play really well and win comfortably ...''.

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Er, Ref, I think you''re missing the point of the piece. I gave the reasons why I supported Hughton and then gave the reasons why I''ve slowly changed my mind on him. Naturally you''ll get both positive and negative opinions when the piece is about sitting on the fence. That''s the whole point.  ... And I called Mrs Brown''s Boys utterly cack, not Hughton (and go on to say Hughton is no Mrs Brown''s Boys, so there should be no confusion there).

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As the saying goes, that fence is getting mighty crowded!

Sums up my feelings perfectly (especially about Mrs Brown''s Boys).

I do think the timing & extent of injuries has been a major factor. But, hey, that''s football ...

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Generally agree with most of what you have said although I guess the purpose was to say nothing.

I too was fully behind the appointment of Hughton a no brainer, without doubt the best candidate available. Despite the dreadful run of form in the second half of last season I was clear we should stick with him to the end of the season regardless of the eventual outcome.

Last season was eventually a success to call it a Triumph when it really felt until the last weeks of the season we would be relegated surely an exaggeration in the extreme.

I was happy to give CH 10 games of this season to change my mind.

I was very Impressed with the summer signings and began to think there would be no issue with out manager.

But the lacklustre performances and rigid tactics used during our preseason games had me worried, despite upgrades in personnel we still couldn''t get this system working and CH did nothing to make it look like it would.

Preseason counts for nothing I thought once we get underway he will get it cracked, sadly no evidence of that. Just a huge list of missed opportunities pointless late substitutions and toothless attacks. Add to that the fact that we have now forgotten how to defend and that the players seem to have lost all confidence in there abilities then Im not sure how much worse it could be.

I think comparing him to the Simpsons is unfair, surely Worthy was the Simpsons, we thought he was great but he went a bit stale.

I cant imagine any manager poor enough to be Mrs Browns boys perhaps Roy Keane after his stint down the road but even then he''s not that bad.

I would say CH would be a sit com that was mildly amusing but that you watched when it happened to be on but didn''t make a point to record in the first series that you got bored of before the second series.

Something Like "Friday Night Dinner" or "Chickens" you find yourself questioning weren''t they good in Inbetweeners (or managing other clubs) ?

Also I still believe we have a good squad that can do much better if given the chance to shine and played to there strengths. Everybody likes Hughton and wanted to see him succeed but nothing is changing so nothing can improve.

Imagine Roeder had this squad and made it perform so badly, id guess there would be a set of gallows outside his house.

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Thank god for that some else who agrees with me, Mrs Browns boys is utter shyte, some bloke dressed as an old woman swearing a lot and people rave over it, But it is utter tosh and about as funny as a guide dog with rabies. Oh and some good points about Hughton as well DB [:D]

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He has had some bad luck - Hooper injured just before the season, Benno badly injured about the same time, Hooper returned and RvW injured, then Tettey and now Pilks and Snoddy, Bassong not the player he was, and Martin the same seemingly, and even Ruddy making errors.

You would have to add that many people feel that he overestimated the potential ability of Hooper, and even RvW, to score goals in the Premiership. In fact despite so many signings only Fer, and to a lesser extent Olsson, has made any mark.

 

 I can forgive CH for any disappointment in his signings - they needed  time to bed in, and in the case of RvW and Hooper there were injuries. What I am struggling with is the following:

The lack of willingness to change or adapt. Almost every game we seem to emerge intent on not conceding a goal early, and almost every game we do. In the one game where we took the game to the opponents from the start, against Stoke, we won, but thereafter we were back in the ultra cautious, fearful mood.

The inability to make things happen during the game - by changes in tactics and by substitutions. The team are run into the ground by the time substitutes come on with  few minutes to get warm, let alone make a contribution. If we change our method of play it seems to be generally because something has happened, not because he has made it happen - like the gift of a penalty to us by West Ham.

There seems to be a difficulty in motivating the players, or removing their fear. They say that they believe they can win, but they don''t play like this. Either their brave talk is empty or it is subdued by his caution.

 

For me,. the final straw, which knocked me off the fence, was the Newcastle game. In the first half we didn''t turn up. Almost out of the blue Fer scored a goal. Even if Newcastle were confident of holding their lead, surely we had to give it a go with a quarter of an hour left, including time added on. His explanation for the delay was, it seemed, that he was concerned that if we had gone for an equaliser earlier we might have suffered a heavier defeat! Need I say more?

Now we face Palace. I would like to think that we shall win by a goal or two but , sadly, I don''t think our striking, passing and defensive problems have been solved, and I can''t see us doing better than scrambling a point. Do I wish for defeat as a catalyst for change? No, I could never wish that on the team I have supported all my life. I do fear for our immediate future,however.

 

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Agree with Almost everything Salopian with the exception of the ability or lack of ability of our strikers.

The truth is nobody knows what they can do, I still believe if given the service and the correct formation both Hooper and Rvw will score goals.

I struggle to think of a striker that could score goals feeding of the meagre scraps afforded them when the midfielders aren''t chancing there arm from 30 yds.

Given that we are by whatever slim margin outside the bottom three I can live with the results and even the odd catastrophe when we try something that doesn''t come off in the hope that the code will be cracked. The fact that we are so predictable and pedestrian leaves me with little doubt nothing is going to change under Hughton.

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A very good analysis from Salopian; tactical inflexibility, naivety, negativity call on what you will - the evidence suggests that the management team are unwilling and/or unable to change its approach. The time for change is long overdue.

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The question is how long does the benefit of any doubt actually last? I think most reasonable folks felt like we would have a good idea after 10 games. The fact that we are currently out of the drop-zone after 12 games (just) and should climb the table with a win over Palace just masks over the real issues. Some folks will point out were have more points than this time last year - but we made a shocking start last year and only the unbeaten run (don''t see one of them coming this year) really turned the season around. I think he has had enough time. We are not playing great football, don''t score many goals, and concede far too many. That''s a recipe for the Championship. That said I still back us to get just enough points to survive as there are others struggling as well. But again, shouldn''t we expect a bit more after the squad investment? Get your coat Chris and close the door on the way out!

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There has been no improvement since the shambles at Fulham last year. He has ripped up Lamberts team and created his own full of fear and rigidity. Only today one of his own signings couldn''t contain his frustration any longer. For me the fence is a distant memory.

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Well written DB , ive forwarded that to a mate. Dont feel just yet that he should go, but like you i''m getting close. must also take into account injuries, soft decisions against etc.

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Cheers wcorkcanary. I should state that I hope wrong and Hughton turns it all around as I''d love it if he succeeded. Sadly I can no longer see it happening this season.

Ref - yes I like feedback, both positive and negative. But it''s got to at least make some sort of sense.

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Gamblers cannot stop gambling because in doing so they admit their losses because they''re no longer going to win them back.

This is Norwich City''s position over Hughton. As soon as the Board sack him they will be asked the question: ''why not earlier'' like last February. So they hope he can amazingly turn it around to justify their continuing gambling with the Clubs future with him in charge.

The only thing keeping him in place is the egos of those who brought him in reinforced by the shame of their own indecision.

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Archants sports writers seem to be quite grim about Hughton and it will be very interesting to see what they write when he''s gone, but I think they are finding it hard to hold in their frustrations. The podcast is like listening to Leonard Cohen''s Greatest Hits. It''s nice that they can express their opinion while obviously having to tread carefully.

At least we''re not in the Rick Waghorn days, who was so ''in'' with Carrow Road, that his reports for Norwich matches were so biased towards the club that you couldn''t take them seriously! Thankfully that was a long time ago...

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