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CanaryDodge84

Brief season analysis so far...

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Before going into this in-depth, here are the bare facts for this season so far:

Played 18

Won 5

Drew 4

Lost 9

Scored 16

Conceded 31

G/D -15

27% win ratio

50% loss ratio

Assuming Manchester UTD achieve what they should and they beat us on Saturday then that will be the half-way point of the season - Having lost 10 from 19 games - Relegation form without a doubt!

Of the games we have played so far this season these are how I would categorise them in the 4 groups below: -

Entertained

(Entertaining performance/Showed spirit/attacking intent to win the game and neat passing)

Everton (H) – D 2-2

Stoke (A) – W 1-0

Chelsea (H) – L 3-1

Cardiff (H) – D 0-0 (Nobody showed more intent then Mr Fer at the end!) J

Average performance

(Played "ok" resulting in positive/negative result where the game could have finished with any result from not dominating)

Southampton (H) – W 1-0

West Ham (H) – W 3-1

West Brom (A) – W 2-0

Newcastle (A) – L 2-1

Aston Villa (H) – L 1-0

Crystal Palace (H) – W 1-0

Swansea (H) – D 1-1

Sunderland (A) – D 0-0

Fulham (H) – L 2-1

Awful Performance

(Performance was truly awful – lacking spirit/intent for a positive result)

Hull (A) – L 1-0

Tottenham (A) – L 2-0

Man City (A) – L 7-0

Purely out-classed

Arsenal (A) – L 4-1

Liverpool (A) – L 5-1

Based on this – You can see why the board haven’t acted to sack Hughton and his team. He does "ok", "average", "holds his own".....However you want to put it? But there are not enough performances that show both hard-working steely grit mixed with the quality required to be a constant attacking threat over the whole 90 minute duration of a match. We are not consistent in any sense except for being consistently "average" until a positive performance once in a blue moon or a real hiding.  He hasn''t really done enough wrong to be sacked but also hasn''t really done enough to warrant sticking with him either.  It all depends what the boards ambition is with Hughton at the helm and the time period of that ambition!

For me, there is no surprise that we play negative, defensive style football. There is no issue with having a manager who was a defender during his playing career so his specialisation and knowledge is within that area of the game but you need to be supported by a back-room staff that are specialised in all positions on a football pitch and understand what it required from them roles them players have to play. For me, a change of manager isn’t what is required but a change of back-room support. Lets not forget Colin Calderwood was the manager to play a certain Grant Holt on the wing for Forest during his reign there! On the WING!!! Unbelievable! What happened to him at Forest? Sacked! What happened to Trollope in his managerial career? Sacked also! Failed managers! Chris Hughton, although not being the most adventurous manager in terms of free-flowing attacking football is a decent, solid manager but is being supported by the wrong staff around him. He needs to become ruthless, leave sentiment, acquaintances, friendship and loyalty to one side and kindly tell his back room staff he’s going down a new route.

I don’t know who that would be to come in but something needs to change!

Hughton’s reign at Newcastle initially proved short-lived when they struggled and Shearer was then appointed manager and Hughton over-saw the Championship campaign with a very strong Newcastle side in a lower division. Newcastle had no divine right to go straight back up, even with a strong team but they won the league easily and then carried that form into the Premier League campaign. They were once again, like ourselves doing "ok" and were around mid-table when Mike Ashley wielded the axe and brought in Pardew (which has proven to be a master-stroke).

What am I getting at with this analysis? I’m not 100% sure......but Hughton is still relatively new to the managerial side of the game and is still learning himself. With a better back-room team I feel he could achieve so much more than he currently is.

I can understand the emphasis on playing one up top with 5 in midfield and attacking wingers. But you very rarely see a side at the standard of Norwich City having the right quality of players to be able to pull this formation off. The big teams have the battle-hardened warrior in midfield, along with the creative flair and quality needed to get forward and make a 4-5-1 a 4-3-3 at different times of the game.

We do not have the correct mind-set, tactics or players currently at this club to play this formation regularly and achieve positive results.

At the moment we are caught in a loop of wanting to play defensively and try and nick a goal. This is fine, and some great sides over the years have had great success with this tactic and formation but first and foremost, to be able to achieve results with these tactics you must be able to defend and not concede goals..........This simply isn’t happening and places added pressure on strikers to get goals from the very few chances which will come their way in such a defensive-minded formation.

At this moment in time, we have become dull and boring....this reflects in the atmosphere at games now too. After the summer spending spree we expected so much more as supporters but it also takes time for team-cohesion too. We need to change something. Afresh out-look tactically and I feel Hughton has it in him to do this but with him being "Mr nice guy" does he have it in him too "Sack Trollope and Calderwood"???? Unfortunately I don’t think he does! I may be completely wrong but i feel these are the guys holding Hughton back as a manager which in turn is holding Norwich City back from being far better than what we currently are.

 

 

 

 

 

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Good analysis.It goes to show what a fine margin there is in the PL this season. Like Fulham this weekend, any of those ''ok'' performances resulted in a positive rather than negative and we''re top half. Vice versa and we''re deep in the foul and smelly big time. Why would the board change in those circumstances?As an inexperienced manager I also think CH could do with some help. Curbishley in at Fulham could prove to be a great move for them, with him doing the same for Meulensteen. Its certainly going to be an interesting (agonising? squeaky bum time? infuriating? frustrating?) second half of the season.

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If thats a brief season analysis how long is the indepth version!?!

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"ZippersLeftFoot"If thats a brief season analysis how long is the indepth version!?!

:-)

It''s been crap would have sufficed.

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]If thats a brief season analysis how long is the indepth version!?![/quote]

It has been s@@@ and hughton must go is all the analysis you need.

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Brief analysis

 

Frustrating, inconsistent,  unentertaining progress to low mid table safety.

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In my opinion, it not as simple as just saying it''s "rubbish".  Look at the teams in the bottom half of the table and even some of those in the top half and you tell me how many of those sides didn''t look beatable on the day at Carrow Road.

It''s a poor standard of football being played by the teams in the lower reaches of the Prem because everybody from chairmen down to the fans are fearing the worst.......Relegation!  The "money-side" of the "game" and i use that word "game" loosley because it''s fast becoming anything but a game..........but the money has become the sole purpose now.  This filters all the way through a football club.

The owner puts added pressure on the manager, the manager puts added pressure on the players.....The players play nervously due to the pressures and are playing under more negative tactics from the manager as they are so worried about losing instead of focussing on winning!  This nervousness then filters through to the supporters which creates, like yesterday and many games before that....a morgue of an atmosphere! 

 

Now Carrow Road is slightly different because we have what I call "a proper" structure in place in terms of the top hierachy of the club.  They care about everybody at every level.  But you look at the situation at most clubs now, Cardiff being the most predominent at the moment.....But surely when history, sentiment, pride, loyalty and tradition is all pushed to one side by a fat-cat foreign owner with only money and business sense to commercially sell Cardiff City FC as a global "brand" to a wider audience in his homelands of Malaysia and to make them more marketable he has changed everything you could possibly change to hurt the fans....Kit colour, his sponsor on the shirts, wanting to change the name of the club, no respect for the manager who guided the club to the Premier League.  Vincent Tan has no idea, and he is not alone i''m afraid.  Football has gone totally barmy and it''s becoming less and less enjoyable.  It''s all about the money now!  It''s ruined the game we love.  why would Cardiff CIty fans give any thought or care about how their club is perceived in foreign countries!? 

It''s all about supporting YOUR local club, regardless what league, how much money or how bad the football is.  If the football is bad because your players are useless and rubbish or lack any effort or care for the club then that is what should make you relegation material.  Not the pressures of modern day football where "money" is the be all and end all without any thought about trophies, success and supporters.

I loved the league 1 season, it was torrid being relegated and some of the performances were dire under certain regimes at them levels too but at least it was about Football and not money.  I know i speak for many long-time supporters here, I just dont enjoy it like i used to anymore!  I actually dont want to see us play Man UTD, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City etc.............i would be happier seeing us play somebody i know we stand a chance against.  Where the level playing field is more even.  Not money v football but football v football.

It''s all gone tits up..............Just look at the managers nowadays who get sacked!  Steve Clarke''s sacking the other week is a joke!  It''s all far too serious now! 

We talk about sacking Hughton, but who would you want?  Would you take any of these managers over Hughton???

 

Steve Bruce?

Mark Hughes?

Paul Lambert?

Sam Allardyce?

Tony Pulis?

Gus Poyet?

Tim Sherwood?

 

Is that really a great list of managers for what is supposed to be the "greatest league in the world"?

 

What would you rather as a fan?

Trying to "mix-it" with the big boys and bring in a foreign owner, change the clubs name, stadium name, sponsor, shirt colour, let the manager be dictated to and undermined in the profession he is experienced in and told who to buy, how to play etc by a businessman who has no knowledge of football just because he has money............which even then doesn''t guarantee any success what so ever!!!  Only one club can win the league and only 4 can ever get into the champions league! 

Even if you could guarentee champions league football in exchange for losing all the tradition mentioned above would you want it??  I know I wouldn''t!

 

Can you imagine Norwich City becoming this: -

Club Owner: Mr Shabba Labba doo drop Po from Hong Kong

Club Name: The Kung-fu Canaries

Club Kit: All White with a yellow belt

Stadium Name: The Sushi Arena

Manager Name: Mr Li Ho Po (The owners son - he watched a game once and plays football manager so is a pro).

Kit Sponsor: Po sushi

Club Badge: A squid hugging a canary

 

You may laugh...........But it''s all going down the path in the name of money!

 

As for our current manager..............He needs a wider-experienced back-room staff to support him.  He needs to become ruthless and ditch who is currently supporting him in his backroom staff.  They are the down-fall I feel.

 

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Brief analysis

 

Frustrating, inconsistent,  unentertaining progress to low mid table safety.

[/quote]

 

And that is the only aim now!  What is the point in being in this league??????

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