The biggest mistake of the last year?

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

A lot has happened in the last year, but what do you think was the biggest mistake or regrettable circumstance or missed opportunity within it? Grant Holt leaving? Splurging 8.5m on RvW? Not sacking Hughton after the 7-0 at Man City? Making Bassong and Martin half captain each? Plenty of contenders. For me though it was probably not signing that number 10 Quagliarella type player. 6 goals from your forwards speaks volumes and linking the attack has been our biggest problem all season. If we had that player, RvW could be smashing them in, the wingers could look effective and the midfield less like headless chickens. I wonder what our season could have been if we''d been able to link the midfield and the attack. What do others think?

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

[quote user="The Great Mass Debater"]A lot has happened in the last year, but what do you think was the biggest mistake or regrettable circumstance or missed opportunity within it? Grant Holt leaving? Splurging 8.5m on RvW? Not sacking Hughton after the 7-0 at Man City? Making Bassong and Martin half captain each? Plenty of contenders. For me though it was probably not signing that number 10 Quagliarella type player. 6 goals from your forwards speaks volumes and linking the attack has been our biggest problem all season. If we had that player, RvW could be smashing them in, the wingers could look effective and the midfield less like headless chickens. I wonder what our season could have been if we''d been able to link the midfield and the attack. What do others think?[/quote]You left out Jaaskelainen dropping the ball at the feet of Gary Hooper in the West Ham home game...[;)]

[Move Klose 303]

Not sacking Hughton after losing 4-0 to MUFC in the cup followed by 7-0 to MCFC.

[Wiz 0]

[quote user="SooperHooper"]Not sacking Hughton after losing 4-0 to MUFC in the cup followed by 7-0 to MCFC.[/quote]

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but sadly I now do agree.

[mrs miggins 0]

For me, its RVW. Although I was excited when we signed him having seen him play a few times for Sporting quite a few times, I thought he would score more than one goal. (But I also thought Hughton would persevere with 442, Hooper with him).

With the whole change of manager thing, there''s not really that many good replacements that have been available, except from Rosler who looks like a good manager.

[ZLF 335]

Biggest mistake;  was the failure to buy a creative alternative to wes,   Quag & Toivenen identified but not signed.   4231 with 2 from fer, howson, tettey behind wes or AN Other avoids the less successful midfield options we have seen,  retains possession better and gives hooper and rvw the ammunition we have continued to fail to provide.   (the lack of balls received facing goal for either is a stat I would love to see,  far less than 1 a game and lowest in the league I suggest).

 

 

Second is not securing a competetive centreback.

 

 

 

 

[Canary Willo 0]

Mrs Miggins, we had to spend big on a forward this season, the biggest mistake was not creating a 5 man midfield to support and supply the two expensive forwards..

 

If we could not afford the midfield, then why did we spend the vast amounts on 2 forwards when we had no intention of gelling them to play together as we wanted to play 451, or buying the type of players needed for our midfield to get the best out of two good goal scorers in other European leagues???

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

Possibly yhen you could argue that the mistake was not spending the money on two players who could play together, ie 8.5m on a forward who could also play in the hole, and 5m on another forward, or vice versa. Spending those fees on two players who arent versatile enough to play a different role or play together seems a poor piece of judgement. The plan doesnt seem to have been to play the two together, so you have either your most expensive asset or your second most expensive asset warming the bench. Would have been better to splurge 13.5m on two players who could play together imo

[Canary Willo 0]

Totally agree GMD.

 

Was realistically only going to play 1 up, we knew that from last season, so midfield had to be key if you are going to get the best out of a lone striker. We didn''t address this, also it has been obvious Hughton is not a huge fan of Wes too, which made the reason not to sign a Number 10 even more strange.

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

[quote user="The Great Mass Debater"]Possibly yhen you could argue that the mistake was not spending the money on two players who could play together, ie 8.5m on a forward who could also play in the hole, and 5m on another forward, or vice versa. Spending those fees on two players who arent versatile enough to play a different role or play together seems a poor piece of judgement. The plan doesnt seem to have been to play the two together, so you have either your most expensive asset or your second most expensive asset warming the bench. Would have been better to splurge 13.5m on two players who could play together imo[/quote]There may be a sensible behind-the-scenes explanation, but on the face of it that always looked odd. To spend more than half the summer transfer budget on two pretty similar players (only one of whom would at any one time easily fit into the manager''s preferred tactical system) rather than two complementary players seemed a strange use of resources.

[morty 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Biggest mistake;  was the failure to buy a creative alternative to wes,   Quag & Toivenen identified but not signed.   4231 with 2 from fer, howson, tettey behind wes or AN Other avoids the less successful midfield options we have seen,  retains possession better and gives hooper and rvw the ammunition we have continued to fail to provide.   (the lack of balls received facing goal for either is a stat I would love to see,  far less than 1 a game and lowest in the league I suggest).

 

 

Second is not securing a competetive centreback.

 

 

 

 

[/quote]Agree.

[whoareyou? 0]

Not letting RVW take that penalty against Villa IMHO. It must have knocked his confidence straight away and if we had had a stronger captain on the pitch it would not have been allowed to happen.

[Gingerpele 0]

Agree with Zipper.

RVW and Hooper both clearly have very good qualities as strikers. But both have struggled to even get chances playing up top on their own. Hooper got a few whilst Elmander was playing alongside him taking some pressure from the CBs. But RVW only had one chance yesterday, and even with Wes playing he never tried to pick up one of his runs. In some ways spending £8.5 million on him was a mistake, but not because he''s not good enough, because Hughton doesn''t know how to use him.

Hughton should have gone. He improved his squad, but the first team essentially is worse. We''ve had some good performances, but no consistency. But if we had signed Quag, or even Toivonen maybe we''d have scored a couple more goals and won a couple more games and everything would look much better...

[lharman7 39]

A lot of supporters were giving Hughton 10 games in to this season. I was one of them. Don''t get me wrong, I desperately wanted it to work. It hasn''t worked.

He should have gone after those 10 games!

[Hoolahans Left Foot 0]

Biggest mistake of the last year? Retaining Hughton''s services. Should have been dispensed of months ago.

[sgncfc 1,330]

Letting Snodgrass take the penalty against Villa.

[Tony Cottee Woz Ere . . . 0]

Not firing Hughton when it was clear for all but the permanently deluded that last season''s regression was continuing with pace, and our manager had no idea how to turn things around. 29 games in and it''s probably too late. With our inability to score more than one goal a game and shocking final fixtures, relegation is all but guaranteed.

[FCC 94]

Agreed - sticking with Hughton.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="Tony Cottee Woz Ere . . ."]Not firing Hughton when it was clear for all but the permanently deluded that last season''s regression was continuing with pace, and our manager had no idea how to turn things around. 29 games in and it''s probably too late. With our inability to score more than one goal a game and shocking final fixtures, relegation is all but guaranteed. [/quote]

 

So who made the mistake? Hughton? The permanently deluded?

 

Sacking the manager isn''t a cure. Sacking the manager does not come with any guarantees. We don''t get 10 points for doing it. If Hughton keeps us up he will have done as much as anyone who''d have replaced him was expected to do. Despite yesterdays result I still feel a mid season upheaval would be the bigger gamble. However which ever way it pans out won''t be anybody''s fault except??

 

 

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,789]

Two dreadful January transfer windows haven''t helped. During the last one all we managed to get was "cover" in the form of a middle aged CB and that bloke with the long hair.

 

Hughton should have gone to give a new manager a chance with a window.  The Club with CH at the helm clearly failed to make the signings they were in for.

 

 

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

Regarding the January transfer window, does anyone know whether Gutierrez and Yobo were all we felt we needed, or were there serious attempts to bring others in which failed. Im not talking about enquiries, as Im sure that must happen all the time, but a firm target (position or player) which never came through?

[basil brush 0]

McNally not firing Hughton in December - which according to various sources almost happened - could be the worst decision of any Chief Exec or Chairman at this club.

[Green and Yellow 0]

Biggest mistake was not sacking Houghton and getting Gus Poyat in when he was available. Look at how he has turned the shambles around at Sunderland.

[morty 0]

[quote user=" Green and Yellow"]Biggest mistake was not sacking Houghton and getting Gus Poyat in when he was available. Look at how he has turned the shambles around at Sunderland.[/quote]Really?

[Green and Yellow 0]

[quote user="morty"][quote user=" Green and Yellow"]Biggest mistake was not sacking Houghton and getting Gus Poyat in when he was available. Look at how he has turned the shambles around at Sunderland.[/quote]Really?[/quote]

Morty you still up for that bet that you bottled.

[morty 0]

[quote user=" Green and Yellow"][quote user="morty"][quote user=" Green and Yellow"]Biggest mistake was not sacking Houghton and getting Gus Poyat in when he was available. Look at how he has turned the shambles around at Sunderland.[/quote]Really?[/quote]

Morty you still up for that bet that you bottled.[/quote]What bet that I "bottled"?

[Green and Yellow 0]

The one when I said I would put my house up against yours that city would get relagated

[morty 0]

[quote user=" Green and Yellow"]The one when I said I would put my house up against yours that city would get relagated[/quote]How much is your house worth?

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[can u sit down please 0]

Did someone say poyet ;)