Hughton redux

Below is a comment from a Brighton fan under the Guardian match report. You could almost substitute "Norwich" for "Brighton" and it could have been written in 2014 (apart from the lazy players stuff... don't think I would accuse our team from then of being that):

Since last autumn I have been arguing that Chris Hughton, the manager, should go. Everyone agrees that he is a decent man who did well to get B'ton to the PL and to keep them there in their first season. But it was obvious that the squad during the first PL season was not good enough. There had to be changes, in personnel, fitness (the players were amongst the slowest and laziest in the PL) and tactics ( two lines, 4 and 5 across the penalty box with Glenn Murray, an ageing striker hanging around the centre spot was not going to be enough )

The big (well, big by B'ton's standards )summer signings came from the notoriously weak Dutch and Belgian leagues. Instead of buying a few quality players from England or the stronger European leagues Hughton went for quantity; he was like someone who goes to the sales and buys lots of rubbish rather than spending big in a high class shop.

A few lucky home wins (Wolves and West Ham should have won) could not disguise the fact that B'ton were unfit, lazy and negative. Their 'big' summer signings,Jurgen Lodadia, a sulky Dutchman who thought he should be playing in the Champions League, an Iranian winger called Ali Something and Florin Adone, a League One quality striker, were useless. Pascal Gross, a German playmaker who had done well the previous season, lost form and fitness. The keeper, an Aussie called Mat Ryan, had always been feeble when it came to crosses and commanding his area but had been a useful shot stopper; now he couldn't even do that. Teams had worked out that the giant central defenders, Dunk and Duffy, were like supertankers: they could not turn. They were hopeless when teams attacked them on the ground. The B'ton midfield was slow and lazy, especially Dale Stephens, who looked like he lived on a diet of pies and beer. A Colombian winger, Jose Izquierdo, had one trick: to cut inside from the left and shoot with his right. PL defenders now forced him wide. The French winger, Anthony Knockaert, could not deal with the fact that PL defenders were too good for him. Knockaert should have been dropped and sent for counselling. Glenn Murray, 35, who had been slow in his prime, now ran as fast as your average PL defender walked. Yet Hughton still expected Murray to score regularly.

In January Hughton bragged that he had not bought anyone because the squad was so strong. This showed he had lost touch with reality. It was obvious that most of the players were just not good enough. (Or fit enough) Then, predictably,came the crash. B'ton fell apart in the second half at Fulham and conceded four goals. I assumed that the chairman, Tony Bloom, would see that Hughton had taken the club as far as he was capable. But no. Bloom stuck with him.

The slide accelerated. The stats showed that B'ton were even lazier and slower. But Bloom did nothing. The cup run confirmed that this was, at best a mid table C'ship squad, as B'ton struggled to beat Derby, WBA and Millwall. The semi against Man City was embarrassing: Man City won without breaking sweat.

Finally, came home games against S'hampton, B'mouth and Cardiff. No points. Goals conceded, eight. Goals scored, nil.

Bloom should have sacked Hughton after the first. But he gave Hughton a chance against B'mouth. After losing 0-5 it was assumed that Hughton would go. Er, no. Tonight, after yet another defeat, Hughton is still the manager.

Most clubs in the C'ship (and some in League One) were once giants in the PL (or First Division.) All have more illustrious histories than Bt'on.If, as seems likely, B'ton are relegated I doubt they will ever return.

Posted By: atlcanary, Apr 17, 01:25:39