Chris Hughton - the most tactically astute BHA manager since...

[Guinness Boy]

You pick the best games, I pick the worst.
You name Kayal I could name Leon Best.

I'm not getting into a debate that doesn't exist because clearly CH is fantastic.
I'm just bibbling on about the selective memory loss of 12 months ago, when nobody was calling CH tactically astute.

But again you're wrong. Do I really need to repost the blog I wrote on the day he was appointed saying exactly that? Or the numerous official match threads where many on here accepted we would have to grind out results given what a poor squad we had. Your recollection isn't everyone's.

 

[Stat Brother]

But again you're wrong. Do I really need to repost the blog I wrote on the day he was appointed saying exactly that? Or the numerous official match threads where many on here accepted we would have to grind out results given what a poor squad we had. Your recollection isn't everyone's.

Maybe I was just too scared from getting only 7 points from the last 12 matches, and am projecting that onto everyone else.
Including 1 from the dead rubber last game of the season, and only 1 from Millwall, Rotherham and Wigan.

As said though it's all worked out brilliantly, I couldn't be happier now, and I'm relishing my wrongness.

Chrissy Hughton's blue and white army.

 

[Ernest]

You only have to look at the highlights to see how well we played Hull had a lot of tame shots from outside the box and apart from the Clucas save near the end Stockdale just had routine stuff to do. It was a carbon copy of the Sheffield Wednesday away game, no way were we going to lose and a win would have been a bonus.

It's no wonder we have such an excellent record in away games this season.

 

[B.W.]

I'm in the CH is very tactically astute camp, and not just because of yesterday's tactically astute decisions.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

"Nick, nack, paddy wack, give a dog a bone...." not ring any bells? Has it really been that long since it was sung?

Quite. And VD is a relatively mild affliction compared with that ascribed to Alan Shearer by Sunderland fans...

 

[Javeaseagull]

Posters mention the amount of money spent, which had to be done, but more impressive to me was the turnover. I think CH said it was something like 9 out and 9 in and he expressed concern about getting them all playing together how he wanted.
Whether that is astute or not I leave to others. What I do know is he is an excellent fit for our club. Long may it continue.

 

[Triggaaar]

I'm sure there is a humorous connotation to the VD comment but, for the life of me, I can't see beyond the slur on a decent man.

I mean no offence to Mr Coppell, it's just a song we used to sing.

Had he walked in the Summer I, and those of you prepared to be honest, wouldn't have been that bothered.

I'm not disagreeing with your general point SB, that last year wasn't great for Chris, even though he kept us up, but I'll pick you up on the one tiny point above - of course we'd have been gutted if he walked. What would that have said about our club behind the scenes. Gus wanted to leave, Oscar walked, Sami walked, and then Chris walking too and you'd have been fine?

As I say, I'm just picking you up on the point, and I doubt you really meant it like that, you probably meant you wouldn't have been bothered if the club had sacked him to be replaced by someone else. Personally I'm too cautious and like to give managers more time, so very rarely want the manager to leave. Steve McClaren for England being the exception to prove the rule.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I mean no offence to Mr Coppell, it's just a song we used to sing.

I'm not disagreeing with your general point SB, that last year wasn't great for Chris, even though he kept us up, but I'll pick you up on the one tiny point above - of course we'd have been gutted if he walked. What would that have said about our club behind the scenes. Gus wanted to leave, Oscar walked, Sami walked, and then Chris walking too and you'd have been fine?

As I say, I'm just picking you up on the point, and I doubt you really meant it like that, you probably meant you wouldn't have been bothered if the club had sacked him to be replaced by someone else. Personally I'm too cautious and like to give managers more time, so very rarely want the manager to leave. Steve McClaren for England being the exception to prove the rule.

I can think of only three Brighton managers that I genuinely wanted rid of within a couple of months; Hinshlewood, Jeff Wood and Sami. In the Amex era it's just Sami. That's not to say that Poyet wasn't a naughty boy - he clearly was. That's not to say Slade and Magoo hadn't run their course eventually - I think they had. Ditto Mickey part 2, only quicker. But to suggest as SB did, however light heartedly, that we'd have been ok with Hughton leaving in a similar time span is nonsense.

Generally when given time most decent managers will bloom. Even Barry Lloyd got us up from Div 2 and off to Wembley for a play off final.

 

[Stat Brother]

I'm not disagreeing with your general point SB, that last year wasn't great for Chris, even though he kept us up, but I'll pick you up on the one tiny point above - of course we'd have been gutted if he walked. What would that have said about our club behind the scenes. Gus wanted to leave, Oscar walked, Sami walked, and then Chris walking too and you'd have been fine?

As I say, I'm just picking you up on the point, and I doubt you really meant it like that, you probably meant you wouldn't have been bothered if the club had sacked him to be replaced by someone else. Personally I'm too cautious and like to give managers more time, so very rarely want the manager to leave. Steve McClaren for England being the exception to prove the rule.

Yes that's well put.

I too don't like the manager merry-go-round (who does).
The next man is always better, right?

CH leaving would have been a PR nightmare, and wouldn't have looked favourably on the club and the way it was run.
The next man up could have come from the same 'experiment' as Oscar and Sami, which wouldn't bode well.

But staying in the division owes just as much to the ineptitude of the teams below us, and a points deduction as it did to CH.
History is written by the winners (or not losers in this case) and CH is writing great swathes of record breaking new history.

It's great that everybody held their nerve, have backed the manager in the transfer market, and CH has done such a brilliant job since.

But nobody saw this coming on 03.05.15, which I think is what's making all the better.

 

[Stat Brother]

But to suggest as SB did, that we'd have been ok with Hughton leaving in a similar time span is nonsense.

Trig has helped me out here, I never want the Albion to be one of 'those' clubs, now currently governed by Derby.
Chris is currently the working proof patience being a virtue.

Had Hughton left, for whatever reason, in the Summer there would have been some disappointment, some that were grateful he had gone, and a awful lot of apathy.
Nobody would be saying we've lost one of our most tactically astute managers.
There would be a lot saying the Norwich and Brum fans were right.

Contrast that to anytime from August onwards, and it's not possible to cover all his attributes in one sentence.
His steely determination, resolve, man management, working environment, PR, self belief, and countless more all would have lost to the Albion if Rotherham could pick a team, Millwall had beaten us and won another game.

 

[Hampster Gull]

You only have to look at the highlights to see how well we played Hull had a lot of tame shots from outside the box and apart from the Clucas save near the end Stockdale just had routine stuff to do. It was a carbon copy of the Sheffield Wednesday away game, no way were we going to lose and a win would have been a bonus.

It's no wonder we have such an excellent record in away games this season.

Even better, you only needed to go

 

[Hampster Gull]

Trig has helped me out here, I never want the Albion to be one of 'those' clubs, now currently governed by Derby.
Chris is currently the working proof patience being a virtue.

Had Hughton left, for whatever reason, in the Summer there would have been some disappointment, some that were grateful he had gone, and a awful lot of apathy.
Nobody would be saying we've lost one of our most tactically astute managers.
There would be a lot saying the Norwich and Brum fans were right.

Contrast that to anytime from August onwards, and it's not possible to cover all his attributes in one sentence.
His steely determination, resolve, man management, working environment, PR, self belief, and countless more all would have lost to the Albion if Rotherham could pick a team, Millwall had beaten us and won another game.

It would have been criminal to sack Chrissy for taking over a shambles and ensuring we stayed up. And fortunately Tony is no mug. Perhaps my memory has gone but i remember only a few sad soles calling him out as the problem last year

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Think the club finally just got sick of hiring flakey foreign nutters more or less just for the sake of it. All it did was cause them problems. Chris Hughton has provided a long-overdue and necessary correction and offers a return to the good solid core values like hard graft, team spirit, absence of ego and smart signings that might just take you up out of the Championship. Dare say there's a number of other homegrown managers who may have been able to do the same (yup, all the usual suspects) but that's neither here nor there. We've bagged ourselves a good 'un!

 

[NooBHA]

My Norwichesque extended family is are still negative about Houghton, I say to them far better than the 2 they've recruited since. Talk to any Geordies or Brums and they have a very different view.

Chris is a class act with the ego that so often comes with the territory.

At Norwich they hated the fact that Chris was quite defensive but he was up against strikers like Aguero and Saurez and Sturridge and Van Persie etc. - What did they expect

However right now some fans are suggesting bringing in a defensive coach to Help Alex Neil out. They know Chris Number but I would imagine ''The Cook with the rotten teeth'' (Delia)would have her calls blocked, if they tried to contact him.

Thats all water under the bridge anyhow....Chris is well over it. He has got a real good challenge here at Brighton and he is really enjoying it.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Thats all water under the bridge anyhow....Chris is well over it. He has got a real good challenge here at Brighton and he is really enjoying it.

That for me is the clincher. Must come as a refreshing change for CH to be at a club where he has a supportive board, and is under not all that much massive pressure, relatively speaking. If he were to leave tomorrow, he'd still be leaving the club in a far better state than when he joined. That's all DK ever asked of a manager. Pretty sure TB thinks exactly the same.

 

[NooBHA]

But that spending is spread over 2 or 3 seasons.

This season Hemed, Uwe, Knockaert, Murphy, Skalak, Elvis, (the one I always forget) have cost proper money.
Rosenior and BZ aren't earning chicken feed, Bong probably isn't either.
Dunk got himself a decent pay rise.

The last 2 accounts have the playing budget at £20m then £23m last season.
If next years accounts don't blow those figures out of the water, I'll eat my arm.

Finally TB has let go of the Ulloa, Buckley & Bridcutt profit, probably forced by last seasons disaster.
Which if this season is the standard then it makes 14/15 all worthwhile. (not that I/we felt that at the time)

I have no idea of the amounts of money spent but Garcia was taking over a play off side and retaining it as a play off side. CH had to turn around a relegation threatened side. That is always going to cost more to do.

However, he has also got a lot of quite big wage earners off the wage bill.............What Chris has done on the playing side has been superb but what a lot maybe don't see is the the new scouting network which is in place where we are actively recruiting younger talent from around Europe . And for me his best work was actually done in the close season bringing in the likes of Murphy and Hemed etc

 

[dazzer6666]

At Norwich they hated the fact that Chris was quite defensive but he was up against strikers like Aguero and Saurez and Sturridge and Van Persie etc. - What did they expect

However right now some fans are suggesting bringing in a defensive coach to Help Alex Neil out. They know Chris Number but I would imagine ''The Cook with the rotten teeth'' (Delia)would have her calls blocked, if they tried to contact him.

Thats all water under the bridge anyhow....Chris is well over it. He has got a real good challenge here at Brighton and he is really enjoying it.

Every time I see CH speak I'm impressed - calm, astute, honest - and not just on a footballing level. Just seems like a bloody good bloke, as well as a very capable manager. We're lucky to have him and hope he stays here for the long term.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I really hope that, if we go up and don't immediately get the results everyone wants i.e. we're fighting relegation next season, this thread can be bumped back to the top of the message boards to remind us of the appreciation that CH is currently getting.

 

[Ernest]

He has got a real good challenge here at Brighton and he is really enjoying it.

And he LOVES all the Albion fans who always SUPPORT him LIKE me and he might even get a TRIBUTE night if we go UP

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Nah................I am one of his biggest fans but tonight's system was a ''No Brainer'' This was a must not lose game and he did exactly what most of us wanted him to do. He is very astute tactically but this wasn't the game to pat him on the back.

If he gets tactics right at home v Sheff Wed then that's time for accolades because when you are playing at home against a team with less points than you then you should go out and attack and beat them but they are sweeping everyone aside at this moment in time. That leaves a Manager with dilemmas, so if he ulimately gets that one right. That will be the time for pats on the back.

Spot on

However in answer to the question Coppell