[Albion] Chris Hughton - isn't he bombproof in any circumstances this season?

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Marshy

Well-known member
Jul 6, 2003
19,955
FRUIT OF THE BLOOM
I'd argue that Newcastle are a slightly different case as they are the "big club" that "should never have been relegated in the first place", but the lack of spending means that in relative terms Rafa is secure in his job as he has limited options and quality available to him. Were they to have injected 40 or even 30 million into the squad, Rafa would have been under huge pressure

They did that last year to get up !
 




djentist

New member
Aug 15, 2017
624
They did that last year to get up !

Assuming 40 million is the parachute payment rate for a club's first season down, plus them somehow getting 30 million for Sissoko and flogging a few other French flops, they didn't really have to invest anything outside of their regular income to get back up, and they probably wouldn't have done otherwise. They just brought in a few experienced heads that were short term solutions for getting them back up, some of which have now been binned (Daryl Murphy, Grant Hanley) and some are still in the squad but have been indifferent. They're not like Sugar Daddy Wolves who really are buying the league at the moment
 


Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
31,264
Post No. 30 here nails our predicament. I fancy Jurgen Locadia could be one of Hughton's most pivotal signings of his career.

If he delivers and we survive then Hughton will be seen as a credible Premier League manager. If he fails and we get relegated then Hughton will continue to be seen as a Championship specialist who doesn't have what it takes to make it in the Prem.
 


djentist

New member
Aug 15, 2017
624
Post No. 30 here nails our predicament. I fancy Jurgen Locadia could be one of Hughton's most pivotal signings of his career.

If he delivers and we survive then Hughton will be seen as a credible Premier League manager. If he fails and we get relegated then Hughton will continue to be seen as a Championship specialist who doesn't have what it takes to make it in the Prem.

The Ricky van Wolfswinkel signing from his Norwich days worries me a bit as parralels can be drawn, big money and heralded as a huge signing for Norwich at the time, had a good goalscoring record in Portugal but flopped badly. How much involvement Hughton had in that transfer and whether he got the most out of him through his playing style I'm not sure as I don't watch Norwich, but let's hope history doesn't repeat itself, I don't think it will.
 


Betfair Bozo

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2007
2,107
But Burnley under Dyche don't display the negativity that CH does. They generally press the opponents and try to take the game to them.

We don't know whether the core of the squad will stay together if we are relegated. Some are sure to get offers from other PL clubs. Some may choose to retire. And we don't know which players have relegation clauses in their contracts. I'm far from confident that he will keep the squad together if we go down.

If we do get relegated, then CH should stay to get us back up again, and then we should be looking to make a change for someone whose style of play in the PL would be more attacking and adventurous.

There are too many examples of clubs being relegated from the PL and then going into freefall. I really hope we aren't one of them.


Burnley are an easy comparison given how well they are doing this season but let's not forget they went down under Dyche too. I agree they press etc but they average less possession than even we do in the Prem so far. We aren't tailed off, we aren't even in the bottom three and it's way too early to be focusing on any shortfalls (in my opinion.)
 




BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Post No. 30 here nails our predicament. I fancy Jurgen Locadia could be one of Hughton's most pivotal signings of his career.

If he delivers and we survive then Hughton will be seen as a credible Premier League manager. If he fails and we get relegated then Hughton will continue to be seen as a Championship specialist who doesn't have what it takes to make it in the Prem.

As you say post No 30 sums it up accurately
 


Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
31,264
The Ricky van Wolfswinkel signing from his Norwich days worries me a bit as parralels can be drawn, big money and heralded as a huge signing for Norwich at the time, had a good goalscoring record in Portugal but flopped badly. How much involvement Hughton had in that transfer and whether he got the most out of him through his playing style I'm not sure as I don't watch Norwich, but let's hope history doesn't repeat itself, I don't think it will.

The thing is that clubs like us now - and Norwich then - can't afford top strikers from the top leagues so have to go to Holland, Belgium, Portugal etc for relative bargains. Van Wolfswinkel couldn't make the step up but contrast that with another Dutch striker who went from Holland to Portugal to England and did - one Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
 


Betfair Bozo

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2007
2,107
If everything was equal CH would have been sacked by now for his failure to get the results required because how ever you look at it he is the man who is responsible for our bad run with his tactics or lack of and selections but he is safe because there is no viable alternative.
You wouldnt change the meat on your roast from chops to mince just for the sake of change. I expect him to still be in charge in The Championship next season.

He is the man responsible for us being in the Premier League in the first place and having us in 16th! If we are still there at the end of the season that will have been a success, no? He is safe because he has done a better job than any Brighton manager for decades, not because there is "no viable alternative."
 




BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
He is the man responsible for us being in the Premier League in the first place and having us in 16th! If we are still there at the end of the season that will have been a success, no? He is safe because he has done a better job than any Brighton manager for decades, not because there is "no viable alternative."

We are talking of the present not the recent past. There is no doubting that he achieved a lot to get us here and then up the table but it all has fallen off and if there was a viable better alternative he would have to be considered but at the moment I dont think there is one so we have no choice but to stick with CH and his dour negative tactics and hope that we can survive, We got to 7th in the old 1st Division but Mike Bailey got the sack because of the dour football that we played, very reminiscent of our play now but we were getting points and 1-0 wins. If we were getting similar wins there would be no call or mention for CH head but we arent.
 


Betfair Bozo

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2007
2,107
We are talking of the present not the recent past. There is no doubting that he achieved a lot to get us here and then up the table but it all has fallen off and if there was a viable better alternative he would have to be considered but at the moment I dont think there is one so we have no choice but to stick with CH and his dour negative tactics and hope that we can survive, We got to 7th in the old 1st Division but Mike Bailey got the sack because of the dour football that we played, very reminiscent of our play now but we were getting points and 1-0 wins. If we were getting similar wins there would be no call or mention for CH head but we arent.



The present is 16th in the Premier League. Is that not good enough in your view?

Comparing Mike Bailey's tenure in the pre TV money era and now is ridiculous.
 














maffew

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2003
9,014
Worcester England
Its infuriating, I want someone to keep us up not bring us back up. Love Hughton for what he has done but I dont reckon anymore he can really take us much further. End of NEXT season lets see where we are
 


Mo Gosfield

Well-known member
Aug 11, 2010
6,362
I was just thinking about this myself, winning football is an absolute joy, getting bummed by Chelsea and Liverpool is absolutely horse shit. I’m glad we’ve been promoted, just to find out how bobbins it really is, but I’d take winning games in the Championship any day of the week.

But imagine how you would feel if we actually beat one of the big boys. It would change our mindset completely. All of a sudden, it wouldn't seem like the impossible dream and the boost in confidence would be immeasurable. We would all start to feel we belong in this division rather than just loaned to it and feeding off scraps.
 


Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
But imagine how you would feel if we actually beat one of the big boys. It would change our mindset completely. All of a sudden, it wouldn't seem like the impossible dream and the boost in confidence would be immeasurable. We would all start to feel we belong in this division rather than just loaned to it and feeding off scraps.

No, we might celebrate that evening, but then everyone will point out the big team had injuries, suspensions, we got a flukey goal, or the ref gave us a soft penalty.
There is no way Brighton would get the credit, from the big wide world.
 


warsaw

She's lost control
Jan 28, 2008
911
No, we might celebrate that evening, but then everyone will point out the big team had injuries, suspensions, we got a flukey goal, or the ref gave us a soft penalty.
There is no way Brighton would get the credit, from the big wide world.
If we went down he is clearly the right person to get us back up. If the worst happens he will have a lot of sympathy from me because he will have been let down by the recruitment process. Looking abroad for players has left us without Premier League experienced players but the failed medicals were just unlucky I guess

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Mo Gosfield

Well-known member
Aug 11, 2010
6,362
How can we afford to go down when the gap between the PL and the rest is widening by the season. Many clubs, larger and more successful than us are stuck in the Championship and cannot get out of it. They are forced to continually sell their better players and are falling further behind smaller but more successful PL outfits.
Unlike some on here, who seem to be craving life back in the Championship, TB will be bitterly disappointed if we get relegated. We have had a great chance of staying up. The first half of the season saw a whole raft of underperforming clubs...West Ham, Everton, Swansea, Saints, Stoke, West Brom, Bmuff etc The fixture list was relatively kind to us. We played a number of these clubs at their lowest ebb.
That we didn't put more distance between ourselves and the then strugglers was largely down to managerial mindset. TB will be acutely aware of this and he hasn't come this far with his investment to see PL status negatively and limply conceded.
I don't think any manager is bombproof and I don't think it is a given that CH would be retained if we were relegated. If we survive, he will survive into next season but he will be expected to adopt a different approach and whether he is able to, will determine his future.
 


Mo Gosfield

Well-known member
Aug 11, 2010
6,362
If we went down he is clearly the right person to get us back up. If the worst happens he will have a lot of sympathy from me because he will have been let down by the recruitment process. Looking abroad for players has left us without Premier League experienced players but the failed medicals were just unlucky I guess

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One is unlucky....two is eyebrow raising....three smacks of a combination of panic, lack of research and downright bad practice.
 


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