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

[sussex_guy2k2]

Most would've thought Leicester didn't have the squad to play 4-4-2 in the premiership, but they're making it work.

I'm not claiming we will do anything like what they have but we may suprise a few ala Watford

You're totally right and it can work which is why I said I was fascinated to see Hughton's approach - even At.Madrid are using it in Spain to great success. But there are characteristics that their players have that ours currently don't that make it much more workable. We'd have to be VERY smart in the transfer window to bring in strikers of the characteristics of Vardy, Igahlo etc, in order to make it work at that level - neither team have a Zamora or Hemed leading their line afterall. Plus it's arguable Watford haven't really played 442 all season if you look at the role Deeney has played. And Leicester are an absolute anomaly as things stand because the lack of possession they have each game is generally transferring into points, which rarely happens at the top level. It could work, as you said, or Hughton could change tactics, or we might just pull a Vardy out of the bag which allows us to play on the counter more effectively.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Coppell was pretty clued-up. Took over a side in disarray and got them playing as a team again but, yes, Hughton is up there with the best I've seen

Coppell took over when we had 4 points out of the first 36. We had lost 10 on the spin and had disintegrated. Zamora ( our talisman ) was injured and we had drafted in makeweights. His first two games resulted in 2-4 and 0-5 defeats but shattering as these were, he then lifted the side to go 4 games unbeaten.
Coppell got 41 points from the remaining 32 games of that season and that strike rate, projected across 46 games, would have seen us reach nearly 60 points. DK'S disastrous decision to appoint Hinshelwood and overlook Coppell, initially, is what got us relegated.
Coppell provided the platform for us to bounce back quickly from Div 1 and deserves nothing but respect for the work he put in. He made no secret of the fact that he was torn about going to Reading and would have loved to stay. Like any sensible guy, he saw the limitations at Withdean and knew his budget would always be restricted. He knew how tough it would be for us in the Championship. At the time, Reading had that bit more to offer and look what he did there. Given different circumstances, he could have done equally well with us.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Except that, as he admitted himself in press conference before match, we have drawn too many away games. Even a couple of wins from Huddersfield, Wolves, Bolton, Derby, QPR - all games we either led in, or at Wolves had a great chance to do so when Hemed missed pen - would mean top of the league now.

Not saying the lack of wins entirely reflects shutting up shop but there has been a tendency IMO to be too defensive on the road.

The flip side of that coin is that we've only lost one match away all season. Hughton lost his rag with the team because of it.

 

[MattBackHome]

I don't think he's especially tactically astute at all and I'm not having a go at him, I just don't think you can say he's tactically astute because we went to a 5 man midfield and picked up a 0-0 draw. We kept the 4-4-2 against Middlesbrough and we all saw how badly that turned out but equally, going to Ipswich and playing two up front got us the win. I don't think he changes things tactically very often, it's very much our style of play and it'll work or it won't work but he rarely does things to change the pattern of a game aside from second half substitutions, either attacking or defensive depending on how the game is going. Against Bolton everyone could see how pathetic their defenders were, to a man. Pathetic. But we stood off them, gave them time and space and didn't exploit their obvious flaw. Was it not noticed? Did we not feel we needed to go after them high up the pitch? I'm not sure, but we only won that game by a single goal when our overall superiority was far greater.

I think very highly of Hughton, he's a fantastic manager who is doing a brilliant job for us in every department but I don't think he's particularly tactically astute and I don't mind that - because what I perceive his strength to be is organising the team, getting the right atmosphere around the squad and preparing the players for each game as they come. I don't think he's a Mourinho style tactician, that isn't what he does but what he is doing should be celebrated, it's a remarkable turnaround from last season and we could very well win this division this season.

I completely agree with all of this.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Oh god no.

The second half of last season was worse than the first, and that takes some doing.
I don't buy all the 'only had one job to do' bollox.

If he only had one job he'd have done it asap, instead of carrying on where the previous failure finished.

The team got 1 point (?) from Millwall, Blackpool, Wigan, Rotherham, without scoring a goal.
At home the football was appalling, with Calde's face being the only highlight of half a season.

This season has been fantastic and I would have been loud wrong in saying words to the effect of 'he's no great loss'.
But lets not rewrite history.
If the team were currently stumbling around mid table, last season would be in a lot sharper focus.

As said I certainly didn't see this coming, making it all the more special.
I'm loving Chris as the Albion manager, and I hope he's here for years to come.

Factually incorrect and selective. We had 23 points when Hughton took over. He got 24 in one less game, moving us up one place (two places from when Semi left). We beat Leeds at home with the best performance of the season by far, put three past Ipswich in a home win (which we didn't manage this season), beat high flying Derby and kept up the momentum of the Fulham game by beating Charlton away 1-0. There were some poor results in there too but also a lot of points ground out of necessity that Semi would have thrown away.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

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.

Yes...I keep hearing derogatory comments from Norwich re CH as well........their loss.....our gain.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

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

You should try going to more away games.

 

[Nixonator]

Oh god no.

The second half of last season was worse than the first, and that takes some doing.
I don't buy all the 'only had one job to do' bollox.

If he only had one job he'd have done it asap, instead of carrying on where the previous failure finished.

The team got 1 point (?) from Millwall, Blackpool, Wigan, Rotherham, without scoring a goal.
At home the football was appalling, with Calde's face being the only highlight of half a season.

This season has been fantastic and I would have been loud wrong in saying words to the effect of 'he's no great loss'.
But lets not rewrite history.
If the team were currently stumbling around mid table, last season would be in a lot sharper focus.

As said I certainly didn't see this coming, making it all the more special.
I'm loving Chris as the Albion manager, and I hope he's here for years to come.

What can you realistically expect to achieve with JFC, Ince, O'Grady, CMS and the bunch of panic loans. Also took over with decimated morale and our best player being a 22 year old loanee from liverpool and a centre-half as top goal scorer.

Personally, at the time I thought it was a massive job just to keep us in the league. Kayal certainly helped and it's been personnel shift since then. His job description at the time was to pick up points however and wherever possible to keep us in the league, and being a cautious man that's exactly what he did.

Certainly not lauding him for that achievement as it was by no means comfortable, but I don't think he deserves criticism for it either. It was obvious he needed a Summer, in the past his strength has always been building something over time, not taking over relegation candidates half way through. Think we're seeing the evidence of that now.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Factually incorrect and selective. We had 23 points when Hughton took over. He got 24 in one less game, moving us up one place (two places from when Semi left). We beat Leeds at home with the best performance of the season by far, put three past Ipswich in a home win (which we didn't manage this season), beat high flying Derby and kept up the momentum of the Fulham game by beating Charlton away 1-0. There were some poor results in there too but also a lot of points ground out of necessity that Semi would have thrown away.

Tend to agree with that.
We lost Texeira ( our main hope of inspiration ) with a broken leg and Dunk lost all form at centre-back, including goalscoring. If SH had stayed we would have been relegated. Hughton ensured we didn't and it wasn't pretty at times. He was dealing with a dispirited side, low on confidence. This fragility returned late in the season but the surge in form in Feb and March was the buffer that kept us up.

 

[dazzer6666]

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.

Without surely ?

 

[BBassic]

I certainly didn't have this a year ago.
It's almost as if he started his career with the Albion being the most shitehouse he could possibly be, so things could only get better.

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

Speaking honestly I'd have been miffed if he walked away in the summer.

He came in last year with one job: keep us up by any means necessary. It just so happened that "any means necessary" translated to some of the dullest football I've ever watched/endured. It worked though didn't it?

He did his job. He was seemingly rewarded with a bit of a treasure chest in terms of transfer funds and has since presided over a historical unbeaten run and the resurrection of a team that had lapsed into a coma.

Whether that's down to his being tactically astute or a good motivator or because he has an eye for a good player or because the players themselves have something to prove is anyone's guess really.

All I know is both the coaching team and the players deserve all the plaudits we can throw their way. They have been, December/January aside, remarkable.

 

[Stat Brother]

Factually incorrect and selective. We had 23 points when Hughton took over. He got 24 in one less game, moving us up one place (two places from when Semi left). We beat Leeds at home with the best performance of the season by far, put three past Ipswich in a home win (which we didn't manage this season), beat high flying Derby and kept up the momentum of the Fulham game by beating Charlton away 1-0. There were some poor results in there too but also a lot of points ground out of necessity that Semi would have thrown away.

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.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Except that, as he admitted himself in press conference before match, we have drawn too many away games. Even a couple of wins from Huddersfield, Wolves, Bolton, Derby, QPR - all games we either led in, or at Wolves had a great chance to do so when Hemed missed pen - would mean top of the league now.

Not saying the lack of wins entirely reflects shutting up shop but there has been a tendency IMO to be too defensive on the road.

But how many of those games did we genuinely deserve to win?
Huddersfield was a fair result. We had a lot of the play at Wolves and attacked a lot but we created very little. Bolton, we could and should have won. Derby was a fair result and we could easily have lost at QPR ( we only really played for about 15 mins )
You can counter this argument with Fulham ( should have been a draw ) Leeds ( got away with murder ) Brentford ( fortunate to get a draw )
The rest of aways were all fair results ( Ipswich/Reading/Wed/Burnley/Rotherham/Blackburn/Hull )....honestly don't think we deserve too much more away from home.

 

[Hotchilidog]

By spending far and away the most amount of money, in Albion history.

But look how he has spent it. Very few misses in recruitment with most first teamers making valuable contributions to the success SO FAR. He has also spent consdirably less than our promotion rivals.

The best thing I can say about Hughton is that I trust his judgment. He has earned that respect in my view. Doing a job competently and taking care of business is much easier said than done in football.

 

[Stat Brother]

What can you realistically expect to achieve with JFC, Ince, O'Grady, CMS and the bunch of panic loans. Also took over with decimated morale and our best player being a 22 year old loanee from liverpool and a centre-half as top goal scorer.

Personally, at the time I thought it was a massive job just to keep us in the league. Kayal certainly helped and it's been personnel shift since then. His job description at the time was to pick up points however and wherever possible to keep us in the league, and being a cautious man that's exactly what he did.

Certainly not lauding him for that achievement as it was by no means comfortable, but I don't think he deserves criticism for it either. It was obvious he needed a Summer, in the past his strength has always been building something over time, not taking over relegation candidates half way through. Think we're seeing the evidence of that now.

Speaking honestly I'd have been miffed if he walked away in the summer.

He came in last year with one job: keep us up by any means necessary. It just so happened that "any means necessary" translated to some of the dullest football I've ever watched/endured. It worked though didn't it?

He did his job. He was seemingly rewarded with a bit of a treasure chest in terms of transfer funds and has since presided over a historical unbeaten run and the resurrection of a team that had lapsed into a coma.

Whether that's down to his being tactically astute or a good motivator or because he has an eye for a good player or because the players themselves have something to prove is anyone's guess really.

All I know is both the coaching team and the players deserve all the plaudits we can throw their way. They have been, December/January aside, remarkable.

I totally agree.

I wasn't meaning to be really critical, but you nailed it BB with 'some of the dullest football I've ever watched/endured'.

Yes CH did it, by the skin of his teeth thankfully he did it, and has been rewarded.

The money spent has been done brilliantly, and I imagine a lot of that stems from the confidence TB has in Hughton.
It's a partnership that could well take the Albion a long way, and after 4 attempts it would seem Tony has finally found his man.

 

[Stat Brother]

But look how he has spent it. Very few misses in recruitment with most first teamers making valuable contributions to the success SO FAR. He has also spent consdirably less than our promotion rivals.

The best thing I can say about Hughton is that I trust his judgment. He has earned that respect in my view. Doing a job competently and taking care of business is much easier said than done in football.

Yeah but that was quoting in direct response to He's also assembled an incredible squad, from a complete shambles in a year.. Mightily impressive absolutely no argument from me.

Just pointing out the team have replaced a shambolic selection of loans and £500k - £1m signings with multiple million pound signings, high wage earning freebies, and Connor Goldson.

The fact that only Elvis hasn't settled is a minor miracle, again all down to CH.
Your right this team has also be put together under market value, and is performing brilliantly but money that previously wasn't being spent now is.

 

[blue'n'white]

When you're talking about tactically astute I will always remember that Leeds game at home last season when he had worked out that the pace of Macca would worry the static Leeds defence.
He worked with what he had at the time - which is what he is doing now. He steadied a rapidly sinking ship (and I'm not forgetting the job that Nathan Jones did in the two games when he took over) and kept us up
He has nothing but my admiration and thanks for the job he's done and continues to do

 

[Hugo Rune]

By spending far and away the most amount of money, in Albion history.

'Far and away the most amount of money'?

Not sure you are right there. I concede he may have spent the most but thinking of Poyet's spending in a very 'back of a fag packet manner' (Ulloa, CMS, Crofts, Hoskins & Buckley; £7m+ on those players alone), CH can't have splashed that much more? (Hemed, Kayal, Baldock, Skalak, Knockers, Murphy £8m+)?

 

[heathgate]

Coppell was pretty clued-up. Took over a side in disarray and got them playing as a team again but, yes, Hughton is up there with the best I've seen

Agreed.

 

[Stat Brother]

'Far and away the most amount of money'?

Not sure you are right there. I concede he may have spent the most but thinking of Poyet's spending in a very 'back of a fag packet manner' (Ulloa, CMS, Crofts, Hoskins & Buckley; £7m+ on those players alone), CH can't have splashed that much more? (Hemed, Kayal, Baldock, Skalak, Knockers, Murphy £8m+)?

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)