Hughton today ?

[The Birdman]

I would have brought on our club captain on as we needed his height in the box for the last ten minutes. However before this season started we would be very happy to be challenging for the top ten finish lets get behind the team for the run in. It's in our hands still.

 

[sir albion]

Brighton have won 16 games this season by one goal. Funny how no one says we should 'go for it' after those games...

Actually many games we say this and many games we cling on when it's not necessary to be fair.

 

[NooBHA]

To address several of the point on this thread(there are so many.

Being one of CH biggest supporters I am not going to slate anything he has done in a particular match but sometimes I agree that he can go too defensive when trying to hold on to a lead but to put this into perspective. For about 80 minutes we outplayed the league leaders and yes some fans want to keep pushing forward but some players were just out on their feet. It wasn't possible.

Burnley are not top of the league for nothing , they were always going to have a spell on top and we were literally seconds away from managing to hold the lead. CH has defended many leads this season successfully, so it does work sometimes and we are sitting 3rd in the table because it has worked on the other occasions.

The free kick wasn't a free kick so it possibly would have been the case that we would have held out if the ref hadn't given the free kick. That said, we got away with a goal that wasn't given, so the saying that these things even themselves out, really was the case yesterday.

All fans have the right to question the Manager and the players in any given circumstances. That's the way things are on these forums. And I know that given that the equaliser was so late it feels like a kick in the bollocks to all the fans and they were hurting quite bad yesterday; however the Manager and the players are probably hurting even more because they had prepared all week for the match and executed their plan to perfection for 94 and a half minutes, only to have it all snatched away from them in the last seconds. So they would have been feeling the pain tenfold to that of the fans.

The suggestions people make that we should have brought someone in during the loan window. There is not enough room on the team or the bench for all the players we have at the moment. No one is going to come to you on loan unless they are going to play and no club is going to lend you a player unless they are going to play. They can sit on the bench or the stands at their own club.

So OK we let Burnley, the League Leaders steal a point from us but we move on to the next game. The season isn't finished we need to keep going and the other top clubs will drop points before the end of the season and when they do, hopefully we can capitalise on it.

 

[trueblue]

To address several of the point on this thread(there are so many.

Being one of CH biggest supporters I am not going to slate anything he has done in a particular match but sometimes I agree that he can go too defensive when trying to hold on to a lead but to put this into perspective. For about 80 minutes we outplayed the league leaders and yes some fans want to keep pushing forward but some players were just out on their feet. It wasn't possible.

Burnley are not top of the league for nothing , they were always going to have a spell on top and we were literally seconds away from managing to hold the lead. CH has defended many leads this season successfully, so it does work sometimes and we are sitting 3rd in the table because it has worked on the other occasions.

The free kick wasn't a free kick so it possibly would have been the case that we would have held out if the ref hadn't given the free kick. That said, we got away with a goal that wasn't given, so the saying that these things even themselves out, really was the case yesterday.

All fans have the right to question the Manager and the players in any given circumstances. That's the way things are on these forums. And I know that given that the equaliser was so late it feels like a kick in the bollocks to all the fans and they were hurting quite bad yesterday; however the Manager and the players are probably hurting even more because they had prepared all week for the match and executed their plan to perfection for 94 and a half minutes, only to have it all snatched away from them in the last seconds. So they would have been feeling the pain tenfold to that of the fans.

The suggestions people make that we should have brought someone in during the loan window. There is not enough room on the team or the bench for all the players we have at the moment. No one is going to come to you on loan unless they are going to play and no club is going to lend you a player unless they are going to play. They can sit on the bench or the stands at their own club.

So OK we let Burnley, the League Leaders steal a point from us but we move on to the next game. The season isn't finished we need to keep going and the other top clubs will drop points before the end of the season and when they do, hopefully we can capitalise on it.

Top post. I'd have liked to see us get Murray in though, personally. Apparently it could have happened but the fee was the problem.

 

[Sheebo]

Hemed was knackered so sort of understand the changes although in hindsight they didn't work that well. As much of that goes down to Sidwell being poor than anything else. Yes maybe Greer on would have been better but Chris has made good decisions all season so don't think we can moan too much eh...

 

[BensGrandad]

NooBHA I am surprised it took you so long to come on and defend CH but I agree with what you are saying apart from the not bringing in of a striker in the loan window. It was obvious that BZ days are numbered and he is unable to train/ keep fit and Baldock has the hamstring problem every game so there must be a sinister problem there. Wilson has since his illness looked lethargic for whatever reason so that is 3 out of 4 strikers being suspect so a loan would have had a very good chance probably 90% plus of starting each game. If as trueblue says it could have happened with GM but the fee was a problem I find ghag very shortsjghted as fhe prize at the end is immense in comparison to any fee or wages paid to attain this.

 

[NooBHA]

NooBHA I am surprised it took you so long to come on and defend CH but I agree with what you are saying apart from the not bringing in of a striker in the loan window. It was obvious that BZ days are numbered and he is unable to train/ keep fit and Baldock has the hamstring problem every game so there must be a sinister problem there. Wilson has since his illness looked lethargic for whatever reason so that is 3 out of 4 strikers being suspect so a loan would have had a very good chance probably 90% plus of starting each game. If as trueblue says it could have happened with GM but the fee was a problem I find ghag very shortsjghted as fhe prize at the end is immense in comparison to any fee or wages paid to attain this.

I probably took so long because I myself felt the pain as the equaliser went in so sometimes its better to wait for the pain to subside before you post anything. It is never good to post when your emotions are still high.

I didn't know anything about the approach for Glenn Murray but that's not to say it didn't happen. Who then do you remove from the bench ? You always need a central defender and a goalkeeper on the bench so there are only so many places available. I also don't say that another forward is not needed because I agree with you that Zamorra is not going to play too many games more due to his injuries and his age. You cant play him and risk leaving the guy with a permanent lifetime injury

 

[Boy Blue]

Just listened to the Hughton interview and no mention of why he made the substitutions. He needs to be asked why does he keeep reverting to 4-5-1 when we're winning and more so when we're at home. No doubt Sidwell will be on the bench or starting against Birmingham.

 

[Giraffe]

Brighton have won 16 games this season by one goal. Funny how no one says we should 'go for it' after those games...

To be fair quite a lot of people have!

 

[BensGrandad]

I probably took so long because I myself felt the pain
as the equaliser went in so sometimes its better to wait for the pain to subside before you post anything. It is never good to post when your emotions are still high.

I didn't know anything about the approach for Glenn Murray but that's not to say it didn't happen. Who then do you remove from the bench ? You always need a central defender and a goalkeeper on the bench so there are only so many places available. I also don't say that another forward is not needed because I agree with you that Zamorra is not going to play too many games more due to his injuries and his age. You cant play him and risk leaving the guy with a permanent lifetime injury

I would have had him start instead of Baldock due only to his hamstring problems and given him time to rest them or use either the loan striker or Baldock to take BZ place. CH likes to change both strikers during the game it appears so no problem.

 

[NooBHA]

I would have had him start instead of Baldock due only to his hamstring problems and given him time to rest them or use either the loan striker or Baldock to take BZ place. CH likes to change both strikers during the game it appears so no problem.

YES but he often changes them for a defensive midfielder, to many peoples displeasure. He really only keeps one forward on the subs bench and when he does have 2 it tends to be when Zamorra is fit

 

[BensGrandad]

YES but he often changes them for a defensive midfielder, to many peoples displeasure. He really only keeps one forward on the subs bench and when he does have 2 it tends to be when Zamorra is fit

That is my point to have the 2 on the bench and the loan replace BZ. I would also have either Skalak or Lua Lua not both plus CB and keeper still leaves 2 places for a DM plus 1 other.

 

[OzMike]

We need to keep the pressure on for 90mins, I thought that was what substitutions were all about.

 

[chaileyjem]

YES but he often changes them for a defensive midfielder, to many peoples displeasure. He really only keeps one forward on the subs bench and when he does have 2 it tends to be when Zamorra is fit

Except In the last 13 games for example he hasn't either of those as much as people think.
He's had 2 strikers on the bench nearly half the times, 6 out of 13 and this would have been more if Zamora had been fit as you say.
In the other 7 games he's either had Skalak or Manu as attacking options and also either Knockeart/Lua Lua as the spare winger so no exactly a defensive bench.


Sheff Weds - Zamora / Wilson
Preston - Zamora/Wilson
Leeds - Zamora / Wilson
Bristol City - Zamora / Wilson
Cardiff - Baldock/Hemed
Hull - Baldock/Zamora

Also in the last 13 games he's not replaced a forward with a midfielder or a winger/midfielder as frequently assumed and when he has, its in every case made no difference to the result until yesterday...

Brentford (Crofts on for Hemed when we were winning 2-0, went on to win 3-0)
Bolton (Lua Lua for Hemed, were winning 3-2, stayed 3-2)
Cardiff (Hemed on for Sidwell - were losing 3-0, lost 4-1)
Bristol City (Sidwell on for Hemed - were winning 4-0, won 4-0)
Leeds (Skalak on for Baldock - were winning 4-0, won 4-0)
Preston (Sidewll on for Hemed in last minute, were drawing 0-0, drew 0-0)
Reading (Bong on for Murphy with 13 mins to go, were winning 1-0, won 1-0)
MK Dons (Sidwell on for Skalak, with 13 mins to go, were winning 2-1, won 2-1)
(all the other subs were like for like, eg: Calde for Bruno, Lua Lua for Knockeart, Wilson for Hemed etc)
and we all know what happened yesterday. Except yesterday was also the first time all season we've gone up at the Amex and not gone on to win the game.

Show me the evidence that Hughton either a) makes overwhelmingly defensive substitutions and/or b) his substitutions often result in us losing the game.
I'm not sure it exists.

 

[BensGrandad]

I tried to point out that when he has taken off 1 striker it is usally followed with replacing the 2nd one 10 mins later and in some cases 2 strikers brought in. This was said to answer NooBHA that clubs want a loan to play.

 

[GenericJames]

I think by the 80th minute, half the players were exhausted. Hemed, Kayal, Rosenior, Bruno etc. had all had lumps taken out of them throughout the game. It's not the managers fault when you have a team's midfield which relies on aggressive tackling (Mr Barton, will you please step forward?).

I do however think that it was a mistake putting someone like Steve Sidwell on, especially when you have a good defended in GG on the bench. Not only is he a good defender in the air, but he also has the organisational skills, and the voice of a captain. The disorganisation from the final corner is a testament I think to the lack of organisation from set pieces, a trend which we've seen right across the season.

Even bringing on someone like Lua Lua would have given us a lot more options in the counter, and might have been a useful tool to exploit the rash challenges coming from the likes of Barton.

One thing I do agree with however is that the subs came on far too late. Hemed and Bruno in particular were struggling for about ten minutes before the eventual subs.

 

[Don Tmatter]

We were told by Norwich fans of CH's safety first/Negative substitutions so it should come as no surprise. He'd be damned if he did and damned if he didnt, in some quarters.
To me, we havent got enough physicality in the side/matchday squad apart from centre backs & Hemed but that has been a problem with a fair few sides down the years.
One option if defending a lead could be to put Dunk or Goldson into a role just in front of the back four, both are more than capable of playing in a defensive mid role, and then we would be able to leave someone further forward for a potential counter attack which we rarely do.

 

[Albumen]

Dunno if it's been covered but:

Hemed was dead on his feet, we had no other striker on the bench due to having already used the sub. What the **** else could he have done other than bring on a midfielder to try and shore it up? And as for the corner we didn't defend a single corner all game, and I was waiting for them to score. If you blame Hughton you're very very wrong, and we were beautiful and very unlucky not to score more. We're going up.

 

[NooBHA]

Except In the last 13 games for example he hasn't either of those as much as people think.
He's had 2 strikers on the bench nearly half the times, 6 out of 13 and this would have been more if Zamora had been fit as you say.
In the other 7 games he's either had Skalak or Manu as attacking options and also either Knockeart/Lua Lua as the spare winger so no exactly a defensive bench.


Sheff Weds - Zamora / Wilson
Preston - Zamora/Wilson
Leeds - Zamora / Wilson
Bristol City - Zamora / Wilson
Cardiff - Baldock/Hemed
Hull - Baldock/Zamora

Also in the last 13 games he's not replaced a forward with a midfielder or a winger/midfielder as frequently assumed and when he has, its in every case made no difference to the result until yesterday...

Brentford (Crofts on for Hemed when we were winning 2-0, went on to win 3-0)
Bolton (Lua Lua for Hemed, were winning 3-2, stayed 3-2)
Cardiff (Hemed on for Sidwell - were losing 3-0, lost 4-1)
Bristol City (Sidwell on for Hemed - were winning 4-0, won 4-0)
Leeds (Skalak on for Baldock - were winning 4-0, won 4-0)
Preston (Sidewll on for Hemed in last minute, were drawing 0-0, drew 0-0)
Reading (Bong on for Murphy with 13 mins to go, were winning 1-0, won 1-0)
MK Dons (Sidwell on for Skalak, with 13 mins to go, were winning 2-1, won 2-1)
(all the other subs were like for like, eg: Calde for Bruno, Lua Lua for Knockeart, Wilson for Hemed etc)
and we all know what happened yesterday. Except yesterday was also the first time all season we've gone up at the Amex and not gone on to win the game.

Show me the evidence that Hughton either a) makes overwhelmingly defensive substitutions and/or b) his substitutions often result in us losing the game.
I'm not sure it exists.

In relation to your last to lines, your message is aimed at the wrong person if you want me to look for any negatives on CH - You will see in other posts by me that I have stated that his substitutions have consolidated points and not lost them

 

[chaileyjem]

In relation to your last to lines, your message is aimed at the wrong person if you want me to look for any negatives on CH - You will see in other posts by me that I have stated that his substitutions have consolidated points and not lost them

Yes. Sorry for implication. Totally agree with you. Its a total misunderstanding, not borne out by the evidence, that his substitutions have been tactially poor this season and cost us points.