They were impressed

[Napier's Knee]

Seems that in recent weeks with the exception of Cardiff weve been playing less of a possession game and scoring more freely.

Agree and i think this is the reason why we sometimes think performances are worse than they are - we're not playing the possession-based football we've got used to, so - for us in the stands - it looks worse than it actually is. The change came with the arrival of Knockeart and how this freed up Murphy. Our problems are not with the forwards - it's our defence that needs more work.

 

[warmleyseagull]

It's a funny game. Relative performances between Sat & Tues didn't warrant a 7 goal swing. It was almost the reverse: Sat we looked on top until first goal, last night City played well but lost confidence once we scored.

TBH, and I will say it now, Sat could have worked out entirely differently had Knockaert scored rather than blasting over top at 3-1. At 3-2, Cardiff would probably have panicked.

 

[redoubtable seagull]

Agree and i think this is the reason why we sometimes think performances are worse than they are - we're not playing the possession-based football we've got used to, so - for us in the stands - it looks worse than it actually is. The change came with the arrival of Knockeart and how this freed up Murphy. Our problems are not with the forwards - it's our defence that needs more work.

And the tightening up at left back with Ridgewell (who as discussed previously did not do a great deal but certainly was adequate) and the return of rosenior.

 

[Wardy's twin]

To win a game you need to score, possession is only important if it leads to goals or if you are winning so you stop the other team scoring. Impressive though 3 shots but getting 4 goals...

 

[Sheebo]

Just take note of the margin of victory

Yes, you would assume so. Although no way were Cardiff 3 goals better than us Saturday, despite a poor performance from us on the whole...

Seems like we played to our strengths and game plan extremely well last night

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Seems that in recent weeks with the exception of Cardiff weve been playing less of a possession game and scoring more freely.

Yes exactly. Hughton's philosophy is the complete opposite to Gus Poyet's. Gus wants his teams to keep the ball, believing that if you have it you are in control of the game, whereas with Chris, he is happy to let the opposing team have the ball in areas of the pitch where they can't do any damage, and for us to then hurt them on the counter attack.

 

[atomised]

Yes exactly. Hughton's philosophy is the complete opposite to Gus Poyet's. Gus wants his teams to keep the ball, believing that if you have it you are in control of the game, whereas with Chris, he is happy to let the opposing team have the ball in areas of the pitch where they can't do any damage, and for us to then hurt them on the counter attack.

Its taken time to reach that point. I guess a combination of having the players for the system and adapting training to get players used to that system

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Its taken time to reach that point. I guess a combination of having the players for the system and adapting training to get players used to that system

You need pace to use that system, and it worked well when Buckley & LuaLua weren't injured. Unfortunately, they were injured frequently.

Now we have more than just two players with pace, and can counter attack, almost at will.

 

[atomised]

Its great to watch but takes some getting used to

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Yes exactly. Hughton's philosophy is the complete opposite to Gus Poyet's. Gus wants his teams to keep the ball, believing that if you have it you are in control of the game, whereas with Chris, he is happy to let the opposing team have the ball in areas of the pitch where they can't do any damage, and for us to then hurt them on the counter attack.

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say it's his philosophy. On average we've had 52% possession this year, which is the 8th highest in the league. Since Huddersfield at home, the mentality has clearly changed, and we've comfortably had less possession than the opposition in every game since, except the Cardiff one (which is the only game in that run which we lost)... This statistic alone suggests there's been a shift in mentality, for sure, but to say it's his philosophy to give up possession is an exaggeration, as that 52% would be much higher had it not been for the shift in mentality over the last 6 games.

Basically, we were dominating possession in games until Huddersfield, now we're giving up possession.

 

[NooBHA]

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say it's his philosophy. On average we've had 52% possession this year, which is the 8th highest in the league. Since Huddersfield at home, the mentality has clearly changed, and we've comfortably had less possession than the opposition in every game since, except the Cardiff one (which is the only game in that run which we lost)... This statistic alone suggests there's been a shift in mentality, for sure, but to say it's his philosophy to give up possession is an exaggeration, as that 52% would be much higher had it not been for the shift in mentality over the last 6 games.

Basically, we were dominating possession in games until Huddersfield, now we're giving up possession.

I sort of agree - I don't think he actually intentially goes out to ''counter attack'' teams. I think his preference is to dominate games but last night we got a early lead. That then means you don't need to continually take the game to the opposition. You can let them open up but here is where one of our strengths lies.

Murphy can actually travel as quickly with the ball at his feet as he can without the ball. If there is an open space and we win the ball back, he can fairly belt from defence into attack very quickly and that makes us look like a counter attacking side. Knockeart can actually do the same to a slightly lesser extent.

We are actually quite a diverse side which makes us difficult to anticipate; however, there have been teams which have got it right against us and when teams sit in we have problems sometimes. The good thing for us has been that we have got into a lead early on a lot of occasions this season. Long may that continue.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

This quote stuck out:

"Great side, and when they had the likes of Wilson, Sidwell and Zamora on the bench it shows the strength and depth in that squad. I'd wager the wages combined of those three subs wouldn't be off the total wages of our starting 11 today. "

When people say we're underdogs for automatics or playoffs, we shouldn't be. Our wages must rival most in the division bar the obvious ones. We've brought in so much quality in the past season and it wouldn't have come cheaply.

 

[brightn'ove]

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say it's his philosophy. On average we've had 52% possession this year, which is the 8th highest in the league. Since Huddersfield at home, the mentality has clearly changed, and we've comfortably had less possession than the opposition in every game since, except the Cardiff one (which is the only game in that run which we lost)... This statistic alone suggests there's been a shift in mentality, for sure, but to say it's his philosophy to give up possession is an exaggeration, as that 52% would be much higher had it not been for the shift in mentality over the last 6 games.

Basically, we were dominating possession in games until Huddersfield, now we're giving up possession.

We had 53% possession against Bolton

 

[NooBHA]

This quote stuck out:

"Great side, and when they had the likes of Wilson, Sidwell and Zamora on the bench it shows the strength and depth in that squad. I'd wager the wages combined of those three subs wouldn't be off the total wages of our starting 11 today. "

When people say we're underdogs for automatics or playoffs, we shouldn't be. Our wages must rival most in the division bar the obvious ones. We've brought in so much quality in the past season and it wouldn't have come cheaply.

I am not sure that they do - Our biggest success signings are on nowhere near what a lot of other clubs are paying. Those have been players we have taken from different leagues - I think we are somewhere around the middle in terms of salaries in the Championship

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

We had 53% possession against Bolton

Good spot, my mistake. Although that only further confirms my initial point that our philosophy hasn't been to counter attack and give up possession all season We've actually dominated possession in a lot of games this year.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I sort of agree - I don't think he actually intentially goes out to ''counter attack'' teams. I think his preference is to dominate games but last night we got a early lead. That then means you don't need to continually take the game to the opposition. You can let them open up but here is where one of our strengths lies.

Murphy can actually travel as quickly with the ball at his feet as he can without the ball. If there is an open space and we win the ball back, he can fairly belt from defence into attack very quickly and that makes us look like a counter attacking side. Knockeart can actually do the same to a slightly lesser extent.

We are actually quite a diverse side which makes us difficult to anticipate; however, there have been teams which have got it right against us and when teams sit in we have problems sometimes. The good thing for us has been that we have got into a lead early on a lot of occasions this season. Long may that continue.

100% right. I don't disagree with any of that, although it's an extension of my point rather than a disagreement with it. Hughton has shown an ability since our poor run to be more adaptable and in my book, that's a good thing.

 

[SweatyMexican]

I was at the game, and I think it was the opposite of Cardiff.

We won 4 - 0, so of course we must have had something about us, but Bristol City were so poor defensively they just gave us 4 goals.

 

[portslade seagull]

Good to see them saying it how it was, bit like us with Cardiff at the weekend

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I am not sure that they do - Our biggest success signings are on nowhere near what a lot of other clubs are paying. Those have been players we have taken from different leagues - I think we are somewhere around the middle in terms of salaries in the Championship

Whereas Bristol City had well documented £8 million bids for both Andre Gray and Dwight Gayle accepted this season from their respective clubs. Neither of those players would have earned peanuts if they'd actually wanted to sign for City (which they obviously didn't). They have plenty of money, even if most of their promotion winning squad will have started out on League One salaries, which no doubt increased when they got promoted.