Most liked posts in thread: Mark Hughes your football is...

He will do when we lose to Colchester at home next weekend and then someone else will post 'oops' when we win away at Walsall the following Tuesday and the pattern keeps repeating. That's how these things work right?

 

At times we utterly painful to watch, mainly due to a set up of pragmatic defence. That first 45 minutes was pathetic, a crowd of 18,000+ and most were in a deep sleep by half time. Great cure for insomnia. Second half better but couldn't be worse. We look a good bet for the playoffs but it's a hell of a tough watch.

 

Smallwood is the man to break up play and pass to the creator to dictate play. He’s tried to be that player and he just can’t do it. Chapman and Gilliead offer nothing and until Hughes takes them out of the starting 11 things won’t change.

 

Let's be sensible about this take Cooks goals out of the equation and we're relegation fodder for sure.

 

Hughes way of playing is possession for the sake of it very little variation. It’s arrogance to say it’s my way or no way. The test for him now is can he adapt it to get the best out of the players if he can he will be lauded if he can’t with the backing he has had then it will be abject failure and we know from experience where that leaves managers

 

Because they didn't expect Cook to make the start the way he has, when Cook got his chance he took it, he grafted got his weight off and started scoring, we started our first two league games with Oliver as our first choice striker.

 

We could go back for Kristian Dennis at Carlisle flying this season with 16 goals and we know what pizza's he likes .

 

I’m a season ticket holder for this season and will be amazed if I see another 2 games this season ......,,,,, I just cannot be bothered with it now and they will need all the luck in the world to sell decent numbers for next term if we do stay down and Hughes is at the helm ............ there is nothing that I have seen that makes me think that he will get us up

 

But can he pass backwards and sideways in his own half

 

Mark Hughes no tempo/ no width/ sideways walking football army. and all the crowd could see it.

 

Hughes has created the slowest midfield in the division with no creativity and a fear of going forward

 

If he ends up getting sacked then he will fully deserve it. He’s been given everything required to build promotion winning team and we’re not even close. Even when we do actually win, it’s so bad to watch. I was going to watch the Carlisle game on iFollow but woke up 20 minutes late, glad I did and followed the the text instead because it would have been another £10 wasted. Zero shots on target today, absolutely unacceptable.

 

I would be swapping formation and tactics - so right away we disagree lol!
I would be looking to play two up top (this isn’t the premier league or champions league or even the championship).
I absolutely would not be tippy tapping at the back when we have league two players.
I certainly wouldn’t play two holding midfielders when we play one up top.
We have a style, a formation that makes us look like we’re playing with ten men when defending, but also ten men when attacking - we just look outnumbered.
We play possession based football but look under pressure when at the back and look like we won’t create chances when attacking.
Poor summer recruitment?
I think Smallwood has proven to be poor so far, Odusina has struggled when I’ve seen him (although rated him when I’d seen him prior to his signing), Young is very hit and Miss and Harratt had problems which undermined his undeniable talent.
Largely though, I’ll maintain my opinion recruitment was positive.
I stand my ground that the formation doesn’t suit the players we have, and tactically we are not getting the best out of a decent bunch of lower league players. Lower league players.
Not the Man City defence who can play out from the back comfortably and effectively.

 

Why would we swap formation or tactics? They work. They are proven to work. You just need the right balance of players.

You say Smallwood is a poor recruit, he probably isn't, but he looks it - why? Because we haven't got a balance in midfield. Gilliead is a failed winger-turn-defensive midfielder who is busy and hard working. Those are his best attributes. We don't need that, we need talent, and quality, to go alongside Smallwood.

It feels like we're halfway there. We have some things right, but several things aren't up to scratch.

That's okay, it's literally Gent's first go at it.

We don't need to change a winning formula, we need to change the non-winning components.

We'll piss this league once we have the right balance - that won't happen by hitting the reset button on either the tactics or the manager.

 

That's the frustration. A 433, with Smallwood holding and Chapman and Walker pushing on in front, with Wright or Young and Banks either side of Cook or Oliver, playing more closely together, would be far more effective in my opinion.

 

But apart from Cook who is scoring? Nobody, and that presents a real problem. It also puts more pressure on Cook to score which is never a good sign in a team. Shut Cook up and we are done for. Toast.

 

We have wingers who have it drummed into them to come inside we have two full backs who are capable of playing decent crosses. Instead they are busy playing it backward and forward between themselves until a mistake happens and we lose possession. We have some good attacking players I would love us to play a pressing and attacking game. But failing this I would accept whatever tactics if they were successful. I honestly think that a failure to at least reach the play offs this season would be pretty catastrophic for the club. I want Hughes to succeed because he is just the figurehead we need but I fear his failure to adapt to the league in which he manages is going to cost him and us.

 

If Cooky had taken one of those chances, which to be fair this season he has, folk wouldn't even be questioning his inclusion. As you allude to Salty, we all know his limitations. That said hes our best attacking asset and as such we should be setting up to get the best out of him. Because no one else is threatening the scoring stats.