Hughes Out! - To Find Better Players

Don't do that! My heart was in my mouth when I saw the headline on NewsNow, calmed down a bit when I saw the article though!

Sorry, but what utter tosh. There are no reports emanating from WHL that Redknapp has fallen out with half of his team. I don't recall Redknapp taking a forward off to bring a forward on when he is 2-0 down in a Cup match? As for Richards at left back being a test - what's the next stern examination then? Zabaletta in goal? Mark Bowen up front? I don't normally lay into people for opinions as there are no rights and wrongs - but that piece has really riled me! Hughes has admirably demonstrated so far he does not have the capability, tactical nous nor wherewithal to manage a club considerably bigger than Blackburn. That is why a significant number of fans would like to see him replaced with someone who has these qualities.

A dressing-room insider said: "Most of the players are right behind Hughes, but unless you have everyone pulling in the right direction at a club then you will get problems. "That's what's happening here. Some players know they haven't got a future at the club and others just don't like the manager. The lazy players under Sven may not like his boot camp training but he is a manager, not their best friend. Mark Hughes has been trusted to build a challenging City side and he should be given the time to build it.

The situation isn't the same, Redknapp is not an Arsenal legend! Hughes should NEVER have been appointed because of his Rag past - the fact that he has now proved himself to be a very average manager makes his sacking even more vital!

None of the people saying he should be given more time are saying he is doing really well, they are just more patient. If we have made no progress by the end of the season I will be joining you!

if we can get someone like frank rijkaard in then I would have no problem! I just dont see anyone else who would come in now and change things around. The owners are obviously giving him the time and so we dont have too much choice anyway. I have been really disappointed with some of his decisions and I can forgive them to an extent- the fact that he is testing out players and positions- but the rest of the season is where I think he should be judged. If we come 8th or lower, he should go.

Sorry, that should have been 'very short odds' not any price you want'!

haha! Yeah I really hope we do better than that... We will see by the end of the month if he has built a good enough squad I suppose.

I close family friend stated yesterday they had been told by a very well known City source that Kaka and Villa are pretty much done deals. However, I just cannot see it being true. I can't imagine, given our current position if nothing else, let alone the current manager's 'pulling power', there is any truth in it.

I like your thinking eighthsin, we do need time - look at what Martin O'Neill is doing after a slow start. If anyone would have asked me at the start of the september if we could be top 10 at January, especially given all the injuries and other problems, I would have been more than happy with that. And we are within 1 win of that so certainly no need to panic just yet

The team that Sven left was in bad shape. I personally hope that Mark Hughes can make the psychological move from Blackburn to City. Admittedly this will have to happen sooner rather than later. Reasons? I think his ethics are up to it, especially to manage the team long term. He's in a similar British mould to Ferguson without being perhaps as cynical. He will make City hard to beat in the long run, and with a couple more flair players will be well placed to take on those who have dominated the CL cash, (and therefore most of the transfer funds), since the inception of the EPL. There's no quick fix in this league, and there's not going to be anything like a level playing field in the EPL until a US-type draft system is introduced. Which will be fought against with cash by those who have the cash to defend their positions in the Champions League. In the meantime, it'll just be a straight fight.. Cash v More cash. Very basic no-holds-barred stuff, you might think, unless, as seems to be the case with City, the owners intend to develop or re-develop an area of the city. Philanthropy then comes into play, etc etc, with its attendant ramifications! For instance, are the supposed societal benefits going to be felt by the majority of the local population? The investment in the club by the Abu Dhabi group is, on the face of it, a possible welcome emotional lift for all City supporters, and that would run into a minimum of 100,000 people, at a time when the economic health of the whole country is at the very least depressed, but what the real long term ramifications are is anyone's guess. We know full well, if you'll excuse the pun, that the oil is a finite resource; it will run out. Are we seeing Abu Dhabi transfer some of its present assets from the emptying bore holes of the Persian Gulf to future population 'wells' in the inner cities of northern Europe? Personally, I think we are, and I can draw all kinds of conclusions from that, but this has now wandered off into the realms of philosophy, so I feel that I owe all of you an apology for that, and I'll honestly try not to do that if ever I come back to this page/site. One last reminder.. swapping Hughes in the next year will put us back another year. There's a gulf between us and the rags, as was demonstrated again this afternoon. Yes we can sometimes give them a bloody nose in the local derby because of the rivalry, but it took Ferguson years to hone his operation, his squad and its depth. When I hear so many of you baying for Hughes' blood, it saddens me because he's has obviously got the ability. And he has to be excused one or two tactical experiments with players because there are too many injuries and the squad is thin in places. Also, it would seem that this transfer window has proved just how difficult it is to bring in players at a price that isn't going to re-inflate the whole industry and turn it into a debt-ridden mire for decades. I'm sure that in the last week of the window, there'll be some extortionate prices paid to address crises, but as we can all see, Allerdyce is just taking the ***** because he knows he can. It's to be hoped that when push comes to shove on Jan 31st, that Hughes will have brought in a couple from Europe, and that Allerdyce will have been totally ignored. I've been City since before I can remember, and it's been an ongoing circus for all of my life. Often a really enjoyable one. That'll never change.

Great post roy! It will be interesting to see how we develop over the next few years, not only on the pitch but the whole club and middle-eastlands.

cont from above. Furthermore, I haven't seen a single member of the successful reserve/Youth Team promoted in his time yet he moans about lack of options. Frustratingly, some of our best (Mee/Weiss/McGivern) are in the positions we have had problems, still he prefers Vassell, Dunne and Ball. The fact he feels the need to employ players he has managed before such as Santa Cruz at a premium when there are better out there is just pathetic. Is his lack of results in league and cups the most annoying thing about him for me? Well actually no, his constant talking down of City and talking up of the opposition gets up my nose as does his distasteful shirking of responsibility for the results (I would sack him for that alone), his mgt teams selective leaking of personnel issues to the press (is it true that Jo/Elano/etc... are causing trouble or, is it a planted excuse bec managing the team is beyond him?). I don't know. Considering Hughes banned the press from the training/ground without invite then I do wonder how they know what is going on in the showers. He has not once given an interview (apart from at his unveiling as our manager) that made me feel anything other than bored, deflated or contained empty promises for a run of results that he failed to deliver. He should be inspiring the whole club from top to bottom and enthusing it with confidence. Small club mentality...he is full of it. The phrases he chooses at times are appalling for a manager. He reminds me of a parent that tells its child constantly what it cannot be as opposed to inspiring it to achieve its dreams. He talks of his management of expectation. Well actually, someone should tell him (probably Cook) management of expectation is delivering the results you are expected to deliver, not the lowering of targets and objectives you have been given in line with your management inadequacies. The bookmakers rarely get anything wrong and they had us nailed down for a top six place this season and stopped taking bets at the start, not relegation or bottom half. As for raising the bar on transfer fees etc. The time for worrying about anyone else in football ended at the setting up of the Premier League (which we did not get a vote on) and then the Champions League (another carve up that did not include us). Though I do sympathise with your sentiments I am afraid Roy that bus left the station years ago and we were not driving it. Not sure I understand your reasoning, how the success of Utd strengthens the case for City retaining a poor manager or is it that "football is a results business" does not apply to men who have sat in the same dressing room as baconface. As for getting rid of Hughes losing us a year. Well take a look at the table and the reputation damage to our club. We have already lost a year and it is only Jan. I am all for giving a manager time but not when he is palpably poor (2 points off relegation, top 6 prob gone by Jan, out of the cups, underperforming team, disappointing transfer targets) and whose performance is likely to lose us our summer star targets if he stays. As for excusing Hughes for being tactically incompetent, I respect your opinion but no I will not excuse that either thanks. If he wants to be excused for his management inadequacies then he should have stayed at Blackburn and not talked himself up so much as the best young manager in Britain. £5M+ a year (for him and his team) is not a training salary and despite what he might think, City is not a small club where failure is acceptable anymore. Acceptance of mediocrity can become a habit and only leads to year on year sustained failure. Lets break that habit at City and start expecting the best as that is the first stage of achieving the success we all crave. We should start with the manager. Hughes has experience of winning nothing as a manager and has put this Club equal with a relegation spot this season. That would have been unthinkable at the beginning of the season with our squad and investment so why to some of you is that acceptable now?

Buzz..I wouldn't say he has exactly achieved anything either. Nrver mind saying we are 6 points off 8th so are umpteen other teams the reality is where are we going to get these 6 points from. If we leave it to MH it will take at least 10 games and where will be by then, relegation certs no doubt....Yes City Girl you have got it exactly spot on nad I am sure the majority of fans agree also.

Basically what I am saying Alphie, is there in no-one else out there who can do any better at this time.I know he is not doing a great job,but I do give him the benefit of having inhereited a poor side no matter where they finished last season and has not really had time to bring in new faces, but the people he has brought in on the whole have impressed. I don't count Jo, I think he was forced on Hughes. TBH and berti Glauber are the only two, and Glauber I cannot comment on having never seen him play.

Well the looks of things of us signing more players is not looking good another bid rejected. All teams are exsprecting more money of us which is a disgrace. If newcastle bid the same amount of money for bellamy as we did i bet it would of being accepted!!!

This window is so difficult, we can't even buy crap players that most fans don't want anyway, how on earth are we going to sign class players. Alphie, our good work was done before december last season, the gap between 10th and the rest of the league was enormous and we were so far ahead that was the worse place we could have got. The team only achieved 26 points out of 72, not good and I say this again, if they hadn't chased after goofy for three quarters of the summer, we might have got a few more throught the door like, kompany and Zabaleta.

City Girl, The last comments you made are all good and I agree with almost all you say and I understand your frustration and the bit where Svens problems lay in the January sale, we both are at one in that I said exactly the same thing on the forum before I read your latest comment. I dont know when you started supporting City, but I suspect that I have a few years on you and I have seen the constant change of manager as a solution to the problem. I am not saying dont sack your manager if he is bobbins and if Hughes is still chasing Parker and Bellamy in the summer, the I would be questioning his judgement as a sound manager fit to be in charge of City. This is January and he is trying to get players in to boost the numpties with have in reserves at present.Even that is proving to be difficult and I would not be unhappy if the Bellamy bid completely went away.I dont rate him and I don't think he will do the club any lasting good, probably more harm.As for Sven I was very proud to have him as the City manager and he was excellent at every interview, you could not help but like him and it is because of that ability, he was able to bring some really good talent to the club. I personally wanted him to stay and to finish the job and if he had been given the chance with the present owners money, we would not be in the league position we are now.It good to have different opinions and you should come into the forum and voice your opinions there. Your argument is well thought out and researched and sensible. We will not agree with each other over Mr Hughes, but we are stuck with him and as such I have to back him until he is no longer here and then I will back the next manager after that.