[Archived] Hughes Out

[andrew92]

We cocked up - so what ? One win over any of the top 5 Smithy and you'll be bouncing round your bedsit again.

He'd jump to the conclusion that this MB has a few pillocks amongst its users. He'd be right, too.

thank god not everyones lost it, the season he took over we were relegation contenders, now we are a team that can win cups and SHOULD be doing well in europe i think that shows how far we have come, just let me run a few things past you all

Samba-£400,000

Mccarthy-£1.75m 18 lge goals last season!!

Santa cruz-£3.3m

Nelson-zilch

Edited October 5, 2007 by andrew92

[BRFC4EVA]

Hughes got the tactics all wrong last night. This is probably the first time I have said this in his reign, but it was very poor on his behalf. The team we had out last night, was perfect for the previous match-an awkward away game in the prem league. Last night however, we were playing an average Greek outfit in europe which we needed to score at least 3 goals and he plays the same team! 4-5-1 simply not goo enough. We should have been playing an attacking 4-4-2 formation with all the big boys back playing-Bentley on the right, mgp on the left with sav and Dunn in the middle. McCarthy and Cruz up front with Derbs to come on as an impact player if and when we needed him. Tugay and Makoena are not just not the right combination in the circumstance we needed

[USRoverME]

BRFC4EVA....

the side you just outlined is the same side that lost 2-0 to Larissa.... now all the sudden, they are locks to win 3-0 or better?

I'll be first in line to slate a manager when they truly mess up a side, and there are some valid minor points to question Sparky on in this case (the sub pattern being a big recurring one in his tenure), but to say that the side he chose was uncapable of turning over this deficit is more damning to the players and the talent available than the coach.

[Tomo]

For me Mark Hughes is the best manager we have had in a very long. Yes we have just gone out of the UEFA cup to, what is at best a average Greek side. But in managerial terms Mark Hughes is young and still learning himself. To build a squad like we have and attract the calibre of players that he has such as McCarthy and Santa Cruz for very little money in today's current market. Just goes to show what a respected character in football he is. Just to have qualified for europe again is a brilliant achievement considering the state the club was in when he took over and im sure we will qualify for europe again this season.

[BRFC4EVA]

BRFC4EVA....

the side you just outlined is the same side that lost 2-0 to Larissa.... now all the sudden, they are locks to win 3-0 or better?

I'll be first in line to slate a manager when they truly mess up a side, and there are some valid minor points to question Sparky on in this case (the sub pattern being a big recurring one in his tenure), but to say that the side he chose was uncapable of turning over this deficit is more damning to the players and the talent available than the coach.

US, the fundemental difference is that we were at HOME last night. Im not saying that the team I outlined would have simply turned up and won 3-0, but im sure we would have had more of a chance then the team we had out ysday. The team we had out ysday would have been far better suited to the away leg ironically enough!

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

I'd like to start off by saying that I'm absolutely not calling for Mark Hughes to go. I hope that he remains our manager for years to come, but what I'm using this thread for is to question the recent tactics and team selection of our management team and to make the point that recent results have been completely unacceptable.

I'm sure the vast majority of Rovers fans want Hughes to stay, but today's result was a humiliation for our club and serious question marks have to be raised about not only the players, but also about the current tactics.

Today was the first time ever that Wigan have scored five goals in a Premiership match. Our once solid defence that we took pride in is now frankly a shambles. The wheels have completely come off and we've only won one of of our last seven games. I think Hughes has a massive job on his hands now because serious weaknesses have been exposed. Some of the early season optimism has proved to be a false dawn.

In our previous two Premiership encounters with Wigan at the JJB stadium, we won 3-0 in 2005/06 and also 3-0 in 2006/07. Clearly something is going very badly wrong and it would be foolish for anyone to pretend that everything in the garden is rosy. Significant problems, I feel, have been brewing for quite some time this season. The first indication of this, when alarm bells should have been ringing loud and clear, was after the humiliation against Larissa. We performed abysmally against a second-rate Greek team who are currently bottom of UEFA Group A - having lost all of their UEFA Group games so far.

I feel that our Premiership results in October papered over some of the cracks. We had some positive results in October, but I feel that during the month Rovers only really played well during the first half against Reading. The 2-1 win over Spurs at White Hart Lane was somewhat fortuitous, scoring in the last minute, having been outplayed for much of the game.

After the Larissa humiliation, Mark Hughes should have been identifying and analysing in great detail the weaknesses in the team, in particular our inability to keep hold of the ball for any length of time and the general sloppiness not only in possession, but also when trying to defend too. Perhaps Hughes did identify that we had problems in these areas, but in recent matches these problems have come firmly back to haunt us. It is not just the players, but the management team too who I feel have made mistakes lately.

Regarding the team selection of our manager, this is certainly a valid point below:

How many more chances are we going to give Pederson and McCarthy, they are not producing the goods, so they should not be in the side.

I think it's now 27 Premiership games without a goal for MGP. He is offering absolutely bugger all at the moment. It always astounds me when fans of other clubs tell me that they would like to have Pedersen in their team. A friend of mine who supports Arsenal told me in the summer that he was hoping Wenger would sign Pedersen. I said to him: "Surely you have to be joking. He wouldn't get into your reserve team."

I suspect that some fans of other clubs have been given a completely false impression of MGP, because they've seen highlights on Match Of The Day of him scoring some spectacular goals in the past and they think he is doing this every other week. If only....

If my Arsenal-supporting friend had to endure what Rovers fans do every week - of MGP struggling to pass properly, struggling to cross the ball and hitting some hopeless free-kicks and corners that often fail to beat the first man, then I'm sure he wouldn't want MGP within a hundred miles of the Emirates Stadium. It's amazing how some people can be fooled by highlights of a few spectacular goals.

Onto Benni McCarthy and a point from Paul....

I have never thought much of McCarthy, his penalty and general attitude today stank.

I've been complaining about McCarthy's attitude for much of the season. During some of the opening matches of the season I thought he was woeful in terms of effort and workrate. He then had a little spell when he was playing better, but now seems to be back to his bad old ways again. I was disgusted when he told the press that the reason for his poor form earlier in the season was due to wanting to play for Mourinho at Chelsea and being affected by all the transfer talk.

I'm sorry, but Rovers pay this man's wages and he has a duty to perform for 90 minutes irrespective of whether there is talk in the tabloids of him moving to Chelsea. It is no excuse whatsoever to not be prepared to work hard for the team just because you fancy a move to another club.

Onto tactics....

Tactics were awful today, it just seemed to be hoof it up to the front two and we'll see what we can do.

We are frequently guilty of squandering possession because of these prehistoric long-ball tactics. Mark Hughes needs to seriously address this issue and get the team to start passing the ball with some degree of accuracy.

Overall Hughes has been very good for our club. But his school report (or management report) for this year should perhaps read: "Mistakes have been made. He could have done better this term."

At the start of the season if somebody had said to me: "You'll be humiliated in Europe, lose 0-4 at home to Villa and become the first Premiership team to concede five goals against Wigan," I wouldn't have been too happy.

Finally, it is worth making the point that Hughes is by no means the certainty to succeed Ferguson at Old Trafford that some people perhaps feel. When the time comes (it could be several years away) when Fergie eventually leaves, I'm sure the Old Trafford board will look at a range of criteria. The United job is one of the biggest in world football and they'll want to appoint a manager who has a consistent record of success, preferably in Europe. They won't just be swayed by the fact that Hughes played for United.

Hughes has some way to go before he can put trophies on his managerial CV or indeed point to positive results in Europe. Hughes has so far achieved neither. When Ferguson was appointed United manager in 1986, he had already won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983 with Aberdeen, beating Real Madrid in the final.

In order for Hughes to get his hands on the Old Trafford job that I'm sure he would dearly crave, then if he doesn't win a trophy with Rovers, I feel he at least needs to demonstrate better results in European football than has so far been the case.

[rover6]

Imo, Hughes' biggest mistake this season was not to bring in a holding midfielder who could play anchor to the free spirits of Savage or Reid.

We had Jorge Acuna on trial but he didn't impress. But then Hughes seemed to decide that Aaron Mokoena and Tugay provided ample reserve - which was a bad call because of talent and age respectively.

However, I believe that Hughes has belatedly realised this, hence the midfield trialists turning up on a regular basis.

[Eddie]

I don't want to say "I was right and he was wrong", but quite frankly myself and several others have said that we have needed a central midfielder for 18 months or so now, he's made no effort to solve the problem.

Oh, have to add, not a hope in hell for the man of following on from Ferguson at the moment. Several candidates are streets ahead of him and he's not really done much to catch up lately.

Edited December 15, 2007 by Eddie

[Exiled_Rover]

His selections have been pathetic for a while: everyone and their brother can see that Tugay and Mokoena can't play together, yet he persisted with it. Nelsen's lost all his pace and Pedersen couldn't score in a brothel, yet they're automatics when fit.

Obviously he's still a very good manager, but he's seriously lost his way of late.

[colin]

Spot on there AESF.

[tcj_jones]

What baffles is me is that we have two superb centre backs, an excellent left back and a consistent and, for the most part, solid right back, yet we ship goals left, right and centre and make some absolutely dreadful mistakes. It really does confuse the crap out of me! Our goal difference is getting to the point where it will be extremely difficult to catch that of the teams around us, which might come back to haunt us come May, if we are looking for a European spot.

I heard a statistic a few games back that said we had conceded the most goals from set pieces out of all 20 Premiership clubs. With Samba and Nelsen at the back, this just shouldn't be happening. Hughes must be aware of this, and yet we continue to concede from them.

I've been going on about this for years now, but if Hughes cannot see that our corner routines aren't working, then he is absolutely blinkered! We concede from too many set pieces and fail to score from our own. This has to be addressed.

Shipping five to Wigan is just embarassing. Just losing to Wigan is embarrassing enough! I agree with AESF that our victories these last few months have been somewhat fortuitous - Spurs and Newcastle come to mind.

[Grabbi Graeme]

Yeah your right Hughes knows nothing, I mean what as he ever done for us, Souness is still available isn't he, or maybe somebody off here who has managed to take Accy Stanley into League 1 on FM 2008 can take the job on.

[jim mk2]

Three - four years is the usual stretch for most managers before they are either found wanting or are unable to motivate their team any longer. It could well be that Hughes has reached that point with Rovers.

[S15]

I must admit what Jim says is very correct.

So many promising managers have fallen by the wayside due to the fact they never got that big job offer, they became stale and slowly slipped away.

What we have now is a period which will really defy Hughes' managerial career. He will either turn this around and prove he is destined for greatness, or he will continue, given time, down Souness' path.

I have no opinion as yet, and remain 100% behind Hughes, but the similarities are potenitially there.

[Eddie]

I'm very worried about this. When you look at him on the touchline he looks like a manager out of ideas. Now, if he wants to be a manager who doesn't say anything to his team and simply lets them play, that is fine, but I don't think that is what is happening. He looks like someone who is lost and doesn't think he can do anything to change it. I think we're in big, big, big trouble here.

[thenodrog]

EDIT

Edited December 16, 2007 by den

[jim mk2]

EDIT

Edited December 16, 2007 by den

[S15]

EDIT

Edited December 16, 2007 by den

[Guest Kamy100]

I cannot believe that people are even questioning MH ability to do the job. He is a superb manager who has constantly proved that he knows exactly what he is doing. I am 100% sure that he will turn this mini slump around. Keep the faith guys.

[1864roverite]

Kamy, I dont think the people questionning MH are talking with any sense at all, they are making excuses for their lack of knowledge about Rovers and football.

In any case, their a minority, a bit like burnley fans

[den]

Theno, Jim, Shillitto.

Cut out the insults, then try again.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

He is a superb manager who has constantly proved that he knows exactly what he is doing.

Many posters have unnanimously questioned his team selections and subs this season Kamy.

Well be alright though.

[joey_big_nose]

I cannot believe that people are even questioning MH ability to do the job. He is a superb manager who has constantly proved that he knows exactly what he is doing. I am 100% sure that he will turn this mini slump around. Keep the faith guys.

It is a bizarre situation. Touted as the best manager outside the top four by many (including in the media by people who usually don't give much coverage to Rovers) as recently aas a month ago. Then has one o fthe worst runs of four games I have ever seen essentially based on the defence collapsing.

I guess the problem could be said to be that our game is very confidence driven, depending on forcing the opposition to sit back and getting the fullbacks forward. Our defence plays high up the pitch and we try to control the game. When the confidence and cohesiveness that sort of approach demands collapses we are very very vulnerable and can get hammered. And our defence has gone from looking heroic to appalling extrordinarily quickly combined wuith oiir firm from our midfield.

It will be interesting to see how Hughes recovers.

Maybe tme to play depper and tighter? But then we lack the pace to be threatening on the break....

[mrsjansen]

Can people calm down. We are going through a bad patch. It happens. Its happened to us in the past and will again in the future, it happends to the top four clubs.

Id rather be in the postition we are in now, than where we where when Souness was here.

[DP]

A few weeks ago we played Liverpool, didn't win, but made the whole of Blackburn feel proud. It was a great performance, both technically and passionately, and had pretty much summed up how far we'd come under Hughes and what we had achieved.

In 2004, Hughes came in and inherited a very poor side, and a pretty poor squad overall. In 18 months he had transformed us, and made us in to a top eight side. We then lost the catalyst in Bellamy, and Reid who had arguably been our best midfielder. It made things tough for a while, but other fringe players came good (most notably Bentley) and Hughes again did wonders in the transfer market in January. We started this season with out best squad in around 5 years.

We had a great start to the season, but we've come off the rails a bit. I do hope there isn't unrest within the camp but if there is, he must deal with it straight away. We have players off form, some low in confidence, and others not fully fit from injury. The transfer window is just round the corner and there's no doubt that we'll strengthen.

There's no point picking out individual players at the moment, all bar 1 are playing crap. Let's rest the tired ones, sack the troublesome ones, and tighten up at the back. A couple of clean sheets and then we'll wonder what all the fuss was about.