[Archived] Hughes Out

[Ewood Dream]

I must admit my opinion of Sparky has gone down judging from these last few woeful performances and dissapointing team selection. Since the Dickov-as-lone-forward been pointed out already I won't go on about it, but have also said previously that I will wait for a proper judgement on Sparky when I see what he can produce when the transfer market re-opens. People seem to think Robbie Savage would be a good signing, he is a player of limited talent but gives 110% and makes a few whole-hearted tackles so he is seen as some kind of midfield kingpin.

Gabbidon seems to be viewed as a promising player, but I have seen him a few times and he looks nothing special and hasn't been great for Cardiff this season, maybe some people are judging him solely on the England v Wales match?

Wes Brown won't touch Ewood with a barge-pole and would much rather be looking at progressing clubs like Newcastle, Middlesbrough or Birmingham.

Defensive reinforcements are needed desperately as Amoruso is just too much of a risk at centre-back and Dominic Matteo is one of the worst defenders I have ever seen play for Rovers (worse than Peacock!)

Stead has as much confidence at the moment as a bullied teenager with immense acne, Bothroyd hasn't been given too much time to shine, Jansen's goal against Pompey once again inspired premature hope, Djorkaeff will be amazing when playing in a confident, balanced side, and Gallagher appears is non-existant in Sparky's plans.

For some baffling reason Emerton is now seen as left-sided midfielder despite two proper left-sided midfielders in Gamst-Pedersen and De Pedro at our service. Cue comments saying Gamst-Pedersen is light-weight and De Pedro isn't suited to PL, comments without no real substance until either of them are given a proper, decent chance in the side.

[Scotty]

The fact that this thread was even created in the first place just shows how stupid some of our fans are.

The fact that chief numpty Rover6 has weighed in with more inane opinions is no surprise at all.

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

[speeeeeeedie]

Some of you need your heads looking at. I had a long post but somehow managed to delete it. The upshot of it was that at least we are this bad now, we have a chance to bring in new personnel in January, and there are at least 6 teams as bad as us so any type of form change will vault us up the league.

[tucker]

oops

Edited October 24, 2004 by tucker

[tucker]

Right - Im sure im having knee jerk reaction to the fact that we have lost the last 2 games back to back 4-0 with two players scoring a hattrick. That we have no spirit, no fight, no skill, no pace, no invention, just a shakey defence and a toothless attack.

Im sure most people would blame Souness and yes it his partially his fault.

BUT

I have never seen a team under souness not try to fight and get an equaliser. Team selections under GS where sometimes strange (oh well quite a lot of the time) but playing Djorkiev and Dickov up front is wrong in my opinion, we need Dickov and a young fast striker (Stead, Gally or Bothroyd) running round. Hughes has had long enough to look at the players and make his mind up, so if Matteo is not up to it (which he blatently isnt - yup thats me and humble pie for lunch) change it - put Nissa back in, put Todd in, play Neill there, play McEveley there but for GOD SAKE MARK CHANGE IT.

So at the moment we are 2nd from bottom with a goal difference of -15 showing none of the characteristics that would prevent us going down. We need a leader as a manager and at the moment we do not have it. He wasnt that good for Wales and he doesnt seem to be that good for Rovers, I knew we should have gone for Strachen.

Prove me wrong Sparky but I doubt you will.

We are going down - If I am wrong thank the lord and feel free to bring this back to the top. But I cant see anything changing in the near future. Can you? And just blaming Souness is not/can not be the answer or teh reason that we are playing worse now than we did before he went.

Oh well I shall now curl up in the fetal position and prepare for the kicking.

when does the asylum want you back

[rover6]

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

Yet you can question MGP's quality as a Premiership footballer after, arguably, doing no worse as player for us than Hughes has done as a manager. Double standards.

[Ewood Dream]

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

Yet you can question MGP's quality as a Premiership footballer after, arguably, doing no worse as player for us than Hughes has done as a manager. Double standards.

Haha he's got you there, Scotty!

[Scotty]

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

Yet you can question MGP's quality as a Premiership footballer after, arguably, doing no worse as player for us than Hughes has done as a manager. Double standards.

Haha he's got you there, Scotty!

Good grief, the Chuckle Brothers are posting on here now.

I'm not sure what's more depressing, Rovers current form or the standard of posts on here following yesterday's game.

[tcj_jones]

I know me posting only adds to the rubbish I have been reading all weekend but for gods sake lets leave conspiracy theories, insults and hilarity out of the messageboard.

[Ewood Dream]

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

Yet you can question MGP's quality as a Premiership footballer after, arguably, doing no worse as player for us than Hughes has done as a manager. Double standards.

Haha he's got you there, Scotty!

Good grief, the Chuckle Brothers are posting on here now.

I'm not sure what's more depressing, Rovers current form or the standard of posts on here following yesterday's game.

And you conveniently avoided the 'double-standard' comment aimed at you

[bellamy11]

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

Yet you can question MGP's quality as a Premiership footballer after, arguably, doing no worse as player for us than Hughes has done as a manager. Double standards.

Haha he's got you there, Scotty!

Good grief, the Chuckle Brothers are posting on here now.

I'm not sure what's more depressing, Rovers current form or the standard of posts on here following yesterday's game.

And you conveniently avoided the 'double-standard' comment aimed at you

Tell you what, when you become a highly respected member of the board with an award for best footballing contribution then come back to us.

[1864roverite]

what utter trash

hughes out ??

give me a break and get a reality check

its the current squad that should all hold their heads up and apologise to the fans, the manager and the club.

finally

souness should be shot at dawn

when he returns at christmas expect to see the following banner

souness, won promotion, won us the cup got us into europe....

then.....

systematicaly went about destroying the infrastructure of our club, dismantled the spine of the team and brought dissarray to a well oiled outfit.

[Ewood Dream]

Anyone seriously questioning Hughes's appointment after the few games he's been here needs their head examining.

Yet you can question MGP's quality as a Premiership footballer after, arguably, doing no worse as player for us than Hughes has done as a manager. Double standards.

Haha he's got you there, Scotty!

Good grief, the Chuckle Brothers are posting on here now.

I'm not sure what's more depressing, Rovers current form or the standard of posts on here following yesterday's game.

And you conveniently avoided the 'double-standard' comment aimed at you

Tell you what, when you become a highly respected member of the board with an award for best footballing contribution then come back to us.

Whether I'm highly respected or not, I'm allowed to voice an opinion.

[Flopsy]

As i posted earlier i just want it on record when the bandwagon gets rolling that started it for once instead of jumping on at the end.

Sorry guys it is a knee jerk reaction to TWO 4-0 drubbings TWO capitulations in second halfs.

No cohesion, no team work and no (sorry Mr Flowers) BOTTLE

At the moment I am not at all impressed with the management and direction given by the manager - at least he could be getting the players to fight to the death and to chase after every lost cause and not to curl up into a little ball when we conceed a goal. Also i am not happy with his substitutions, tactics or teams.

But im just stupid and fickle.

Whats Sturrocks' phone number?

[Flopsy]

when he returns at christmas expect to see the following banner

souness, won promotion, won us the cup got us into europe....

then.....

systematicaly went about destroying the infrastructure of our club, dismantled the spine of the team and brought dissarray to a well oiled outfit.

Id love to see that banner it would be bigger than the JW stand

[Manchester Blue]

Quite right too Ewood Dream. Whether or not you are respected is irrelevant as is any so called award. We are all entitled to an opinion and personally i've seen a lot dafter one's on here this weekend.

This thread is probably intended a bit tongue in cheek but does raise a few valid points. It is apparently fine to judge a player after 1 or 2 games yet the manager gets judged on a different timescale. I supported the appointment of Hughes and still do in many respects but I don't think he should be above criticism. Look at where we are in the league, look at the goal difference, the reports of players arguing amongst themselves.

All very worrying.

I was often told that I was blind to Souness' failings. However anyone that believes that Hughes will be performing miracles to even keep us up is clearly so blinded by their dislike of Souness that they are being irrational. Clearly there were problems but we still have a basis of a good side, if they are going to continue playing like this then we will be down by Christmas. That is the situation we are in.

[chris]

I always thought Hughes was the wrong choice but will support him for now, he's been on a bad run of defeats for 2 and a half years so he got a lot to prove, but think he been thrown in the deep end a bit unfairly and he should have started wuith a stable div1 or 2 club

but he's not going to be sacked is he, and I don't trust things getting better against Newcastle if he plays the same team against Liverpool that started Chelsea

[92er]

Hughes has already made a mark by helping Emerton improve but I also agree that he is also making tactical mistakes.

A good friend of mine is a Blackpool fan; apparently McMahon went round shouting at people and didn't get the best out of them.Hendry does not shout and has taken a totally opposite approach. Maybe Hughes will eventually have a similar effect but it might take longer than we at first appreciated.

[Manchester Blue]

I hope and pray you are right 92er. From what i've seen so far I do have some belief that the current management team know what they are doing. I'm just thoroughly depressed at present which is understandable after 2 4-0's but I just see a side destined for the drop at present.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Arsene Wenger didn't win anything for the first few years at Arsenal.

Good Grief.

Wenger won the Premiership and FA Cup Double in his first full season at Arsenal, FFS.

Link below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/special_ev...002/2542591.stm

[Scotty]

Quite right too Ewood Dream. Whether or not you are respected is irrelevant as is any so called award. We are all entitled to an opinion and personally i've seen a lot dafter one's on here this weekend.

This thread is probably intended a bit tongue in cheek but does raise a few valid points. It is apparently fine to judge a player after 1 or 2 games yet the manager gets judged on a different timescale. I supported the appointment of Hughes and still do in many respects but I don't think he should be above criticism. Look at where we are in the league, look at the goal difference, the reports of players arguing amongst themselves.

All very worrying.

I was often told that I was blind to Souness' failings. However anyone that believes that Hughes will be performing miracles to even keep us up is clearly so blinded by their dislike of Souness that they are being irrational. Clearly there were problems but we still have a basis of a good side, if they are going to continue playing like this then we will be down by Christmas. That is the situation we are in.

Just to put this post into context for everyone, most of it is a sly dig at me based on a conversation/argument we had last night on the train back from the Chelsea game. So here I am responding to the bait.

First of all, I've never won an award on this site! Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions, just as I'm entitled to call their opinions stupid. Some people though consistently post rubbish designed to be controversial. I normally ignore them but I'm currently in the mood to respond.

Secondly, I admit it, I've judged Pedersen after two games. In my defence though, in those two games Pedersen played about as badly as I've ever seen anyone play for Blackburn Rovers. He may come good in the future but there's been no signs of it so far.

Thirdly, if you honestly think that we should judge Hughes after 5 games then I'm afraid I've lost all respect for your opinions. Of course the manager gets judged on a different fuking timescale.

Hughes may well have made mistakes but I think they are for the right reasons. We've been playing awfully for about a year now, progressively getting worse apart from a month or so at the back-end of last season. Hughes is still judging the players and trying to work out who's up to the task and who isn't. He's already identified that we had no creativity and he brought in Djorkaeff to help. Sadly though, there isn't much else he can do to change the squad until January so he's got to cope with what he's got.

Let's get to the crux of it though. Call me blinded by my dislike of Souness all you want, but the team he left behind is a shambles.

We haven't got a single forward pairing that looks Premiership class. The fact that Dickov is our best forward says it all. We had a potentially top class partnership at the back-end of last season but Souness decided to break it up.

We don't have a single holding midfield player with any quality. We've got plenty of players who look good on the ball but none of them can defend. Despite signing two left-sided players over the summer, neither of them has looked anything like Premiership quality up to now. We've no balance at all and, in my opinion, playing Emerton on the left is about the best option we've got at the moment.

In defence, our right-back has been playing terribly for a year but, due to a complete lack of competition for his place, he plays every week. Short, our best defender, gets injured too often. The other central defenders are inconsistent at best. Gray, who looked great most of last year, has been poor so far this season.

We have some good players but Souness has left us with a shocking team. I honestly believe that if Hughes keeps us up this season he'll have done a fantastic job.

Believe it or not, I'm still more optimistic than I was under the last year of Souness's reign. There were genuine signs of improvement from the team against Villa and against Boro we looked solid until Tugay got sent off. The team's confidence is clearly at rock-bottom and the lack of fight we've shown after going behind in the last two games is worrying. Worrying but understandable.

We've got to hope that Hughes can make us harder to beat and that we can scrape a few points between now and January. The we'll see what the manager can do and perhaps then we can start to judge him properly.

[92er]

To repeat what I said on another post, it is going to be interesting to see how Hughes reacts to his comment on Radio Lancs that the players are not doing on the pitch what they learned in training.

It's certainly going to be a long hard season.

[Tris]

Just to put this post into context for everyone, most of it is a sly dig at me based on a conversation/argument we had last night on the train back from the Chelsea game. So here I am responding to the bait.

I tried to persuade you two to come to the Griffin bar !!

You'd have had no argument and everything would have been sweetness and light.

As for the Souness / Hughes thing. I'm clearly tainted because I've consistently tried to counter-balance ridiculous anti-Souness rants on this site.

Which means people will just interpret any comment I make in that context.

The current squad of players is good enough to stay in this league. The current manager - on paper - has the credentials to mould that squad into a reasonable team.

The previous manager would (and has) never presided over back to back 4 goal drubbings. Hughes didn't have to take this job - he's turned down what now appear to be more appealing Premiership positions.

At the top of his cv one would imagine he points to his ability (with Wales) to get the best out of what he has to work with. So far, he has completely failed to do that at Rovers.

The same players who threatened to really impress against Man Utd now look utterly forlorn. Ewood crowds are plummeting ... the only thing to look forward to as a Rovers fan right now is the FA Cup 3rd round draw next month.

Oh, and this .... London Branch team are third in the league ...

Lucky we have an escape from football isn't it .. .. ..

[bellamy11]

First of all, I've never won an award on this site! Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions, just as I'm entitled to call their opinions stupid. Some people though consistently post rubbish designed to be controversial. I normally ignore them but I'm currently in the mood to respond.

Just to take a slight tangent, on the T4E disappearance thread you said:

"I'm dead proud of the "Best Football Contributor 2002" award I got last year, and intend to continue as before without "taking a chill pill"."

Hughes cannot be judged so quickly. He hasn't managed at club level before and he isn't using "his" players yet. Of course it will take him time to get to know everybody on and off the pitch, I just pray that this doesn't take too long.

If he doesn't want to play MGP or wants to use Steven Reid or thinks that Dickov and Youri are target men who can out-muscle Carvalho and Terry then it's his decision. We all wanted him in the position of manager in the first place.

I find it hard to take Flops seriously here anyway (well actually, I find it hard to take him seriously at all since his lego story). This is a thread for several months down the line if things have gone from bad to worse. Lets just give the guy a chance to settle in, eh?

[Tris]

Just to take a slight tangent, on the T4E disappearance thread you said:

"I'm dead proud of the "Best Football Contributor 2002" award I got last year, and intend to continue as before without "taking a chill pill"

Just to take a slight sub-tangent ...

I've got a small trophy sitting near my PC which says "Best Football Contributor, 2002, Tris"

I've been taking chill pills ever since, and lost the title to philipl last season.

Scotty's never had a look in. He's far too abrasive and abusive for things like awards. Ask Manc Blue.