When Sami left, Hughton was the man I wanted to replace him. I was very pleased when he was appointed, and I haven't changed my mind since.
Yes, but it was a 'patched up thin squad' containing an Upson, a Ward and an Ulloa more than this season's 'patched up thin squad'!
Sami's 'system' MIGHT (though I have my doubts about that) have worked with players of the quality the Hyypia played with in his playing days - I think it's more likely that the senior pros would have got together and told him to sort it out though! The problem was, IMHO, that Sami never really grasped the fact that the system didn't work with the players he'd got, persisted with it, and the situation went from bad to worse (and would, I think, have continued to get worse).
OK, we'll see about that last bit next year. I expect an improvement, but I think it will take more than one season to get back to any thoughts of play-offs or better (even if we had Mourinho in charge!)
Fair point, but this season we've been without Stephens for most of it, lost Crofts, and more recently have lost Baldock, March and Tex. But yes, we did over-achieve to get to the play-offs last season - although it wasn't down to our superior play that the teams around us kept losing towards the end of the season!
We'll have to disagree on that one! IMHO, two at the back doesn't work, especially when the DMs are off chasing the players the full backs should have been marking, leaving the CBs totally exposed.
I did think at the time that TB's reluctance to sack him was because maybe he planned to spend a sizeable wad in January to get in players who might have made Sami's system work. Whether that would have worked or not, I guess we'll never know. For me, I would have had serious doubts and I'm glad we made the change, even if we had to wait for Sami to do it for us. Oh well, roll on next season, eh?
This our worst defensive record for four seasons 