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[Football] A thread full of ONLY good things about CH



Silverhatch

Well-known member
Feb 23, 2009
4,300
Preston Park
Took a thoroughly (and rightly) deflated team and squad after Boro/Massive and got us to the Premier League the very next season and then kept us there for two campaigns. Wonderful ambassador for the club too.
 




A1X

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Sep 1, 2017
17,754
Deepest, darkest Sussex
The "Chris Hughton loses it" threads
 


Kosh

'The' Yaztromo
Where to begin... in my lifetime, born as i was in 1981, he’s up against some of our best managers, but quite rightly he’s arguably the best the club has had, certainly in the modern era. He’s clearly a man of integrity, class, dignity and even temperament. To remain, publicly, so stoic and calm in the face of all he’s endured because of his colour is simply inspiring. Indeed such is the respect in the game for him, he’s almost transcended the issue... people see him simply as Chris Hughton... again a clear mark of his ability, achievements and personality.

He’ll never be forgotten as long as we have a club to support.

Chris Hughton is very worthy of the legend status oft afforded to too many exponents of mediocrity... he is a true legend and Tony Bloom et. al. Have made a very brave (some might say) foolhardy attempt to fast forward our development as a club. I think Chris fully grasped the walk before you can run mantra, but time in the PL (especially) waits for no man.

I wish i’d met him, if I ever do I will tell him exactly what I think of him, his legacy and his treatment at the end.

I already miss the authority, the control and the quality assurance he bought to our club.

Finally, i’ll miss those adorable misuses of tense, past, present, heck, it was all the same to our Chris. You’d be silly to judge him by this though, kind of like when Luke meets Yoda...

Try? There is no try... only do, or do not.

I’ll always love you CH x
 
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Klaas

I've changed this
Nov 1, 2017
2,562
Took us from being a rabble that was struggling to stay in The Championship, to playing some fantastic football on our way to Promotion, only a goalkeeping slip away from being CHAMPIONS.

Then with a squad everyone was tipping to go straight back down, a lack of that "new striker" we were all craving, he delivered survival in both years in the top flight without ever dipping into the relegation zone (bar the early tables that when I was a kid, never even used to get published).

That 1st season we finished 15th, and never even looked over our shoulders at the scramble beneath us. Home wins vs Man Utd and Arsenal, then a draw with Tottenham, and we had arrived.
Then despite very damaging injuries to key attacking threats, Gross and Izquierdo we again racked up results that had us sailing away in untroubled mid-table waters. Such a good 1st half of the season that we were able to ride out the choppy waters, and again steady the ship sufficiently for survival without ever dipping our toes in the icy waters of the bottom three.

All of this achieved with a calm grace, and professionalism that put our club in a fantastic light. While others sneer and snare, blame refs, boot water bottles and even head butt the odd player (Alan Pardew, I'm talking about you!) before taking a fine and blaming the "passion" of the game, Chris realises that as the manager, you are the face of the club. You are supposed to be setting an example for the players to follow. In Chris we had a perfect example being set, he was always dignified, and yet you could still see the anger was there, the passion was there.

A great man, a great manager, and his achievements have him right up there, top of the pile for me, as the best manager we have EVER had.

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:
 










Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,789
Hove
Absolutely superb fella. I was always very proud that he was our manager.

Produced the best football I have seen us play.
The promotion season was incredible, especially considering the despair at the end of the previous one.

Hopefully Potter can emulate some of Chris's success.

That is a big positive for Potter.

He doesn't come in with us staring relegation in the face, the side in disarray. He inherits a solid legacy, and I was glad Potter spoke about the 'foundations' he was taking over in the press conference, which was a very clear acknowledgement that his isn't a complete rebuilding job, it's an evolution job. Very few managers walk into a Premier League job in our position with so many positives in place.

Yes Chris has gone, the only cloud is some of the fans disappointment, because he is most certainly leaving the club in a fantastic position compared to where he found it.
 




Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,789
Hove
He bought a professionalism and calmness to the entire football business of the club. He typically got the best out of players and we had far more highs than we did lows. Beating ManUtd after drawing with Arsenal in that first season in the PL was a highlight for me, then putting 3 past them in the first half this season was brilliant. Who can forget the Palace at home fixture either this season, fantastic memories.

brought shirley?

:dunce:
 


chaileyjem

#BarberIn
NSC Patron
Jun 27, 2012
13,879
Been watching Albion since 1973. He's the best manager we've ever had. Full stop. And he brought with him a set of values and a character that made me even prouder to be a Brighton fan.
 


One Teddy Maybank

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Aug 4, 2006
21,606
Worthing
Defensively a tactical genius, great shape, difficult to break down.

Oversaw 6 PST vs Palace.

Most of all came across as a decent human being.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 












Mellotron

I've asked for soup
Jul 2, 2008
31,837
Brighton
Great bloke.

The promotion season - and the one before it - were supremely enjoyable.
 




The Sock of Poskett

The best is yet to come (spoiler alert)
Jun 12, 2009
2,802
Absolutely spot on.

My view entirely. However... "ONE of the most successful"? CH was responsible for THE most successful period in the club's history. Ever. And that is Chris Hughton's rightful, enduring legacy.

Yeah, maybe I was being unduly cautious. The only comparable period has been the golden years started by Mullery of 78/79 to 82/83, encompassing our first ever stay in the top flight, and our only appearance in an FA Cup Final - and that covered several managers of varying quality.
You're right: Chris, you've overseen the best yet. :thumbsup:
GP, it's over to you :lolol:
 


lawros left foot

Glory hunting since 1969
Jun 11, 2011
13,719
Worthing
Where do you start?

When he arrived, we were very poor, probably about to be relegated, and a squad of players that lacked any sort of fight, heart, and especially talent. He took us to the end of the season playing defensive, pragmatic football, and achieved exactly what he set out to do. We stayed up although the Huddersfield game was one of the worst I’ve ever seen, but, it got the job done.
The next season started with a 21 game unbeaten run , that lasted till Christmas, finally beaten by Boro, but with a squad decimated by injury. I seem to remember at one time in the Autumn we had8 first team players out with medium to long term injuries. But still Chris kept the run going, it wasn’t pretty at times but, by God it was effective.

Then the blip, 5 games without a win, we looked dead on our feet, but Chris stayed steady, no histrionics, just great man management. We started to win again, a vital 1-0 against Blackburn, then more points collected until Cardiff, our low point of the regular season, blown away 4-1 in the South Wales wind and rain. Our next game was crucial, away to a pretty decent Bristol City side on a Tuesday night. Chris lifted the test, a terrific 0-4 trouncing, we were back to our best. This was my favourite away game that season, we went there in trepidation, we left with a belief that Chris’s team would be in the mix at the end.
We didn’t lose another game in the regular season, a run that saw us finish 3rd, and a winner takes all game at Middlesbrough. We all know what happened, Stephens sent off by Mike Dean had given us hope, but, the team couldn’t quite get the vital winning goal that would have sent us up.Had it happened, it would have been astonishing, Hughton had taken a relegation bound team to within a whisper of the Premier League. So, on to the play offs then, Sheffield Wednesday awaited us at Hillsboro but, again the bitter hand of fate dealt us a shattering blow, four game finishing injuries in 55 minutes, reduced to 10 men for the last 40 minutes, but we still only lost 2-0. Did Chris complain? Of course not, he never once complained about injuries , refs, or bad luck,or when we lost, and he never gloated when we won. A mark of the man.
The second leg was played in an atmosphere so febrile that the Amex has never heard it’s like before or since, and, it nearly came off. We battered them for 30 minutes, scored a goal, and was so close on numerous other occasions, then, the dagger to our hearts. A Wednesday goal, allowed by referee Pawson even though it was a blatant foul on Dunk, The game was up, we tried to score, but, the football gods had turned their backs.
Bruno in tears, Liam’s chin-up gestures, it hurt, we had had such a season, one that I thought would break our team, but no, Chris rallied The troops and the following season we went again.

We were better, more expansive, and much more solid at the back. We looked good, up until we played Norwich, after that, we looked unbelievable. 5-0 we beat Norwich. They were lucky, it could have been 8. Everyone knew of Hughtons previous with them,it would have been forgivable for him to remind them of how he was treated there, but, not a word from our boss, just a couple of fist pumps, and on to the next game.
The next standout game , in a standout season, was Wednesday at home. What a game of football that was, in 50 years of watching, it is one of my favourites . A real roller coaster game, and the result made sweeter by the events of the previous season.
That was the game, where a lot of people, myself included, knew we would be promoted. It just felt right. A small wobble against Huddersfield, who many thought would be our nemesis that season, and then, my favourite away game, the 3-3 with Brentford, and our boys proving so hard to beat. I don’t know I’ve ever celebrated a goal as madly as I did Tomers 96th minute equaliser, if I have I don’t remember.
But, there was Chris, calmness personified,the man must have ice in his veins. Never too high, never too low, just keep on keeping on. On to the end of the season, and that never to be forgotten afternoon against Wigan, a 2-1 win, Huddersfield in the late kick off only managing a draw with Derby, and we were up. Promoted, with 3 games to go, we only had to take 3 more points to be Champions. Well, that didn’t quite happen, too much celebrating, an easing off when , perhaps we shouldn’t have done, but, understandable in the circumstances. And where was our manager during the Directors box mayhem after the Wigan game.? Nowhere to be seen, it’s just not his style, he probably had a satisfied smile on his face, a job well done, nothing more. Not the sort of man to lead the players sing song, or train surf to West Street for an all nighters, and all the better for it.
At last, the Holy Grail, 38 games in the most popular league in the World. Who would have thought it when Chris was given the task of saving us from relegation, on New Years Eve, 2014. We started the season slowly, a couple of expected defeats, and then, a result we had been waiting for since 1983, a win in the top division. The other Albion were dispatched 3-1 on an historic afternoon at the Amex, our new signing Pascal Gross scoring the clubs first ever Premier League goal.
This was one of the stand out games in Hughtons tenure, a first Premier League win, and when we all realised that we could compete in this division. But, Chris knew this, he knew his team couldn’t play like a City or a Liverpool, so, he made us hard to beat, and yes, a little boring, if truth be told, but, by the season end he had achieved the main aim of keeping us up. A few outstanding performances, a draw with Arsenal, and an incredible win against the giants of Manchester United, to cement our place in the Premier League the following season. And still, no gloating from our hero,just the acknowledgment of a satisfactory result over a good side.
Then on to, what would turn out to be his final season in charge, tougher than the last, injuries to key players, loss of form for others, and, not much luck with refereeing decisions, it has to be said.
Still though, he kept his calm and dignified personae, at least in public. I’m not going to bang on about the whys and wherefore of his sacking, they have been well documented on other threads, suffice to say, he accepted his dismissal with characteristic dignity.
I am glad that I have been able to witness Chris Hughtons time at our club, he is a giant amongst men, and a pretty good football manager as well.His personal qualities have shone out in the last 4 and a half years, not least his exemplary leadership during the tragedy of the Shoreham Air disaster

Thanks Chris, for everything you have done for the football club, you will be fondly remembered by Albion fans, all the time football is played in Sussex
 






Sorrel

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,743
Back in East Sussex
Getting to the Premier League. Surviving (twice) in the Premier League. Getting to the FA Cup Semi-Final. That first half at home versus Palace. Being a class act. The CH "losing it" thread.

I will miss him a great deal.
 


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