[Albion] Chris Hughton

[Machiavelli]

If anyone wants to feel even better about CH, have a look at his response to the final question on his press interview, available on Player (apologies if the link doesn't work):

http://www.player.seagulls.co.uk/latest-news/1b0fe04c-04b8-4860-8239-51a43e1b550b

He's a gent, and handled that deliciously.

 

[Norfolk Canary]

We are the first club that Hughton has really been able to build his own squad in. He did well at Birmingham but it wasn't his team, at Newcastle he inherited a Prem squad, but on promotion he had no influence on who he brought in. He took over Lamberts promotion squad at Norwich and he didn’t have a chance to overhaul it, nor was he trusted to.

This is the first time in his managing career where he has had license to make the squad his, no previous club has been able to see what the real Hughton is about, but we will. We are the perfect club for Hughton, he suits us in equal strength, and I can see this partnership lasting for many years to come. He may even be our Fergie.

Hi there am a Norwich fan obviously and just wanted to add a few bits of information to the thread. It's great to see Hughton doing so well as even though it didn't work out at Norwich there was never any doubt towards him as a person, he was as seems to be the consensus here a measured calm and intelligent Manager.

I disagree Hughton wasn't allowed to make his mark on the squad as he had a lot of control over this to the extent that he brought in his own head of recruitment from Birmingham, who previously left Norwich to go and work with Chris. Also as well as the players mentioned by someone else (bar Howson who Lambert signed) he also signed Gary Hooper, Luciano Bechio, Javier Garrido, Jacob Butterfield, Lee Camp, Carlo Nash and Kei Kamara, Joseph Yobo, Harry Kane, Jonas Guttierez on loan. He also in his last season spent more money and had a higher wage budget than any Norwich manager in our history. The profile of player signed dramatically changed under Hughton to an emphasis on signing more experienced players from the young and hungry model operated under Lambert. It was definitely his own team.

In regards to being undermined by the board the quotes of bottom 3 are being taken out of context. These were halfway through his second season when fans became frustrated at the poor offering being served up. The CEO gave an interview where he supported the manager and said something along the lines of the board haven't considered his position because he hadn't been in the bottom three.

The praise from Alex Neil was towards Neil Adams too and not Hughton as Adams had to sort a team that was short of confidence and had no strikers that fitted the style despite Hughton signing about 6 in his time here. The two most expensive being Hooper and Van Wolfswinkel who is 4th choice now and the other being shipped out on loan.

Now the fans in the main supported him from the start and I liked Hughton but his failings at Norwich were not signing strikers that fit his style of play and this was ultimately his downfall. The first season he did very well, sorted the defence and we had a very good finish in 11th. Second season he spent record amounts on improving the striking department and this raised some expectations. How ever he got the signings wrong and as we struggled to score the team became more and more conservative and it became very difficult to watch. Sideways passing, no tempo and a lack support to the strikers meant a game of fine margins with us hoping to nick a goal for a point or three. This ultimately didn't work and isn't fun to watch when losing and is just about bearable when winning. Hughton got fired when he lost the fans. Something that happened over a long period of time and culminated against West Brom when we just went 1-0 down and the team gave up. He never was able to change a game (in two seasons only 1 sub he made contributed by scoring or assisting and this was after 60 odd games) and was tactically inflexible often when going a goal down we made no attempt to change style or approach. I don't think we ever won a game from a losing position with Chris in charge.

Where as I think you have a solid Manager who will organise a team and can definitely spot a player (strikers aside ) he doesn't have the tactical flexibility to respond and adjust that a manager needs to have at the very top level. He will give you a shot at promotion but ultimately is more in the mould of your McCarthy, Warnock managers who are very good at this level but lack that little something extra needed at the top table. So far it looks like Alex Neil has that alongside a much more exciting style of play for us at Norwich.

Good luck in the rest of the season.

 

[TonyW]

Hi there am a Norwich fan obviously and just wanted to add a few bits of information to the thread. It's great to see Hughton doing so well as even though it didn't work out at Norwich there was never any doubt towards him as a person, he was as seems to be the consensus here a measured calm and intelligent Manager.

I disagree Hughton wasn't allowed to make his mark on the squad as he had a lot of control over this to the extent that he brought in his own head of recruitment from Birmingham, who previously left Norwich to go and work with Chris. Also as well as the players mentioned by someone else (bar Howson who Lambert signed) he also signed Gary Hooper, Luciano Bechio, Javier Garrido, Jacob Butterfield, Lee Camp, Carlo Nash and Kei Kamara, Joseph Yobo, Harry Kane, Jonas Guttierez on loan. He also in his last season spent more money and had a higher wage budget than any Norwich manager in our history. The profile of player signed dramatically changed under Hughton to an emphasis on signing more experienced players from the young and hungry model operated under Lambert. It was definitely his own team.

In regards to being undermined by the board the quotes of bottom 3 are being taken out of context. These were halfway through his second season when fans became frustrated at the poor offering being served up. The CEO gave an interview where he supported the manager and said something along the lines of the board haven't considered his position because he hadn't been in the bottom three.

The praise from Alex Neil was towards Neil Adams too and not Hughton as Adams had to sort a team that was short of confidence and had no strikers that fitted the style despite Hughton signing about 6 in his time here. The two most expensive being Hooper and Van Wolfswinkel who is 4th choice now and the other being shipped out on loan.

Now the fans in the main supported him from the start and I liked Hughton but his failings at Norwich were not signing strikers that fit his style of play and this was ultimately his downfall. The first season he did very well, sorted the defence and we had a very good finish in 11th. Second season he spent record amounts on improving the striking department and this raised some expectations. How ever he got the signings wrong and as we struggled to score the team became more and more conservative and it became very difficult to watch. Sideways passing, no tempo and a lack support to the strikers meant a game of fine margins with us hoping to nick a goal for a point or three. This ultimately didn't work and isn't fun to watch when losing and is just about bearable when winning. Hughton got fired when he lost the fans. Something that happened over a long period of time and culminated against West Brom when we just went 1-0 down and the team gave up. He never was able to change a game (in two seasons only 1 sub he made contributed by scoring or assisting and this was after 60 odd games) and was tactically inflexible often when going a goal down we made no attempt to change style or approach. I don't think we ever won a game from a losing position with Chris in charge.

Where as I think you have a solid Manager who will organise a team and can definitely spot a player (strikers aside ) he doesn't have the tactical flexibility to respond and adjust that a manager needs to have at the very top level. He will give you a shot at promotion but ultimately is more in the mould of your McCarthy, Warnock managers who are very good at this level but lack that little something extra needed at the top table. So far it looks like Alex Neil has that alongside a much more exciting style of play for us at Norwich.

Good luck in the rest of the season.

Interesting and informative thanks.
Hopefully, we will fair better up front with the attacking options we have, appearing to suit Hughton's current passing style, but only time will tell.

 

[symyjym]

Hi there am a Norwich fan obviously and just wanted to add a few bits of information to the thread. It's great to see Hughton doing so well as even though it didn't work out at Norwich there was never any doubt towards him as a person, he was as seems to be the consensus here a measured calm and intelligent Manager.

I disagree Hughton wasn't allowed to make his mark on the squad as he had a lot of control over this to the extent that he brought in his own head of recruitment from Birmingham, who previously left Norwich to go and work with Chris. Also as well as the players mentioned by someone else (bar Howson who Lambert signed) he also signed Gary Hooper, Luciano Bechio, Javier Garrido, Jacob Butterfield, Lee Camp, Carlo Nash and Kei Kamara, Joseph Yobo, Harry Kane, Jonas Guttierez on loan. He also in his last season spent more money and had a higher wage budget than any Norwich manager in our history. The profile of player signed dramatically changed under Hughton to an emphasis on signing more experienced players from the young and hungry model operated under Lambert. It was definitely his own team.

In regards to being undermined by the board the quotes of bottom 3 are being taken out of context. These were halfway through his second season when fans became frustrated at the poor offering being served up. The CEO gave an interview where he supported the manager and said something along the lines of the board haven't considered his position because he hadn't been in the bottom three.

The praise from Alex Neil was towards Neil Adams too and not Hughton as Adams had to sort a team that was short of confidence and had no strikers that fitted the style despite Hughton signing about 6 in his time here. The two most expensive being Hooper and Van Wolfswinkel who is 4th choice now and the other being shipped out on loan.

Now the fans in the main supported him from the start and I liked Hughton but his failings at Norwich were not signing strikers that fit his style of play and this was ultimately his downfall. The first season he did very well, sorted the defence and we had a very good finish in 11th. Second season he spent record amounts on improving the striking department and this raised some expectations. How ever he got the signings wrong and as we struggled to score the team became more and more conservative and it became very difficult to watch. Sideways passing, no tempo and a lack support to the strikers meant a game of fine margins with us hoping to nick a goal for a point or three. This ultimately didn't work and isn't fun to watch when losing and is just about bearable when winning. Hughton got fired when he lost the fans. Something that happened over a long period of time and culminated against West Brom when we just went 1-0 down and the team gave up. He never was able to change a game (in two seasons only 1 sub he made contributed by scoring or assisting and this was after 60 odd games) and was tactically inflexible often when going a goal down we made no attempt to change style or approach. I don't think we ever won a game from a losing position with Chris in charge.

Where as I think you have a solid Manager who will organise a team and can definitely spot a player (strikers aside ) he doesn't have the tactical flexibility to respond and adjust that a manager needs to have at the very top level. He will give you a shot at promotion but ultimately is more in the mould of your McCarthy, Warnock managers who are very good at this level but lack that little something extra needed at the top table. So far it looks like Alex Neil has that alongside a much more exciting style of play for us at Norwich.

Good luck in the rest of the season.

I appreciate your view. My understanding was that it was in the public domain that the board and fans were not happy with him Dec 2013. Not sure if that helps any squad knowing that the manager's job is in the balance.

 

[Norfolk Canary]

I appreciate your view. My understanding was that it was in the public domain that the board and fans were not happy with him Dec 2013. Not sure if that helps any squad knowing that the manager's job is in the balance.

At that point the fans were pretty split but it was getting to the point where the fans were becoming more against than for. The board however were standing strong and publicly were still behind him. The CEO stuff I mentioned came after the Jan 14 window closed and he was very much behind the Manager and gave a very eloquent 30 minute interview of which the whole thing was released on video. Up until that point it would look to the fans like the end was coming any time but he had a good knack of getting wins at critical times but this deserted him in the end and we looked like a team in free fall. Struggling for goals, defenders frightened to challenge and just trying to hold positions plus an £8.5m striker so out of his depth he scored once all season and no one wants to buy him.

 

[Machiavelli]

At that point the fans were pretty split but it was getting to the point where the fans were becoming more against than for. The board however were standing strong and publicly were still behind him. The CEO stuff I mentioned came after the Jan 14 window closed and he was very much behind the Manager and gave a very eloquent 30 minute interview of which the whole thing was released on video. Up until that point it would look to the fans like the end was coming any time but he had a good knack of getting wins at critical times but this deserted him in the end and we looked like a team in free fall. Struggling for goals, defenders frightened to challenge and just trying to hold positions plus an £8.5m striker so out of his depth he scored once all season and no one wants to buy him.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like you're happy with your manager, as are we with ours. We had a turgid time for the last 10 games of last season, but the strikers we had were truly dire (sound familiar?), that is no longer the case.

 

[Norfolk Canary]

Hi there I see you guys are still unbeaten which is a pretty incredible achievement! Just wondering how you were all feeling in regards to the job he is doing so far? I see lots of draws recently. Is Chris still a little too cautious going forward or is this a striker issue? I remember a similar run under him at Norwich in the first season with us. 10 unbeaten in the premier and wins against United and Arsenal. Looked really tough to beat and nicked the odd goal.

 

[Working class pride]

Hi there I see you guys are still unbeaten which is a pretty incredible achievement! Just wondering how you were all feeling in regards to the job he is doing so far? I see lots of draws recently. Is Chris still a little too cautious going forward or is this a striker issue? I remember a similar run under him at Norwich in the first season with us. 10 unbeaten in the premier and wins against United and Arsenal. Looked really tough to beat and nicked the odd goal.

Personally, I remember us in the top flight last time but that was a long time ago. I cant get over the feeling that it's Brighton, and so it will all go wrong.

 

[Buzzer]

Hi there I see you guys are still unbeaten which is a pretty incredible achievement! Just wondering how you were all feeling in regards to the job he is doing so far? I see lots of draws recently.

I can only speak for myself but I'm extremely proud to have Chris Hughton as manager. On the pitch, we've got a team that plays for each other and have proved they've got the talent and resolve to dig out results. This is a very very tough league and to be where we are now is testament to him.

Off the pitch, CH's calmness, his gravitas and quiet ways have settled what was a car crash of a club a few seasons ago. He's clearly got a plan and it looks like a long-term one. I don't just love him as a manager, I trust him too and that's something that I couldn't say about certain other managers. And most importantly he 'gets' Brighton and its importance for the people of Sussex. The response from him and the club in the wake of the Shoreham air crash was beyond exemplary.

So we've drawn a lot of games. Ah well, some we should have won, some we should have lost. I don't think I'd swap him for anyone else right now.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Hi there I see you guys are still unbeaten which is a pretty incredible achievement! Just wondering how you were all feeling in regards to the job he is doing so far? I see lots of draws recently. Is Chris still a little too cautious going forward or is this a striker issue? I remember a similar run under him at Norwich in the first season with us. 10 unbeaten in the premier and wins against United and Arsenal. Looked really tough to beat and nicked the odd goal.

We've had three draws in a row with four key players injured and a suspension. I doubt Chris could do much more in those circumstances.

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

We lack a really top class striker for this division and until we are able to get one, in my view the play-offs are the best that is going to be achieved this year. We are without parachute payments and the fee and wages involved to buy a reliable known performer make things very difficult.

I see Norwich are doing OK but if they were to lose to Swansea at home today the writing would be on the wall for a tough relegation battle.

 

[Working class pride]

We lack a really top class striker for this division and until we are able to get one, in my view the play-offs are the best that is going to be achieved this year. We are without parachute payments and the fee and wages involved to buy a reliable known performer make things very difficult.
.

I expect you are right, but I hope we are both wrong.

 

[nwgull]

He's a brilliant manager to have turned round last season's mess in such a drastic fashion. The reason for only winning by one goal each time, and for most of the draws, is to do with our strikers not being able to finish. We should've been 3 or 4 up at halftime today.

Why do Norwich fans see him as defensive? Did you expect your team to be tearing up the PL?

 

[DumLum]

I stated as fact he would never take us to the premier league. I know he hasn't...yet. Whatever position we finish in this season I will feel like an idiot for that. I thought we would be in a relegation battle.

 

[portslade seagull]

I stated as fact he would never take us to the premier league. I know he hasn't...yet. Whatever position we finish in this season I will feel like an idiot for that. I thought we would be in a relegation battle.

Well here is one hoping you are very wrong

 

[BensGrandad]

Isnt it rather ironic that he is doing so well and will probably take us to the Premier either this season or next and then 6=8 months later get the sack. He is a very good Championship lower Premier manager but once we have established that what is the way forward. It will be fun however achieving that first.

 

[Buzzer]

Isnt it rather ironic that he is doing so well and will probably take us to the Premier either this season or next and then 6=8 months later get the sack. He is a very good Championship lower Premier manager but once we have established that what is the way forward. It will be fun however achieving that first.

No. I disagree. I think if he takes us up (still a big IF) we will all be expecting to go straight back down and I hope and believe that the board will back him. I'm sure the fans will. I'm not sure even if we do go up that we would ever be an established club. I reckon we'd be another yo-yo club. I'm just about the biggest Bloom/Barber supporter going and I would lose a lot of respect for them if they sacked Hughton for something like that.

 

[dazzer6666]

No. I disagree. I think if he takes us up (still a big IF) we will all be expecting to go straight back down and I hope and believe that the board will back him. I'm sure the fans will. I'm not sure even if we do go up that we would ever be an established club. I reckon we'd be another yo-yo club. I'm just about the biggest Bloom/Barber supporter going and I would lose a lot of respect for them if they sacked Hughton for something like that.

Agreed.

 

[8ace]

Isnt it rather ironic that he is doing so well and will probably take us to the Premier either this season or next and then 6=8 months later get the sack. He is a very good Championship lower Premier manager but once we have established that what is the way forward. It will be fun however achieving that first.

Mike Ashley is a massive c*nt. Uncle Tony is not.

 

[BensGrandad]

I hope not but the pure economics of football are that you get promoted, consolidate in 1 season then aim for midtable, then try for European qualification why should we be any different. You have 3 groups of managers Championship/Lower Premier of which CH comes in this group. Mid table Pullis Hughes etc and those aiming for the top.