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Post by metalhead on Dec 19, 2017 22:00:49 GMT
Note: For those who are "too long, didn't read", I've highlighted in red, key moments where I feel Mark's management began to change and our fortunes under him began to worsen, along with fan perceptions beginning to change. These aren't all down to Hughes himself.
This is by no means a complete timeline, but I thought I would put together a quick timeline of our progress under Hughes, from the uncertain start, to the better, to the good, to the amazing, to the beginning of the downfall and the end, where we find ourselves now. I've only spent about 30 minutes on this so it might not be 100% accurate or complete, but I think it tells its own story.
Summer 2013
- Hughes signs Dutch international left back Erik Pieters for around 3 million.
- Hughes signs hot-headed winger Marko Arnautovic.
- Hughes signs Marc Muniesa on a free from Barcelona.
- Hughes moves on some of the old guard including Delap, Whitehead and Sidibe.
August 2013
- A spirited first game under Hughes against Liverpool results in an unlucky loss, despite a penalty miss from Jon Walters.
- Record our first two victories under Hughes against Palace and West Ham.
September-November 2013
- Fail to win in 8 games, but put in spirited performances against Manchester City, achieving a draw, and Manchester United with Crouch bagging a header and Arnautovic scoring a free kick resulting in an undeserved 3-2 loss.
- Begovic scores from his own box against Southampton.
- Pick up a lucky point against Swansea after a questionable handball in the box in stoppage time.
- Finally pick up another win on the 23rd November against Sunderland.
- A somewhat makeshift defence featuring Muniesa at centre half is completely taken apart against Everton.
December 2013
- A reasonably good month, we pick up 2 wins and 2 draws.
- Mark Hughes makes arguably one of the boldest decisions seen the Britannia in recent times, when he throws on Assaidi against Chelsea instead of sitting back for the draw. Stoke go on to win 3-2.
- After a respectable run in the League Cup, we lose in the Quarter finals too Manchester United.
- Hughes endears himself to the fans as he infamously flings his jacket up in the air after witnessing Martin Atkinson at St James Park.
- We lose 3-0 to Spurs in the last game of 2013.
January 2014
- We have a difficult month, picking up just 1 point.
- Despite a good start in the FA Cup, we pull out Chelsea away in the 4th round and lose.
- Pennant clumsily gifts Everton a last minute penalty to earn them a draw.
- We are stitched up by another awful referee in a 5-3 home defeat to Liverpool.
- We lose our first game to Tony Pulis as manager of Crystal Palace.
- Hughes swaps Kenwyne Jones for Peter Odemwingie and signs Stephen Ireland on a free.
February 2014
- An uneventful month, other than our impressive performance against Manchester United. Hughes went for blood against a wounded David Moyes and we took a fine 2-1 victory.
- A good away draw against Southampton, twice coming from behind.
March 2014
- Life is looking good for Hughes and Stoke.
- We once again beat Arsenal.
- We are unlucky to draw against Norwich.
- We then win our next 3 games beating West Ham, Aston Villa, and Hull.
April-May 2014
- Stoke play some impressive football tearing apart Fulham with new boy Arnautovic really showing his talent.
- Stoke end the season in high spirits, achieving our best finish in the Premier League with 9th.
- Ryan Shawcross is voted player of the season.
- Asmir Begovic wins players player of the season.
Summer 2014
- Hughes stuns the world by picking up talented Barcelona attacker Bojan.
- He also brings in Mame Diouf and Phil Bardsley on a free.
- He releases Ethers and moves on Cameron Jerome and Michael Kightly.
- He signs Victor Moses on loan.
August 2014
- Stoke have a relatively poor start to the season.
- A disappointing opening day defeat against Aston Villa and a poor 1-1 draw against 10 man Hull causes some concern.
- Stoke end August with one of their greatest away victories against Man City, with Diouf scoring his first goal. Fears subside.
September-December 2014
- Stoke's form is inconsistent, but we begin to play better football.
- Losses against Leicester, Sunderland and Southampton somewhat overshadow impressive victories against Newcastle and Tottenham.
- Stoke put in spirited performances against both Liverpool and Manchester United, with the latter incredibly lucky to come away with 3 points.
- Stoke then turn in a sensational performance against Arsenal. 3-0 up at half time, and only a dodgy referee away from absolutely tearing them to pieces.
- Despite a draw and loss in the next two games, the Arsenal performance is a catalyst for a decent run of December form with wins against Everton and West Brom.
January 2015
- Stoke loan in Philip Wollscheid.
- A decent point achieved against Man Utd is followed by a typical collapse against Arsenal.
- However Stoke end January with excellent wins against Leicester and QPR with Walters scoring a perfect hat-trick.
- Hughes makes the questionable decision to play Bojan against Rochdale, resulting in a cruciate ligament injury.
- Ryan Shawcross picks up the first of his back injuries.... a problem that follows him today.
February 2015
- By this point, most fans are adamant that Hughes is doing an excellent job.
- A last minute header against Newcastle steals a point at St James.
- This is followed by a loss and two wins.
- Stoke loan out Robert Huth to Leicester.
March 2015
- Stoke do the double over Everton by winning 2-0 at home.
- Our good form however drops, as we once again struggle against a Tony Pulis team.
- A poor performance against Palace is then followed by a difficult away day to Chelsea, in-which Adam scores that goal.
- Ryan Shawcross returns to the defence to play out the remainder of the season.
April-May 2015
- Stoke again end the season positively.
- We record another double, this time comfortably beating Spurs and put in one of the greatest Premiership performances against Liverpool, destroying them 6-1.
- Hughes' stock continues to rise.
- Things are looking good.
Summer 2015
- Hughes again stuns the world by landing Shaqiri for 12 million.
- He also lands ex-Barca star Ibrahim Afellay on a free and Glen Johnson.
- He signs Joselu for 5 million.
- He makes the Wollscheid signing permanent.
- He surprises most Stoke fans by letting a rejuvenated Robert Huth go to Leicester on a permanent deal.
- He is also forced to lose Steven N'Zonzi and Asmir Begovic.
- Ryan Shawcross requires serious back surgery, putting him out for several months. The decision for this operation to go ahead took place at the end of the pre-season, rather than the start, meaning he misses several matches at the start of the season.
August-September 2015
- Jack Butland starts in goal for Stoke.
- Stoke have their poorest start under Hughes so far, despite picking up decent points against Spurs and Norwich away.
- Nerves are tested on Tony Pulis' return to the Britannia... West Brom win 1-0.
- Stoke then collapse on Bojan's return against Leicester despite being 2-0 ahead to draw 2-2.
- Stoke pick up their first win end of September with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.
October-November 2015
- Stoke's form immediately picks up and points away are picked up against Villa and Swansea.
- More points are won from Chelsea and Southampton.
- November ends with a disappointing defeat against Sunderland.
December 2015
- After a few spurious attempts during matches, Hughes finally runs with a front 3 of Arnie, Bojan and Shaqiri, with Afellay in the hole.
- This is first tried against Man City and results in us tearing them to pieces, winning 2-0 comfortably.
- He continues to back this front 4 which despite a disappointing loss to Palace, then results in 2 sensational victories against Man Utd and Everton.
January 2016
- Hughes then surprises many, by sticking with the front 4 again, despite heavy fixture congestion; this time against West Brom. This was 3 days before the first leg of the semi-final against Liverpool and the false 9 system perhaps wasn't suited for a game against a Tony Pulis team. Stoke again lose.
- Stoke play Liverpool in the League Cup Semi Final 1st Leg, he once again plays the front 4. Liverpool make wholesale changes to counteract the fixture congestion. Tired and unprepared, Stoke perform poorly and go down 1-0, a result that flattered Stoke. This appears to be the end of the false 9 system.
- The result of these two failures seem to cause Hughes to panic and consider throwing out the false 9 system.
- Hughes adopts a more traditional 4-4-2 approach against Norwich in the next game. Joselu scores and Stoke win 3-1.
- Hughes again backs a traditional approach against Arsenal, picking up a point. He then plays a slightly weakened team against Leicester with the semi final 2nd leg looming. Stoke lose 3-0.
- Stoke play Liverpool in the semi final 2nd leg. Hughes again backs a more traditional approach and Stoke put in a spirited performance, only to be defeated on penalties.
- Hughes also signs Imbula for 18 million, breaking the club record.
February 2016
- Stoke go on an inconsistent run of form. Manchester United exact revenge for their earlier humiliation by hammering us midweek 3-0.
- Everton equally get revenge by taking us apart 3-0 at home.
- The false number 9, is all but dead at this point.
- Imbula looks impressive, scoring a superb volley against Bournemouth away and Stoke pick up a needed win against Aston Villa.
March 2016-May 2016
- Stoke's end of season form goes from inconsistent to poor after a good early victory against Newcastle.
- Jack Butland picks up a serious injuy and Jakob Haugaard is found wanting, as Stoke are romped 4-1 by Liverpool and then 4-0 in successive games by Spurs and Man City.[/b]
- Stoke should see out a win against Sunderland but give a clumsy last minute penalty.
- Stoke pick up a win against West Ham on the final day of the season, but concerns about end of season form begin to arise.
- Overall, the feeling is reasonably positive, but there are voices of negativity.
Summer 2016
- Hughes decision making comes into question after he loans out Joselu and Wollscheid. Joselu had not been given a fair chance and had arguably looked one of the better players when he had.
- Hughes signs Joe Allen from Liverpool.
- Hughes lands Wilfried Bony, Lee Grant and Bruno Martins Indi on loan.
August-September 2016
- Stoke have a dreadful start to the new season. An early point against Boro adds little cushion to the hammerings from Man City, Tottenham and Crystal Palace.
- Hughes continues to stick with Shay Given throughout these poor performances, despite his inadequacies being highlighted every game.
- Lee Grant replace Given against West Brom and Stoke are unlucky to draw. A late goal rescued a point for the Baggies.
October 2016
- Stoke end this period of bad results by picking up an excellent point against Man Utd at Old Trafford at the start of October.
- A further three wins in October appear to arrest Stoke's slide in form and pushes up into a healthy place in the table.
- Joe Allen continues his good form.
- Wilfried Bony however struggles, other than a single fixture against his former club.
November 2016
- Stoke lose a surprisingly tetchy game to Bournemouth.
- But a win against Watford calms nerves.
December 2016
- Stoke have a really inconsistent winter period.
- A win against Burnley is followed by a predictable collapse against Arsenal.
- Stoke then drop points against Southampton and then once again against Leicester.
- Despite Bojan being one of the better players against Leicester, he is subsequently dropped.
- Stoke end Christmas with a wimper. A 4-1 hammering at Liverpool is followed by another 4 goals conceded against Chelsea.
January 2017
- An improvement in form sees 7 points from 3 games in January, including a point against Manchester United.
- Stoke sign Lee Grant and Saido Berahino.
February 2017
- Stoke's form now falls into a slide that we are still witnessing today.
- A loss on Bera's return to West Brom, is followed by a victory against a relegation threatened Palace.
- Stoke are then thrashed, again, 4-0 by Spurs.
March 2017
- Stoke pick up a vital win against Boro and then sneak a draw in a midweek game against Man City.
- Their pride comes before a fall though.
April 2017
- Stoke go on a 4 game losing streak starting in March.
- By this point, the Hughes Out murmurs are becoming more common.
- Stoke lose a midweek game to Burnley at-which the first loud audible chants of Hughes Out reign down onto Turf Moor (I was there, not nice).
- Stoke again lose to Liverpool.
- Stoke finally pick up a win at home to relegation bound Hull.
- Another loss away at Swansea and a poor performance at home to West Ham and the discussions were whether Hughes should go.
May 2017
- Stoke end the season in poor fashion.
- A draw against Bournemouth is followed by another hammering, this time to Arsenal.
- Hughes Out is now a fairly common theme of discussion amongst Stoke fans, who feel the club is in decline.
Summer 2017
- Stoke lose Marko Arnautovic, who openly criticises club policies.
- Stoke again loan Bojan out, and now Muniesa and Imbula
- Stoke fail to invest in transfer window, only spending money on Kevin Wimmer and Bruno Martins Indi.
- Hughes moves on a number of the old guard. Whelan, Walters and Bardsley all depart.
August-September 2017
- Stoke appear to start the season reasonably well, despite losing in unlucky fashion to Everton.
- Victory against Arsenal seems to suggest a return to form, and then 2 points away at West Brom and at home to Manchester United are well received.
- Positive feelings are once again lost however, as Stoke are thrashed 4-0 at home to Chelsea.
- Concerns for Berahino who continues to struggle.
October 2017
- After a busy international break, Stoke return to get absolutely mullered against Man City away.
- Further points are dropped against Bournemouth and a win against Watford is seen by many as papering over the cracks.
November 2017
- After picking up a lucky point against Leicester, Stoke's form continues to decline.
- Stoke throw 2 points away against Brighton and then lose away to Palace.
- A 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool leaves Stoke very close to the relegation zone.
- Kevin Wimmer is a target for fan frustration. No sign of Berahino.
December 2017
- Stoke struggle to beat Swansea at home, but get a vital 3 points.
- Hughes appears to have jettisoned any semblance of Stokealona and is playing something akin to Pulisball.
- They are then hammered by Spurs 5-1 away from home.
- Hughes appears to freeze as Dyche sticks the knife in and Stoke lose to Burnley.
- Arnautovic returns to the Britannia to embarrass his old club, and Stoke lose 3-0 at home to West Ham.
- The ground erupts with Hughes Out chants.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 19, 2017 22:03:16 GMT
The "sensational victory" vs Man Yoo.
The game the false 9 was found out.
The last tactic he had that worked.
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Post by datguy on Dec 19, 2017 22:04:48 GMT
It has been mostly downhill since the Liverpool cup semi final. Things like playing Bojan in the cup vs Rochdale have 0 bearing on the current situation.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2017 22:10:44 GMT
Playing Bojan at Rochdale wasn’t a mistake IMO. To suggest so is being results orientated. Bad luck happens.
Also, we lost 3-2 to man united in the game where arnie’s free kick put us 1-2 up.
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Post by metalhead on Dec 19, 2017 22:11:25 GMT
The "sensational victory" vs Man Yoo. The game the false 9 was found out. The last tactic he had that worked. It wasn't found out, it failed in about 2 games. West Brom, which was poor management, and Liverpool which was again down to poor management. Why did Hughes bottle it so quickly? He spent months, years, building a system, to then throw it completely out of the window. It has been mostly downhill since the Liverpool cup semi final. Things like playing Bojan in the cup vs Rochdale have 0 bearing on the current situation. No, but it highlights mistakes that are remembered by fans. It was a bad decision to play Bojan in that game, and it changed the course of our history. |
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Post by metalhead on Dec 19, 2017 22:12:03 GMT
Playing Bojan at Rochdale wasn’t a mistake IMO. To suggest so is being results orientated. Bad luck happens. Also, we lost 3-2 to man united in the game where arnie’s free kick put us 1-2 up. Correct we did. I don't point out that we won, I just said it was a spirited performance. It was, we twice were ahead. |
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Post by JoeinOz on Dec 19, 2017 22:15:30 GMT
The pivotal point was chucking the 2-0 lead against Lester away. Two points down the shithole.
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Post by metalhead on Dec 19, 2017 22:19:03 GMT
The pivotal point was chucking the 2-0 lead against Lester away. Two points down the shithole. Which one? We did that twice didn't we? Once in their league winning season, and last season too? I believe the 2nd of those was a huge turning point. Bojan played and actually was one of the standouts. Hughes dropped him the next week. It appeared to many, that Hughes was jettisoning his beliefs about flair and skill, and now decided that going back to a more rudimentary style of football was the way forward. The problem is, you can't play rough and ready football with our lot. They're too nice. You need nasty bastards for that and Hughes let them all go. |
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 19, 2017 22:22:20 GMT
The "sensational victory" vs Man Yoo. The game the false 9 was found out. The last tactic he had that worked. It wasn't found out, it failed in about 2 games. West Brom, which was poor management, and Liverpool which was again down to poor management. Why did Hughes bottle it so quickly? He spent months, years, building a system, to then throw it completely out of the window. It has been mostly downhill since the Liverpool cup semi final. Things like playing Bojan in the cup vs Rochdale have 0 bearing on the current situation. No, but it highlights mistakes that are remembered by fans. It was a bad decision to play Bojan in that game, and it changed the course of our history. Found out/failed....same difference. It was a crap tactic for the team we had. The surprise element worked but once you knew it was coming it was easy to stop. High press, we have no one in midfield to receive the ball, hoof to Bojan- useless. The false 9 system was used for a month or two only. After that nothing worked. |
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Post by metalhead on Dec 19, 2017 22:27:55 GMT
It wasn't found out, it failed in about 2 games. West Brom, which was poor management, and Liverpool which was again down to poor management. Why did Hughes bottle it so quickly? He spent months, years, building a system, to then throw it completely out of the window. No, but it highlights mistakes that are remembered by fans. It was a bad decision to play Bojan in that game, and it changed the course of our history. Found out/failed....same difference. It was a crap tactic for the team we had. The surprise element worked but once you knew it was coming it was easy to stop. High press, we have no one in midfield to receive the ball, hoof to Bojan- useless. The false 9 system was used for a month or two only. After that nothing worked. where do you feel we went wrong |
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 19, 2017 22:36:23 GMT
Found out/failed....same difference. It was a crap tactic for the team we had. The surprise element worked but once you knew it was coming it was easy to stop. High press, we have no one in midfield to receive the ball, hoof to Bojan- useless. The false 9 system was used for a month or two only. After that nothing worked. where do you feel we went wrong Nzonzi made us work. He didn't replace him. He wanted to play football and didn't get someone in who could do that in midfield. The shower of shite we've had in there since is maddening. He failed to adapt/evolve. |
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Post by metalhead on Dec 19, 2017 22:40:49 GMT
where do you feel we went wrong Nzonzi made us work. He didn't replace him. He wanted to play football and didn't get someone in who could that in midfield. The shower of shite we've had in there since is maddening. He failed to adapt/evolve. He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? |
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 19, 2017 22:44:21 GMT
Nzonzi made us work. He didn't replace him. He wanted to play football and didn't get someone in who could that in midfield. The shower of shite we've had in there since is maddening. He failed to adapt/evolve. He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? I never said he didn't try. He failed miserably with every midfielder we've signed since. I don't think there's been one I like. They're all wishy washy nothing players |
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Post by djduncanjames on Dec 19, 2017 23:06:07 GMT
Nice One For Doing This Metalhead, its hard, Almost Emotional Looking Back Through All that,wow
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2017 23:25:00 GMT
I have a program from THAT Rochdale game in my car if anyone wants to sit and have a cry into it
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Post by supersimonstainrod on Dec 20, 2017 0:20:08 GMT
where do you feel we went wrong Nzonzi made us work. He didn't replace him. He wanted to play football and didn't get someone in who could do that in midfield. The shower of shite we've had in there since is maddening. He failed to adapt/evolve. Largely as stated above for me: Losing Nzonzi; Signing Joe Allen; (good player,however we've never had a genuinely consistent and cohesive team shape/system since,imho.) Losing Arnautovic. |
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Post by Paul Spencer on Dec 20, 2017 0:32:13 GMT
Nzonzi made us work. He didn't replace him. He wanted to play football and didn't get someone in who could that in midfield. The shower of shite we've had in there since is maddening. He failed to adapt/evolve. He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? Imbula is the single biggest contributing factor in my opinion, it was following his signing that the rot really set in. He wasn't the player Hughes thought he was and he started messing about with the formation attempting to somehow make him work but couldn't. As a result we had a number of poor results which scared the living shit out of Hughes, leading to a change in his mindset that has continued for the last 18 months. He's never recovered. |
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Post by boskampsflaps on Dec 20, 2017 0:42:29 GMT
The "sensational victory" vs Man Yoo. The game the false 9 was found out. The last tactic he had that worked. It wasn't found out, it failed in about 2 games. West Brom, which was poor management, and Liverpool which was again down to poor management. Why did Hughes bottle it so quickly? He spent months, years, building a system, to then throw it completely out of the window. It has been mostly downhill since the Liverpool cup semi final. Things like playing Bojan in the cup vs Rochdale have 0 bearing on the current situation. No, but it highlights mistakes that are remembered by fans. It was a bad decision to play Bojan in that game, and it changed the course of our history. I don't think it was, that injury could have happened in any game, it was just bad luck. |
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Post by JoeinOz on Dec 20, 2017 0:45:42 GMT
He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? Imbula is the single biggest contributing factor in my opinion, it was following his signing that the rot really set in. He wasn't the player Hughes thought he was and he started messing about with the formation attempting to somehow make him work but couldn't. As a result we had a number of poor results which scared the living shit out of Hughes, leading to a change in his mindset that has continued for the last 18 months. He's never recovered. I still don't get why we paid so much for Imbo. He was on the outer at Porto then we paid a load more for him than they did. I also think in fleeting moments we saw some real quality in him and he could have been a big player for us. As much as everyone goes on about money at the expense of everything else these days I will forever wonder if our coaches and staff could have done things better with him for it to work out. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2017 0:55:41 GMT
Huth wasn't rejuvenated. He was fucking awful in the Walsall(i think) game and wasn't a defender to suit our system of playing from the back.
Playing Bojan at Rochdale was only a mistake with 20/20 hindsight.
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Post by rawli on Dec 20, 2017 0:56:56 GMT
Imbula is the single biggest contributing factor in my opinion, it was following his signing that the rot really set in. He wasn't the player Hughes thought he was and he started messing about with the formation attempting to somehow make him work but couldn't. As a result we had a number of poor results which scared the living shit out of Hughes, leading to a change in his mindset that has continued for the last 18 months. He's never recovered. I still don't get why we paid so much for Imbo. He was on the outer at Porto then we paid a load more for him than they did. I also think in fleeting moments we saw some real quality in him and he could have been a big player for us. As much as everyone goes on about money at the expense of everything else these days I will forever wonder if our coaches and staff could have done things better with him for it to work out. I can't believe that he was scouted properly. It really feels like they were desperate for an nzonzi replacement and remembered him playing well against us so just went for it. |
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Post by metalhead on Dec 20, 2017 6:44:31 GMT
Huth wasn't rejuvenated. He was fucking awful in the Walsall(i think) game and wasn't a defender to suit our system of playing from the back. Playing Bojan at Rochdale was only a mistake with 20/20 hindsight. Huth was very good for Leicester though, in particular on loan. |
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Post by hchpotter on Dec 20, 2017 7:39:52 GMT
For me, the turning point came after our superb run of form at the end of 2015. Great credit goes to Hughes for the football we played over a 6-8 week period, particularly against Man City. However, when teams looked at the way we were playing they began to set up differently against us. Hughes could not adapt his tactics to play against teams who chose to defend deep against us. Plan A worked brilliantly for a short time and was brilliant to watch. Unfortunately we never had a plan B.
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Post by superheroantonius on Dec 20, 2017 7:57:29 GMT
I think its easy to miss the point a bit here
It DOESN'T matter why huth nzonzi begovic arnie left
If you are the stoke boss, you have to be able to replace those leaving with players as good or better
Hughes can't do that, so he shouldn't be in charge
You can't keep a guy as boss, on the basis he will replace those leaving with less good players
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Post by harryburrows on Dec 20, 2017 8:19:20 GMT
He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? Imbula is the single biggest contributing factor in my opinion, it was following his signing that the rot really set in. He wasn't the player Hughes thought he was and he started messing about with the formation attempting to somehow make him work but couldn't. As a result we had a number of poor results which scared the living shit out of Hughes, leading to a change in his mindset that has continued for the last 18 months. He's never recovered. The same could be said with Joe Allen a player we didn't need at the time . He was still trying to shoehorn bojan and imbula into the side |
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Post by potterpaul on Dec 20, 2017 8:26:20 GMT
He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? Imbula is the single biggest contributing factor in my opinion, it was following his signing that the rot really set in. He wasn't the player Hughes thought he was and he started messing about with the formation attempting to somehow make him work but couldn't. As a result we had a number of poor results which scared the living shit out of Hughes, leading to a change in his mindset that has continued for the last 18 months. He's never recovered. Absolutely bang on the money compounded recently with ridding the club of the wrong right back (or worse still not signing a quality one). |
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Post by davejohnno1 on Dec 20, 2017 9:19:10 GMT
It was absolutely the right decision to play Bojan v Rochdale. There had been several big scalps that weekend and we went into the Monday night fixture with a winnable tie against Blackburn to follow and a very real chance, given how well we were playing, of making it to another cup final.
Alas it didn't transpire how we would have liked but it was definitely not the wrong decision.
It was also the right decision to field our regular team, at that time, away to WBA. Had we lost that game having rested Bojan, Shaqiri etc, and lost, there would have been hell to pay. We were on a great run, momentum, as we are finding out now, is absolutely crucial.
The only thing that has killed us has been bad transfer business. As Big Sam correctly said, good signings make you a better manager and bad ones get you the sack.
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Post by Bick on Dec 20, 2017 9:26:08 GMT
It's always seemed to me that the loss in the semi-finals to Liverpool took what wind was left in our sails, and it's been dire and downhill ever since.
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Post by metalhead on Dec 20, 2017 9:35:23 GMT
I think its easy to miss the point a bit here It DOESN'T matter why huth nzonzi begovic arnie left If you are the stoke boss, you have to be able to replace those leaving with players as good or better Hughes can't do that, so he shouldn't be in charge You can't keep a guy as boss, on the basis he will replace those leaving with less good players Hughes signed big names though? |
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Post by alster on Dec 20, 2017 9:50:35 GMT
He did try. Surely Imbula was that replacement?? Imbula is the single biggest contributing factor in my opinion, it was following his signing that the rot really set in. He wasn't the player Hughes thought he was and he started messing about with the formation attempting to somehow make him work but couldn't. As a result we had a number of poor results which scared the living shit out of Hughes, leading to a change in his mindset that has continued for the last 18 months.
He's never recovered. This, You might be right about Imbula being the root cause I'm not sure but that was when he lost his bottle and changed mindset from a go out to win the game manager to a set out not to lose manager. He's been absolutely shit at it I've lost count of how many times its blown up in his face but he seems incapable of learning his lesson and refinding his bollocks. |
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