Good to see Giannoulis getting high ratings after a indifferent start. Also watched EFL on Quest and Holloway’s comments praising the team seemed heartfelt. Is Farke getting Dowell ready for Buendia to leave?
Am I reading too much into it or is there a slightly wistful tone that he didn’t get a third season with us?...
Whatever else we say about Hughton, he's the only manager who has kept us up in the PL in the last 25 years.
Yup 12th then 11th the season after. Sadly the 3 promotions after ended in 18th then 19th then 20th. If this pattern continues we are going to have to come 1st next year i fear.
I don't know about "wistful", but he would be well justified in taking the opportunity presented for making a point. He was the victim of short-term thinking by our board and fans, after having started the still on-going process of modernising the club, both on and off the field. I doubt if he was even making that point post-match on Wednesday though; he's too nice a guy to bear malice. Probably addressing the Forest board rather than ours, given how far Forest have fallen.
Quite right BC, Lambert kept us up and then buggered off, but he also deserves credit for taking us from League One to the PL in consecutive seasons. Like others though, I think he saw a second season syndrome coming. Hughton just managed to avoid that. I can still remember the relief after we beat West Brom 4-0 to survive. The signing of RvW was a bold move to change the style of football but it failed in the end and we went back to the Alex Neil more traditional style before the SW/DF revolution began based on long term planning and continental style football. Long may it last! The difference is clear in this tactical analysis of the Forest game: https://norwichcity.myfootballwrite...tons-4-4-1-1-allows-for-a-dowell-masterclass/
No whilst I quiet like Hughton, I don't like the way he sets up his teams to play. It's more a case of the club having a long term plan and sticking to it, after all Rome wasn't built in a day. It would have been very easy for the club to ditch DF at the end of last season and most fans would have been happy, but we didn't the club (SW) believed in DF and what he was trying to do. We are now seeing the benefits of that decision. I want us to continue with our playing philosophy next season, irrespective of the results and if we get relegated so be it. For me as a coach DF is head and shoulders above both Hughton & Lambert, neither of who for me play the infinite game, although watching the way some of Hughton's team's play it might feel like it.
I think we'll be much better prepared for the PL this time having gained painful experience last season. We've also added experienced quality players in Gibson and Giannoulis who have made us stronger defensively. Our attack is also much more experienced although much will depend on how Sørensen and or a new player can replace Skipp. That's our top recruitment priority along with another quality CB to replace Klose. We can't gamble on injuries this time around.
The interesting thing about Gibson and Giannoulis for me is I actually think they add something attacking wise! Gibson has an excellent range of passing and is comfortable moving forward on the ball, Giannoulis is absolutely rapid and has shown a couple of times how dangerous he is against a broken defence. So they bring more than just extra solidity defensively! I also think that whole left hand side is shored up by McClean sitting in front of them and acting as a pivot as well as almost a sweeper when Giannoulis goes forward.
I knew Hooton would say something nice about us after they lost. His constant praising of teams beating us every week became excruciating.