Expectation

[AlFayedsChequebook]

By taking my stance that Hughes has things to answer for, many people have commented that the 'increased expectations' this year are to blame for any anti-hughes feeling.

So here is my question - is expecting this current team to comfortably avoid relegation to much to expect after the last three seasons?

[TonyGilroy]

The acceptable benchmark for a Fulham manager is to avoid relegation. Anything more is a bonus.

I hadn't picked up on your "increased expectations" point. What mystifies me are those who say that Hughes always seemed the wrong man for the job. Disappointment with the first half of the season is entirely understandable as is concern that it won't improve but I certainly thought that Hughes was a great appointment - better by far than the calibre of virtually all of his predecessors.

Which is the main reason why I would still back him to succeed.

[MJG]

The acceptable benchmark for a Fulham manager is to avoid relegation. Anything more is a bonus.

I hadn't picked up on your "increased expectations" point. What mystifies me are those who say that Hughes always seemed the wrong man for the job. Disappointment with the first half of the season is entirely understandable as is concern that it won't improve but I certainly thought that Hughes was a great appointment - better by far than the calibre of virtually all of his predecessors.

Which is the main reason why I would still back him to succeed.

Tony your post shows you had "increased expectations" because you  "thought that Hughes was a great appointment - better by far than the calibre of virtually all of his predecessors" hence you expected more.
I read a lot about we would push on etc. My expectations for this season was anywhere 8-12 following on from last season. A few changes here and there and we should and could have been higher.

[TonyGilroy]

I expected better than we've so far got but did not and do not expect Hughes to win us a European tournament or have us finishing higher than 7th.

A cup win with a favourable draw is always possible but so it was under Tigana, Coleman and Hodgson.

[Jimpav]

Some questions for all of you so fiercely defending Mark Hughes -

When do you think he is going to turn it around?

Do you think we will be able to sign decent players now we are in such a precarious position?

Do you think he will stay with the club if we are relegated?

[TonyGilroy]

1. By the end of the season.

2. Yes

3. Probably not. He'll be sacked.

[Lighthouse]

Some questions for all of you so fiercely defending Mark Hughes -

When do you think he is going to turn it around?

Do you think we will be able to sign decent players now we are in such a precarious position?

Do you think he will stay with the club if we are relegated?

1/ Not sure he will unless he has investment in January. If he does and can buy a forward that actually works then February.

2/Yes, if the money is right

3/ Probably not.

[Oakeshott]

I have never thought of Hughes as a Fulham-type person, but do think it would be unfair to fire him now, even if we lose to W Ham.

We have been dreadfully unlucky with injuries to our potential main goal scorers - Bobby particularly but also Hughes's only addition in that department, Moussa. Had those not happened I have no doubt we would be comfortably midtable and looking forward to seeing what stamp Hughes puts on the team with new players. He had virtually no time last Summer, and any comparison with LS fails because he managed the team for a few games at the end of one season, and then had the whole of the summer to strengthen the squad (and he bought in quite a few).

I've no doubt that Hughes knows who he wants to buy and I see no sane option except to back him and trust him to keep us up.

[BalDrick]

'I've no doubt that Hughes knows who he wants to buy and I see no sane option except to back him and trust him to keep us up.'

Makes perfect sense. I'm undecided, but in that I really mean I wouldn't care if he were sacked (and I wanted him to take over from the minute RH was linked with Liverpool), but as you say, it'd be insanity to sack the guy who had less than half the previous window in which to operate and wasn't allowed the next one. MO doesn't have previous of being quick to oust managers (at Fulham anyway, perhaps elsewhere it's different), so I don't really believe the 'must beat the cheats or he's sacked' story.

Big financial backing needed though clearly, and I'm pretty confident he'll get that. In fact I think we'll see our most exciting January for a long time. Just hope the new additions can gel in time to get up the table. Despite the proximity of the 3 Ws behind us, we're also not many points behind a few others, so in that sense a decent run of half a dozen games of wins and draws and we'll all be wondering what we were so worried about in December.

[Jimpav]

Okay so Hughes has been unlucky to be without Zamora but BZ wasn't exactly prolific in the league last season - a lot of his goals came from Europe.

Last season we saw goals from Duff, Gera, Dempsey, Murphy, Davies amongst others. I appreciate that Duff has been injured but there is still plenty of talent for Sparky to work with.  Notice that I haven't menjtioned any of the other other strikers at his disposal - Elm, Kamara, EJ - not my first choice either but anyone with man management skills should be getting something out of this lot.

Ian Holloway has had to make do with far worse and has succeeded in some emphatic victories. I appreciate that Blackpool are riding on team spirit but we have a team that travelled all over Europe together and played in some of the biggest matches of their career together - surely he can muster up some team spirit.

I agree that Hughes needs more time and deserves a full transfer window but in 5 weeks time we could be the ones stranded at the bottom of the table instead of two wins away from mid table medicroity - leaving his replacement with a much harder job.

[SmithyFFC]

Hughes started digging his own grave when he said the aim was a top ten finish in my opinon. He obviously over estimated just how good the current squad was, and the loses of Bobby and Moussa certainly haven't helped.

Beating West Ham on boxing will kick start our season.

[MJG]

Bankon the injury front I posted the names below last week on another forum, it shows a selection of players and how many lge games they have missed. The reason I posted it is below it was mentioned Duff has been injured and yes he has but he has only not been in the 18 man squad 3 times.
No point to make just some more facts.

Murphy has missed 1 game
Etuhu has missed 3
Duff has missed 3
Sendoros Would not even get in the XI with H&H ffit
Johnson missed 1 since he came back from injury (9 in total)
Baird missed 3
Zamora missed 13
Salcido missed 3 since 1st apperance (but Hughes has started him when unfit..a mistake by MH)
Dembele missed 6 since 1st apperance.

[TonyGilroy]

Injured or not Duff's form this season has been wretched.

Dembele didn't look right between his two injuries.

[HatterDon]

I've made this point before -- but making it only 2 or 3 times leaves me way behind the curve here. If we're going to compare Roy and Mark's beginnings, there's a couple of things to note:

Roy came in when the squad was demoralized [from being blamed for quitting on the gaffer], the results were disastrous [the home loss to Newcastle where we hardly even tried], and relegation seemed a certainty. The manager was universally reviled as the worst we'd had in eons.

By contrast, Mark came in when Fulham was at it's highest ebb. We'd just finished a European final. Our manager was selected manager of the year, and was considered by many to be the best ever. Hopes were high for the new season.

Roy came on board with the transfer window staring him in the face and made a couple of immediate long-lasting signings: Hangeland and Eddie Johnson.

Mark came on board with the transfer window already under way, with dozens of players already transferred and made a couple of signings: Salcido and Dembele.

It was obvious that the side that Roy inherited was not the side that Roy wanted at the close of that first season. A significant chunk of the first team squad was let go, with a few more left to rot on the vine until they finally left. It was only after he had completed a half season and was given leave to remake the squad in his own image that Fulham really began to be Roy's team. There followed 7th place and a major European final. The fact each of those achievements is unparalled in the long history of Fulham FC should indicate to anyone with a sense of perspective that you can't expect the next guy to surpass or even match that performance.

We're not going to see Mark in charge of the team that is truly Mark's until August. There's only so many people he can cull with matches to be played every week during the January window. It'll be summer before we can really see how he performs with a club he's created.

And, finally, anybody who replaced Sanchez was going to be given a tremendous amount of support. While anybody who replaced Hodgson ... .

Hughes is a fine manager, and can do well for this club. He needs exactly what Hodgson needed: the wherewithal to make the squad in his own image, and the time to do so.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

HatterDon - that is all very well and good but if we do not improve soon then Mark Hughes will be building us in his own image in the championship.

[HatterDon]

HatterDon - that is all very well and good but if we do not improve soon then Mark Hughes will be building us in his own image in the championship.

And, if he's sacked on Monday, how will his replacement perform? And who will that replacement be? And what knowledge of his current squad will that replacement have? And how will he know which players to give more time to and which can be let go with 4 or 5 days to go before the window opens?

[AlFayedsChequebook]

HatterDon - that is all very well and good but if we do not improve soon then Mark Hughes will be building us in his own image in the championship.

And, if he's sacked on Monday, how will his replacement perform? And who will that replacement be? And what knowledge of his current squad will that replacement have? And how will he know which players to give more time to and which can be let go with 4 or 5 days to go before the window opens?

Could you not have said the same thing as when Hodgson was brought in for Sanchez?

I am not calling for Hughes to go, just that he needs to show us something to grab on to because up until this point there has been precious little.

[gezkc]

Okay so Hughes has been unlucky to be without Zamora but BZ wasn't exactly prolific in the league last season - a lot of his goals came from Europe.

BZ's strength isn't just about scoring goals though. His ability to hold onto the ball and allow other players to play off him was a major reason why the likes of Gera, Dempsey, Duff etc were able to score more regularly last season.

From a morale/motivation point of view too, having him missing from the side has clearly had a big impact on both the players and fans this season.

I know BZ's absence isn't the only reason we're struggling at the moment, but it's definitely one of the main reasons.

However, if Hughes can strengthen the squad with a good forward and one or two midfielders in January, I think we'll still be ok.

[Jimpav]

Thank you Gezc.

I'm not denying that BZ's abcensce is a big factor in our underwhelming performances but I feel that there is going to be a lot of disappointment when Zamora comes back in February and fails to be the rose tinted saviour that everyone is clinging to.

He was a massive player for us last season but it is foolish to pin all our hopes of survival on him when in all reality he is not going to return to his peak fitness and ability by the end of the season.

Sparky got off on the wrong foot with regards to morale when he dropped Pantsil for two silly mistakes and then relegated Gera to the bench in the early part of the season.

I agree - if he can get a proven striker in January then there will be some hope.

[RidgeRider]

Thank you Gezc.

I'm not denying that BZ's abcensce is a big factor in our underwhelming performances but I feel that there is going to be a lot of disappointment when Zamora comes back in February and fails to be the rose tinted saviour that everyone is clinging to.

He was a massive player for us last season but it is foolish to pin all our hopes of survival on him when in all reality he is not going to return to his peak fitness and ability by the end of the season.

Sparky got off on the wrong foot with regards to morale when he dropped Pantsil for two silly mistakes and then relegated Gera to the bench in the early part of the season.

I agree - if he can get a proven striker in January then there will be some hope.

Totally agree Jimpav. Many on this board when they say we have been unlucky with injuries, what they really mean is BZ is out. If one player makes the difference between 10th place expectations and relegation, then apparently the rest of our squad are basically crap. Now I realize that is not really the case but what we really are doing is saying, in all this, that Zamora being out, and a few referee's decisions have left us near the bottom and not much else.

I disagree, our plight is on the back of the manager. I want to him to succeed cause I really wanted him to be the guy in the beginning. In fact, I had the belief he may actually be better than Hodgson over the long haul.

SORT IT OUT Mr. Hughes!