The latest blogger to grasp the guest blog baton is Jack Green, the voice of the excellent Singing From The Nest.
He poses the question, who would win if Chris Hughton’s Class of 2013/14 played Daniel Farke’s Class of 2019/20? His conclusion is perhaps not what you’d expect…
Chris Hughton. Two words that make most Norwich fans shudder. You mention that name and nine times out of ten you will get similar responses – ‘never got the best out of his players‘ … ‘tactics were too negative‘ …blah blah blah.
Now, I’m not one for advocating Hughton’s tactical approach and my opinion is pretty much exactly like everyone else’s. I always thought that Hughton’s strategies and philosophy didn’t suit the players we had available at City during his tenure.
Cast your mind back to the 2013/14 season (be afraid of the big, bad Wolf!) and you scratch your head wondering how we ended up being relegated with a team that included the likes of Leroy Fer, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Nathan Redmond et al.
But people seem to forget what happened a year prior to that disastrous campaign that led to Hughton’s sacking and relegation to the Championship.
Hughton guided City to an 11th place finish in the best league in the world – a feat which has not been bettered since, and which was their best-placed finish since the famous campaign of 1992/93. A great achievement. Not to mention masterminding some famous results in that season too.
Despite a typical hammering from Fulham at a beautifully sunny Craven Cottage on the first game of the season, Hughton managed to secure famous victories over Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton at home, a fabulous 3-2 win at the Etihad, courtesy of some Jonny Howson magic, and also managed to stay unbeaten in the league during in the months of November and February in. He really did excel himself during that season.
And all of this got me thinking – would that squad beat Daniel Farke’s 2019/20 outfit, which has so many times been told it’s too good to go down and may even be the “best bottom of the league side” in Premier League history?
Based on the number of appearances, Hughton lines up with the 4-5-1:
❖ Bunn; Russ, Bassong, Turner, Garrido; Snodgrass, Johnson, Howson, Pilkington; Hoolahan; Holt.
By comparison, Farke’s 4-2-3-1 offers attacking options in abundance:
❖ Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Godfrey, Lewis; Tettey, Trybull; Buendia, McLean, Cantwell; Pukki.
If we’re going man-to-man comparison, you’d have to say Tim Krul would be ahead of Mark Bunn (poor John Ruddy with his injury in that campaign!). No disrespect to Bunn, but I do feel Ruddy would have secured a top ten finish for City that season and would also be ahead of Krul in this selection. However, Krul takes it.
Hughton 0 Farke 1
Defensively, Hughton’s team was more solid, conceding 58 goals in the entire campaign. Farke’s team, on the other hand, has already conceded 52 goals this season, with still a quarter of it left to play. Russell Martin was a force to be reckoned with that season and Bassong took the Barry Butler Trophy too – they showcased the strength we possessed in that defence that season.
Defensive injuries have taken their toll on Norwich City this season, and at one stage led to them only having one centre-back able to play, and he was carrying a hernia! But we’ve seen on many occasions this season that City have found it difficult to prevent teams from having shots on goal. A lack of awareness at set-pieces has also added to the woes, meaning frailties have been evident in that backline. Hughton takes this one.
Hughton 1 Farke 1
However, moving into the midfield gives Farke a chance to shine.
Alex Tettey (the only player to have played under both managers) and Tom Trybull offer a lot of grit and determination to shield the defence, better than that of Bradley Johnson and Jonny Howson – both of whom were more apt at attacking.
And with Farke having an attacking trio of Buendia, McLean and Cantwell at his disposal, I do think that the midfield would overshadow Robert Snodgrass and Anthony Pilkington, despite their incredible set-piece abilities. A point to Farke to retake the lead.
Hughton 1 Farke 2
But will Hughton peg Daniel back immediately? An attacking duo of Wes Hoolahan playing behind Grant Holt worked wonders in that campaign. Holt had such a pivotal role under Hughton in holding the ball up and linking in the magician and the wider players either side. Holt only scored eight goals that season – his lowest tally in what would turn out to be his last in yellow and green – but his work rate made up for that.
We know the relationship between Wessi and Hughton was never the smoothest, but that didn’t stop him from being threatening at every opportunity.
Alternatively, you could choose the lone striker that is Teemu Pukki. Eleven goals this season, albeit the majority coming before the turn of the year, still speaks volumes about a team sitting bottom of the league. Teemu’s prowess is highlighted by the fact that the rest of the squad combined has only scored 14 goals between them.
A total of 25 goals altogether, however, is actually a worrying sign. Holt was City’s top scorer during 2012/13 with eight as mentioned, but City still managed to hit over 40 goals in the campaign. For me, Hughton pulls level.
Hughton 2 Farke 2
Now, the league has changed dramatically in recent years – inflated prices, more competitive sides, the incredible rise of some teams. You could argue the league is more competitive now – look at Leicester and Wolves now in comparison to that 2012/13 season.
But all things considered, and despite the close nature between the two sides in their comparisons, and also regardless of what you think about Hughton, he got his tactics spot on that season.
It’s a shame it couldn’t have been built on the season after, however if that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have the players and be in the positive financial position we’re in now.
Ask me another day and I’ll probably argue that Farke’s side would hammer them! But on this fine day in Norfolk, as I write this while basking (and burning) in the glorious sunshine, I have to say, Hughton edges it. Just.
Final score: Hughton 3 Farke 2
Let us know what you think…
Well argued, Jack, an interesting conclusion. The deciding question for me would be: Would I rather watch ‘attacking and porous’ or ‘defensive and porous’? I liked Hughton but his lack of offensive ambition stymied the team before they walked on the pitch because the opposition knew they only had to score one and nothing would come back. Poor Grant Holt as a attacking force was hung out to dry, such a sad way to finish his career here. If we’d had a coach with more attacking intent over this period I believe Holty would have had at least two more productive seasons with us and scored another 30 goals. Pity, but best wishes to Hughton though, coz he’s a decent fella.
Really appreciate your comments. I feel the same about Holty – such a shame left under the circumstances that he did, but can understand his frustration in the setup we had.
Hughton’s Canaries did. finish 11th but he’d taken over a successful and exciting Prem squad and after the Lambo years his tactics were painful to watch. Things got worse the next season, I couldn’t believe how things had regressed and finally my son and I gave up our season tickets, paying good money to sit in the freezing cold feeling miserable was just too much. We have however both remained City fans and my support for the club goes back over 60 years. Farke’s tactics are much more exciting and the revolution that has taken place at Carrow Road gives hope for the future. Your scores are for the teams, the players, and if you want to award points to the managers I think there would need to be a different set of criteria, which I feel sure would reverse the scores. Anyway interesting article, well done.
You’re not wrong with the tactical approach. I’m sure, based on managerial stats, that Farke would win by a landslide. Thanks for your comments!
Good read jack pity we couldn’t mix the best of each prop be top half and steady although what I’ve seen of trybull this season is weak and poor so much unlike last season all the best mate
Thank you very much! I too have been a bit underwhelmed by Trybull this season, however I do feel like he’s far from out of his depth in this division. He’s still a brilliant player, however the inconsistency in performances and actual selection has been difficult for him, as well as many others in the squad.
PS. Great title graphic btw. Superb. Well done to whoever created it.
That’d be Jack. A fine piece of work
Thanks! I’ve been doing lots of Photoshop this year and enjoying making different things. Have a look on our Twitter media and Instagram page to see some more.
An excellent summary of both teams.
On leaving city Houghton was the perfect gentleman and his only remark was I could and would have kept that team up and as you say we will never know will we.
Brighton have had a couple of successful seasons in the premiership and at the end of last season sacked Houghton to persue more attractive football has it worked for them again only time will tell.
City have not had the best of luck defensively this season mainly due to injuries, but it could also be part and parcel to a real lack of investment in another CB or giving Raggett a chance to prove himself.
Decisions are made and us supporters will sit back and wonder why or this or that was or wasn’t done.
Was Houghton give to long in his second season, or was he stopped getting the players he needed in January to bolster his squad to stay up.
Was Adam’s the right man to replace him or was it the cheap option just as Gunn was and both paid a heavy price.
Farke like Houghton comes across as a real Gentleman and he knew the reality of taking city on and up, did we go up a season to early a question that can and will be debated for many years.
Can we blame Farke for cities position at the bottom of the table, is he naive at times with his selections, can we make the great escape.
Both men have good and bad points also both could be said to be to nice and except their lot neither shouted that they needed recruitment in the squads.
Both were and have been let down in the January transfer windows when it was needed to strengthen the squads.
City hopefully will escape this season for another go at the premiership but if not they need to keep this exciting team together for a real chance next season.
The biggest concern is city pays large loan fees for players that don’t succeed £9m for a DF and used as a CB was to much and he left in January leaving a thin squad even thinner.
My judgement is that for the the teams it would be a draw and Farke would just nudge Houghton 0 – 1 for entertainment value.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Keep safe and well
So many points to agree with here! Both have good and bad points, both let down in January markets. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hughton finishing in 11th was a bit of an anomaly really. It could easily have been 16th – still good enough for us but not so good on paper. Maybe it covered up some cracks?
Hughton WAS a gent – I met him once when he was at the end of his Tottenham career but never again thereafter. I’ve never met Daniel at all and most strangely don’t know anyone who claims to have done so either. He seems like a great lad though.
Maybe Jack should do a follow-up as Herr Cutz suggests [above]. Dave Stringer would remain my favourite manager but I’d love to read it.
Excellent article.
That season could have swung either way – heck, we could have even pushed for Europe! (Okay, maybe getting a little carried away…)
A managerial comparison would be interesting to say the least, although I don’t think these two, despite their achievements, come close to who I believe is the greatest manager we’ve had. Could be a part 2 on the way! Watch this space…
We shouldn’t get too misty eyed about Hughton.
He was given the most money a Norwich Manager ever has and still managed to take us down. An opportunity missed, if ever there was one.
My only regret of the Hughton era is that we sacked him, therefore allowing him the “I would have kept us up” card and not having a relegation on his CV, which he so richly deserved.
I’ll take this current set up over his every time.
I would have thought Alex Neil must have run Hughton pretty close in the player purchase stakes. It’s probably a close call!
Interesting stance on that situation, however that money wasn’t available until the season after. During the 2012/13 campaign, he probably had the best midfield we’d seen at Norwich for around 20 years, up until this very season. I do think he did a decent job, however the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to his tactical approach. Selection-wise however, he reigns over Farke’s team.
OK, so Hootun got us to finish 11th. But that paints a false picture. We were only safe after we beat WBA in game 37. The win against Man Citeh was against a team who had no manager and had lost the cup final to Wigan. Watch the goals on the Internet. It was obvious Citeh were not interested.
Under Lambert we were never looking over our shoulders worrying about the bottom 3.
Hootun drained everything that was good out of our club. He may have been a nice bloke but he was awful as a manager. I used to go to away games just hoping for a shot on target, let alone a result.
Watching football under Hughton was the only time I left Carrow Road after a 1-0 win over (I think) Hull feeling completely depressed, and wishing I hadn’t bothered – so dreadful was the negative play.
For that reason alone I can never forgive Hughton – as a manager, he was absolutely the worst. He destroyed Holt and Hoolahan and then bought players like RVW who were completely unsuited to his style of play. By comparison, Farke is a shining light.
I worked with lots of Brighton fans when Hughton went there. They loved him for two years, then he got them to the EPL and turned negative again. Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton all sacked him for the same reason – you’d think he would learn……
It’s an interesting comparison, in short I much prefer Farke’s style of play but I think he has been naive this season – something you could never accuse Hughton of.
It’s all ifs, buts and maybes looking back but we did have a strong team in CH’s second season, there’s just no escaping that RVW was a complete disaster – had we signed say Wilfred Bony who went on to have a great season at Swansea could all have been so different.
I’ve also noticed that when speaking to fans of other clubs they all really rate Hughton as a boss – except for those of clubs he has managed.