Its hard not to like Houghton, because he gives you tonnes of commitment and never stops working. The trouble is he's just not that good. He gets through lots of tackles, but is a technically poor tackler, his distribution is not good enough by half, and his decision making is very poor. A couple of years ago I thought he would kick on in these areas and be a top hooker by now, but he hasn't improved one bit.

Like a few players at the club he hasn't had to improve. Picked in the 17 regardless.

Danny is a great player to have in the team the way the game is currently played. He helps keep the defence tight but we need to be replacing him after 30 mins or so for the more attack minded hooker to come in and hopefully exploit the tiring opposition.
His distribution and his speed of distribution are not the best but with good intense coaching he will surely be able to improve this.

Sums up so much that is wrong at FC. Even if the coaching is sub standard, what professional sportsman fails to analyse their own performances and work on their short comings. This attitude is rife at FC.

I agree he lacks some qualities, but I'd rather have 17 houghtons on the field right now, then these crock of

I was going to say dont believe what i am reading here but then again I do,we must have the most fickle fans in SL bar none.How on earth fans slagging Houghton of is beyond me.Are you saying we should have kept Heremaia ?lets face it he is inconsistent and his defence is not the best.The last two results are not Houghtons fault,a quick play the ball is a must for any hooker and when he did off palaeasena (twice) he made the break with no back up.Our ruck speed is pedestrian and the reason we are not performing.I have watched every game this season and we started off well a,for some reason we have gone off the boil .

I like Houghton, I said as much in previous post. But I like him for his energy and his commitment, not his quality.

In the modern days of super fit forwards and fast defensive lines it is vital that passing out of dummy half is quick and accurate. If you dither around, the halves get no time on the ball and the attack breaks down. Houghton is great running from DH when the forwards are dominant, but no pack is going to dominate for 80 minutes every week, and when they are not dominant his distribution isnt good enough to buy the backs the time they need. The half backs get a lot of stick on here, and a lot of it may well be deserved, but its alot easier to look good when you are not being rushed every time you have the ball.

As for his defence, why do you think a man who doesn't play 80 minutes makes so many tackles? Its because teams target him knowing they can get a quick ptb. He doesn't miss many tackles, but in most of the ones he makes he is little more than a speed bump, clinging on for dear life until someone else comes to help him. Teams know they will get over the top of him and find their front. Ive seen countless breaks come about from this.

I'm not saying we should bin him, but we should imo go back to starting him on the bench and bring in a hooker who knows how to control a game and create time and space for his team. However we are going to put our faith in Cunningham instead, and although I love to see youngsters get a chance, I can only see us being worse in this department next year. I hope I am wrong.

Houghton isnt the sole reason for our poor form, far from it, but hooker is such an important position these days that we need to address it if we are going to make any significant improvements.

I dont want to pick him to pieces, thats just my 2 penneth.

Danny Houghtons turn today is it?

I've been banging this drum for a while. Its not scape goating, and removing him wouldnt turn us into a great team overnight, but hes not goo enough for where we want to be imo.

I too have noted his deficiencies for a few years only to be shot down in flames on here by people claiming he'd been unfairly treated by not been selected for international duties. He's not good enough, his distribution is appalling it's not just slow, for such a pivotal position his passing is erratic. He works hard abs gives 100% but we need and have needed better.

ive said it before and i'll say it again. if we send one player forward when driving the ball in, the defence can put 3-4 players in a tackle, resulting in a slow play of the ball as they win the collision and the wrestle on the floor. so from acting half it will be hard for houghton to do anything.

send 2 or 3 forwards up whilst driving in, the defence has to think and only put 2 in a talk, so better chance of winning the collision and of winning the wrestle on the floor, resulting in quicker play the ball which is were houghton is at his best.

That's a very fair point. But regardless of whether you win the floor or not the passing should still be accurate if nothing else.

Andy the way round that is to fall on your front don't let them turn you Then you get a quick play the ball Good teams do it Wigan Leeds Saints

if you read this forum regularly you would see that his performances have frequently been called into question, especially speed and accuracy of his distribution

if you're losing the collision how can you fall on your front!

This is one of Paea's big faults and was at his time with us as well, he will make some barnstorming runs and keep the leg drive going often making an extra 5+ yards but this can be at the detriment of a quick ptb. Crowd pleaser for definite but often not he best option.

Totally agree.

The paedestrian way our players get up to play the ball is NOT Houghton's fault.

Give him a quick ptb and we'll see what he can do.

AND i think their will be no shortage of TOP clubs after him when his contract is up.

Just my opionion of course but like those who say no clubs would want him i have no facts to back this up.

You only have to watch the Hudds game to see what a good player Danny is, in that game, the forwards were on the front foot and playing the ball fast, this allowed him to produce quick and accurate passing.

He certainly needs to improve his passing, but still a very good player and as people have said above, if he was available there would be many clubs after him, including top sides, he would get into Leeds side for certain.

You really believe that?

Yes as he is better hooker than Aiton. Also Burrow has a good scoot, but I rather have Houghton than him.

Put Houghton is Leeds or Wigan's team and with their structures and forwards he would be 5 times the player he is at Hull.

I fail to see how him being in Leeds / Wigan side will dramatically improve his decision making, tackling technique and his passing.

Why is it that Azza who is playing in the same structure rarely seems to struggle ? You don't see him giving away many forward passes from dummy half , slow low passing or rarely choosing to go the wrong way. Houghton is an ok SL player but far from the top, if the pack dominates he may make a few breaks but if the pack doesn't dominate (and lets be honest which pack does for a full 80 ? ) he is just a passenger.

The top class players in any sport find a way to win or carve open defenses in adversity and when they are up against it. Houghton can't, which seems to be a reoccurring theme admitted by most people on here.

Lot's of valid points on here, but, whilst he's not perfect & has plenty to improve on, there are a lot of things I'd prioritise changing at the club before looking to replace Danny.

My frustration comes from not wanting to replace Danny, but the issue with his lack of improvement in key areas he is lacking over the last four seasons. Why has there been no improvement in these aspects of his game. It is more indicative of the culture at the club, there are so many players that have weaknesses in their game and have shown little improvement in these areas. I just don't get why if the coaching staff cant help develop these areas then why players can't work in their own time on these problems. There just seems to be a culture that they have made it as a SL player so what do they need to work on other areas of their game for.

I'd agree it may not be the first thing on the list to correct but it should be on the list.

Your 9 is equally as important as your 7 and 6 IMO and he has contributed at times over the past few seasons to a pretty dire attack. He has to take his fair share of the flack as much as the half backs do IMO.

Playing with better players and better coaching would improve, faster playing the ball, better timed runs.

Look at Tuson, looked good in the Wigan team, looks average here.

You can pick up Hiughton on many things but defence isn't one of them, he is just about the best defender in SL, miles better than Heremia, whose defence can be poor at times.

I don't think Heremia is having a great season, but there hasn't been one thread about him.

Houghton has scored more try's already than any other season and one of outer highest assists, so he is doing something right. Even Roby would look average in some of our games thus season with how slow our play if the ball has been and poor runners.