New Hurst

Numerous people have commented on how different Hurst has been second time around in his interviews. His manner is more upbeat, more relaxed and he just seems happier. Now that's easy to say at the moment as we were winning but it was also true last season when we weren't.

Something else I've noticed is that, in his previous spell, he was often criticised for building up visiting 'minnow' teams to being Barcelona and instilling fear. In his post match interview after Wrexham he almost did the opposite. Saying how Eastleigh are,with all due respect,not a Wrexham or a Stockport and will pose different sort of challenges - code no doubt for parking the bus.

To be fair he was perhaps sometimes trying to get that across in his first spell but was just not as good as communicating it.  And obviously we still need to take them seriously, we're not Barcelona either.

Sounds like a town in southern England.  

Quoted from toontown

Numerous people have commented on how different Hurst has been second time around in his interviews. His manner is more upbeat, more relaxed and he just seems happier. Now that's easy to say at the moment as we were winning but it was also true last season when we weren't.

Something else I've noticed is that, in his previous spell, he was often criticised for building up visiting 'minnow' teams to being Barcelona and instilling fear. In his post match interview after Wrexham he almost did the opposite. Saying how Eastleigh are,with all due respect,not a Wrexham or a Stockport and will pose different sort of challenges - code no doubt for parking the bus.

To be fair he was perhaps sometimes trying to get that across in his first spell but was just not as good as communicating it.  And obviously we still need to take them seriously, we're not Barcelona either.

Didn't him and Scott fall into management by accident?

When he came here in 2011 it had probably been a whirlwind couple of years and they probably weren't under anything like the Blundell Park spotlight. As his career has progressed, he's probably taken some advice on handling the press but he's also gone on record to state that he's spent some time reconsidering his goals and I genuinely think he feels he's now working under a board that reflects his beliefs much more than ever before.

Think you’re right. He’s more experienced. Matured.

Quoted from toontown

Numerous people have commented on how different Hurst has been second time around in his interviews. His manner is more upbeat, more relaxed and he just seems happier. Now that's easy to say at the moment as we were winning but it was also true last season when we weren't.

Something else I've noticed is that, in his previous spell, he was often criticised for building up visiting 'minnow' teams to being Barcelona and instilling fear. In his post match interview after Wrexham he almost did the opposite. Saying how Eastleigh are,with all due respect,not a Wrexham or a Stockport and will pose different sort of challenges - code no doubt for parking the bus.

To be fair he was perhaps sometimes trying to get that across in his first spell but was just not as good as communicating it.  And obviously we still need to take them seriously, we're not Barcelona either.

He’s absolutely no different. He’s always been a class act.

Quoted from toontown

Numerous people have commented on how different Hurst has been second time around in his interviews. His manner is more upbeat, more relaxed and he just seems happier. Now that's easy to say at the moment as we were winning but it was also true last season when we weren't.

Something else I've noticed is that, in his previous spell, he was often criticised for building up visiting 'minnow' teams to being Barcelona and instilling fear. In his post match interview after Wrexham he almost did the opposite. Saying how Eastleigh are,with all due respect,not a Wrexham or a Stockport and will pose different sort of challenges - code no doubt for parking the bus.

To be fair he was perhaps sometimes trying to get that across in his first spell but was just not as good as communicating it.  And obviously we still need to take them seriously, we're not Barcelona either.

i could almost write an essay on this.
there are so many elements - not least the malign influence of Fenty, but i go back to an argument i've made many times before.
when Hurst/Scott took over it was their one big chance to 'make it' as managers, having had success at part time level.
Suddenly Scott fecks up and Hurst is , for the first time in his managerial career, left on his own with a young family, mortgage and bills to pay. He inherits one of the biggest teams in the league, but with a not the biggest budget in the league.
If he'd gone gung-ho he ran the risk of failing and being sacked within a few months. The consequences of this for him would be immense. No full time managerial career and the problem of paying the mortgage, billls etc etc
in view of this i think he deliberately  went safety first - with the budget he had, he could get generally competent players and if he played the safety first route he'd probably gain points in the majority of games. The longer he did this the more secure he became and the more his stock rose. And so it came to pass - every year the play offs and/or Trophy run and a modicum of improvement.
Within a couple of year he's got a bit of security (& remember at this time he was putting his daughter through uni - think i'm right in this and people are talking about him as the 'go-to non league manager'.
incidenatlly i can see why he hated Operation Promotion - too much unnecessary pressure , leaving him with massive potential to fail.
anyway the rest is history - we make it - he takes the first opportunity to take flight and does a brill job at Shrewsbury with more money and  a decent contract
Then he hits the jackpot - Ipshit come a calling - yeah, he gets sacked within 3 months, but with the pay off he's made for life - mortgage is paid, kids are put through uni and he's sitting pretty. Scunts is a basket case but it's extra 'bunce' .
Now he's 1878's man - they're owners who believe in him, and most importantly, are the antitheses of Fenty .they back him with cash but don't interfere. He's not afraid to fail, coz he's made for life, plus he's he's got 100 (?) games at a much higher level. Relatively speaking this is a walk in the park.
Argued like that , no wonder he's relaxed and the beauty is we've struck lucky - we've go the benefit of his experience and contacts and he's relaxed enough to let out the reins and let the players play. Long may it continue

Quoted from forza ivano

i could almost write an essay on this.
there are so many elements - not least the malign influence of Fenty, but i go back to an argument i've made many times before.
when Hurst/Scott took over it was their one big chance to 'make it' as managers, having had success at part time level.
Suddenly Scott fecks up and Hurst is , for the first time in his managerial career, left on his own with a young family, mortgage and bills to pay. He inherits one of the biggest teams in the league, but with a not the biggest budget in the league.
If he'd gone gung-ho he ran the risk of failing and being sacked within a few months. The consequences of this for him would be immense. No full time managerial career and the problem of paying the mortgage, billls etc etc
in view of this i think he deliberately  went safety first - with the budget he had, he could get generally competent players and if he played the safety first route he'd probably gain points in the majority of games. The longer he did this the more secure he became and the more his stock rose. And so it came to pass - every year the play offs and/or Trophy run and a modicum of improvement.
Within a couple of year he's got a bit of security (& remember at this time he was putting his daughter through uni - think i'm right in this and people are talking about him as the 'go-to non league manager'.
incidenatlly i can see why he hated Operation Promotion - too much unnecessary pressure , leaving him with massive potential to fail.
anyway the rest is history - we make it - he takes the first opportunity to take flight and does a brill job at Shrewsbury with more money and  a decent contract
Then he hits the jackpot - Ipshit come a calling - yeah, he gets sacked within 3 months, but with the pay off he's made for life - mortgage is paid, kids are put through uni and he's sitting pretty. Scunts is a basket case but it's extra 'bunce' .
Now he's 1878's man - they're owners who believe in him, and most importantly, are the antitheses of Fenty .they back him with cash but don't interfere. He's not afraid to fail, coz he's made for life, plus he's he's got 100 (?) games at a much higher level. Relatively speaking this is a walk in the park.
Argued like that , no wonder he's relaxed and the beauty is we've struck lucky - we've go the benefit of his experience and contacts and he's relaxed enough to let out the reins and let the players play. Long may it continue

I think you are spot on here. Yes he's more experienced now but he's also in a completely different part of his life. If things hadn't worked out at town the first time around he would have had to completely reevaluate is career. I doubt he was bad off from his playing days but he was still only 37 when he joined and trying to figure out what he'd do with next 30 years of his life. Since then he's had some success, proven he can manage and probably made a decent amount of money in the process. If the town job didn't go to plan he could likely find another job easily but also wouldn't be under as much pressure to find one. I think its easy to forget that footballers are human and generally have a more volatile career than most.

V good point.the gtfc solo job was his 1 big chance.if he fecked up then hed probably never get another full time job in football.thats why, I'm convinced  that he played the percentage football.with one of the bigger budgets and a full time squad he had a decent chance of winning the majority of games.playing expansive football was more likely to lead to failure than his safety first approach

The so called bigging up of small teams in pre-match interviews has always had two aims in my opinion - the first is he knows that the opposing manager is likely to watch that pre-match interview and therefore doesn't want to give them ammunition to fire up their own players by coming across as arrogant/dismissive of the opponent. The other reason is to try to reduce the chance of complacency amongst the players. Basically its always been a pretty smart thing to do do, and I don't know why some of our fans have got their knickers in a twist over it.

The other main critiicism has always been the "parslow" substitution. The truth is that nearly all managers make this kind of substitution on a regular basis (at the height of his powers Mouriniho was famous for going 2-0 and then shutting up shop). 9 times out of 10 it works, but when it doesn't people with an axe to grind just go on and on about it.

Never forget that we spend a large chunk of our lives at work and the person you work for has a massive impact on your life, outlook and attitudes. PH is currently working for one of the best leaders in the country so his demeanour is bound to be very comfortable
Add that to the points others have made regarding financial security, stage of his career etc. and he's effectively a different person
Regarding the opposition there's barely a manager who slags off upcoming opposition to the media, it's just not the done thing. Show respect in front of cameras but slag em off behind closed doors!!