Mark Hughes

[James]

I think people are being too snobby about the prospect of having Hughes as manager.

 

Lets look at his managerial track record.

 

For starters, he got Wales into the playoffs to qualify for Euro 2004, which was quite an achievement considering that Wales were in a group that featured Italy, Serbia and Finland.

 

The Wales team that beat Italy in that group was:

Paul Jones, Delaney, Melville, Gabbidon, Speed, Davies, Savage, Pembridge, Giggs, Bellamy, Hartson. Subs: Page, Johnson, Legg, Earnshaw, Carl Robinson, Weston, Crossley.

 

After this, he moved on to Blackburn to replace Souness who had come to join us. We were 19th in the league at the time, Blackburn were 20th. That season, Blackburn and Newcastle were pretty much neck and neck in terms of points accumulated under their new managers, despite Hughes inheriting the worser team (Blackburn had finished 10 places below us the previous season), and the smaller financial backing.

 

The next season, despite spending much much less than Newcastle, Blackburn leapfrogged us into 6th place and the final UEFA Cup spot. Blackburn finished two points behind Spurs, and four points behind Arsenal.

 

So in his first full season, he took a club that he had inherited from the bottom of the league, and whom had finished 15th in the previous two seasons, to the position that we want to be. I don't see how this achievement can be compared to the inconsistency of Moyes, or the slow and gradual development of Redknapp's Portsmouth or Allardyce's Bolton.

 

Of course, people can look at the tenth place last season, but if people can blame the old board for failing to back Robson when we finished 3rd, then sympathy can be shown towards Hughes who had his star player Bellamy sold against his wishes to raise funds. Hughes has been forced to sell by his board over and over again, and has only got fractions of what was recouped back. Subsequently, Blackburn have sufferred in spells that coincide with injuries to key players, due to being forced to skimp on squad depth. When they get their good players together, Blackburn have consistently won matches under Mark Hughes.

 

Look at Blackburn's transfers under Mark Hughes:

 

Roque Santa Cruz  Bayern Munich  £3.5m  July 2007

Gunnar Nielsen BK Frem Undisclosed July 2007

Maceo Rigters NAC Breda £350,000 July 2007

Christopher Samba Hertha Berlin Undisclosed January 2007

Stephen Warnock Liverpool Undisclosed January 2007

David Dunn Birmingham City £2.2m January 2007

Stéphane Henchoz Free Agent Free September 2006

Andre Oojier PSV Eindhoven £2.3m August 2006

Shabani Nonda AS Roma Loan August 2006

Benni McCarthy Porto £2m July 2006

Jason Roberts Wigan Athletic £2.5m June 2006

Francis Jeffers Charlton Athletic Free June 2006

Jason Brown Gillingham Free June 2006

David Bentley Arsenal Undisclosed January 2006

Florent Sinama Pongolle Liverpool Loan January 2006

Martin Olsson Högaborgs BK Undisclosed January 2006

Zurab Khizanishvili Glasglow Rangers Loan August 2005

David Bentley Arsenal Loan August 2005

Richard Lee Watford Loan August 2005

Craig Bellamy Newcastle United £5m July 2005

Shelfki Kuqi Ipswich Town Free July 2005

Robbie Savage Birmingham City £3m January 2005

Aaron Mokoena Genk £300,000 January 2005

Ryan Nelsen DC United Free January 2005

Jay Bothroyd Perugia Loan January 2005

 

 

He has signed some very good first team players at low prices. He clearly has an eye for a good player, and uses his scouting network very well. I'd like to see what he could do if he was handed a good transfer kitty.

 

He is a natural leader, and will command the respect of the entire dressing room. Having played for some big clubs, he can handle the big names, and handle the pressure put on him from demanding fans.

 

All in all, Hughes is clearly to me a figure that could potentially be much much bigger than Allardyce, Souness and Roeder, and also the likes of Moyes and Redknapp, and he has in general shown himself to be the more capable of getting the results quickly, if he gets the support of his board.

[Alberto2005]

Wouldn't be an improvement imo, a minor one if anything.

[BlueStar]

Ominously reminds me of similar posts aimed at Graeme's nay-sayers upon his appointment...

 

I don't think we need a nutural leader mind 

[lovejoy]

would be a step back imo.

 

sam achieved more at bolton with less ( i think) money.

 

its pointless to sack sam and empoly him imo

[James]

would be a step back imo.

 

sam achieved more at bolton with less ( i think) money.

 

its pointless to sack sam and empoly him imo

 

Blackburn are way down the bottom of the Premiership net-spend league.

[NG32]

Sideway step.

 

If Mort and Ashley have ambitions for break the top 5, then they must think higher then second tier prem managers to achieve this. 

 

 

[Keefaz]

No offence to Hughes, I think he's alright, but let's get a fucking monster this time. If we can get a Lippi or a Mourinho, let's pull out the stops. If he fails, we know that the board have done the best they can.

[Dave]

Working well on a shoestring budget is not something we need now tbh. Allardyce found out the hard way that once the stakes are raised, the expectations are very different.

 

Not having experience of spending big money well is a disadvantage.

[lovejoy]

would be a step back imo.

 

sam achieved more at bolton with less ( i think) money.

 

its pointless to sack sam and empoly him imo

 

Blackburn are way down the bottom of the Premiership net-spend league.

 

without anelka i think bolton would be down there with them.

 

and that was a hell of a coup for bolton at the time.

 

still think sams achievements at bolton outweigh hughes at b/burn

[lovejoy]

Working well on a budget is not something we need now tbh. Allardyce found out that the expectations are very different.

 

Not having experience of spending big money well is a disadvantage.

 

exactly.

 

lets hope kelmsleys commnts are true and mike wants to spend big

[jarralad]

He`s just a younger big sam.

[James]

Working well on a shoestring budget is not something we need now tbh. Allardyce found out the hard way that once the stakes are raised, the expectations are very different.

 

Not having experience of spending big money well is a disadvantage.

 

The difference is though that Allardyce has throughout his career worked at smaller clubs with smaller names. Hughes has been amongst some quality in his time as a player, and I can see that helping when it comes to acquiring players with a greater transfer backing.

[Taylor Swift]

You're wrong about selling Bellamy because he needed to raise funds. Bellamy was sold because there was a clause in his contract. He hasn't been forced to sell anyone to raise funds.

 

So I will look at his 10th place last season, and I will look at the position that Blackburn are in this season.

 

No thanks.

[Ally]

Sideways step, pretty pointless.

[lovejoy]

Sideways step, pretty pointless.

 

this.

 

sideways but slightly backwards imo

[Taylor Swift]

Working well on a shoestring budget is not something we need now tbh. Allardyce found out the hard way that once the stakes are raised, the expectations are very different.

 

Not having experience of spending big money well is a disadvantage.

 

The difference is though that Allardyce has throughout his career worked at smaller clubs with smaller names. Hughes has been amongst some quality in his time as a player, and I can see that helping when it comes to acquiring players with a greater transfer backing.

 

Using that last logic we might as well bring in Shearer.

 

And how will it help him acquire players? I would think that since Sam's been in the club football business for longer, he'd have way more contacts than someone like Hughes who's still at his first club. And we've seen how that's worked out for us. We need someone who knows how to spend big, someone's experienced who's been there and done that. Any other type of manager (maybe except an unknown like Shearer/Klinsmann/Van Basten) would make the Allardyce sacking pointless.

 

Again, no thanks.

[Dave]

The other thing about Hughes is the Manchester United factor.

 

He's been quietly tipped for that post (eventually) for some time. If he does well here that speculation will just continue and grow as Fergie gets closer to retirement.

 

Not saying this won't happen with anyone else btw.

[Guest SpinTheBlackCircle]

Pointless.

[danswan]

He`s just a younger big sam.

 

Plays better football than Sam..

 

I would love to see  a 'Big Name' come in, but the question has to be, how and when did they become 'Big Names'? They weren't born that way. If the new appointment comes from a 'smaller' club or even from the lower leagues, there's nothing to say he won't be a success. Conversley it's not beyond the realms of possibility that someone like José or Lippi would come here and die on their arse.

 

Right man, right job, right time. That is what we need, there are no guarantees. The new man, whoever he is, must come into the club with everyone pulling in the same direction, if half of us are whining on that he hasn't won the Champions League and the World Cup then we will have failed before he even starts.

[James]

You're wrong about selling Bellamy because he needed to raise funds. Bellamy was sold because there was a clause in his contract. He hasn't been forced to sell anyone to raise funds.

 

So I will look at his 10th place last season, and I will look at the position that Blackburn are in this season.

 

No thanks.

 

Bellamy was still sold against Hughes wishes, with a clause that was kept secret from him by the chairman.

 

This season, Blackburn are 3 points off 6th despite having quite a few periods without key players being available.

 

Blackburn have been better than us post-Robson thanks to Hughes. We are not as good a team as you are making out, hence the quality of manager that is considered to be the best available to us.

[Mowen]

Plays more attractive football than Big Sam, Blackburn pass it around very nicely. In terms of what he's achieved so far he's no improvement though. I'd have him over 'Arry any day of the week.

[Nate]

Sideways step, pretty pointless.

 

I agree. This is such a crucial period in the Premier League, it's now arguably the most attractive and richest league in the world, with a queue of top managers very keen to come here. To merely continue the cycle of average british managers would be massively disappointing and i worry would leave us miles behind Sven's City and Ramos' Tottenham, along with currently established top four, over the coming years.

 

This is Ashley's first and most important appointment, it has to be a 'special' one. :parky:

[Dave]

He`s just a younger big sam.

 

Plays better football than Sam..

 

I would love to see  a 'Big Name' come in, but the question has to be, how and when did they become 'Big Names'? They weren't born that way. If the new appointment comes from a 'smaller' club or even from the lower leagues, there's nothing to say he won't be a success. Conversley it's not beyond the realms of possibility that someone like José, Lippi would come here and die on their arse.

 

Right man, right job, right time. That is what we need, there are no guarantees. The new man, whoever he is, must come into the club with everyone pulling in the same direction, if half of us are whining on that he hasn't won the Champions League and the World Cup then we will have failed before he even starts.

 

That's my worry with a big name. If fans were impatient with Bolton manager Sam Allardyce, how bad will they be with World Cup winner Lippi, or Premier League winner Jose?

 

Their calibre will obviously buy them time like, and there's more chance of that success anyway.

[Tisd09]

Sideways step, pretty pointless.

 

this.

 

sideways but slightly backwards imo

 

pretty much this.

 

sideway but slightly forwards for me.

 

We need more than slightly forwards though.

[Keefaz]

Sideways, but with a slight shimmy.