Mark bloody Hughes “He’s the devil in disguiseâ€
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He may be one of the best young British managers in the Premiership, along with Aston Villa’s Martin O’Neill and Everton’s David Moyes. He has taken Blackburn to two top six finishes in the last four years, on a relatively modest budget. He has also demonstrated an eye for a bargain in the transfer market (although for every David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz there’s an Andre Oijer lurking menacingly around the corner). And his teams could never be accused of lacking fight or spirit, an accusation frequently levelled at City over the last few years. You can’t imagine, for instance, one of Hughes’ teams losing 8-1 or, indeed, 6-0.
But…… it’s Mark bloody Hughes, for christ’s sake. I spent much of my childhood loathing the man. To me he was the very embodiment of Manchester United for much of the 80s and 90s. And I’ve still not forgiven him for his cowardly assault on Richard Edghill whilst playing for Southampton. The only scant consolation is that my United supporting friends (an oxymoron, surely?) are equally aghast at the prospect of Hughes taking over.
I guess it’s not without precedent; Matt Busby was a Blue, after all, and more recently the cases of Messrs Schmeichel and Cole have taught me, if nothing else, that all footballers are shameless mercenaries, and most fans are incredibly fickle.
His Manchester United links aside, it doesn’t strike me as being a particularly progressive move by the club. I’m underwhelmed by the prospect, and concerned that our main route into Europe (i.e. the Fair Play league) may be jeopardised by his appointment. His curriculum vitae doesn’t stand up to Eriksson’s, and his teams aren’t known for playing particularly attractive football. Then again, neither did City in the second half of last season.
To many fans though it felt like we were making great progress under Sven; we had a nice blend of youth and experience in the squad and there was a sense of unity and purpose amongst the players. Eriksson’s sacking seems to have lost that momentum, with strong rumours that the likes of Richard Dunne, Michael Johnson and Micah Richards are on the verge of leaving City.
But there is little point in dwelling on the past. Hughes is appointed as City manager he’ll have my full support (until things start going wrong that is; I imagine he won’t be granted much of a honeymoon period by the fans). But I’ll stop short of calling him ‘Hughesy‘ or, even worse, ‘Sparky’. The very notion makes me slightly nauseous. He’ll always be Leslie to me. Les, at a push, if we start to warm to him.
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Manchester City fear Mark Hughes will go to Manchester United
Hughes : A devil in waiting?
Manchester City supporters, already enraged by the sacking of Sven-Goran Eriksson, have been dealt a fresh blow with the revelation that new executive chairman, Garry Cook is already resigned to losing Mark Hughes as manager if Manchester United come calling.
Cook has admitted he and Hughes have already spoken about the possibility of the Welshman being poached by their fierce rivals, as United have made their former player one of their preferred choices to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson when he retires in 2011.
Despite Hughes' claims that he can achieve his ambitions at Eastlands, Cook recognises that a return to Old Trafford could prove irresistible. "Yes, it could happen," he said. "Mark and I have talked about that. But you don't build a dynasty on the basis of what might be negative implication. You build it on what's right today and what you need today.
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yea i hope he takes over fergie
i dun mind mourinho too... hehe
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out of the three mentioned, I still prefer Martin O'Neil.
to me, he is the one with the European Cup experience and he doesn't invite as much trouble..