[Archived] Sparky - Not A Great Manager?

[thenodrog]

In the job 3 months and he'll get a mega pay rise! The ayrabs wont want to lose the 'financial musclemen of football' image just yet will they? Jammy git! ........... Or could it be a few grand in the back sack and a favour ot two called in to some chummy media hack simply to print an unfounded rumour...... if Hughes fears that his job will come to an end next summer if he doesn't perform miracles then an increased salary now will lead to a bigger redundancy package! Heads sparky wins, tails sparky wins. Lovely.

[John]

Interesting if true: City boss Mark Hughes is a big fan of Defoe, and attempted to sign him while he was in charge at Blackburn.

[tony gale's mic]

I still can't believe people say it was time for Hughes to go. The man had just taken us to another very good finish in the league, granted we'd had a poor performance at the last game of the season but the only reason we were even in with a chance that day is because Villa had a similarly poor performance at home to Fulham. Bad occasional results happen but last season was another successful one. So far the jury is still very much out on Ince - he has us playing more attractive football in midfield but the end product is lacking more than under Hughes, and defensively we look considerably more shaky...

[BuckyRover]

Yes, but he has only been here a few months.

This season is about consolidation. Next season is when you will see the real Paul Ince team.

Not a quick transformation, but that is not possible on our budget anyway.

[joey_big_nose]

Well, Hughes hasn't been setting the world alight at City and ince is doing okay at rovers, particularly in the cup. I am in favour of the change mainly because it is something a bit different to be honest. It is nice to see a bit fo change every now and again, and what is the point of having a manager who wants to leave your club as they think it is holding them back rahter than the immediate future of their career.

I think it is a redundant argument. Whichever way you look at it Sparky was going to go. If he was still at Rovers it would of been announced today that he had got the Spurs job, or tomorrow that he had taken the pompey one. If he had got nether he would be moaning about it! We need to move on.

[tony gale's mic]

Yes, but he has only been here a few months.

This season is about consolidation. Next season is when you will see the real Paul Ince team.

Not a quick transformation, but that is not possible on our budget anyway.

And this season you're seeing him perform with Sparky's players (Bentley excluded). Sparky worked wonders in the transfer market and it will be no disgrace on Ince as a manager if he falls some way short. I'm more worried about the coming seasons than this one in particular. We finish bottom half this season and it will become increasingly hard to attract quality players to Ewood.

Well, Hughes hasn't been setting the world alight at City and ince is doing okay at rovers, particularly in the cup. I am in favour of the change mainly because it is something a bit different to be honest. It is nice to see a bit fo change every now and again, and what is the point of having a manager who wants to leave your club as they think it is holding them back rahter than the immediate future of their career.

I think it is a redundant argument. Whichever way you look at it Sparky was going to go. If he was still at Rovers it would of been announced today that he had got the Spurs job, or tomorrow that he had taken the pompey one. If he had got nether he would be moaning about it! We need to move on.

It's not about moaning about it, it's about people basically rewriting history and distorting the facts. We were all disappointed after the Birmingham game last season but people calling for Sparky's head were few and far between, and those that were quite rightly were laughed at. So to now claim that we needed a change after we'd just improved our position by three places and ended up with more points than the previous season is nothing short of extraordinary.

Something a bit different will almost certainly for me mean a different half of the table to what we've been used to lately. If you don't mind us being less successful just for the sake of change then fair enough.

[gumboots]

And this season you're seeing him perform with Sparky's players (Bentley excluded). Sparky worked wonders in the transfer market and it will be no disgrace on Ince as a manager if he falls some way short. I'm more worried about the coming seasons than this one in particular. We finish bottom half this season and it will become increasingly hard to attract quality players to Ewood.

It's not about moaning about it, it's about people basically rewriting history and distorting the facts. We were all disappointed after the Birmingham game last season but people calling for Sparky's head were few and far between, and those that were quite rightly were laughed at. So to now claim that we needed a change after we'd just improved our position by three places and ended up with more points than the previous season is nothing short of extraordinary.

Something a bit different will almost certainly for me mean a different half of the table to what we've been used to lately. If you don't mind us being less successful just for the sake of change then fair enough.

I don't think many of us thought it was necessarily time for him to go but it was obvious that Mark Hughes had started thinking that way. As has been said when he didn't go to Newcastle he was nailed on for the next "big club" job that came up wherever it was. The chairman knew it as he said back in January, and as Portsmouth have just shown, when your manager wants to go you get the best deal for him you can and move on. It's the moving on that so many fans seem to be finding hard. Ince is not Hughes, won't be hughes, doesn't want to be Hughes. What he can possibly be if we let him is a very good rovers manager. It is still early days and he is learning. He hasn't had many games and his early season has been disrupted by international breaks. If you are an established manager, you take those in your stride. If you are inexperienced they hit you hard. I want us to succeed and if Ince can't deliver then he needs to be replaced. I just can't see at the moment that he is not able to deliver longer term. I was very frustrated by yesterday's performance but not down hearted yet.

[Blue n White Rover]

It's the moving on that so many fans seem to be finding hard. Ince is not Hughes, won't be hughes, doesn't want to be Hughes. What he can possibly be if we let him is a very good rovers manager. It is still early days and he is learning. He hasn't had many games and his early season has been disrupted by international breaks. If you are an established manager, you take those in your stride. If you are inexperienced they hit you hard. I want us to succeed and if Ince can't deliver then he needs to be replaced.

I think that is the key. Spot on!

Ince wants his own style of Football. Even the likes of Wenger/Benitez and the other top managers can't change the way the team plays its football, overnight. It will take time. This season is a "transitional" period you could say. Most people will be happy with a Top half finish and next season is the season to Judge.

Honestly speaking what would you have expected from these first 9 games?

Everton - Draw

Hull - Win

Arsenal - Lose

West Ham - Lose

Newcastle - Win

Fulham - Win

Bolton - Win/Draw

Man Utd - Lose

Boro - Win/Draw

We would have expected around 15 points from our opening games. We are currently on 12 points so it isn't a bad start by all means. We have Villa and West Brom next, any realistic Rovers fan would expect around 3/4 points from these games.

[Hughesy]

This season is a "transitional" period you could say. Most people will be happy with a Top half finish and next season is the season to Judge.

Honestly speaking what would you have expected from these first 9 games?

Spot on.

You also need to look at Hull (fantastic start and we are the only team to take a point off them whilst on thier travels, which includes Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle), Bolton (always tight games, draw is normal), Boro (Ditto for Boro at Home).

Other than the humbling by Arsenal 4-0 you have to say nothing has been unexpected based on our past. West Ham we always tend to lose at, yes we lost 4-1, but the score flattered and if Derbyshire's goal had stood (which it should) then it would of been very different.

Our Start hasnt been bad considering the changes - see below:

Previous Season’s after 9 games –

12pts 2008-09

18pts 2007-08

13pts 2006-07

11pts 2005-06

6pts 2004-05

[CrazyIvan]

I'm of the opinion Hughes had decided that the next 'big' club (compared to Rovers) that offered him the position he'd take it after being linked with Newcastle. I don't buy the 'last day capitulation was his fault' argument as, this has been said many times before, after the players cross the white line the manager can do little more but if he was looking for a move and that vibe was felt by the players then it would have had an impact. Is he a poor manager? Still no in my opinion but I stick by my previous post that he's not a great manager yet either.

I agree wholeheartedly that this is a transition period and if we finish in the middle to top half I will be pleased. 8th would be nice. Europe would be brilliant but to expect that is silly.

[DingleBaiter]

I'm of the opinion Hughes had decided that the next 'big' club (compared to Rovers) that offered him the position he'd take it after being linked with Newcastle. I don't buy the 'last day capitulation was his fault' argument as, this has been said many times before, after the players cross the white line the manager can do little more but if he was looking for a move and that vibe was felt by the players then it would have had an impact. Is he a poor manager? Still no in my opinion but I stick by my previous post that he's not a great manager yet either.

I agree wholeheartedly that this is a transition period and if we finish in the middle to top half I will be pleased. 8th would be nice. Europe would be brilliant but to expect that is silly.

A lot of this Hughes is pesh stuff is either revisionist, spiteful or churlish.

IMO he was the manager that actually achieved the most progression overall, considering the resources & environment he was working in at the time. I rate Hughes and all he did very highly indeed enough, he had his faults but his positives vastly outweighed them. Ince will do some things better, some things worse - but it's not a case of right/wrong on specifics, it's the 'big picture' that matters. Ince needs to be judged on his own merits; the very fact Hughes 'raised the bar' so highly is indicative of the job he did, but at this stage nobody knows if he will prove to be better (although plenty want to advocate he will be worse).

I also think all managers have 'shelf lives' at a certain clubs, and Hughes perhaps felt he'd done all he can at Rovers, and it was always going to be a question of the right situation at the right time. As it happened, it turned into a poker bluff - City were certain he was going there even before Rovers announced they'd been approached (just like the Redknapp/Pompey situation) yet members of the Taffia were whispering they could be at Chelsea. Did Hughes use City to draw Chelsea out, then get caught out? Maybe it seemed that way at the time, but on reflection (as Ivan says) he was probably always going to the next club who made an approach.

The ultimate irony would be that he left us supposedly to find a club that could match his ambitions, but now he may not match the ambitions of the club's owners. However, if he did leave City I'm sure there will be plenty suitors for his services - but perhaps not the two jobs he covets the most.

What disappointed me most about him leaving was I actually believed it mattered to him when he preached about loyalty, commitment, honesty, etc. - but (as always) for 'ambition' read 'money' I guess. It DID leave a sour taste, but not enough to decry his efforts here.

Then again, in light of all that has happened at City, it's like they say - if you can't be good, be lucky.

[Majiball]

Well said DB I agree with most of that.

A lot of people have come and said his heart was not in it at the end, but I'm not so convinced. Hughes has never struck me a someone to lose focus, he was our manager and as such I believe he was completely committed, getting us into europe again would have raised his profile further. His demeanour at Birmingham does not necessarily mean he was not focused on us.

The team we put out should easily have beaten Birmingham, the players would have been briefed on what an important game it was. However I don't think they completely took it all in, we played poorly in a situation where it was must win against lesser opposition. I've started to feel that Hughes expression wasn't one of dis-interest but perhaps one of disappointment in his players. At the end of the day a managers role is preparation orientated and his influence during the game minimal compared to the players. He probably felt let down by there performance, thats all.

Hughes worked wonders for us on a shoestring we cannot afford to spend more so the parting of the ways was inevitable. Hughes wanted equal footing to push the top 4/rest of the chasing pack in a financial sense he got that, we where not in a position to do that.

[thenodrog]

What disappointed me most about him leaving was I actually believed it mattered to him when he preached about loyalty, commitment, honesty, etc. - but (as always) for 'ambition' read 'money' I guess. It DID leave a sour taste, but not enough to decry his efforts here.

Alternatively maybe Hughes felt that the club did not back him and therefore did not return his loyalty, commitment and honesty during that January transfer window. He must have known that he'd made us a shed load of money with his signings and baffled as to why the cheque book had been withdrawn.

I guess we'll never know and will just have to continue with speculation.

[Tom]

Looking at messeagboards tonight a lot of city fans aren't happy with Hughes. Saying his tactics when losing are just everybody running forward with no real aim, I think we can all agree he was always a bit dodgy when trying to change a game.

[BuckyRover]

He blamed the referee for their defeat tonight. He did have a point but that doesn't change the fact Man City did not score

[Tom]

Thats a first for him, oh wait no its not.

[Mr. E]

Looking at messeagboards tonight a lot of city fans aren't happy with Hughes. Saying his tactics when losing are just everybody running forward with no real aim, I think we can all agree he was always a bit dodgy when trying to change a game.

..except for the fact that we were the biggest comeback team last season?

[rovers1993]

Just heard the funniest thing alive on football focus! had to share this with yall,

The pundit said:

'Mark Hughes is a strong manager, he would not give in to the owners when they say they want Kaka. He will buy his own man and make a bargain out of him such as the likes of the hard battling Aaron Mokoena who is an exceptional player he got for next to nothing'

WOAH! can't believe where they get the pundits like this...

i swear if MH was still at blackburn, the pundit would NEVER say anything like this about moko!

just shows how dumb these football pundits are actually.

[Hughesy]

Maybe them same pundits could find us a buyer??

[Bennisfromheaven]

Just heard the funniest thing alive on football focus! had to share this with yall,

The pundit said:

'Mark Hughes is a strong manager, he would not give in to the owners when they say they want Kaka. He will buy his own man and make a bargain out of him such as the likes of the hard battling Aaron Mokoena who is an exceptional player he got for next to nothing'

WOAH! can't believe where they get the pundits like this...

i swear if MH was still at blackburn, the pundit would NEVER say anything like this about moko!

just shows how dumb these football pundits are actually.

MOTD pundits maybe! have a look at RTEs coverage of the premiership & champions league. You cant get better than Eamon dunphy & johnny giles for a good ol' rant. They never care what people will think of them even if they are wrong. Even our Souey enjoys the odd appearance cos he can say what he wants!

Ronaldo the Brat!!!!

Dunphy on English football

[vintageadidas]

"...i thought we were excellent tonight/today....."

Hughes favourite line when his team wins.

Big hairy balls to him; he is gone and i mean in more ways than one. It looks like Mark Hughes, sounds like Mark Hughes but it just is not him anymore. He is a BIG TIME CHARLIE!

[1864roverite]

I wonder if his discussion sin the Middle East might invovle a p45 ?

[Amo]

MOTD pundits maybe! have a look at RTEs coverage of the premiership & champions league. You cant get better than Eamon dunphy & johnny giles for a good ol' rant. They never care what people will think of them even if they are wrong. Even our Souey enjoys the odd appearance cos he can say what he wants!

I like how it says Roy Keane left Notts Forest to Man. Utd for £3.75. Fergie sure knows a bargain when he sees one.

[RevidgeBlue]

Going back to Sparky, we know he is a good manager, it just goes to show it's not that easy to walk into a new club, change the personnel round, introduce a new style of play, and expect things to click instantly.

[gumboots]

Going back to Sparky, we know he is a good manager, it just goes to show it's not that easy to walk into a new club, change the personnel round, introduce a new style of play, and expect things to click instantly.

Even if the money is fairly readily available to you.