[Archived] Mark Hughes

[BangkokRover]

what kind of contract though!!, i seem to remember Jones signing one of them as well!!

does the uncertainty of the club mean in appointing Kean!!!

One that contained a magical release clause, one that rises in value no matter what is written on the legal document.

[Black Burn]

I think some of you here are not being fair to Kean. Seriously. I like Mark Hughes, I respect what he has done for the club, and the proudest moments of my short tenure as a Blackburn fan (I'm pretty young) were when we were playing under Hughes. Gramme Souness didn't do as well, even if we won a cup and secured a similar position under him, but the next season we were almost fighting against relegation. Mark Hughes is a good manager, full stop. Will he come here before leaving? I don't know. I doubt so. If he wanted to come to Blackburn, he might as well stayed at Fulham, we're not that much different from Fulham now.

But the comments slamming Kean are ridiculous in my opinion. Sure, Kean dragged us down to a relegation dogfight, but he got us out of it in the end, and we were never in the bottom three at any time during the season. He is not "rubbish" as some of you purported him to be. And the "Kean can't attract top players" is a little illogical. And Mark Hughes can? Sam Allardyce can? Other than Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich, David Bentley from Arsenal, Stephen Warnock from Liverpool and Benni McCarthy from Porto, (note that these players aren't even top players, they just happen to come from top clubs) most of Hughes's buys were relatively unknowns, like Chris Samba from Hertha Berlin, not top players. And even when Mark Hughes got Robinho during his time at Manchester City, what happened? Additionally, was there a top player who came here during Allardyce's time? Now I'm not dissing either managers - they are definitely good, and they have lured players like Bellamy and the earlier mentioned (or at least Hughes did) to the club. But top players? Seriously?

Kean can lure good players from the Championship if he tries - but the critics here will just continue flaming him for buying lousy players anyway. And was he not the one who convinced Santa Cruz to come play here on loan? Would Jermaine Jones be so forthright in wishing to stay here if he didn't want to play under Kean? Would Hoilett not be desperate not to stay here if it weren't for Kean?

I'm not saying Kean is the messiah, don't get me wrong. He is not Mourinho, will never be, but he is not rubbish either. He is at least better than the five managers who finished below him, like Mick McCarthy, Ian Holloway, Arvam Grant (did I spell his name right?). If he was truly rubbish as some of you claim him to be, we would have been relegated long ago. We weren't. That's a fact. We might do poorly in the next season - a possibility, but not a fact. We might hit top 5 next season - remote possibility, but not a fact either. We might even get relegated next season - but it hasn't happened, and it isn't a fact. So why harp on non-facts and be depressed about it?

Facts - We went on a bad patch and didn't win a lot of matches. We didn't get relegated. We stayed up. We had an impressive 3-2 victory over Wolves for the last game. We didn't lose to Arsenal away or Manchester United at home despite "fans'" claims to the contrary. Steve Kean is not an excellent manager. He is not a horrible manager either. He is the manager of Blackburn at the moment. Those are facts.

So give him a break and a chance. If he does poorly, which isn't for certain and is not a fact, for the first few games, he will be sacked by Christmas, probably anyway. If he does well, then his critics would have to eat their words. But if nothing has happened yet and the transfer window isn't even over, why whine about it? No players have been signing for Blackburn? For crissakes, it's only 22nd June. It's way too early to be hitting the panic button and slamming Kean for not being able to attract "top" players.

At BangkokRover, now isn't that a good thing for us, though?

[Ozz]

This story appears to have some mileage in it.

[pancini]

Black Burn you are going to get shot for writting logical and reasoned comments on here

[DannyKeg]

You always know when Harry Redknapp is going somewhere when big bets get placed with the bookies.

I think someone said a few days ago that the odds on Hughes returning had been knocked down at Victor Chandler ?

I have been looking at the online betting sites, but can't find anything, I'm not a betting man so I may be looking in the wrong place.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

If Venky's bring in Hughes now then I'd judge them far more than when they sacked Allardyce. They chose Kean, gave him a budget and let him target players to buy. To replace him now would be lunacy. Nice to see the Anti Venky's mob jumping on this as being a decent move by the owners when its exactly this sort of destabilising move which brought them abuse last December..

Hughes record in the transfer market during his 4 years here was great. Kean has had one window and did reasonably. To compare is ridiculous. None of us know how well Kean/Kentaro/Venky's can identify/bring in talent, so all we can do is wait until Sept 1st to find out. I dont see the point in jumping to conclusions about how terrible or brilliant Kean/Venky's are in the transfer market until they've had one full window's worth of time to spend money and bring in the players they want. They will be judged after that.

[PAFELL]

This story appears to have some mileage in it.

Based on what?

[Tardyrover]

Link

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/blackburn-specials/next-permanent-manager/bet-history/mark-hughes/all-history

[BangkokRover]

Based on what?

The number of people praying Kean is sacked

[Mattyblue]

If Venky's bring in Hughes now then I'd judge them far more than when they sacked Allardyce. They chose Kean, gave him a budget and let him target players to buy. To replace him now would be lunacy. Nice to see the Anti Venky's mob jumping on this as being a decent move by the owners when its exactly this sort of destabilising move which brought them abuse last December..

Hughes record in the transfer market during his 4 years here was great. Kean has had one window and did reasonably. To compare is ridiculous. None of us know how well Kean/Kentaro/Venky's can identify/bring in talent, so all we can do is wait until Sept 1st to find out. I dont see the point in jumping to conclusions about how terrible or brilliant Kean/Venky's are in the transfer market until they've had one full window's worth of time to spend money and bring in the players they want. They will be judged after that.

You serious?

Keeping Kean if Mark Hughes was interested? Kean isn't fit to say his name.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

I think some of you here are not being fair to Kean. Seriously. I like Mark Hughes, I respect what he has done for the club, and the proudest moments of my short tenure as a Blackburn fan (I'm pretty young) were when we were playing under Hughes. Gramme Souness didn't do as well, even if we won a cup and secured a similar position under him, but the next season we were almost fighting against relegation. Mark Hughes is a good manager, full stop. Will he come here before leaving? I don't know. I doubt so. If he wanted to come to Blackburn, he might as well stayed at Fulham, we're not that much different from Fulham now.

But the comments slamming Kean are ridiculous in my opinion. Sure, Kean dragged us down to a relegation dogfight, but he got us out of it in the end, and we were never in the bottom three at any time during the season. He is not "rubbish" as some of you purported him to be. And the "Kean can't attract top players" is a little illogical. And Mark Hughes can? Sam Allardyce can? Other than Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich, David Bentley from Arsenal, Stephen Warnock from Liverpool and Benni McCarthy from Porto, (note that these players aren't even top players, they just happen to come from top clubs) most of Hughes's buys were relatively unknowns, like Chris Samba from Hertha Berlin, not top players. And even when Mark Hughes got Robinho during his time at Manchester City, what happened? Additionally, was there a top player who came here during Allardyce's time? Now I'm not dissing either managers - they are definitely good, and they have lured players like Bellamy and the earlier mentioned (or at least Hughes did) to the club. But top players? Seriously?

Kean can lure good players from the Championship if he tries - but the critics here will just continue flaming him for buying lousy players anyway. And was he not the one who convinced Santa Cruz to come play here on loan? Would Jermaine Jones be so forthright in wishing to stay here if he didn't want to play under Kean? Would Hoilett not be desperate not to stay here if it weren't for Kean?

I'm not saying Kean is the messiah, don't get me wrong. He is not Mourinho, will never be, but he is not rubbish either. He is at least better than the five managers who finished below him, like Mick McCarthy, Ian Holloway, Arvam Grant (did I spell his name right?). If he was truly rubbish as some of you claim him to be, we would have been relegated long ago. We weren't. That's a fact. We might do poorly in the next season - a possibility, but not a fact. We might hit top 5 next season - remote possibility, but not a fact either. We might even get relegated next season - but it hasn't happened, and it isn't a fact. So why harp on non-facts and be depressed about it?

Facts - We went on a bad patch and didn't win a lot of matches. We didn't get relegated. We stayed up. We had an impressive 3-2 victory over Wolves for the last game. We didn't lose to Arsenal away or Manchester United at home despite "fans'" claims to the contrary. Steve Kean is not an excellent manager. He is not a horrible manager either. He is the manager of Blackburn at the moment. Those are facts.

So give him a break and a chance. If he does poorly, which isn't for certain and is not a fact, for the first few games, he will be sacked by Christmas, probably anyway. If he does well, then his critics would have to eat their words. But if nothing has happened yet and the transfer window isn't even over, why whine about it? No players have been signing for Blackburn? For crissakes, it's only 22nd June. It's way too early to be hitting the panic button and slamming Kean for not being able to attract "top" players.

At BangkokRover, now isn't that a good thing for us, though?

Spot on. Common sense on here finally.

If Kean was as bad as half the people on here say he is then we'd be in the championship. It takes more to get a team out of a relegation scrap then it does to take a team into one. He's by no means great, but he deserves a shot. If he fails between Sept and December he'll be gone.

[Black Burn]

Black Burn you are going to get shot for writting logical and reasoned comments on here

I'm wearing a bulletproof vest. Come on, any one of you, take your best shot.

You serious?

Keeping Kean if Mark Hughes was interested? Kean isn't fit to say his name.

While admittedly Mark Hughes is a better manager than Kean based on Kean's half a season in charge, I would agree that changing managers now right after approving Kean's budget and list of transfer targets would basically be shooting themselves in the foot. Hughes would need to hold an all-new meeting with his own list of targets and he will need his budget approved.

Don't let your emotions and bad impression of Kean get in the way of stability for the club.

[ABBEY]

Knowing how the venkys have so far done things ïts probably ,lee Hughes, emltn Hughes or cerys hughes.

[DannyKeg]

Link

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/blackburn-specials/next-permanent-manager/bet-history/mark-hughes/all-history

Thanks Tardy, so that means the odds are dropping (over the last few days) so people are putting money on it happening, but only at Victor Chandler ?

From 25:1 down to 13:8 how significant is that ?

It's either wishful thinking, or someone has been given the nod,

[PAFELL]

Link

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/blackburn-specials/next-permanent-manager/bet-history/mark-hughes/all-history

Means nothing. Bookies just covering themselves.

Anyway Venkys do not have the bottle to sack Kean - they'd upset Huber and Anderson - as well as the transfer plans, that we were told about last night. If a new manager came in, they would want to say what players they want to buy. Cannot see MH being dictated too by Kentario etc etc.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

You serious?

Keeping Kean if Mark Hughes was interested? Kean isn't fit to say his name.

Based on what? Its fashionable to dislike Kean I know, but beyond that? Kean has had 6 months in the job. Half of that went badly, half of it went well. He did reasonably in the January transfer window. He is going to be given the time to prove himself and based on our form from March to May he deserves that chance.

You honestly think its wise to restructure our management again just as the transfer window starts? Seriously?

[Mattyblue]

I'm wearing a bulletproof vest. Come on, any one of you, take your best shot.

While admittedly Mark Hughes is a better manager than Kean based on Kean's half a season in charge, I would agree that changing managers now right after approving Kean's budget and list of transfer targets would basically be shooting themselves in the foot. Hughes would need to hold an all-new meeting with his own list of targets and he will need his budget approved.

Don't let your emotions and bad impression of Kean get in the way of stability for the club.

What stability? He's been in he job for half a season and almost relegated us, we had stability with the previous management.

Keeping Steve Kean if Hughes was interested (highly doubtful) AND with money to spend would be utterly ridiculous.

[pancini]

Knowing how the venkys have so far done things ïts probably ,lee Hughes, emltn Hughes or cerys hughes.

Can we not have Cerys Matthews instead i would get my season ticket near the bench if we did that

[Lathund]

Remember Rovers are not a selling club.

If you use the term "selling club" to mean "on occasion being forced to sell players against our will" then yes we are a selling club. So is every other club in the world, bar perhaps Real Madrid and Barcelona. Even Man U lost Ronaldo. Inter lost Zlatan. Milan lost Kaka. And so on.

What we are not under the new owners, and neither are Man U, Liverpool etc, is a selling club based on the defintion "need to sell for financial reasons, in order to break even". Or well this remains to be seen, but we've seen nothing so far to suggest this isn't the case.

Getting so tired of that one liner... been used so many times on this board, by many different people, and not once has it been amusing or made a good point.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I have to admit when Hughes left Rovers I said I would never welcome him back. His behaviour before he left wasn't great, the speculation about Newcastle and his refusal to confirm or deny it I believe did unsettle the side a bit and the team suffered, I couldn't stand his behaviour at City either especially his way of unsettling players via the media.

That being said I have viewed a major decline of Rovers since his departure and some serious tough times. With the game being now more about short-termism rather than long-termism I probably would now take him back if he wanted to return. Would he leave again in the near future? Probably, but he would leave us in a stronger position his history has shown that. Rovers were certs for relegation, he kept us up and transformed us into a decent cup side pushing for Europe. Fulham looked in trouble but he turned them around and next season would have had them pushing for Europe. City did make progress under Hughes, not quick enough for the owners but it was progress.

If Hughes came back we would have to make sure we make a better effort in finding a suitable replacement if he does inevitably go.

I have to say I have serious doubts that there is any truth in him being interested in a return to the club, but I wouldn't rule out Venky's pursuing him. They sacked Sam out of the blue when we were midtable, Kean should be watching his back.

Hughes > Kean as far as I'm concerned, if the owners get rid of Kean and bring in Hughes I would welcome that decision.

[Mattyblue]

Based on what? Its fashionable to dislike Kean I know, but beyond that? Kean has had 6 months in the job. Half of that went badly, half of it went well. He did reasonably in the January transfer window. He is going to be given the time to prove himself and based on our form from March to May he deserves that chance.

You honestly think its wise to restructure our management again just as the transfer window starts? Seriously?

Fashionable? It was fashionable to deride Sam Allardyce, I didn't follow that trend either.

He deserves a chance why? For his loyalty? For his connections? We went four months with just one win before the Wolves game- sorry '6 positive results out of 8' or whatever baloney he was spouting.

It is June, we have signed nobody, we still have Chris Samba. It would be an absolute godsend if Hughes walked in the door with months to go before KO. Maybe Kentaro would have to reschedule a meeting with all 'the big players', but so what.

Kean is far too cosy with the owners/'advisors' for any of this to be a possbility, but we can but dream.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

What stability? He's been in he job for half a season and almost relegated us, we had stability with the previous management.

Keeping Steve Kean if Hughes was interested (highly doubtful) AND with money to spend would be utterly ridiculous.

Urgh..

What little stability there is will be ruined if we now elect to appoint a new manager and a new backroom staff. You dont like Kean we get it, but that shouldn't stop you from realising that its a bit stupid to restructure the management whilst at the start of a transfer window. If you had a straight choice between Hughes and Kean, I and the vast majority of the posters on here would go Hughes every time, but given how we need a degree of stability and a need to settle the club down after the Allardyce fiasco, it'd be wise just to stick as we are.

[Black Burn]

What stability? He's been in he job for half a season and almost relegated us, we had stability with the previous management.

Keeping Steve Kean if Hughes was interested (highly doubtful) AND with money to spend would be utterly ridiculous.

That's double standards, don't you think?

Firstly, you agree that we had stability with the previous management, and replacing Allardyce with Kean destablized everything. So...wouldn't replacing Kean with Hughes destablize everything as well? I note that you are ignoring the point I made about Hughes having to draw up a whole new list of targets, hold another meeting and have his budget approved yet again. Edit: Oh, you did. Sorry about that.

So Kean bringing in Santa Cruz on loan was disastrous for the transfer window despite not spending a single cent on him, and as such you conclude that if you give Kean money to spend he will waste it yet you don't say the same for Mark Hughes who spent 17 million on Santa Cruz but ended up not using him for the couple of seasons he was here?

Now I like Mark Hughes and respect him very highly, but I also respect Kean, though to a lower extent and I feel that you're just putting on blinders whenever it comes to Kean. For other managers, such mistakes are not world-ending, but everything Kean does you seem to feel he deserves the sack, even if Hughes did the same thing.

Let's be fair to Kean, all right?

Fashionable? It was fashionable to deride Sam Allardyce, I didn't follow that trend either.

He deserves a chance why? For his loyalty? For his connections? We went four months with just one win before the Wolves game- sorry '6 positive results out of 8' or whatever baloney he was spouting.

It is June, we have signed nobody, we still have Chris Samba. It would be an absolute godsend if Hughes walked in the door with months to go before KO. Maybe Kentaro would have to reschedule a meeting with all 'the big players', but so what.

Kean is far too cosy with the owners/'advisors' for any of this to be a possbility, but we can but dream.

I didn't deride Allardyce as much as I didn't like him. He is a good manager and I respect him for that.

And, despite not winning anything for 4 months other than Bolton and Wolves, we stayed up. Amazing in its own right, don't you think? And wouldn't you view the draws against Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham positive results?

[PAFELL]

I have to admit when Hughes left Rovers I said I would never welcome him back. His behaviour before he left wasn't great, the speculation about Newcastle and his refusal to confirm or deny it I believe did unsettle the side a bit and the team suffered, I couldn't stand his behaviour at City either especially his way of unsettling players via the media.

That being said I have viewed a major decline of Rovers since his departure and some serious tough times. With the game being now more about short-termism rather than long-termism I probably would now take him back if he wanted to return. Would he leave again in the near future? Probably, but he would leave us in a stronger position his history has shown that. Rovers were certs for relegation, he kept us up and transformed us into a decent cup side pushing for Europe. Fulham looked in trouble but he turned them around and next season would have had them pushing for Europe. City did make progress under Hughes, not quick enough for the owners but it was progress.

If Hughes came back we would have to make sure we make a better effort in finding a suitable replacement if he does inevitably go.

I have to say I have serious doubts that there is any truth in him being interested in a return to the club, but I wouldn't rule out Venky's pursuing him. They sacked Sam out of the blue when we were midtable, Kean should be watching his back.

Hughes > Kean as far as I'm concerned, if the owners get rid of Kean and bring in Hughes I would welcome that decision.

To be honest I can understand why Hughes left. No money for transfers available. Yet after he went Ince and Sam both got funding. MH also said he believed he had taken the club as far as he could. That is honesty.

Also a lot of players think the grass is greener outside of Rovers - then discover to their cost that it isn't. If the rumours are true - which I doubt - he would be able to have a chance to come back. But i do not think this is going to happen.

[Mattyblue]

No I haven't ignored your point. New meetings with Huber, Anderson et al (this is so hypothetical as I can't imagine Hughes kowtowing to those lot, but there you go) can quickly be arranged.

I have no blinkers when it comes to Kean, I had accepted he would be the manager come August, but hypothtically if Hughes was interested in June, with no signings made, only one departure, players not back for pre season, yes, I would be absolutely delighted.