[Archived] Mark Hughes - Good Choice ?

[den]

I wouldn't judge any manager by their international record, it's totally different to club management. Just look at Peter Taylor's record as under 21 manager - excellent, club manager - useless.

[SouthAussieRover]

I wouldn't judge any manager by their international record, it's totally different to club management. Just look at Peter Taylor's record as under 21 manager - excellent, club manager - useless.

I'll settle for the opposite with Hughesy

[thenodrog]

I wouldn't judge any manager by their international record, it's totally different to club management.

But we've nothing else to judge Hughesy on Den! And thats precisely why given our squad and position I was against his appointment. The choice of Hughes as manager represents a huge gamble by the board, and given the options available maybe too big a gamble.

[MCMC1875]

I wouldn't judge any manager by their international record, it's totally different to club management.

But we've nothing else to judge Hughesy on Den! And thats precisely why given our squad and position I was against his appointment. The choice of Hughes as manager represents a huge gamble by the board, and given the options available maybe too big a gamble.

Theno

Any appointment is a gamble.

[rover6]

Hughes' Welsh record is not good if you look at it objectively.

However, who was the last Welsh manager to lead his team to victory over Italy?

I still believe Hughes will be a good manager for us because above anything else, he is a professional and a perfectionist. He's the sort that will examine everything in meticulous detail and that sort of attitude is a refreshing change.

Remember, Souness start was very cagey but we went on to get promoted - so things can easily turn around.

[den]

I wouldn't judge any manager by their international record, it's totally different to club management.

But we've nothing else to judge Hughesy on Den! And thats precisely why given our squad and position I was against his appointment. The choice of Hughes as manager represents a huge gamble by the board, and given the options available maybe too big a gamble.

Howard Kendall worked out OK though. Before you say it, it was the third division and he was quite a good player himself.

[den]

Talking about HK, he came into the club and decided straight away that we needed to become harder to beat. Is he doing anything these days?

[thenodrog]

Talking about HK, he came into the club and decided straight away that we needed to become harder to beat. Is he doing anything these days?

That same approach to the game is working well about 10 miles up the road too.

[92er]

Until tonight.

[rover6]

Is USABlue being proved right to doubt Hughes' credentials?

I wouldn't say so yet, but some of his decisions have imo been naive. Playing Emerton out of position and refusing to give MGP or de Pedro a game.

Having said that, the players he has at this disposal, namely in the positions of defensive midfield and centre half are atrocious.

[Flopsy]

Short Johansson Todd Amo Matteo Neill MCEveley

not to bad - they just cant play as a defensive unit

[92er]

Short can probably play with any of them, he needs help with a more defensive midfield in front of him.

[emerton]

bbc gossip coloumn say that hughes has banned the player from calling him sparky, and that they must call him the boss or gaffer

Must be the turning point in the season

[Hughesy]

Its just a way to gain more respect and that way they may not act like he is there best mate or summet.

He is there to get results not to make friends

[super_neill]

Its just a way to gain more respect and that way they may not act like he is there best mate or summet.

He is there to get results not to make friends

Exactly hopefully this is one of many more tough decision Mark makes.

Edited November 3, 2004 by super_neill

[philipl]

Was at a conference all day yesterday but managed to get the Reception to ring up a bar to get the score with about five minnutes of the game remaining.

Just want to say what a superb job Sparky is doing and an enormous thank you to Fat Freddie for relieving us of the problem of firing a Manager who had achieved so much for us before self-immolating.

We took two horrible 0-4 beatings- one down to a justified sending off, one to a team which found its goal scoring ability and hasn't stopped since as Charlton found out yesterday.

Sparky and his coaching staff have set out their strategy and stuck to it. They have worked extremely hard on our defending, tried 4-5-1, rejected it and finally the defense got a first fully-deserved clean sheet as opposed to fluking one (let's be honest, Pompey should have had a pen at Ewood).

Their training methodologies are also finally producing a fully fit squad and gone are the days of being embarassed by the team runnning out of steam and generally not pressing the way they should have done.

We started the Season with a horrible set of fixtures with a couple of refereeing howlers thrown in (D'Ursoed at Soton and the 93rd minute rugby pass v ManU). Now we not only a favourable run of fixtures with two teams most people would choose to be next up, but I suspect we are playing a number of teams at just the right time- Fulham yesterday- Spuds before they get themselves sorted out and a decent chance that Everton and Bolton will be suffering from altitude sickness when we play them.

Now Hughes has to move on and finally sort out the set pieces and give players the confidence to recognise great shooting positions as well as keeping defensive concentration levels high.

The task in the transfer window is also changing. Perhaps on 1 January the table will be making very much more attractive reading than it did at noon yesterday. If we have built rather more than a one point cushion above the relegation places, the challenge will not be to find the right talismtic scrappers which has been the depressing litany of journeymen littering this MB's transfer thread so far.

Hughes' three tasks will be

- to get rid of players whom he deems have no future (after the TP episode, nobody can deny that Hughes does not take tough decisions),

- get the right new defender(s)

- and to find one or more players who solve the problem Rodney Marsh rightly identitified when he said "when you look at the Blackburn team, there is nobody whom the opposition has to be really worried about."

Looking forwards with faith in the new management team and a great deal of optimism. So far, Sparky is doing as well as I had hoped and better than I expected.

Edited November 28, 2004 by philipl

[waggy]

i had been a strong advocate for hughes to take the rovers post,in some players you see a manager and hughes always had this triat,along with hendry and dare i say sherwood.i would say the thing about hughes i admire his refusal to blame the past regime for his problems

[Eddie]

Regarding the comment of Marsh that there is no one in our current team to really worry about, I think the form and emergence of the likes of Emerton and possible Thompson mean that going forward we do. While players like Dickov and Ferguson, though not full of tricks and flash, cause the opposition plenty of problems and are probably the topic of much discussion before matches.

Well done to Hughes though, I don't want to get all worked up here, but certainly on the things he has direct control over, like fitness and basic tactics, he is getting it right, and it does appear based on the last 4 or 5 performances that the club has somewhat turned the corner, I just hope they don't go and prove me wrong now. If we continue in the same vain, it is quite possible that this could go from being potentially the worst season ever to being quite a good one.

[FourLaneBlue]

The task in the transfer window is also changing. Perhaps on 1 January the table will be making very much more attractive reading than it did at noon yesterday. If we have built rather more than a one point cushion above the relegation places, the challenge will not be to find the right talismtic scrappers which has been the depressing litany of journeymen littering this MB's transfer thread so far.

Name me a succesful side that doesn't have a "scrapper" and you may be able to validate your point. Arsenal have Viera, United have Keane *(and want Gravesen allegedly), Liverpool have Gerrard.

We still need a central midfielder to share the workload with Ferguson. Tugay was excellent yesterday but when we next see another performance like it from him? If Thompson or Reid can move into the middle then fine but we need a ball-winner.

[tcj_jones]

I think it was also very impressive how Hughes has dealt with Tugay.

He has been inconsistent at best for much of the season and in the first half yesterday I thought he was playing similar to recent weeks - getting drawn out of the centre, backing out of challanges, poor passing, only going backwards and sideways - and he was pretty much anonymous in the first half. However, Hughes persisted and his second half performance was very good, mainly because of his drive and commitment to tackle, something I believe to be the result of Hughe's half time team talk because Tugay looked fired up.

Hughes will not make rash decisions or cut and change the team every week - he has played McEveley and after three matches decided he is either not ready or not good enough or simply just giving him a rest. Now he has started Gallagher and reaped the rewards - he seems to favour using the academy and I like that.

[thenodrog]

Time to hold my hand up. I did not want Hughes as manager simply because I was concerned about his motivational skills. Most players are self motivated when playing for Wales and I would rather have gone for somebody with managerial experience at club level.

However I have to say that imo the team is now working hard and for each other as a unit. And the "effort = results" ethic is clearly evident.

[thenodrog]

The task in the transfer window is also changing. Perhaps on 1 January the table will be making very much more attractive reading than it did at noon yesterday. If we have built rather more than a one point cushion above the relegation places, the challenge will not be to find the right talismtic scrappers which has been the depressing litany of journeymen littering this MB's transfer thread so far.

Name me a succesful side that doesn't have a "scrapper" and you may be able to validate your point. Arsenal have Viera, United have Keane *(and want Gravesen allegedly), Liverpool have Gerrard.

We still need a central midfielder to share the workload with Ferguson. Tugay was excellent yesterday but when we next see another performance like it from him? If Thompson or Reid can move into the middle then fine but we need a ball-winner.

Whilst Tugay plays there can be no room for MGP. In our position we need 3 'physical' scrappers and one creative player in our midfield.

[thenodrog]

United have Keane *(and want Gravesen allegedly),

damn!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Methodically and with quiet confidence Hughes is slowly turning matters around.Players appear to 'want to play for him'...I do believe we may have seen the last of players leaving due to falling out with the manager and thank christ for that!!!

Managerial style totaly opposite to Souness in so many ways.

[thenodrog]

Not really GS came in like a new broom too.

As I've said before if somebody had poached him away after we won at Spurs and pipped Everton for europe GS would be remembered in a far far different way by the supporters.