I don't think Hughes is putting on this positivity which we have been hearing from him recently. He seems a very positive man and manager, and that appears to rub off on the playing staff. He seems to talk very positively and has this effect on the training ground. Looking at the staff around him (Mark and Eddie), he has a huge amount of confidence in their ability and the players seem to love the training sessions. Take the Jansen situation, IMO Matt could not be in better hands under Hughes & Co. and will have no better chance to getting back to normal, rather than if Souey was in charge. Hughes is talking positively about Matt coming back to his old self. A Hughes is talking about getting into Europe, why not? The emphasis he puts on training, preperation and the mental side of the game makes me genuinely excited about next season. I always refer to his intelligence, and that alone gives me great hope for the future of our club. He also has a deep passion to win at all costs and we saw that rub off on the team in certain games last season in terms of their character. Hughes suffers no fools, either. Certain players, opposing managers and press have found this out, he always backs his side's corner. No wonder our board are backing Hughes - Deep down I always thought they would back him. He is impressing me more and more each day.

Some of the comments here are ridiculous...........

Think Jim has had a few e's - always on a permanent come down

Tugay will love it - finally someone he can make his 'killer' passes to!

def back at work tomorrow (still there now) may even have a few afternoon beers for Bellamy. Hope everyone is ok all those related.

Suppose madness probably not the correct word. Still getting on with my work, to be honest the Bellamy news has knocked me off track for a few days now.

Think so tcj, it’s madness at the moment.

Just wait until he gets playing and is finally FIT, everyone will suddenly adore the floppy haired one...

Always a good game Brian Lara's, nice to see it back.

JW said so, think he was denying involvment with Robert- not exactly a huge shock is it.....

Don’t want to go too much off topic, but we know that Hughes is happy with the wide men we have at the club. So looking at the midfield, it would be a more attacking player centrally, if anyone, to come in that department. Savage is a guaranteed starter, so it would be someone to play alongside him. Midfielder would only be brought in after a striker…….

still got 12 goals.

Cole was injured for the 2nd half of last season. Can't believe he is coming back! Sparky obiously can't be bothered to look around for other potential acquistions...

"He hits the ball and scores a goal" After about 5 chances

thenodrog- you would love to be right, that's the sad thing......

Answers to a few of the questions which people have raised on here......

Got to remember that Dickov played a lot of matches with a groin injury and you could tell by watching him that it affected his play. With our lack of options up front and the severity of the situation we were in, we had to play him. I think he is an excellent player to have in the squad. His contribution to us last season was enormous and you cannot forget that.

I think that is very interesting news - while JW role may not change that much, there have obviously been discussions about stream-lining the club at board level for a reason. Note the link between turnover and the money we will be spending in the transfer market.

How long is Sparky's contract as manager?

JW on season tickets

Chelsea at home, payback after the last game was marred by the 'thugs' jibe. Kuqi versus Terry to be the main battle on the pitch for me.

Jackson: Stead does not fit into Hughes more defensive system

That's the point I have been trying to make all along Scotty.

Ingore this thread!

Some people really are ridiculous on here- what the hell do you expect out of this club- it's easy to look back and say 'why did he not do this etc etc' but there really is no point.