Mark Hughes Quits Fulham

[john e]

Were there not managers about with better CVs than Busby, Shankley and Stein when they got the jobs where they made their names (and their clubs' names)?

I don't know.  What I do know is that there are better managers than Hughes available now. 

there maybe better managers who are out of work, but if they dont want to come to VP then they arnt available,

it doesnt matter how many times posters say saomeone like Anceloti is available if he doesnt want to come thats it i'm afraid

i would stake my life on the fact that Randy has approached Anceloti to see how the land lies,
but if he wont deal, he has no cards to play with
i accept that you might well have meant other names and not just Carlo, but the same applies

[hilts_coolerking]

You don't know that. By your formula, BFR should have got the Arsenal job over Wenger.

And you'd have been pushing for Wenger because?  We all have our opinions about the respective merits of the current names in the frame; mine is that there are several better managers than Hughes among them.  If you disagree, fine, but don't tell me there's no good reason to believe that.

[maidstonevillain]

Were there not managers about with better CVs than Busby, Shankley and Stein when they got the jobs where they made their names (and their clubs' names)?

I don't know.  What I do know is that there are better managers than Hughes available now. 

You don't know that. By your formula, BFR should have got the Arsenal job over Wenger.

And he may have done a better job. We will never know.

[gaucho1966]

Perhaps Hughes knows there's going to be a vacancy somewhere with Villa looking for a new manager and is getting himself well positioned to take advantage. Everton maybe? Chelsea perhaps?

So basically nobody can take Hughes on til the beginning of July.

So he's either joining Chelsea or Villa. But not for a few weeks. The deal will have already been done, bearing in mind his agent is the same as Tevez's.

I don't think villa have spoken to him. Integrity is a big word at VP it seems.

[cdbearsfan]

I wouldn't be amazed if Chelsea appoint Hughes assistant manager to someone like Hiddink, with the promise he will succeed him.

[hilts_coolerking]

there maybe better managers who are out of work, but if they dont want to come to VP then they arnt available,

it doesnt matter how many times posters say saomeone like Anceloti is available if he doesnt want to come thats it i'm afraid

i would stake my life on the fact that Randy has approached Anceloti to see how the land lies,
but if he wont deal, he has no cards to play with
i accept that you might well have meant other names and not just Carlo, but the same applies

I totally agree with you, if we approach them and they say no we move on to the next.  If we go through that process and we happen to exhaust the possibilities that I reckon are better than Hughes then I'll be happy to accept it.  He'd only be a really bad appointment, in my opinion, if we took him on without having sounded out some other better ones first.

It's all about timing.  If we'd got him before appointing Houllier then I'd have been happy because the cupboard was bare at that time.  It's less bare now.  That's all I'm saying.

[Percy McCarthy]

Were there not managers about with better CVs than Busby, Shankley and Stein when they got the jobs where they made their names (and their clubs' names)?

I don't know.   

They were young in managerial terms. Of course there were lots of managers around at the time with your infallible measure of talent - better CVs, more achievements. Yet none of them were in the same class.

[Mister E]

I wouldn't be amazed if Chelsea appoint Hughes assistant manager to someone like Hiddink, with the promise he will succeed him.

Yeah, but would Hughes want to do that? - with his CV and ego, I'd be surprised if he goes as a #2 to anyone, TBH.

[eastie]

Hughes moyes , ancelotti or Benitez would be fine with me, I really would be deeply saddened though if it is mclaren.

[hilts_coolerking]

They were young in managerial terms. Of course there were lots of managers around at the time with your infallible measure of talent - better CVs, more achievements. Yet none of them were in the same class.

If Hughes goes on to take his place alongside those greats then I'll happily accept you're right.  Until then, I'm happy to stick with my opinion.  Which is that while Hughes isn't a bad manager, as things stand there are better currently available.  Which, given that includes Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez, I don't think it's a particularly outrageous view to hold.  Whether they want to come to Villa is a different matter and something I hope Randy is currently exploring.

If you'd like to explain why you think Hughes is a better manager than Ancelotti and Benitez then knock yourself out.  I'm willing to be persuaded by any convincing argument.

[gaucho1966]

Rafa would be a no no for me. Too much Liverpool bullshit and tapping up Barry for starters.

[cdbearsfan]

I'm not sure whether I want Benitez but couldn't care less about the way he conducted himself over the Barry non-transfer. Succesful clubs always tap players up. I believe we've been far too naive and nice in the transfer market and would be quite happy if we left some team in tears after we stole their best player... exactly like Sunderland were!

If we were to appoint him, our Board would have a quiet word with him before the Anfield game and tell him to keep it toned-down. They aren't idiots.

[john e]

Rafa would be a no no for me. Too much Liverpool bullshit and tapping up Barry for starters.

i'd probably manage to forgive him if he won the champs league for us though

[Matt C]

Good blog from Phil Mcnulty at the BBC: http://goo.gl/ntPU1

[Percy McCarthy]

You don't know that. By your formula, BFR should have got the Arsenal job over Wenger.

And you'd have been pushing for Wenger because?  We all have our opinions about the respective merits of the current names in the frame; mine is that there are several better managers than Hughes among them.  If you disagree, fine, but don't tell me there's no good reason to believe that.

You can believe what you like, but you don't know.