So Mark Hughes says we lack ambition. Did he honestly think he'd make us into a top 4 team? MAF has written an open letter to Hughes after Hughes said: "I simply felt my ambition for where I wanted to take the club was not being matched. Historically, Fulham were a club who were happy to be in the Premier League and that was their ambition. But it was not my ambition for them. "Conversations I was having about players I wanted to bring in were not going well. I read that as them maybe not wanting to keep Fulham in the top half of the Premier League. "There was the date of June 1 (when his contract needed to be renewed) and the closer it got, the less inclined I was to sign it because it would have meant me committing further than the one year I had left. "I had real concerns about the age of certain players and I came to the conclusion that it would be better just to shake hands and walk away. "Fulham were probably a bit too honest with me. They were saying, 'We know exactly what you're about, Mark, but really we are just quite happy to stay in the Premier League'." Did MAF do the right thing and write a very personal message to Hughes, he is clearly irked.
It's interesting he's chosen to speak now that the team is clearly struggling. He probably feels like he needs to justify why he quit and, from what you described, his rationale appears plausible.
I agree DM, he's probably laughing because we're struggling at the moment. Mo's letter in response though hits the nail on the head.
To be honest I just see hughes as a good manager but someone who is perhaps a little deluded about how good he is. He did a good job with us and I imagine would have continued to do so as he would have put more of his own stamp on the squad, but realistically I think 7th is the highest position he could have got us along with a good europa run. If he thinks he's gonna take over at united when Ferguson calls it a day then he is fooling himself, as so far his CV boasts a series of positive starts with clubs but has yet to show the longevity which would be expected at a top 4 side. People say his sacking at city was harsh which is fair enough to an extent, but the job that mancini has done since has surely vindicated that decision. Besides I think it was more the manner of his dismissal at city, when he effectively had to manage his final game knowing it would be his last which is what was the really harsh thing about his sacking. At best, he should hope for a job with spurs, when redknapp in all likelihood becomes the next england manager. Until then, I can see him doing nothing more than playing golf all day and making remarks in the press such as the ones we've read this week.
Hughes has sent out the message to chairmen if you are not prepared to spend serious cash on transfers and wages he is not capable of managing a team to compete in the top half of the Premier. If his expectations were that he would have the same budget as Liverpool and Spurs, then like many media people he knows nothing about Fulham, and basically took the job out off pure ignorance, and to stroke his ego and earn some money. Mark Hughes was never about helping Fulham, he was about helping Mark Hughes, he seemed to give the impression he'd rather be elsewhere given half a chance. He never connected with becoming a Fulham man. And when you hear he had Joorabchin as an adviser (The man who pimps Tevez for a living), we should have seen the warning signs.
I read MH's article - The guy needs a job, and thinks slagging off his former employer might help him in that respect. It's a pity that he feels the need to act in such an unprofessional manner. I cannot believe that this is going to help him get the Top-4 job he craves - Another case of poor strategy, not helped by his crazy advisor.
I'll stick by my assessment way back when Hughes quit. Given the modest amount of money Chairman Mo is willing to spend on a team (rather than hundreds of millions like Abramovich or the sheik that owns Man C), Fulham will never be a top five team, and Hughes realized that. He knew that Chairman Mo is happy to just have Fulham in the EPL, somewhere above the relegation zone and below Tottenham, the only direction Fulham was going was down ... at least in terms of Hodgson's success. For Hughes, riding out a few more years with a team that isn't going to grow or get much better wasn't what he envisioned for himself. I was angry that he dumped us, but I can at least understand why he did it. In the war of words between Hughes and Chairman Mo, Hughes' are at least honest. Chairman Mo does lack ambition for our team. He is happy with us in the EPL as a mid-table team. If he wasn't, he'd be shelling out the money like Abramovich.
i think mohamed al fayed is speaking his mind, which you dont get much of nowadays, but theres 2 sides to every story as shown by the responses on this thread. its harsh on fulham but hughes obviously felt that he couldnt top the achievements he had last year with fulham, and its also clear that he was only using the club as a stepping stone, but it cant be argued that he fulfilled his contractual obligations and did well in his 1 season. thats harsh but thats professional football, players do that all the time. the chairman slagged off hodgson too when he appointed hughes so i wouldnt be surprised if he ends up doing the same to jol. he obviously feels his ambitions as a manager couldnt be fulfilled given the budget he would be given at fulham had he stayed on. al fayed said that hughes was 2nd choice manager and jol first, well where were you under hughes and where are you now under the first choice outstanding manager jol? 17th, perhaps hughes is right after all. p/s great goal by ruiz last sunday, i said i'd be back to admit my failings in terms of whether he'd score regular goals in the premiership, he's only got one so far but it was so good it was probably worth about 5
You might want to know that last season we were 17th under Hughes in November and 19th in mid January.
yep, cant argue with that, but hardly the 'endeavour to prosper without him' that al fayed said in his letter. i also notice how he credits the 8th place finish solely to the players, i doubt that would be the case if hughes got fulham relegated somehow. you would have thought as an astute businessman he would speak with his head, and not deliver what seems like something he wrote in the heat of the moment. hughes will have the last laugh if jol doesnt improve upon his own achievements with fulham in the 2010/11 season though.
You seem to want to talk about Hughes time at Fulham with some authority, but the reality was that it was only two away wins in the run in against Sunderland and Birmingham who were both panicking about relegation, and a last day draw with Arsenal at home, that took us from being 15th to 8th place. The 8th place did not gain us a Europa place, it was the Fair-play league, hence that is why we had to play 3 preliminary rounds and a knock out round before getting to the group stage. Mind you being a Cardiff supporter you can talk with Authority on having barmy Chairmen ....Sam Hammam and Peter Ridsdale spring to mind...
but if he finished 15th with you being 6 points or so off 8th you'd say he was a failure for being so close to the relegation zone. thats a bit like saying yes ancelotti won the league but he was only 1 point away from 2nd so somehow it is worth less? the league table doesnt lie, neither is it misleading as you believe it is yes, we've had hammam and ridsdale but thankfully they're long gone.
Chris Coleman has got involved now. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15439146.stm If I read this right, he's trying to be conciliatory between his old Welsh team-mate and his old employer.
Why are you telling me what I would say ? Basically I think Hughes was a work in progress, but he jumped ship and bottled it, showing he is not a manager who can work with a small budget, as small? as £20 million? I would have liked Hughes to stay on, as changing managers each season is not the best policy. But Hughes must be a very naive manager if he thinks Fulhams budget can stretch beyond that sort of figure. The Championship and Npower Leagues are littered with teams whos chairmen believed managers that spending big would guarantee them promotion or Premier survival.
