http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2012/09/qpr-boss-mark-hughes-moussa-dembele-shine-tottenham/ QPRâs Mark Hughes backs Moussa Dembélé to shine at Tottenham QPR manager Mark Hughes believes Moussa Dembélé will be a big hit at Tottenham after quitting Fulham this summer Mark Hughes has backed former Fulham star Moussa Dembélé to shine at Tottenham Hotspur after moving to White Hart Lane in August. The QPR manager signed the Belgium international while he was in charge at Fulham, with the Cottagers snapping up the forward for a modest £5m fee back in August 2010. Dembélé became a regular under Hughes before the Welshman left the club in 2011, and the former AZ Alkmaar star completed a move away from the Cottagers this summer. Spurs paid £15m to bring Dembélé to White Hart Lane, and Hughes expects the 25-year-old to thrive in the limelight at the north London club. âIâve got huge respect for Moussa,â said Hughes. âHeâs an outstanding footballer and now heâs at a club which has, no disrespect to Fulham, a higher profile and is getting more attention. âWhat people have seen in a short amount of time at Tottenham, he was producing regularly for me and Martin Jol when I left Fulham. âHeâs an outstanding footballer and I always knew when he came to the Premier League that he would make an immediate impact. âHe certainly has done that. Technically heâs very accomplished. He can play right up top, off the front man, on the wings, and in midfield. Thatâs the quality of the player we are talking about. âI knew he would enjoy Tottenham and be able to fit in quickly.â Hughes revealed he played a part in ensuring Fulham placed a £15m minimum release clause in Dembéléâs contract, with the Welshman confident the forward will thrill Spurs fans following the departures of Luka Modrić and Rafael van der Vaart. âI was the one who stipulated to place a bigger figure on him. I made sure it was at a decent figure,â he added. âHeâs a good player and Spurs fans will enjoy [watching] him. A few points. Obviously Hughes has given this interview to get across the fact that HE brought Dembele to Fulham but with an man whose ego is the size of New York that's no shocker. Then goes onto state, 'the good work he was doing under myself and Martin Jol' 'he can play in midfield' Uhh no Marky boy, Dembele under you was a raw talent, Jol was the manager who turned him into the player he is today. Under Hughes I remember people referring to Dembele as 'inconsistent' 'held onto the ball for too long' Under Jol these quickly disappeared. Hughes also didn't use him in midfield, yet another way Hughes is trying to claim credit for Jol's and FFC's work. £15m release clause is by no means a decent figure in today's market, when £18m can get you Stewart Downing, £15m is not enough for Dembele, and if Hughes knew Dembele would turn into such a superstar he would have realised this. Lastly, 'Heâs an outstanding footballer and now heâs at a club which has, no disrespect to Fulham, a higher profile and is getting more attention' I don't think that needed to be said really. Of course Tottenham are a bigger club, everybody knows this, this is why Dembele left us to join them. This statement is just Hughes's way of trying to twist the knife. If Dembele had left QPR to sign for Tottenham, would Hughes have said 'He's left us to join an obviously higher profile club and so would get more attention'? Of course he wouldn't, it's an insult. Absolute arsehole.
Sparky at his best - A superb example his self-promoting ego and use of brilliantly polished rose-coloured specs. Really cannot wait for his return to The Cottage for a suitable response. C O Y W
Think we'd all agree with your points there. You did make me laugh though with your last summing up line - couldn't have put it better.
Good old Sparky, what a complete dipshit. Hughes was playing Dembele up front and on the wing to little effect during his short reign. Like Bandy says, Jol made him the player he is by playing him in the middle.
Completely agree with your comments Bandit. The fact that it was Hughes who was responsible for that clause incensed me the most. No doubt his adoration and self congratulation will come back and bite the Bellend's bum tomorrow.
Good article bandit. We all know that the self important MH,and his ontorage,was hoping from a call from Stamford Bridge when he resigned from us,so his comments are that of frustration and angst, from one who now sees themselves treading water in the lower reaches of the premiership.
Yes, good catch, Bandit. Hughes has his team solidly in the bottom three, yet he has the stones to take a pot-shot at Fulham after spending a fortune on players nobody wanted. If that team doesn't turn thing around, Hughes will be polishing up is CV by Christmas.
take a breath jeez of course he mentions him buying him why do you think he was asked the question in the first place?
Pay attention please. The problem isn't Hughes mentioning buying Dembele, that's undisputed; the problem lies in him trying to share credit for Dembele being the player he is now and trying to make out that the piffling release clause was a good thing.
No offence, but I think that a few of you may have misunderstood what Hughes said about the release clause. "I was the one who stipulated to place a bigger figure on him." - MH Seems that it was actually going to be lower, assuming he's right.
Sparky has a real case of sour grapes when it comes to Fulham which is ironic when he left us rather than the other way round. His comments about Dembele going to a bigger club are similar to those he made when he went to QPR which supposedly had more ambition than Fulham. Both make him sound bitter and small minded. As others have said above no doubt he'll be moving on again fairly soon.
You're right PNP, but if he had a say in the amount, why couldn't he make sure it wasn't there at all? I'm not quite sure why he's mentioned it.
The player, or more likely his agent, probably insisted on it, Bidley. Why mention it? Well, as several people have pointed out, he's struggling a little at QPR right now, so it looks like he's trying to put some gloss on anything that he can, to me. I think Redknapp will replace him by Christmas if their results don't improve.
I think that's a pretty accurate analysis, PNP. Hughes has a good eye for talent, but his management (e.g. ability to get the best from the players he already has) and tactical knowledge is somewhat questionable. Hard to see how that reconciles with a top level manager, to be honest.
Did anyone catch Dempsey's interview where he was praising Mark Hughes before the Spurs/QPR game? He said something that caught my eye. 'At Fulham under Mark Hughes, it seemed like there were no favorites, everybody was equal and given a fair chance, I liked that' The two of them deserve one another.
