 Tuesday, 10th Jan 2012 23:54 by Clive Whittingham Mark Hughes has managed three Premiership clubs so far and the opinions of him vary wildly among the respective support bases. LoftforWords speaks to Blackburn, Man City and Fulham supporters about our new manager. FulhamFulham fan Jack McFadyen…. What is your general opinion of Mark Hughes? What do you make of the job he did at Fulham? Hughes was in the unenviable position of having to replace Roy Hodgson, the greatest manager in our history and the man who took us to the Europa League Final only months before. Add to that his cantankerous personality and Chelsea connections and it’s easy to see why we never really warmed to him. The first half of his one season with us was disastrous. After 19 games (the same number he has to save QPR) we were in the bottom three and looked doomed. A surprise win away at Stoke turned the season around and we eventually finished in a very creditable eighth and qualified for Europe through the Fairplay League, probably more of a reflection on the club itself rather than the manager, but you can't really ask for more than that. What were his key strengths and weaknesses during his time as Fulham manager? Its difficult to judge a manager after only one year, especially when they have inherited a hugely successful team and, due to Hodgson's delayed departure, a very short first transfer window in which to make his mark. His only major signing, Moussa Dembele, has been a big success, already doubling his transfer value. And in the second half of the season there were definite signs of a more attacking, easy-on-the-eye style of football than that of the previous regime. The players regularly commented that they enjoyed training a lot more and it showed on the pitch. Whether this training had anything to do with him is another matter. He has a very large entourage who take most of the training sessions with Hughes watching on from the warmth of his office. Fulham were left lumbered with the entourage still on the wage bill when Hughes decided to walk out. Were the Fulham fans sorry to see him go? What exactly went on with his departure? I think that 99% of Fulham fans would agree that Hughes is a very good manager, At Blackburn he finished in the top half every season except his first, reached three cup semi-finals and qualified for Europe four times. With the squad he inherited at Fulham and the backing of our chairman, there's no reason why he wouldn't have at least replicated this, if not bettered it. Having said that, I don't think too many people were that disappointed to see the back of him. His contract had a clause in it which allowed him to walk after the first year, and he chose to use it. He claimed it was because the club didn't match his ambition, his agent claimed it was because Hughes saw himself competing for major honours year in year out, most Fulham fans strongly believe that he walked because the Chelsea and Villa jobs were available at the time. It seems pretty clear that Hughes saw Fulham as a stepping stone, a way to get himself back in the shop window until a bigger, better job came along. He never really wanted to be at Fulham and we were never that fussed about him anyway, No great loss. What do you make of QPR appointing him? Even the most ardent of QPR fans would not see moving from Fulham to QPR as a step up at this moment in time. Hughes' appointment at QPR only makes the feeble excuses he gave for leaving Fulham even harder to swallow. It would be very interesting to see the terms of his new contract as it was Hughes himself who insisted on the walk-out clause after the first year at Fulham. On the surface it looks obvious that he's looking at QPR in the same way that he looked at Fulham. He thinks he's too good for both clubs but will take the job so that his name is back in the reckoning should a better job come along. Perhaps he will keep QPR up, leave at the end of the season for another job and both parties can walk away feeling reasonably content. One thing is for certain, Mohammed Al Fayed hates Hughes for the way he treated Fulham. Don't expect to be signing any of our players whilst Hughes is at the helm. And his fellow Craven Cottage regular Jamie Doak… What is your general opinion of Mark Hughes? What do you make of the job he did at Fulham? Honestly, I never was his biggest fan. I was excited at the prospect of having Martin Jol as a successor to Hodgson and when we got Hughes I was slightly disappointed although still hopeful that he could be successful in the job. Through the first five months we really struggled to adjust to the style of Hughes and it was frustrating to watch given our performance the season before. I always knew the team was massively over performing under Hodgson but it really hit home in those first few months and by Christmas after a home loss to West Ham we were languishing in the relegation zone with many calling for Hughes' head, me included. He played a lot more attacking style than we were used to under Hodgson and I think the players were a little lost at sea but credit to him and the players, we picked up a huge and rare away win against Stoke and from there we never looked back finishing eighth and having the seventh best form in the league in the second half of the season and that speaks for itself really. What were his key strengths and weaknesses during his time as Fulham manager? I thought a lot about this one and it’s difficult to say as he was only there for the one season but I think his biggest strength was his motivational ability and control of the dressing room. Not once during his time as manager did we hear of any dressing room bust ups and even when we were really struggling the players stuck by him. I vividly remember many of the players stating support publicly for him and in the end they obviously bought into what he was trying to achieve and saw the results on the pitch. Also he has a pretty good eye for talent - Dembele for a mere £4 million seems like an absolute bargain and Steve Sidwell on the cheap in January was a very good buy. As for his weaknesses I would say possibly his lack of commitment to the job, he never really attempted to build a relationship with the fans and settle into the club and it seemed clear from the start he was ready to jump ship at the first opportunity. Also I don't think he was ever the best tactically, bear in mind I am comparing this to Hodgson who was a fantastic tactician and organiser of teams. Were the Fulham fans sorry to see him go? What exactly went on with his departure? I think had he left at Christmas then I don't think anyone would have complained but come the end of the season it really was a bit of a blow to see him leave. As I said before, we all realised we were a temporary job for him but it was frustrating he left when he did, the team were finally buying into his kind of football and he seemed to be moving us in the right direction, it definitely would have been interesting to see who he would have signed over the summer. His departure was the only thing that really left a bitter taste around Fulham, his one year contract was up and he was offered a two year contract which he had verbally agreed to toward the end of the season before rejecting it when it came to signing the deal. The reality is that he thought he was going to walk into another job be it Villa or even Chelsea as the rumours were at the time (even if he does deny it) and when this didn't happen he used the excuse that we weren't ambitious enough for him. This "lack of ambition" appears to stem from the CEO rejecting his request to sell our best players in order to create transfer funds for him to work with, good decision by our CEO in my opinion. What do you make of QPR appointing him? Obviously it’s not the best feeling having a manager who turned the club down going to a rival but in all honesty I’m not too bothered. I’ll always dislike him for the manner in which he left the club as it felt like he was stepping all over us and I will certainly abuse him when we come to Loftus Road (sorry in advance!) but I am happy that we got Martin Jol this summer and am content with how things are under him. From a QPR perspective it’s a good move, he is a good manager and I should explain that the poor start to his season with us may have been down to the fact we were without Zamora. Hughes will get the best out of the players he has at the club although expect conflict between him and the likes of Barton and Taarabt, he will spend any money he gets wisely and I expect you to stay up under his management. A final point though, unless your owners are willing to give him some serious backing then you'll find your club is "lacking ambition" too within a year. Man CityDanny Pugsley, editor of Man City blog Bitter and Blue gave up time to give his perspective on his club when we met earlier in the season and kindly agreed to do so again at short notice today. What is your general opinion of Mark Hughes? What do you make of the job he did at City? When he was sacked by City in December 2009 there was sympathy for Hughes; if not necessarily because it was an unjust sacking (at the time it is fair to say there were two distinct camps forming) but the manner of his dismissal (particularly talk of the club leaking information) that left him a lame duck manager for the final game (a victory) at home to Sunderland. Which is a shame in some ways as much of what Hughes did helped put in place foundations for the ensuing success. Look through the side and some of the key figures are ones Hughes brought in. His latter signings smacked of a kid being handed the keys to the sweet shop and the prices paid for the likes Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz et al have saddled the club with players (and contracts) they are struggling to shift. Yet some of his mid-level signings have proved very astute - not just at City but previously at Blackburn and latterly at Fulham. Were the City fans sorry to see him go? As mentioned before, fans were split at the time but subsequent shots at the club and his continued involvement with Kia Joorabchian (something to be wary of) has eroded much of the sympathy fans had. He did a good job in many ways and left the club on the fringes of the Champions League positions and in the Carling Cup semi-finals - something that is forgotten given how the club has kicked on the past twelve months or so. What do you make of QPR appointing him? Short term it will be a good move I feel. He should be able to make an impact immediately and bring in some quality to improve the squad to ensure safety is achieved – something that is so vital. Longer term though may be more interesting. Hughes (from what we understand) covets what are considered one of the plum jobs, highlighted as a reason for him jumping ship at Fulham, and in recent months has seen both the Villa and Sunderland jobs go elsewhere. Ambition abounds at QPR and should Premier League football be preserved this season there is a platform to really build and look upwards. There are enough pieces in place (although the injury to Faurlin will hurt) to indicate a move towards safety is more than achievable. BlackburnAnd finally, moving further back in Hughes’ career, Blackburn fan Scott Hanseko… What is your general opinion of Mark Hughes? What do you make of the job he did at Rovers? I really like Mark Hughes, as do most other Blackburn fans. He took over from Graeme Souness at a difficult time for us when we were struggling against relegation and led us to successive top half finishes. He brought in players like Benni McCarthy, David Bentley, Chris Samba, Craig Bellamy and Robbie Savage who were all excellent signings. I would have loved him back here. What were his key strengths and weaknesses during his time as Rovers manager? His main strengths were the football we played and the great transfers he made. It probably would have been even better had the funds allowed for it. Were the Blackburn fans sorry to see him go? Would you have him back? Yes, we were gutted to see him go to Manchester City but the Rovers fans understood that he was moving onto bigger and better things at that time. Yes, we’d have him back in a flash. What do you make of QPR appointing him? With QPR’s money and a chairman who seems to want to make big, ambitious signings it’s a win win situation for you guys. I’m gutted he’s now at QPR, one of our big rivals this season, while we are in the state we are in. He signed Chris Samba while at Ewood Park and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Samba now ended you at QPR. If I was you I’d be looking forward to a top ten finish this season. Tweet @loftforwords Pictures – Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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