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AKBapologist
02-06-2011, 10:55 PM
Mark Hughes leaves Fulham but Aston Villa do not want him as manager
• Hughes activates break clause to leave Craven Cottage
• Aston Villa unimpressed by course of events

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Stuart James, Jamie Jackson and David Hytner
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 June 2011 23.00 BST
Article history

Mark Hughes has been left without a club after leaving Fulham and being linked with Aston Villa. Photograph: Paul Thomas/AP
Mark Hughes will not be the new Aston Villa manager and has been left without a club after walking out on Fulham on Thursday night. The Welshman had been the favourite to succeed Gérard Houllier but Villa, unimpressed with the course of events that culminated in Hughes activating a break clause in his contract and leaving Fulham, have turned their attention elsewhere. Martin Jol and Steve McClaren are at the top of Villa's shortlist.

In a further twist Jol and McClaren, who are out of work and eager to return to employment in the Premier League, will also be leading candidates to take over at Craven Cottage, where Hughes had been expected to sign an improved two-year contract. Martin O'Neill, a former Villa manager, will be another major contender for that post.

Mohamed Al Fayed, the Fulham chairman, was furious after Hughes activated the break clause and tendered his resignation. A Fulham spokesperson said: "The chairman became increasingly annoyed by Mark positioning himself for another club, whilst still negotiating with us, and having agreed terms."

Fayed was, however, ready to extend Hughes's deal. One view from sources at the club is that contract talks with Hughes fell apart when Fulham felt unable to match the fees demanded by his representative, Kia Joorabchian.

Villa's reluctance to move for Hughes comes as something of a surprise. He has been the frontrunner for the Villa post since it emerged this week that Houllier would be stepping down on health grounds. Villa, however, told Fulham that they would not be making an approach for Hughes in the hours before his decision to leave.

The Midlands club have since made it clear that their stance has not changed after Hughes's departure from Fulham. It is understood they would have grave reservations about appointing the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City manager because of how his departure from Fulham has been handled.

Hughes, who is on holiday in Dubai, said in a statement: "I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club. This decision to leave Fulham has not been influenced by any outside party."

When Villa parted company with Houllier on Wednesday evening, Fulham believed that Hughes would stay loyal to them, as Fayed had done with him on Boxing Day, when the Craven Cottage crowd had called for Hughes's sacking after a 3-1 home defeat by West Ham United that dropped the club into the relegation zone. Hughes's new contract had even gone to the lawyers, with the terms and conditions agreed, in readiness for his signature.

Yet in the hours that followed Villa's announcement of Houllier's departure, Hughes went cold on Fulham – and nobody at the London club considered the two events to be unrelated. What Fulham could not understand, however, was that Paul Faulkner, the Villa chief executive, had made it clear to Alistair Mackintosh, his counterpart at Craven Cottage, with whom he gets on well, that Villa did not want Hughes. The Welshman, who describes himself as an ambitious young manager, may have taken a leap of faith as there was a deadline of midnight on Wednesday on the activation of his break clause. The clause permits him to walk away from the club as a free agent at the end of June. Premier League rules prevent him or his representative from contacting or being contacted by other clubs until after that.

His back-room entourage, which includes Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki, Glyn Hodges and Kevin Hitchcock, remain under contract at Fulham for another year, with no break clauses in their deals.

Fulham accepted Hughes's resignation and their impression was that he thought he would get the Villa job, despite the assurances they had received from Faulkner that he would not. Fayed is clear that there is no way back for Hughes at the club. "Roy Hodgson appreciated the club after he had left and [Fayed] believes Mark will do the same," a spokesperson said.

Villa say they have an open mind about filling their vacancy. Speculation that Carlo Ancelotti is among their leading candidates is wide of the mark, however. The former Chelsea manager has not received any contact from Villa and he is known to have no interest in the position. Ancelotti, according to sources close to the Italian, is holding out for a club that can offer Champions League football. Roberto Martínez, the Wigan Athletic manager, has, however, emerged as an outsider for the Villa post.

O'Neill, who has been out of work since leaving Villa last August, is the bookmakers' favourite for the Fulham jobAs well as Jol and McClaren, other names likely to feature on Fulham's shortlist may include Gianfranco Zola, the former West Ham manager, and Chris Hughton, who led Newcastle United back to the Premier League at the first attempt before being sacked in December. Jol had been Fulham's No1 target last summer, ahead of Hughes, and he had wanted to come. He was blocked by his then club, Ajax.

If this has been mentioned in the villa thread then I appologise -and feel free to merge

Cripps_orig
02-06-2011, 11:06 PM
We do need more muppet threads tbh.

Its a disgrace the Liverpool one isnt titled rightly.

Anyway as for Hughes, bit of a twat at City but did ok at Fulham. Thats more his level so surprised he left after a year

AKBapologist
02-06-2011, 11:10 PM
TBH I always fear hughes teams when we play them, despite city coming above us I've always felt them a bit toothless.

Master Splinter
03-06-2011, 03:52 AM
Hughes is most definitely a muppet. He's in the Fat Sam group of self-promoting egotists who think they belong at an elite club.

Fat Sam wanted Real Madrid. He's at his level now in the Championship.

Hughes thought he was one of the big boys at Man City. He's where he belongs now, the abyss.

fakeyank
03-06-2011, 06:02 AM
Think he is taking over the job at Stamford bridge..

PGFC
03-06-2011, 07:36 AM
Think he is taking over the job at Stamford bridge..

They need someone to show people around their new 'museum'?

McNamara That Ghost...
03-06-2011, 08:41 AM
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/53213000/jpg/_53213603_mh.jpg

:lol:

fakeyank
03-06-2011, 05:20 PM
They need someone to show people around their new 'museum'?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13641595.stm

My intuition was right. I just couldnt picture this fucker leaving his position at Fulham for an alleged interest from Villa. There had to be something bigger on the horizon for this cunt once news filtered that Villa made no attempt to sign him. I hope he takes over Chelsea and drags them down.. would be fun to see!

Marc Overmars
07-06-2011, 11:40 AM
They've appointed Martin Jol. Good move IMO.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jun/07/fulham-appoint-martin-jol-manager

McNamara That Ghost...
07-06-2011, 01:20 PM
He should get them higher than just top half I suspect, though why Jol didn't just stay at Ajax is anybody's guess.

Olivier's xmas twist
24-10-2011, 01:10 PM
Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed has labelled former manager Mark Hughes a 'strange man' and believes his criticism of the club's ambition is 'disrespectful'.

Hughes stepped down as Fulham boss in the summer following just one season in charge after deciding not to take up the option to extend his contract.

At the weekend, Hughes suggested the club's failure to match his own ambition was the key reason behind his decision to walk away from the role.

However, Al Fayed has responded to the Welshman's comments and insists he is happy to now have Martin Jol as manager after confirming he wanted the former Tottenham boss in charge before Hughes' appointment.

"What a strange man Mark Hughes is," said Al Fayed in an open letter. "Sacked by Manchester City, he was becoming a forgotten man when I rescued him to become manager of Fulham Football Club."Even when results were bad, I did not put pressure on him. I gave him every support - financial, moral and personal.

"He fully negotiated a two-year extension to his contract. On the day he was due to sign, he walked out without the courtesy of a proper explanation.

"And now he insults the club, saying it lacks ambition, and the players who delivered an eighth position finish last season and a place in the Europa League.

"He is not just disrespectful but entirely wrong.

"Fulham has just announced plans for a splendid new riverside stand that will substantially increase the capacity of Craven Cottage.

"In every aspect of its work, Fulham is a progressive club with a top manager in Martin Jol, the man we had really wanted when Hughes was appointed.

"We shall endeavour to prosper without him simply because, when the challenge came, it was not the club but Mark Hughes who lacked the courage and ambition to take on the task of leadership.

"If people are looking for a flop, they only have to look no further than the man who has lost his spark."


Al Fayed :bow:
Hughes :pal: