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Ambitious Hughes takes intriguing career move to QPR
Ambitious Hughes takes intriguing career move to QPR
Wednesday, 11th Jan 2012 00:03 by Clive Whittingham

Having walked out on Fulham in the summer citing lack of ambition Mark Hughes today took the bizarre step of joining a very similar club two miles up the road. LoftforWords scratches its head and wonders why?

Facts

Mark Hughes the player and Mark Hughes the manager are different beings.

Mark Hughes the player was loathed at Loftus Road. A Manchester United stalwart and Chelsea supporter was never going to curry favour in W12 but his running battles with Alan McDonald over the best part of 20 years angered supporters further and when Paul Parker found himself sent off for retaliating to a horrific Hughes tackle that could easily have snapped his leg in half the mood soured still further. He finished his career at Chelsea as well – all elbows and attitude.

Hughes joined United from school in 1980 and graduated into the first tea under Ron Atkinson three years later. He broke up the striking partnership of Frank Sapleton and Norman Whiteside and by 1985/86 he’d made it to 20 goals in a First Division season for the first time as United finished fourth.

With English clubs banned from Europe following the 1985 Heysel disaster Hughes joined the growing throngs of English footballers who looked to further their career abroad. Terry Venables had left QPR to take charge of Barcelona (imagine that in the present day) and he partnered Hughes with Everton’s Gary Linekar after buying him from United for £2m. Hughes though failed to adapt to Spanish football and spent time on loan at Bayern Munich before, in 1988, Alex Ferguson spent a then club record £1.8m to bring him back to Old Trafford. He started his first full season back in Britain with a 0-0 draw at home to QPR and finished it as the first ever Man Utd player to win the PFA Player of the Year award but the Reds finished eleventh in the league.

A season later he scored 15 goals as United lifted their first trophy for five years, beating Crystal Palace in an FA Cup final replay. That trophy started an avalanche of silverwear into Old Trafford that shows no sign of abating even today. Hughes won two Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, a League Cup, three Charity Shields and a European Cup Winners Cup in his second spell at Old Trafford.

In 1995 - with the likes of Beckham, the Nevilles and Scholes breaking through – Alex Ferguson began to sell off his old guard with Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis all allowed to leave. Hughes went to Chelsea for £1.5m and won the FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners Cup while at Stamford Bridge. Brief playing spells with Everton, Southampton and Blackburn followed as his career wound down.

By the time he retired Wrexham-born Hughes had won 76 Welsh international caps and scored 16 goals, and it was with Wales that he tasted management for the first time. He took over from Bobby Gould in 1999 and came as close as any Wwales manager in living memory to taking them to an international finals. In qualifying for Euro 2004 they beat Italy at the Millennium Stadium but were ultimately eliminated by Russia in the play offs. Hughes though had forged a reputation as a fine manager to employ if your resources are limited and he was quickly snapped up by one of his former clubs Blackburn.

Rovers had just two points from their first five games of the 2004/05 Premiership campaign when Graeme Souness was shown the door and Hughes appointed instead. He won his first match against Portsmouth but then won none of the next eight leaving Rovers rock bottom heading into the winter. They finished fifteenth, a fine achievement given the circumstances and still the only time Hughes has finished outside the top half of the Premiership as a manager. Thereafter they finished sixth and qualified for the UEFA Cup, beating Man Utd twice and Chelsea on the way. They reached three cup semi finals under Hughes’ guidance and secured further placings of tenth and seventh in the league. They did however finish bottom of the Fair Play League in all four seasons he had in charge and their physical approach was regularly criticised.

Not in doubt though was Hughes’ ability in the transfer market which for a manager who only previously had international experience was extraordinary. He bought Chris Samba (£400k), Benni McCarthy (£2m), David Bentley (£500k), Ryan Nelson (free) and Roque Santa Cruz (£3.5m) and turned them all into established, sought after Premiership players. Santa Cruz and Bentley made Rovers millions in profit when they left and Samba is likely to do the same this January, possibly even rejoining Hughes at QPR.

This was all enough for Man City to come calling in the summer of 2008 and although some QPR fans have pointed to a near £200m spend at Eastlands for a tenth and sixth place finish he again unearthed stars who currently form a key part of the City team likely to win the league under Roberto Mancini this season. Vincent Kompany, Nigel De Jong, Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott were all Hughes signings. When he was replaced, in a particularly crass manner after a 4-3 home win against Sunderland, by Roberto Mancini the decision was criticised and Hughes left Eastlands a popular figure with City fans.

He pitched up next at Fulham in 2010, accepting the job despite clearly being second choice for it behind Martin Jol. Fulham had been Europa League finalists under Roy Hodgson who had subsequently left to join Liverpool and took time to warm to Hughes who made a poor start once again, not helped by injuries to his three main strikers in the first half of the season. Ultimately he left the Cottagers eighth and, contrary to his image at Blackburn, in Europe once more courtesy of the Fair Play League.

The relationship between Hughes and Fulham never seemed an easy one and at the end of the season he took advantage of a break clause in his contract and walked out saying he was a “young ambitious manager” who wanted to move on and further his experiences. Mohammed Al Fayed said he was a strange man and a flop, justifiably angered by Hughes’ arrogance that he was simply going to walk into the then vacant managerial positions at Aston Villa, or even Chelsea. In the end he got neither and has now signed for QPR instead, a club of similar size and stature to Fulham fighting relegation from the Premiership.

Hughes has penned a two and a half year deal and brought his favoured coaching staff Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki and Kevin Hitchcock with us.

Quotes

“It's a great feeling to be back in football and to be the manager of QPR. I'm fully aware of the challenge in the short and long term and I am genuinely excited about the ambition of the owners. Nobody can doubt the history of this great football club and the passion of its fantastically loyal supporters. Now the immediate priority is to consolidate our place in the Barclays Premier League, but beyond that, the future is very bright and fills me with great enthusiasm." -Mark Hughes

"Mark has a proven track record in the Premier League, bringing a wealth of experience at both club and international level. He has a great passion to achieve as a manager and has already been hugely successful in his career. His ambitions match those of the board and we are delighted to have him at the helm." -Tony Fernandes

"Mark has a great managerial pedigree and has proven over the years to be a very astute manager. I am looking forward to working with him to bring success to the Club." -Amit Bhatia

"Having spoken at length with Mark, I know he is brimming with enthusiasm and anticipation about the challenge of taking QPR forward and I believe he is the perfect choice to deliver the success we all desire." -Philip Beard

“When the new owners arrived, they told me my remit was to get to the new year with QPR outside the bottom three. We've not been in the bottom three all season. It is an understatement to say that I am very disappointed," he added. While I accept the owner's decision, I do feel, if there were more people at the club in positions of power with experience in the game, they would have understood how well we have done in the circumstances. And they would have realised that, once we brought in the players I had identified, there would have been no problem securing a Premier League future. But no doubt the chairman has had a string of agents in touch telling them their man could do a better job." -Neil Warnock

Opinion

In the emotional aftermath of one of those dark weekends that only QPR seem to be able to conjure up I considered whether Neil Warnock had been a victim of his own success. When he arrived at QPR we were just happy to survive in the Championship, within 18 months he’d dragged us to ninth in the top flight. When the team then fell away slightly the expectations stayed there at ninth in the Premier League. Had we consolidated in the Championship last season and then pushed on to, say, sixth in the Championship at this point this season most would probably have been happy.

Instead QPR are currently seventeenth in the Premier League, the place they said was their aim at the start of the season. Purely on the basis of the league table Warnock was on target to accomplish his aim for the season when he was sacked. We asked him to save us from descent into League One and he did so. We asked him to win us promotion and he delivered in 12 months. Then we set him a target of keeping us in the Premiership and at the time of his sacking he was doing just that. It’s absolutely understandable why he would be so disappointed at the decision that’s been reached this week.

That said I do believe it is the right decision, and the appointment of somebody as good as Hughes has already vindicated it to a certain extent – although the proof of the pudding will come in May. Most of Fernandes’ ambitions and plans for QPR hinge on being a Premiership club and with the fixtures for the last ten games of QPR’s season falling the way they have we simply couldn’t hang around any longer to see if Neil Warnock could turn the form around. That’s ridiculously harsh given what he did for the club, but that’s modern football.

Excessive expectations have become rather a theme of the last few days among the QPR supporters. People have, apparently with a straight face, mentioned people like Guus Hiddink and Frank Rijkaard as potential successors to Warnock at Loftus Road. I pointed out on the message board that I’m more likely to end up the next manager at Loftus Road than some of the names that have been mentioned and was told that I was underestimating Tony Fernandes and his desire to turn QPR into a global brand. Fans then queued up to slate Mark Hughes and say they didn’t want him as manager.

Reality check. QPR are in their first Premiership season for 15 years and as things stand it’s really hanging in the balance whether or not it will last longer than a single season. They are playing in an outdated ground that contains only 18,000 seats and, for one reason or another, they’re rarely selling all of those despite the return to the top flight. They cannot expand the ground and they’re based in a city where the land value is higher than anywhere in Europe and sites for a potential new stadium can be counted on the fingers of one hand. QPR are surrounded by bigger, richer Premiership clubs with vast budgets, Champions League football and youth academies. They, meanwhile, train on a rented college playing field next to Heathrow Airport, with a youth team that plays against the likes of Barnet and Colchester and, predictably, produces absolutely nothing for the first team. Any rare prospects that do graduate from it are picked off by Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. This is not a football club that screams potential.

Tony Fernandes has indeed spoken about wanting to make it a global brand. I want Kelly Brook to climb into the shower with me tomorrow morning and remark on what a big boy I am. It’s easy to want things. It’s easy to say things too. I could say I want to turn my flat into a global brand, it doesn’t mean Bill Gates is going to want to come and live here to turn my wireless router off and on again when the connection goes down. Guus Hiddink? Come on, we’ve all had a drink.

So having said all of that, it seems rather strange that Mark Hughes should take the job. In my opinion, in a sparse managerial market, he’s the best option who was both available and realistic for QPR. Hughes did a very decent job with clubs of a similar size to us in Blackburn and Fulham and at all three clubs he’s managed has displayed a tremendous knowledge of the European transfer market to not only pick up Chris Samba, Roque Santa Cruz, Benni McCarthy and others at bargain basement prices but to then get the very best out of them where other managers failed before him, and have failed with them since.

But hang on, isn’t it only about seven months since Hughes walked out on Fulham because their ambition didn’t match his own? I struggle to think of a more similar club to us in the Premiership than Fulham and even they’re in the position of being established at this league for a decade and recently reaching a European final. Walking out on Fulham because they lack ambition to then join QPR seems perverse.

Hughes seemed to call it a day at Fulham because he expected to be offered the job at Aston Villa. Randy Lerner then seemed to get cold feet because he didn’t like the way Hughes went about leaving Craven Cottage, or because he wanted Roberto Martinez more. In the end he got Alex McLeish which is like heading out for a takeaway only to find your usual place closed and eating a dead dog you found round the back by the bins instead.

Villa should have gone for Hughes, and would be doing better than they are now had they done so. Perhaps the turn of events has chastened Hughes. Or perhaps, more likely, he’s realised that to get the big club job he so desires he’s now going to have to prove himself lower down the food chain for a third time rather than risk staying out of work for too long and turn into an irrelevant Alan Curbishley type.

In some ways it’s lose lose in the medium term for QPR – he either fails and leaves, or succeeds and leaves. Either way he’s not going to be here for long, and what QPR could do with now is long term planning and building.

Short term though I think he’s absolutely ideal. His slow starts at Blackburn and Fulham are a concern, and his remark to the team when he met them today of “you’ll have to embrace what we do, and quickly,” hints that it’s playing on his mind as well. But with the circumstances of his departure at Fulham well documented I cannot imagine he would have come near QPR without a guarantee of some serious money being made available for him to spend in the transfer market this January. In the short term I expect the usual new manager syndrome upturn in results to be combined with some impressive names coming in through the door. I believe he’ll keep us up this season without too much difficulty.

Long term though I wonder how much all this is costing. Sacking Warnock, appointing Hughes, paying the current squad, buying new players, paying them – none of this is coming cheap, and I keep harking back to those 18,000 seats in the stadium. QPR must currently be losing money hand over fist. I hope Tony Fernandes has deep pockets.

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eastside_r added 01:08 - Jan 11
'In the end he got Alex McLeish which is like heading out for a takeaway only to find your usual place closed and eating a dead dog you found round the back by the bins instead.'

Classic!
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NorwayRanger16 added 01:10 - Jan 11
"I want Kelly Brook to climb into the shower with me tomorrow morning and remark on what a big boy I am."

"In the end he got Alex McLeish which is like heading out for a takeaway only to find your usual place closed and eating a dead dog you found round the back by the bins instead."

Those two are absolutely legendary Clive! I honestly forgot how to breath after that last one.

I've been a big admirer of Sparky for a long time and he was my suggestion to succeed Roy Hodgson at Anfield, so I'm obviously over the moon and have been since it first looked possible.
Your point of his knowledge of the European transfer market is where my biggest expectations lie. I am a big fan of the Bundesliga so it goes without saying I hope he keep on picking up steals from Germany like Samba, Santa Cruz, Kompany and De Jong.

And regarding Tony's pockets, rumours are there are some serious backers funding this madness, stay tuned and hopefully we'll find out more.
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Nov77 added 02:41 - Jan 11
The daily mirror are suggesting his contract is worth close to £10m over 2.5 years, including a £1m bonus for keeping us up.
The question is why wouldn't he join us?
I just hope if it all goes tits up, somebody did the math better than they did at Portsmouth.
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MelakaRanger added 04:54 - Jan 11
Regarding the 'backers'

If the big money is coming from Malaysia, then I suspect its from the 'gravy boat/train'. There is a lot of 'gravy' in Malaysia!
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QPRski added 04:56 - Jan 11
Thanks for the good analysis, read and chuckle.

I look forward to the "impressive names comming through the door" and 'the new manager syndrome". But he needs to make a much quick starter start than Blackburn & Fulham, or else perform wonders in our end of season difficult fixtures (away win at Man City for the season finale?)

I agree it appears short term, but that means he needs to get a "turnaround effect" on his CV. I sincerely wish that he will ensure survival this season and is able to build upon it for a top half finish next season. If this is achieved, then it will have been an excellent decision by the board. Meanwhile let's support, wait and see.
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Neil_SI added 09:32 - Jan 11
If he does really well, but is only here for the short term, then you can see the type of jobs that might become available in the near future, which potentially include Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Whether he wants either of those, or whether they'd go for him depending on how successful he is, is another matter.

The real positive is that he's a driven man, who wants full hands on control over everything and has learned from his experience at Manchester City. There were things happening there that he wasn't comfortable with, but let slide, simply because of the high profile nature of the money being pumped in and so on. I don't think he'll allow that to happen while here, and if he sees it and can't control it, he'll quickly be on his way.

His relationship with the board will be interesting as will his relationship with the fans, and I think Paul Parker's interview was spot on in the sense that we're a community club and very different to Fulham. But seeing as he was a player at Manchester United, who Parker says is like a much bigger version of QPR, then at least he's had experience of what that's like and what's expected.

He does have a hard job in the short term though and needs a fast start.
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Pizanti added 10:30 - Jan 11
Agree with Nov77 ...clearly these are exciting times ...but surely in the long run everything hinges on a new bigger stadium otherwise this has Portsmouth written all over it ...suppose we better sit back and enjoy while it lasts!
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BlackCrowe added 10:31 - Jan 11
Engrossing and entertaining - many thanks.
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Rodneylives added 10:37 - Jan 11
Mystified by these reports that Hughes has been promised a huge bonus for keeping us up. If he doesn't he'll have done a worse job than Warnock, so there won't have been any point in hiring him.
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BigWilly added 10:51 - Jan 11
Good assessment. I may be fanciful, but what if....he builds a legacy here over the next 5 years, new team, new stadium, youth system.....could he still be with us in 10 years, with us regular Champions League participants, and a production line in the image of his old mentor Fergy? We can but dream, but why not? Biggest threat is he jumps to Tottenham when Harry goes to England or the Scrubs in the summer, but it would be a poisoned chalice....here expectations are low, and he could make himself a legend. Could happen! Looking forward to Sunday!
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probbo added 11:43 - Jan 11
Excluding his time at Man City, for his shrewd signings of decent players while at Blackburn and Fulham and making them better, i'm happy to give Hughes the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully he well get the team playing as a team.

On this point: 'In some ways it’s lose lose in the medium term for QPR – he either fails and leaves, or succeeds and leaves'...

..that unfortunately is the way it goes in football management although I guess it depends on how one defines failure or success.Who knows what we might have achieved had Venables not left for Barcelona in the early 80's after our first season in the old first div? And on the flipside, athough Mullery was a failure in the eyes of many fans (my own included), we got rid of him while in the top flight and enjoyed more 'success' with Jimmy Smith.

Philosophically speaking, unless you're Alex Ferguson or Dario Gradi, the day most managerial appointments are made heralds the beginning of the end.
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SomersetHoops added 12:05 - Jan 11
I'm not sure about the lose-lose as his previous clubs in the main have benefited from his signings long after he left them. When it comes to the money it is that of Fernandes and his partners and they are not stupid people. I just hope they and MH are in it for the long term and if he can do what is necessary this season he can see the possibility of an interesting project building our training and development facilities to be the best, with the benefits to the club and his reputation which would follow from that.
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HanwellHoop added 13:06 - Jan 11
Great article as always. Very funny too

Can’t Say I was thrilled by the appointment as he's such a miserable old so and so but he does have a pretty impressive CV and some of his signings have been inspired.

Good luck Mark - we need it!
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Harbour added 13:37 - Jan 11
Thanks Clive great read... its never dull at Loftus Road is it.. and the future and who is paying for it great insight ... lets hope MH stays keeps us up. and can I dream we win something.. League cup anyone next year and then he might stay! sorry must stop dreaming
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texasranger added 14:28 - Jan 11
Thanks Clive, a great analysis of the current situation. I never liked watching MH on the pitch at Loftus Road but I think he will be just what we need right now as a manager.
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Antti_Heinola added 14:28 - Jan 11
Think you're right to be concerned about finances, Clive. At the moment we seem to be treading a familiar path to Portsmouth. I'll try not to think about it, but it's there niggling away at the back of my head...
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Monahoop added 15:14 - Jan 11
Likewise Antii. Ambition is one thing but ambitions like those at Portsmouth and Leeds recently could prove very damaging indeed.
Away from the niggling doubt [ which comes easy being a QPR fan ],I'll keep an open mind about Mark Hughes. He needs to start well. Sunday certainly won't be easy as Newcastle look to be hitting form again.
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jamois added 15:57 - Jan 11
Methinks he fancies himself a bit too much. Has he the tactical nous? We will see...
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jo_qpr63 added 19:27 - Jan 11
Clive, i bet if you give Kelly Brook £10 mill over 2 years (as been reported)she would get in the shower with you, and tell you she's there because of your big ambition!. I think MH will do a steady job, he cant walk out of this job because he will start getting a reputation. I think he has enough experience and knowledge to keep us up.Will he be wearing those sharp suits on match day or reverting back to trackies though!.
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snanker added 00:09 - Jan 12
MH a decent enough appointment given what options ? Yes Clive, who is gonna front all the quids on this venture ? The money has gotta be burning a hole in someones pocket ? Wonder how long this was brewing prior to the NW red card ? I recall Darren Peacock sending Hughes clattering full pelt into the Ellerslie Road hoardings early in a match against Man U with a sickening thud. The crowd in the general vicinity gave an audible wince rather than a standard piss take taunt because of the impacts ferocity but Hughes got straight back up to make himself available for the throw ! "Sparky's" gonna have to be just as resilient as a manager with the R's but I reckon he has the professional demeanor to do so whilst taking no prisoners among the playing staff which will be a necessary scenario given recent performances. Best of luck MH you will be the next hero if you can keep us up !
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