QPR today moved to appoint Mark Hughes as manager following
the sacking of Neil Warnock on Sunday evening. The speed of the appointment
would lead some to suggest that he was already lined up should the need arise
and with the terrible showing against MK Dons on Saturday, the wheels were
swiftly put into motion.
Leslie Mark Hughes, to give him his full handle, comes to
Loftus Road having been out of the game since he decided to jack it in at
Fulham citing massive ambition on his part and a lack of it on theirs. Many
thought that he thought he was a shoe in for the vacant Villa job but that
didn’t materialise and Sparky found himself sidelined. Prior to his spell at
Fulham he had been at the helm at Manchester City when the big bucks started
flowing.
In the 08/09 season he steered City to 10th place
and the UEFA Cup quarter finals assisted by signings such as De Jong, Kompany
and most notably Robinho. In the summer of 20009 Hughes splurged again on
players including Tevez, Adebayor, Lescott and Barry but was sacked in December
2009 when he wasn’t romping the league. His final game was a bizarre affair
where everyone, including him, knew he was getting the bullet afterwards.
Prior to City he had done a fine job at Blackburn Rovers. In
his first season they finished 15th and reached the FA Cup semi
finals. Next season they finished 6th and qualified for Europe; the
next season 10th and another FA Cup semi. It is likely that this
impressive record at a similarly sized club to QPR that persuaded the current
board that he was a viable option. He has of course had a relatively successful
spell in charge of the Wales national side and indeed almost got them to Euro
2004 before Russia turned them over in a playoff.
Hughes has much work to do at Rangers and a priority will be
to try and restore some team spirit which appears to have gone out of the
window totally of late. A start to that might be to appoint a skipper that
leads by example with performances on and off the pitch. The current incumbent
of the armband has hardly set the world alight in either sphere and his
shameful dig at Warnock on Twitter on Sunday and his self centred ranting
yesterday endears him to nobody. I don’t think that Hughes is the type of
character to suffer such a fool for long.
In his time at Blackburn his teams finished bottom of the
fair play league for four successive seasons that was countered somewhat with
the UEFA Cup qualification for being bloody nice chaps at Fulham however. If he
can instil some of the grit and fire his Blackburn teams played with that will
serve us well I think. He will also need to move quickly in the transfer market
with a centre back, centre midfielder and a centre forward the highest of
priorities. I believe that the board believe that Hughes will help attract a
higher calibre of player than those Warnock could tempt in, I also believe that
they believe he will be able to handle the bigger egos that come with the
bigger players.
Hard work on the training ground is a must and he has brought
his trusted lieutenants in Mark Bowen, Kevin Hitchcock and Eddie Niedzwiecki
(he of rolling round in the mud whilst Michael Robinson scored from the half
way line in the 1986 Milk Cup quarter final at Stamford Bridge fame) with him
to oversee that. In the short term shoring up a defence that leaks like a sieve
is a must as that will give even the most meagre of attacks the chance to
secure points. The next three weeks will shape the season massively, if Hughes
can secure his targets with a reported £20m transfer war chest then we could be
set fair. If he has to go with what he has, I am not sure it would matter what
manager had his name on the door.
Is Hughes better than Warnock? Only time will tell. Warnock
did an astounding job in his 22 months at Loftus Road; he restored pride to the
club and the most thrilling season in the last 25 years. He did seem to have
run out of steam though and just as players have their level, perhaps managers
do to. Is Hughes the best we could have got in? I actually think that he
probably is. For all the talk about going and getting someone like Hiddink that
is pie in the sky for a newly promoted team trying to secure its Premier League
safety. Hughes is an experienced operator with hundreds of top flight games
under his belt as player and manager and he knows how to handle big names.
So, welcome Sparky, just mind your back if Macca should ever
be in town!
