Mark Bowen on Fulham

[Lighthouse]

Just sat through the Web repeat of Talkbore talking to Mark Bowen. When Fulham were at last mentioned they were not allowed to talk about Hughes and his time at the club because of a confidentiality agreement. Makes the whole thing even stranger.

[Burt]

Hmmm interesting, makes you wonder if there was other stuff going on behind the scenes, rather than it being a case of Hughes just thinking we weren't big enough for him.

And these agreements are normally done if there is a settlement - I thought Hughes resigned?

[TWFL]

Hughes main point of resigning was that he wasn't allowed to spend £17million on one player, Daniel Osvaldo, and he was annoyed at how small the rest of the budget was considering the clubs' ambitions.

[Burt]

Is that really enough to justify a gagging clause, particularly if the transfer fee/ambition bit is already public knowledge?

[psand22]

I think with Jol available (the guy MAF wanted in the first place), there could of been some things going on in the backroom.  It was bizarre how things went down. Hughes had said that things were looking good on his new extension and then he's gone. I guess, we'll get the real story one day.

[Fernhurst]

I quite like a decent conspiracy theory ..here's one I heard from a mate today.

Apparently blunt talking Dutchman that he is,informed those who's services were no longer require to start looking around on his 2nd day in charge.
Further conversation have been had and Jol has laid out his plans to score more goals in the future.....therefore two sudden withdrawls on Saturday.

[MJG]

I quite like a decent conspiracy theory ..here's one I heard from a mate today.

Apparently blunt talking Dutchman that he is,informed those who's services were no longer require to start looking around on his 2nd day in charge.
Further conversation have been had and Jol has laid out his plans to score more goals in the future.....therefore two sudden withdrawls on Saturday.

I'm not sure if there is anything in the fact that both were missing, but it is noticeable that when AJ scored the other week he ran to Bobby who was on the sidelines. Its clear they are friends and like playing together and maybe Jol has made it clear thats not going to happen.But to be honest I can understand that because has Johnson & Zamora ever worked consistently over the last 3 and a bit seasons?

[leonffc]

AJ and Bobby always celebrate together when one is on the sidelines. I noticed it a lot last year.

[HatterDon]

Jol's not going to get rid of two English players who can actually play and score goals. Bobby and AJ will stay. I don't think both of them getting sick is indication of much other than the normal flu/cold/allergy situation. God knows after my week in England I've been talking like Donald Duck. I'm surprised they're not all hacking and coughing.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

The more (or less!) that is said about the Hughes situation, the more interesting it becomes.

I get the impression that Fulham may have approached Jol, then told Hughes that he could walk citing 'ambition' - therefore Fulham get their man and Hughes can leave claiming that he wants to win trophy's (which suits his ego)

[ClarksOriginal]

AJ and Bobby always celebrate together when one is on the sidelines. I noticed it a lot last year.

The two became close during BZs injury layoff. BZ has said in a couple of interviews that AJ was a great help during his lay-off (AJ must know very well, he's had alot of time on the sidelines) and they had become close.

I noticed when Bob scored that screamer against Blackpool he ran straight to AJ. Good to see some good old fashioned friendship between the players.