Mark Hughes Finally Speaks Out On Fulham & Villa

[zzamora]

So No Ambition is:

1) Expanding Craven Cottage.

2) Splashing out big money on players, including 10.6 million for a two season wonder is extremely ambitious.

[Rupert]

So No Ambition is:

1) Expanding Craven Cottage.

2) Splashing out big money on players, including 10.6 million for a two season wonder is extremely ambitious.

Sadly, no, it isn't. It's more or less treading water. Bringing the Cottage up to 30,000 (and then filling those seats every week) will bring us "up" to mid-table level, so in theory will make it easier for us to maintain our current status.
Also, £10.6 Million is a fortune for us, but that is not the sort of sum we spend very often, for the very good reason that we can not afford to spend it. If Chairman Mo doesn't dig every deeper into his pockets, we don't splash the cash, simple as that. Other clubs ("more ambitious" ones, no doubt) don't have that problem to the same degree.

For all that, I think Hughes is deliberately muddying the waters here, and likely because he truly thought he was a shoe in for Villa, however much he protests otherwise now. He says the club was too honest with him, then says the negotiations for his signings seemed to be slowing down, yet doesn't seem to connect this with his escape clause. Maybe if he had committed himself, the signings may have happened. After Roy singed Senderos and then left us, I daresay the Chief Exec was not keen to buy anyone until we knew the wish-list belonged to the current manager, not his immediate predecessor.

I suspect this is the opening move of Hughes' attempt to get back into management. Much to his astonishment, the job offers have not come flooding in, he now realises he has lost all the sympathy he gained after Man City screwed him over, as he is now perceived to have left us, potentially, in the lurch, and a lot of chairmen have looked at Hughes and decided they want somebody a lot more reliable.

[Mr Fulham]

So No Ambition is:

1) Expanding Craven Cottage.

2) Splashing out big money on players, including 10.6 million for a two season wonder is extremely ambitious.

Sadly, no, it isn't. It's more or less treading water. Bringing the Cottage up to 30,000 (and then filling those seats every week) will bring us "up" to mid-table level, so in theory will make it easier for us to maintain our current status.
Also, £10.6 Million is a fortune for us, but that is not the sort of sum we spend very often, for the very good reason that we can not afford to spend it. If Chairman Mo doesn't dig every deeper into his pockets, we don't splash the cash, simple as that. Other clubs ("more ambitious" ones, no doubt) don't have that problem to the same degree.

For all that, I think Hughes is deliberately muddying the waters here, and likely because he truly thought he was a shoe in for Villa, however much he protests otherwise now. He says the club was too honest with him, then says the negotiations for his signings seemed to be slowing down, yet doesn't seem to connect this with his escape clause. Maybe if he had committed himself, the signings may have happened. After Roy singed Senderos and then left us, I daresay the Chief Exec was not keen to buy anyone until we knew the wish-list belonged to the current manager, not his immediate predecessor.

I suspect this is the opening move of Hughes' attempt to get back into management. Much to his astonishment, the job offers have not come flooding in, he now realises he has lost all the sympathy he gained after Man City screwed him over, as he is now perceived to have left us, potentially, in the lurch, and a lot of chairmen have looked at Hughes and decided they want somebody a lot more reliable.

:Haynes The Maestro: