Mark Hughes admits he made mistake in leaving Fulham

[fulhamfever]

Former Fulham manager Mark Hughes admits he probably made a mistake leaving the club when he did.

Hughes, who takes his Stoke side to Craven Cottage this weekend, resigned as Fulham boss in the summer of 2011 having led them to an eighth-placed finish and Europa League qualification through the Fair Play league.

At the time, he said 'As a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences' while then owner Mohamed Al-Fayed branded him a 'strange man' and a 'flop'.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's fixture, Hughes said: "I left under something of a cloud.

"At the time I made the decision to leave because, given what I knew and what I thought was going to happen in the future, I couldn't commit to a new contract.

"I made the decision to leave but, with hindsight, it was probably the wrong decision.

"When I was there I had a few doubts over what kind of investment would be made available to strengthen the team. I interpreted that as maybe the club didn't want to keep on progressing.

"Obviously, almost immediately after I left they started investing in good players and spending some money, so I probably got that wrong.

"I don't think I have got anything to prove there. I am looking to go back there with my team now, which is Stoke, and do well. We need to get back on track."

Nothing but respect for Mark Hughes he admits he made a mistake.

[twang]

Fair play to him, went up a few notches IMO.

At the same time you got argue that he was right, as we have only gotten worse since he left.

[fulhamfever]

I said it once and will say it again sometimes you need a man like him to attract players from his old clubs. And it does help Kakuta and Gudjohnson was good for us and so was Dembele

[God The Mechanic]

"I couldn't commit to a new contract."

Because contracts mean SO MUCH these days ;)

[JackyFulham90]

I actually quite liked him was gutted when he left, was excited about Jol coming in though, hopefully he can turn it around starting Saturday

[Guinness Haze]

Must admit I liked him in charge.  Slow start, but thought we became a pretty decent side.
That said, I'd rather 'lack ambition' than give Hughes the combination to my safe.
Spent an insane amount of QPR money on random transfers.

[Fulham76]

Fair play to him, went up a few notches IMO.

At the same time you got argue that he was right, as we have only gotten worse since he left.

:plus one:
I'm starting to wish he was still here for some reason... Jol really must be peeing me off!

[KP_FFC]

:'(
i miss those times when we finished top half and had european football

[westcliff white]

Gudjohnson did well for us? Did I miss something, I thought he was a pale shadow of his former self

[BishopsParkFantastic]

Respect to him for coming out with his statement, but as I recall the Aston Villa job had become available and at the time the media suggested that he was  leaving Fulham (because of the clubs lack of ambition) to make himself  available for that job. Perhaps I got it wrong?

[Andy S]

I think Hughes is only admitting what we already know. Whether he would have spent any more prudently can only be speculated on but with a hat full of cash things didn't go too well at QPR.

My guess is it is all about gamesmanship as he wants to big up any achievement should we get beaten by his team an Saturday, while saying that we are a good team should he get beaten

[Lighthouse]

I actually quite liked him was gutted when he left, was excited about Jol coming in though, hopefully he can turn it around starting Saturday

:plus one:

[horse1031]

i am having a hard time believing people were gutted when he left.  He left so randomly and I think most people were happy that Martin was coming in.  I remember a time when this board was as against Mark as they are against Jol.  We were playing absolutely terrible football.  Most people thought that the players revolted and resorted back to playing Hodgson type football again?  I am confused... 1500.gif

[westcliff white]

Bishops I am with you, he can say what he likes but he tried to position hisself for the villa job. They then backed of as they didn't like the way he did things or that's what i remember

[MasterHaynes]

Bishops I am with you, he can say what he likes but he tried to position hisself for the villa job. They then backed of as they didn't like the way he did things or that's what i remember

Spot on the money, from what I remember it was also reported quite wildly that he thoughthe had a shout at the Chelsea job so wanted to be available and have Villa as his fall back job.

[DukeTyrion]

Bishops I am with you, he can say what he likes but he tried to position hisself for the villa job. They then backed of as they didn't like the way he did things or that's what i remember

Spot on the money, from what I remember it was also reported quite wildly that he thoughthe had a shout at the Chelsea job so wanted to be available and have Villa as his fall back job.

Exactly, he was after the Chelsea / Villa job and couldn't give a stuff about Fulham, especially after he had been made to look stupid by the mini player revolt.

[Burt]

When we were in the relegation zone at Xmas I don't remember there being too many favourable feelings towards him.

He did however pull things around, and even though I always felt he was not your typical Fulham manager (in terms of trying to establish rapport with the supporters etc) he did a reasonable job.

The way he left though didn't look good, he was clearly looking for either Chelsea or Villa.

Interesting that he has at last admitted that he did get it wrong. Fair play to him.

It's a shame though that we can't sing "f--- your ambition, we're better than you" sitting so low in the table.

[The Rock]

Some good posts on this and good to see him fess up. Decent manager and fair enough...

Doesn't change the fact that if he had to do it all over again he'd still have left us in the manner he did and would probably do it again, so no love lost from me.

[callumc513]

Wow things with Jol must be bad if we're all sat here praising Sparky.

[SmithyFFC]

To be honest when sparky left I couldnt have cared less, but looking back he did a far better job for us than Jol has done.