6 Years ago today: QPR Interviewing Mark Hughes (and I think, only Mark Hughes) - Or Mark Hughes Interviewing QPRJan 9, 2012 at
Guardian/Dominic Fifield
Mark Hughes's marriage of convenience at QPR offers way in from cold
Former Manchester City manager needs Queens Park Rangers job to put him back on the football mapMark Hughes had always spied a future in management in west London, even if the identity of his ambitious employer of choice has morphed over time. Where once he had craved a return to money‑flushed Chelsea, only instead to re‑emerge briefly further down the road at Craven Cottage, now it is Queens Park Rangers who offer an opportunity. Initially he will be charged simply with securing top‑flight survival; the objectives in the longer term will be significantly more grandiose.
At first glance the 48-year-old's eagerness to take up the reins at Loftus Road might provoke surprise. After all, back in June, his justification for departing Fulham had apparently been a desire to compete further up the Premier League table than with a side he had just steered into eighth. He had hoped to be offered a speedy return with Aston Villa only for that move never to materialise. Sunderland, too, ended up recruiting elsewhere last month. QPR, newly promoted after 15 years out of the limelight but increasingly forlorn after a nine-match winless run, would hardly appear to represent even a sideways shift.
Yet, as unlikely a marriage as it might appear, there is logic aplenty both in discarding Neil Warnock to turn to Hughes and in the Welshman accepting the brief. This is a convenient alliance for club and coach, an appointment that still smacks of ambition on the part of the chairman, Tony Fernandes, and could yet offer Hughes the platform he has been seeking. Certainly, there was a sense that Hughes needed to emerge from the wilderness before he became football management's latest forgotten man, lost from the dugout to punditry on Champions League nights with Sky where, only recently, he had hoped to be competing among rather than commentating on Europe's elite.
Despite being successful at all the clubs he has managed, Hughes has a reputation to restore. The abruptness of his departure from Fulham had felt farcical when no job of any substance was immediately forthcoming. If life at Craven Cottage had lacked the financial clout and public profile he had enjoyed over 18 months at Manchester City, he had still taken charge of – and eventually excelled with – a team who had recently graced the Europa League final and were an established force in the Premier League. Mohamed Al Fayed subsequently labelled him "a strange man" and a "flop" for walking away.
His insistence in riposte that he remained "a young, ambitious manager" rang ridiculously as he found himself cast to the fringes and attempting to defend the baffling conduct of Carlos Tevez – a player he signed at City and with whom he shares the same adviser, Kia Joorabchian – at Bayern Munich on live television while flanked by a disbelieving Graeme Souness.
This was not how it was supposed to be for a man lauded for his stewardship of Blackburn, and who was considered deeply unfortunate to be relieved of his duties at Eastlands in December 2009. In that context a club like QPR, who he would not previously have considered progressive but are now under new and ambitious ownership, cannot be ignored. He will have significant funding to strengthen this squad – that will not necessarily be a straightforward process in the midwinter window – and will be offered a vision of a bright future that will appeal.
In the short term Fernandes will justify his ruthless decision on Warnock in the wake of recent results by pointing to a trend established last season by Roberto Di Matteo's brutally swift and unexpected dismissal at West Bromwich Albion. The Italian had steered the club back into the top flight at the first time of asking and had already won at Arsenal and claimed the only points Manchester United would surrender all season at Old Trafford when, in early February, a thrashing at City prompted the axe. West Brom had secured only one win in nine league games at that stage and, even if they remained above the cut‑off, the hierarchy could see the campaign was headed only one way.
Roy Hodgson, who had performed a remarkable salvage mission in his first few months at Fulham, promptly lost only two of 12 matches to finish 11th. What had initially appeared to be a sudden decision driven by panic had suddenly been exposed as a masterstroke. The hope will be that the former Wales manager, accompanied by his familiar backroom staff of Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki, will have a similarly galvanising effect at Loftus Road.
The risk attached hinges largely on whether Hughes can hit the ground running. At Blackburn and Fulham, he endured somewhat stodgy starts, form QPR can ill afford. Rovers had boasted two points from five games when he succeeded Souness at Ewood Park in September 2004 and, despite beating Portsmouth in his first game, were bottom after failing to win any of the next eight. A final position of 15th represented a triumph in trying circumstances. Even at Fulham, where the need to revitalise the squad felt less pressing, he won only twice in his first 10 matches.
Fernandes cannot afford the new man to be a slow starter this time around, though this has the makings of a partnership to succeed
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/09/mark-hughes-qpr
Mirror
Draws! Santa Cruz! Shouts of Leslie! Top 10 things QPR fans can expect under Mark HughesBy Dan Silver in Football Banter
Published 16:57 09/01/12
Mark Hughes was at Loftus Road on Monday to discuss becoming QPR's new boss, apparently beating off a bid for the job from - my word! - Ray Wilkins.
But what should fans expect if and Sparky is named Hoops gaffer? MirrorFootball has the answers:
1) Handshakes (or lack thereof):
Sparky was a feisty little so-and-so on the pitch and his temperament clearly hasn't changed much off of it. Rival managers can't do 'afters' on the touchline, of course, but Hughes has certainly had his fair share of post-match handshake wars instead. In 2009, Arsene Wenger snubbed him after Manchester City beat Arsenal 3-0 in a Carling Cup tie at Eastlands.
Then, in February 2011, Roberto Mancini - Hughes' replacement at City, of course - rubbed the Welshman up the wrong way by not looking him in the eye following Fulham's 1-1 draw in Manchester. In both cases Hughes railed at the lack of respect shown by his opposite numbers. "I am old-fashioned," he harrumphed.
Which is presumably why HE failed to shake Stoke boss Tony Pulis' hand following a bad tempered Carling Cup in December 2010 tie that saw Fulham striker Moussa Dembele depart the Britannia on crutches...
2) Semi-finals
Sparky's Cup record to date has been pretty decent - as long as you don't mind not actually making it as far as the final.
At Blackburn, he achieved three semis in three years (quiet at the back...): the FA Cup in 2004-05; Carling Cup in 2005-06; and then the FA Cup again in 2006-07. All were lost to 'top four opposition' (Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea respectively).
He also took Manchester City to the Carling Cup semi-finals in 2009-10, but didn't get to lose to Manchester United in person as he was replaced by Roberto Mancini a few days before the first leg.
Still, there's always fifth time lucky, eh?
3) Eye-watering transfer fees
Those who thought Neil Warnock had spent a fair bit of money since Tony Fernandes arrived at Loftus Road might struggle to cope under the Hughes regime.
Admittedly he was playing with the footballing equivalent of Monopoly money at Manchester City, but he still sanctioned paying an eye-watering £24million for workaday defender Joleon Lescott.
In comparison, the money spunked on Emmanuel Adebayor (£25million), Kolo Toure (£16million), Roque Santa Cruz (£17.5million) and Gareth Barry (£12million) seemed positively great value for money. But not the £32million handed over for Robinho.
4) Old Blackburn players
Nobody could accuse Hughes of lacking loyalty. Well, nobody who isn't a Fulham fan at any rate. No, he loves his players so much that he regularly tries to sign them again as soon as he pitches up at a new club.
Both Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz accompanied Hughes on the journey from Ewood Park to Eastlands, and he tried to sign them both again while at Fulham.
With Santa Cruz and Wayne Bridge out in the cold at Eastlands, the time could be right for another reunion.
5) Draws
In recent years, Hughes has morphed from a winning manager into a drawing manager. Let's hope his downward spiral stops there, or QPR fans are heading for another season in the Championship.
He first contracted the disease at Eastlands, where a streak of seven consecutive league draws went some way towards him being shown the door.
Undeterred, Sparky took that form on to Fulham, where he took one point from the first six of his seven games in charge. His record at the Cottage stands at P43 W14 L14 D16, which should ensure QPR are popular with those that play the fixed-odds coupons if nothing else.
6) Players played out of position
Manchester City's amazing success under Roberto Mancini was down in no small part to the performances of Vincent Kompany, a Hughes signing. Although most of the credit he might want to claim is negated somewhat by the fact Sparky played the brilliant Belgian as a defensive midfielder.
It was only when Mancini moved the £6million capture from Hamburg into the back four that everything clicked.
7) Mark Bowen
A fiercely proud son of Glyndwr, Hughes won 72 caps as a player for Wales and then went on to manage the national team for 41 games too.
As such, you can understand why he'd want to surround himself with Welshmen wherever he went. Hughes signed countrymen Robbie Savage and Bellamy while at Blackburn, and took keen golfer Bellamy with him to Manchester City afterwards.
His most treasured friend from the valleys, though, is Mark Bowen. The former Norwich defender first worked under Hughes in the national set-up, and has dutifully followed him around like a Llanelli llapdog ever since.
Presumably there's already a warm seat in the QPR dug-out with Bowen's name on it.
8) "Leslie!"
Should you hear opposition fans shouting out the name 'Leslie!' in a rather effeminate manner next season, don't worry: it's not because former Blue Peter presenters John ... or ... Judd are in the ground, but rather because that is Hughes' proper given name.
As fans of Manchester City and Bolton take great pleasure in incessantly reminding him whenever he rolls into town.
9) Kia Joorabchian
Hughes shipped up at Loftus Road with his lovable Iranian advisor in tow, delighting all those who recognise Joorabchian's outstanding contributions to football over the years - from third-party ownership to Carlos Tevez transfer requests. No surprise, really, after Hughes' memorable Sky Sports performance in which he became virtually the only man in football to defend Tevez for his antics in Munich.
The former car dealer has been tight with Sparky since his City spell, but the Bayern bench affair and its aftermath has surely burned Kia's bridges at Eastlands. So Hoops fans might expect plenty of transfer activity involving some of the 60-odd players to whom Joorabchian allegedly owns the economic rights.
10) Slapstick comedy
When not getting into handshake-related rows, Hughes can often be seen exhibiting his love of free dance, as this clip from his time at Manchester City proves.
And should it all go wrong on the Villa Park pitch, then at least a post-football career on Strictly Come Dancing could be in the offing.
www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/football-banter/Mark-Hughes-in-Queens-Park-Rangers-manager-talks-Top-10-things-fans-can-expect-including-Roque-Santa-Cruz-Craig-Bellamy-Mark-Bowen-Cup-Semi-finals-and-more-article851567.htmlAlso
"It's going to be Hughes" Threadqprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=28776&page=1#221795
Mark Hughes: Fulham and Manchester City Perspectivesqprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=28853&page=1#223003"Hughes needs to be convinced by QPR's Ambition" threadqprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=28806Topic: Hughes's 'Bizarre' Man City/Fulham RunRead more:
qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=28851&page=1#222990#ixzz2HYaibzRZ
