Official Premier League 2010/11 thread

[Cymbols]

YAYYYYYYYYYY... no more Houlier!!!

[jack95]

I'm not entirely sure where all the Houllier hate is coming from. Well, that's not totally true, as he did drag them into a relegation battle, but he also dragged them out of it and into a pretty decent 9th place, not bad for your first season in English football in 6 years. He also made some solid signings, Makoun and Bent should prove to be excellent (you could argue Bent already has.) Throw into the equation the injury crisis he went through during the early stages of his management, and I think he should have been given a little longer. Then again, I'm usually an apologist for managers anyway, but still...

[DavidMarrio]

Also players squabbling and not backing the manager at times didn't help, but I don't blame them for getting rid of him. Will be interesting to see who will come in though.

[METALMAN]

Houllier was a nice man. I will miss seeing his smiley face.

[Summers]

I'm not entirely sure where all the Houllier hate is coming from. Well, that's not totally true, as he did drag them into a relegation battle, but he also dragged them out of it and into a pretty decent 9th place, not bad for your first season in English football in 6 years. He also made some solid signings, Makoun and Bent should prove to be excellent (you could argue Bent already has.) Throw into the equation the injury crisis he went through during the early stages of his management, and I think he should have been given a little longer. Then again, I'm usually an apologist for managers anyway, but still...

Yeah... give the guy who left by mutual consent due to health problems longer.. wicked idea - if we wanted to make his heart explode.

[Cymbols]

I dislike him because of the way he acted backstage. His training methods have angered loads of our players and many have left (Sidwell, NRC etc.). Also, we play awfully all season but then when Garry McAllister takes over at the end we are unbeaten in 8.

[Summers]

Sidwell left? Oh noooo... disaster... when he was here he was invisible on the pitch anyway.

[IAceI]

Could Hiddink really be on the way back? Here's some quotes:

"I feel energetic and I like working every day. I feel I need to do more, so a club role is more preferable than coaching a national team. I haven't told the president of the Turkish FA. But he is an intelligent man and I'm sure he follows the world's media. There is no official offer yet, so I cannot guarantee anything."

Given he always struck me as very "to his word" I thought once he had the Turkey job that would be that but it could be on, and perhaps even if Turkey qualify/before he has a chance to see if they qualify?

I'd imagine Abramovich will have his way and sign Lukaku/Neymar/both but otherwise surely a manager needs to be instated sooner or later so they can get down to business?

Take it for what it's worth, of course.

[stokeriño]

My opinion these days is that Hiddink is definitely returning to Chelsea in one role or another, and they're just waiting until after the Belgium/Turkey qualifier match as it could affect the amount of compensation Chelsea have to pay the Turkish FA (if they lose and are therefore unable to qualify, I think).

Whether he will be the actual manager or just a DoF, I'm not completely sure.

Either way, given that Hiddink has been advising Roman/Chelsea for the last couple of years, any current transfer targets (of which Lukaku looks the most likely to get wrapped up soon) will have been agreed upon with his input, so no problems there.

Plus if we sign Lukaku this summer he is young enough to eventually qualify as home-grown, so all the more reason.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Mark Hughes resigns from Fulham....I'm sure there's NO connection with Aston Villa whatsoever.

[Liam]

Bugger.

[Liam]

Martin O'Neill is the 7/2 favourite for the job. Followed by luminaries such as Steve Mclaren and Dave Jones.

Although saying that, I like Jones, but don't think I'd want him at Fulham.

[Lineker]

McLaren could do a decent job at Fulham I reckon, plus he's got former in the Europa League.

[Robsturgh]

As long as he brings his dutch accent, I'm happy.

[stokeriño]

Massive 'Sparky to Chelsea' swerve?

Nah...

[9 to 5]

Nah, it isn't 2008 again.

[Pesci]

I'd love to see McClaren back in England to see what he could do with like five years' more experience since his last stint. Saying that, he'd be mad to take the Fulham job when there's surely better prospects out there for the winner of a major European league (and yes, in the grand scheme of things Holland counts as a major league).

Mark Hughes has walked into a stupidly hard job at Villa, especially if both Young and Downing leave. He'll find it hard to challenge the Top 6 and he doesn't really have much of a chance of finishing higher than 7th unless a team like Liverpool have an even worse season. I suppose it's a step up from Fulham and he stands a decent chance of winning a cup, but I'd just be biding my time until an offer from a decent European side comes along. Then again I'd have ambition, which a lot of British coaches seemingly don't have.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Pesci

[Summers]

Taking the Villa job is only an option for someone with ambition. It isn't easy, but we're an ambitious club. As it is, we'd contacted Fulham earlier and said we hadn't spoke to Hughes. Hughes says he hasn't spoke to anyone. And insiders are saying Hughes isn't our top choice. It seems like we're trying hard for Ancelotti. I can see Hughes at Chelsea, oddly.

[stokeriño]

Hughes as Chelsea manager with Hiddink as Director of Football and Zola (just for kicks) on the coaching staff.

Don't know what the team performances would be like but Hughes/Zola would be a big ball of heady nostalgia for a few weeks at least.

[Summers]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jun/02/mark-hughes-fulham-aston-villa/print

Mark Hughes will not be the new Aston Villa manager and has been left without a club after walking out on Fulham on Thursday night. The Welshman had been the favourite to succeed Gérard Houllier but Villa, unimpressed with the course of events that culminated in Hughes activating a break clause in his contract and leaving Fulham, have turned their attention elsewhere. Martin Jol and Steve McClaren are at the top of Villa's shortlist.

In a further twist Jol and McClaren, who are out of work and eager to return to employment in the Premier League, will also be leading candidates to take over at Craven Cottage, where Hughes had been expected to sign an improved two-year contract. Martin O'Neill, a former Villa manager, will be another major contender for that post.

Mohamed Al Fayed, the Fulham chairman, was furious after Hughes activated the break clause and tendered his resignation. A Fulham spokesperson said: "The chairman became increasingly annoyed by Mark positioning himself for another club, whilst still negotiating with us, and having agreed terms."

Fayed was, however, ready to extend Hughes's deal. One view from sources at the club is that contract talks with Hughes fell apart when Fulham felt unable to match the fees demanded by his representative, Kia Joorabchian.

Villa's reluctance to move for Hughes comes as something of a surprise. He has been the frontrunner for the Villa post since it emerged this week that Houllier would be stepping down on health grounds. Villa, however, told Fulham that they would not be making an approach for Hughes in the hours before his decision to leave.

The Midlands club have since made it clear that their stance has not changed after Hughes's departure from Fulham. It is understood they would have grave reservations about appointing the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City manager because of how his departure from Fulham has been handled.

Hughes, who is on holiday in Dubai, said in a statement: "I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club. This decision to leave Fulham has not been influenced by any outside party."

When Villa parted company with Houllier on Wednesday evening, Fulham believed that Hughes would stay loyal to them, as Fayed had done with him on Boxing Day, when the Craven Cottage crowd had called for Hughes's sacking after a 3-1 home defeat by West Ham United that dropped the club into the relegation zone. Hughes's new contract had even gone to the lawyers, with the terms and conditions agreed, in readiness for his signature.

Yet in the hours that followed Villa's announcement of Houllier's departure, Hughes went cold on Fulham – and nobody at the London club considered the two events to be unrelated. What Fulham could not understand, however, was that Paul Faulkner, the Villa chief executive, had made it clear to Alistair Mackintosh, his counterpart at Craven Cottage, with whom he gets on well, that Villa did not want Hughes. The Welshman, who describes himself as an ambitious young manager, may have taken a leap of faith as there was a deadline of midnight on Wednesday on the activation of his break clause. The clause permits him to walk away from the club as a free agent at the end of June. Premier League rules prevent him or his representative from contacting or being contacted by other clubs until after that.

His back-room entourage, which includes Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki, Glyn Hodges and Kevin Hitchcock, remain under contract at Fulham for another year, with no break clauses in their deals.

Fulham accepted Hughes's resignation and their impression was that he thought he would get the Villa job, despite the assurances they had received from Faulkner that he would not. Fayed is clear that there is no way back for Hughes at the club. "Roy Hodgson appreciated the club after he had left and [Fayed] believes Mark will do the same," a spokesperson said.

Villa say they have an open mind about filling their vacancy. Speculation that Carlo Ancelotti is among their leading candidates is wide of the mark, however. The former Chelsea manager has not received any contact from Villa and he is known to have no interest in the position. Ancelotti, according to sources close to the Italian, is holding out for a club that can offer Champions League football. Roberto Martínez, the Wigan Athletic manager, has, however, emerged as an outsider for the Villa post.

O'Neill, who has been out of work since leaving Villa last August, is the bookmakers' favourite for the Fulham jobAs well as Jol and McClaren, other names likely to feature on Fulham's shortlist may include Gianfranco Zola, the former West Ham manager, and Chris Hughton, who led Newcastle United back to the Premier League at the first attempt before being sacked in December. Jol had been Fulham's No1 target last summer, ahead of Hughes, and he had wanted to come. He was blocked by his then club, Ajax.

Interesting read. Sparky shot himself in the foot?