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Stick with Hughes and Fulham will soar

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Written by Saad Noor, at Craven Cottage

In this strange season there have been a few surprise packages, the customary strange result, and then there’s Fulham.

Last year’s Europa League finalists have looked a shadow of their former selves and have struggled to string wins together this term.

You could point to their gruelling 63-game-season which led to former manager Roy Hodgson being named manager of the year followed by a World Cup and argue a case for exhaustion. But, out of their 25-man Premier League squad, only six played in South Africa.

Mark Hughes was deemed a smart and safe appointment by Mohamed Al-Fayed when Roy Hodgson left for pastures new at Liverpool but his season so far has been difficult to say the least.

He has been under increased pressure since the Cottagers dropped into the relegation zone after defeat by West Ham on Boxing Day but six points in the last three games have moved them out of the bottom three and transformed the mood at the club.

It seems as though Hughes had a chip on his shoulder since his harsh and abrupt sacking as Manchester City manager last season and doesn’t appear to be enjoying his time at the Cottage as much as he had before.

Some Fulham fans have lost patience with the former Manchester United striker and suggest his head is elsewhere and believes he is too big for a club of Fulham’s size. Fans at Craven Cottage chanted: “Hughes out!” after their embarrassing defeat to bottom club West Ham.

This analysis is callous as although Hughes is of course an ambitious manager, he is also a proud man who has done a good job wherever he has been.

While at a somewhat similar club, Blackburn Rovers, between 2004 and 2008, in his first season he led the club to an FA Cup semi-final for the first time in over 40 years and steered the club clear of their relegation worries.

In his second season, Blackburn surprised even the most optimistic supporters by finishing inside the top six of the Premier League and qualifying for the UEFA Cup, beating eventual champions Chelsea, Arsenal and doing the double over Manchester United along the way. He also took Rovers to a Carling Cup semi-final too.

To go with these successes, Hughes was also very shrewd in the transfer market with a small budget signing the likes of Benni McCarthy (£2 million), David Bentley (£500,000), Ryan Nelsen (free), Stephen Warnock (£1.5 million), Roque Santa Cruz (£3.5 million), and Christopher Samba (£400,000) for minimal transfer fees and eventually led Blackburn to a league finish of 7th in 2007–08.

So Mohamed Al-Fayed would do well to back his manager in the transfer market as he is in desperate need of a striker with a forward line waring thin due to the injury plagued Andrew Johnson, Bobby Zamora’s long absence coupled with new boy Moussa Dembélé’s ankle problems.

With all these injuries midfielders Clint Dempsey has been the main goal threat which has restricted the side to just 22 goals in 21 league games.

So despite his rocky start to life in West London, the fans, owners and players at Fulham would be wise to be patient with old ‘Sparky’ and witness him take their side to similar heights as they enjoyed last season.

After the game against West Brom, Hughes said: “Things haven’t run for us but hopefully things are changing.”

Judging by his track-record, he might be right and a swing in fortunes along with a few additions in January (namely a striker) Fulham could still finish the season in a respectable position.

Now that Hughes has made it to January, it is thought he’ll make it to the end of the season. And if he makes it to the end of the season, he’ll be around for a lot longer than that.

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