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Ahead of the Game: what's next for Mark Hughes?

Today Ciaran McEldowney asks: What next for Mark Hughes? Would Liverpool be a good fit bearing in mind they don't seem to have money and he worked wonders on a tight budget at Blackburn? Or would he be tempted to follow Steve McClaren's lead and try his luck abroad, say Bayern Munich, given the German league isn't as strong as it once was and he has a history there?

James Ducker responds: "A very good question and one we asked among ourselves yesterday, although given everything else that was going on, sadly an answer to it got lost in the mix. That said, it's likely to be a subject that is debated in the weeks and possibly months ahead.

"Hughes has certain failings as a manager, there's no doubt about that, but he also has a lot of promise, a lot of talent, and I'm convinced City would have realised their ambition to finish in the top four, possibly this season, if they had stuck with him.

"The questions are: one, how badly will his dismissal damage his confidence and, two, and more importantly, how will it affect his standing among other clubs? Sam Allardyce, for example, was given his big break at Newcastle but when that backfired it was back to the kind of job he had been doing before - working on a small budget at a smaller Premier League club.

"I'd like to think that fate does not await Hughes and your point about managing abroad is an interesting one. I certainly think he would stand to benefit as a manager if that happened. Tactically, for a start, he would benefit. He certainly has enough kudos and respect abroad, having played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich, having made such an impact in Europe for Manchester United and, moreover, having become well known on the continent and further afield from his time managing Wales.

"Personally, I think a move abroad would be the right next move for him. Liverpool's hands are tied. They couldn't get rid of Rafael Benitez even if they wanted to (and they probably do deep down) because they can't afford to pay him off and pay a new manager's wages and provide transfer funds at the same time. So that would appear to be out of the question and I doubt very much that Hughes would even be considered for numerous reasons, the City issue aside. Liverpool fans, for a start, would never accept as their manager a man who spent his best years at United.

"Another problem Hughes has is that Martin O'Neill isn't going anywhere at Aston Villa, nor is Harry Redknapp at Spurs. And Hughes's best interests would not be served by taking on a much smaller job.

"He's probably best sitting tight, getting his compensation from City sorted, taking a break to recharge his batteries and then consider putting himself in the shop window again."

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Ahead of TheGame: Mourinho v Ancelotti: history behind conflict

Today we ask: Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti will meet again in the last 16 of the Champions League, but what is the history between the pair?

Gabriele Marcotti responds: ”The rivalry between the pair goes back to the time when Mourinho had left Chelsea and was being constantly linked with AC Milan. That was also a time, during the summer of 2008, when Ancelotti was on pretty shaky ground at Milan and even admitted to speaking with Chelsea.

Ancelotti was being asked over and over again “what do you think about Mourinho? Is he going to take your job?” He responded with an off the cuff comment that was made as he was literally walking out of the press conference, he joked “I don’t need Mourinho at AC Milan, he isn’t much of a footballer, have you ever seen him kick a ball”?

Ahead of TheGame: Lennon puts Walcott's World Cup place in doubt

Today we ask whether the Tottenham winger can be the answer to Fabio Capello's right wing puzzle? Should Fabio Capello you pick him ahead of Theo Walcott, who has struggled with injuries for most of the season? Or does Lennon's past patchiness still leave a question marks?

Russell Kempson responds: "Fabio Capello might still prefer Theo Walcott as his main option on England's right flank. And why not? The Arsenal winger has rarely let him down. Yet Aaron Lennon is closing fast on the rails, his flowing form for Tottenham Hotspur a sight to behold in the frantic world of the Barclays Premier League. Lennon is not only adding consistency to his game, performing bewitchingly in perhaps two out of three games instead of one out of three or four, but also an end product, the currency of any winger worth his salt. "Get to the byline, get the cross in" is always the mantra. "And make it a good cross, too."

Ahead of the Game: Villa on schedule for Champions League challenge

 

Today we ask: Are Aston Villa in a stronger position to challenge for the top four this season and do they have what it takes to finish above Liverpool?"
 
George Caulkin responds: “First things first, last night was the only time I've seen Villa live this season, so it would be foolish to draw too much from a single performance, but Martin O'Neill's team were deeply impressive at the Stadium of Light. True, Sunderland have dipped a long way below the form they demonstrated when both Liverpool and Arsenal were beaten on Wearside, but equally Villa found a way to wear them down and pick them off. Through the spine of the team - Friedel in goal, Dunne at centre-half, Milner in midfield, Heskey up front - they had players on top of their game and they have pace, height and power. Unlike Liverpool at present, they look like a team, they have balance and they have options on the substitutes' bench.

“Last season's experience will serve them well, they're clearly stronger than they were a year ago and Steve Bruce saw nothing to change his opinion that if any team are capable of crashing the Champions League party, then it's Villa. At this stage, that can only remain an if. Liverpool know what it takes to be in the top four and recent history shows that it's difficult to bet against their powers of recovery, but they are also a club suffering spasm after spasm.   If nothing else, with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City also impressing, the closed shop of the Barclays Premier League summit looks a good deal more open this season.”

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Ahead of the Game: Wednesday should call for Steve Cotterill

 

Today Adrian Biggs asked: With Sheffield Wednesday lumbering from one crisis to another over the past 15 seasons or so , can you please tell me who could come in as manager and turn the club around?

Peter Lansley replies: "The burden of this once great club's recent decline cannot be placed wholly on the shoulders of the next manager. There is no one suitable in the mould of Ron Atkinson to come in and sweep the club into the Barclays Premier League; no-one such as Trevor Francis to come straight in off the playing field and lift them into cup finals. This job is about keeping Sheffield Wednesday in the Coca-Cola Championship over the next three years.
 
Nigel Worthington, the Northern Ireland manager, looks to be among the favourites since he tentatively threw his hat into the ring on Monday night while also letting it be known he is not happy with contract negotiations with his current employers. While he would bring the cachet of being a Hillsborough legend for his part in that great team of the early 1990s, this also smacks of trying to get a raise in his current job. In his six years at Carrow Road, he lifted Norwich City into the Premier League for a single season.

This is not what Wednesday need right now; they require someone ready to roll up his sleeves, work with a limited budget and steady the ship while Lee Strafford attempts to stabilise the club and move towards renovating the dilapidated stadium. Howard Wilkinson, back at the club as a technical consultant, knows this all too well. He will look for a combination of youthful enthusiasm, coaching nouse and Championship experience and, having worked with Steve Cotterill on FA courses and at Sunderland, knows what a superb job the former Cheltenham Town and Stoke City manager, still only 45, did at Burnley.

Burnley, like Wednesday, were a grand old club in danger of falling into the third tier of English football when Cotterill arrived in 2004. Every December, he lifted them into the play-off zone of the Championship; every January, he would be obliged to sell his best player - such as Robbie Blake, Ade Akinbiyi, Richard Chaplow - for a quick million, and the team would stabilise in mid-table. The manager left when he realised the board would not back him to go on to the next stage. Owen Coyle inherited Cotterill's team, doubled the wage bill, Turf Moor received a lick of paint, and the club were ready for a stab at the Premier League. This is the kind of platform Wednesday require right now. Call for Cotterill."

 

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Set the agenda in our daily football e-mail

Ahead of TheGame, our excellent free football bulletin, has returned this season to deliver more of the best breaking news, expert opinion and entertaining titbits to your inbox every weekday lunchtime.

Perhaps most impressively, our new AOTG allows you to put a question to our unbeatable squad of experts, including Patrick Barclay, Oliver Kay, Gabriele Marcotti and Tony Cascarino.

We also give you the platform to sound off about whatever topic you find most pressing, whether it be the crisis at Liverpool, the truth behind the latest club-takeover rumours or daft replica shirt names.

Combine that with superbly written columns, the inside line on the latest transfer gossip plus a healthy dose of fun and wit and you get the best football bulletin available online.

Click here to read an example, then go to this page to sign up - it only takes a moment.

Ahead of the Game: Giggs is a truly exceptional sportsman

Today you asked: Is Ryan Giggs a worthy winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Oliver Kay, our man in the North West, responds: “There has been a sentimental swell behind the voting for Giggs but the criteria for the award is “actions that have captured the public’s imagination” and I think he has done that. Going into 2009 I would say he was a nearly-great player coming towards the end of his career, but his form, however fleeting, in the last year has elevated him to the level of a truly great British sportsman.

People may argue that he’s not a world champion, even though United won the Fifa Club World Cup this year, but as a football fan I would argue that his achievements set against those of Jenson Button make him a more compelling candidate.

It’s hard for footballers to win such an award, but Giggs’s ability to unite football supporters, despite playing for United and even being applauded off the pitch by opposition fans, puts him in the top category of sportsmen who are truly revered.

There may be an element of him receiving a lifetime achievement award but only Didier Drogba could match him as Footballer of the Year in 2009. His goal against West Ham stands out, as well as his performance in the derby against Manchester City in September.

He may have been used sparingly but athletes are able to build towards a peak whereas Giggs has been consistently excellent despite playing only about 30 games in United’s title-winning season.

One thing that may have settled any dispute would have been a match-winning performance in the Champions League final. Sadly, he was one of the worst players on show that day but that doesn’t detract from what is a thoroughly deserved award.”

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Ahead of TheGame: Newcastle's success papers over the cracks

Today you asked: Do you think Chris Hughton has been given sufficient credit for the job he's done at Newcastle this season?  If this were Alan Shearer, the media would be touting him as a possible successor to Fabio Capello.”

George Caulkin, our man in the North East, responds: "I think Chris has been given a fair bit of credit for the job he's done at Newcastle; three Manager of the Month awards are surely testament to that. But I know what you mean. He's a very quiet, polite, undemonstrative and matter-of-fact kind of man, so perhaps doesn't inspire quite the same sort of media attention as other managers. To be honest, I think he prefers that. Has he surprised me this season? Definitely. He and the players have excelled in unearthing a formidable team spirit in the face of what they have admitted has been fairly extraordinary and unhelpful circumstances.

“I'm not sure that the Shearer comparison is fair one, though. At the end of last season, Alan presented Mike Ashley with a programme to tear apart the club and then rebuild it brick by brick. It needed to happen and, in many ways, still does. Where is the football strategy for next season and beyond? (Chris has admitted that he cannot look beyond the prospect of promotion.) Where is the network of scouts? Would a skeleton coaching staff be equipped for the Premier League? Chris has been brilliant and none of those issues I've mentioned are his doing, but Newcastle, as a club, have not yet banished uncertainty.”

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Ahead of TheGame: January will decide Portsmouth future

In today's e-mail bulletin, we asked: "What is going on at Portsmouth?"

Nick Szczepanik responded: "Sometimes I wonder if there's any one person who knows, and I include the club's directors and ownership in that. Avram Grant, the manager, has admitted that he had no idea of how bad the financial situation is, which proves that he doesn't read the papers - well, not The Times anyway.

"Portsmouth's problems all come down to the fact that they lived way beyond their means for too long. They bought players and paid wages that a club of their size couldn't possibly afford. They ran up huge debts that - according to some reports - have reached £60 million.

"That might not be a large amount to some clubs. But when your gates struggle to reach 20,000 and you haven't got an owner with infinite funds - and there's no indication that Ali al-Faraj is that man - then you're in trouble.

"At the moment they are trying to 'refinance', which means taking on debt to pay off other debt. The problem is that if Portsmouth can't get the Premier League transfer embargo lifted by paying off all outstanding transfer and tax debt, they won't be able to buy in January. And they need to sell, in order to unload high salaries negotiated in the mad old days.

"If they go down, the situation will get even worse. Administration would be almost certain. As things stand, it is still possible, although since a lot of money is still owed to Alexandre Gaydamak, the previous owner, it's unlikely that he would want to see the club go into administration.

"We hear that the owners are working behind the scenes, but it has all gone rather quiet there. Mark Jacob, the executive director, was fairly forthcoming after the takeover by al-Faraj, but seldom returns calls these days, while Peter Storrie, the CEO, says he is no longer involved in financial decisions, which many conclude means that he is being eased out.

"The situation is obviously more serious than the new owners thought when they took over. They may now be deciding whether to go for broke and try to spend their way out of trouble in January and then try to sell the club on. More sensible would be to downsize and live according to their means.

"Normally that isn't the sort of thing that fans want to hear, but the message boards suggest that many would gladly settle for that, even if it means relegation. The alternative could be even worse."

We also reported on Sven-Goran Eriksson's plans to take over Notts County and Plymouth's decision to dismiss Paul Sturrock.

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Ahead of TheGame: Michael Owen demonstrates World Cup quality

In today's e-mail bulletin, we asked: Did the Manchester United forward's hat-trick last night prove that he is worth a place in the England squad?

Patrick Barclay, our Chief Football Commentator, responds: "What it told us is that Michael Owen is fit and that if he can start games, he can still produce his form of old - which is an exciting proposition for United and England fans. The question is whether he can get games under his belt. With Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Owen vying for a place in the starting line-up, someone has to miss out. But if Owen can get a game every ten days, say, England could have what will amount to a new player on their hands.

"For most of his career Owen has been clinical in taking chances. Over the past few months at United that hasn't been the case but maybe he is shaking off that rustiness. That could give Fabio Capello a little dilemma - does he take Owen or Jermain Defoe to South Africa? A fortnight ago, after Defoe had scored five goals against Wigan, there was no question. But that may not be quite as certain now.