Apparently, there is to be a press conference at Eastlands tonight at 19:00. Is this the end for Hughes?

I posted this elsewhere but the word seems to be Hughes out and Mancicni in !! Press conference at 19:30 .

Damn disgrace if you ask me.

Absolutely ridiculous if Hughes is sacked. What more do some of these teams want?

This was rumoured late last night on some Yahoo Sports site. I didn't think much of it as it's hardly a reliable but the story was he would go regardless. Will be looking forward to this press conference to see what comes of it.

Edited December 19, 200916 yr by RiG

Its done. Hughes out and Mancini in.

Feckin disgrace. Hope the c*nts get relegated.

Fingers crossed Sparkie will be in charge at the Bridge in the not too distant future.

I never got the impression that they would be title contenders and that's what all the money was for. I detest football by chequebook but that's what Hughes was playing under. No surprise in the decision other than it took so long.

Apparently within the last few minutes Mark Hughes was spotted getting off a plane at Inverness airport. Wonder what he's doing here?

I disagree with your comment starchief and here's why...

it doesnt matter how much money you have, it takes time and consistancy to get anywhere in this sport. you can't just splash millions and expect them to become good overnight. Look at chelsea. it took them 2 seasons under their owner to win a domestic trophy, and when they did win it was under the same manager. Once he was gone, they've had 1 trophy under 4 different managers yet the money still remains.

Man city should never have gotten rid of Sven - he had 1 full season in charge and was dumped like last nights chicken massala. Having said that, Mark Hughes, IMO, has been fantastic. He's brought in decent players and got them to their first semi-final since the mid 60's. He's also only lost 2 games this season in the league (less than man utd and liverpool) and sit in a decent postion of 6th.

Disgusting behaviour by a 'huge club' that aim to be 'going places'...

He's also only lost 2 games this season in the league (less than man utd and liverpool) and sit in a decent postion of 6th.

Disgusting behaviour by a 'huge club' that aim to be 'going places'...

The flip side of that though is that they have only won 2 games out of their last 11 which, given the money they have spent, is not going to go down well by those higher up at Eastlands.

I agree with Rig but I also agree that Sven should never have been sacked.

I can see him finishing up back at his old stomping ground, with old Grumpy taking on the Scotland job.

Apparently within the last few minutes Mark Hughes was spotted getting off a plane at Inverness airport. Wonder what he's doing here?

Who told you this?

Apparently within the last few minutes Mark Hughes was spotted getting off a plane at Inverness airport. Wonder what he's doing here?

Who told you this?

Father Christmas as he parked his reindeer outside Tesco.

Mark Hughes was far from fantastic, 2 win in 11 games. Fair enough we only lost two games, but so many wins were thrown away by silly goals. I feel the defence was as much to blame for the bad results as Mark Hughes. He couldn't motivate the players and made stupid signings. Adebayor, for instance, was renowned for laziness. Not the sort of player you need. Hopefully Mancini can come in and make a big impact.

Edited December 19, 200916 yr by TtotheOtotheM

I am not at all suprised by this news and would have been suprised had he stayed. Hughes has been there sometime now and has had the opportunity to buy new players to blend with the better players he inherited. Since he's come in the team have not made much progress and recent form suggests they are going backwards. Before the start of the season all the pundits were predicting that if any team was going to break into the top four it would be Man City but that looks pretty unlikely at the moment despite Liverpool's woeful form. With the resources made available to him, the new owners are right to feel disappointed.

To give him the benefit of the doubt would be a big risk. If he doesn't turn things around then to let him go on for another few months would not give a new manager the time to rebuild prior to the new season. If he is going to going then now has to be the time. This means the new manager can strengthen the team in the transfer window. If that doesn't act as a springboard for the relatively modest improvement required to get into the top 4 then it will be an opportunity to consolidate the team for next season.

Having said that, I rate Hughes as a manager but think his strength is more in getting the best out of hard working average players rather than managing the prima donnas of the game. He'll get a post at a Bolton or Wigan where he'll do a great job and be appreciated.

He's not been sacked, he's been presented with a career diversification opportunity.

Very shady but it was always coming.

No matter what kind of form City were in it is obvious the owners didn't think he had the appropriate pedigree for the job. I do hope he bounces back as he has proven what a good manager he is.

Dundee United will be looking for a new manager if Levein takes Scotland Job. Terrific opportunity for Sparkie

Apparently within the last few minutes Mark Hughes was spotted getting off a plane at Inverness airport. Wonder what he's doing here?

Who told you this?

There's been rumours going round the last couple of days that Hughes was interested in coming up here. Did you not here about that?

Yes, Hughes has always supported Inverness, even back in the Highland League. He had a Highland terrier as a dog as a child and that sealed it. He did try to play for Scotland but FIFA knocked him back, so he reluctantly went back to Wales, much to his great disappointment. You can see that he never gave his all in matches as a protest. That's why he was so disliked by the Welsh fans.

I suspect he'll make Tokely his assistant as he's always said he had a great footballing brain and was easily Premiership quality.

I'm not trying to cause an argument, but just want to ask all those who are in agreement with the decision to sack Mark Hughes this one question...

Would you say the same thing about the sacking of Gareth Southgate from Middlesborough?

The reason i ask is simple - although he didnt spend 200m on players, the board decided to rid themselves of his services because they were not clear at the top of their respective league. They have since taken on a new manager and they now sit well off the pace that Newcastle and West Brom have set. 14th place and 17 points off Newcastle. (Come on, only 4 points above Coventry Nil - thats drastically poor... lol)

Mark Hughes was heading in the right direction IMO. I very much doubt the likes of TtotheOtotheM were complaining about Adebayor before his suspention period? He'd scored in almost every game up to that. Mark Hughes signed one of the best keepers in todays game in Shay Given; one of the most under rated keepers ever to play the game i recon, and before Lescot was injured, you could say that the City defence was pretty solid. He kept people with the club at heart and made them better, i of course refer to steven ireland, and brought in one of the best players in the world in Robinho.

I agree with Jnr...

This could backfire on the Arabs in a big way. I thought Hughes was doing a good job at City and was well on his way to taking them to much greater things. He'll be snapped up by a big Premiership side before long.

What does Mancini know about English football?

I'm not trying to cause an argument, but just want to ask all those who are in agreement with the decision to sack Mark Hughes this one question...

Would you say the same thing about the sacking of Gareth Southgate from Middlesborough?

No, as they were definitely pushing for promotion in a tough league. I thought he was lucky to stay in his job when struggling in the EPL against poorer teams mind you.

Mark Hughes was heading in the right direction IMO. I very much doubt the likes of TtotheOtotheM were complaining about Adebayor before his suspention period? He'd scored in almost every game up to that. Mark Hughes signed one of the best keepers in todays game in Shay Given; one of the most under rated keepers ever to play the game i recon, and before Lescot was injured, you could say that the City defence was pretty solid. He kept people with the club at heart and made them better, i of course refer to steven ireland, and brought in one of the best players in the world in Robinho.

And yet, only two wins from 11 matches, a 3-0 stuffing by Spurs* and a failure to better what Sven achieved with significantly less cash. If Man City put in modest investment in an attempt to build, then fair enough. But instead, they put in fortunes to compete in the top 4. So that's what they have to be judged against.

*I know bad results happen occasionally but Fergie can say that sure he was stuffed today but look at what he has achieved. Hughes hasn't done anything spectacular with that money.

It's a really tough one for me this decision. I've followed City (from afar and as a season ticket holder) for nearly 40 years. They mean so much to me. In that time we've mostly been on a roller coaster, but the arab owners offer the chance to achieve something.

Everything tells me that Hughes deserved more time. Course he did, City aren't in a bad position and if the defence was half decent we'd be right up there at the top of the EPL. Some of the buys haven't worked out (yet), but at that level some just don't. Toure has been more of a disappointment than Lescott. Dunne had to leave as he'd gone stale after 9 years at the club. Hughes wasn't far off astounding results.

As a rule you don't sack your manager unless you have a better replacement lined up. I don't think Mancini is a better replacement, so they should have given Hughes the rest of this season. IF they had Jose or Hiddink lined up I could see a case for change, but they didn't.

Yesterday's game was the season in a nutshell. ?200m spent and they couldn't defend a lead. That gave the owners the excuse they were looking for

Which brings me to Caley......it is possible to support 2 teams if they don't play in the same country. I just don't feel Butcher was ever the right man to take over from Brewster. Something needed to change but I don't think the right choice was made. I don't know who is the right choice so as far as I'm concerned Caley must stick with Butcher....and just hope....I'm wrong

And yet, only two wins from 11 matches, a 3-0 stuffing by Spurs

The stuffing from spurs was their only stuffing this season, and they should have in fact lost by a bigger margin. Of that there is no doubt. But their only other defeat was a very very close one to Manchester Utd. They have beaten Chelsea and Arsenal this season too. You can;t be a serious contender for a top 4 finish if you cant battle in these big games. Hughes has/had got them doing that