Walsall skipper Mark Hughes off to Australia
Monday 28th June 2010, 11:28AM BST.
Skipper Mark Hughes today snubbed Walsall’s offer of a two-year contract to join Australian outfit North Queensland Fury.
The 23-year-old defender, who arrived from Northampton last summer, signed contract acceptance forms with the Saddlers last week but a late offer from the Hyundai A-League team prompted him to perform a last-ditch U-turn.
“The offer came a little bit out of the blue,” said Hughes. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and if I don’t go for it I think I’ll always be thinking ‘what if’.”
Boss Chris Hutchings added: “We spoke at length about the move and agreed to go our separate ways. Mark feels that this is an opportunity he wants to pursue and we will not stand in his way.”
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Well, judging by the World Cup, he’ll be up against a similar level of skill as the premiership!
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Won’t be missed………For me not a good Captain and only an OK Central Defender. I think this clears the way for Manny and Claton Mac to build on their defensive partnership.
Hope we can bring in cover though? Probably need an experienced CD in squad…..someone nearing end of career, who can work closely with afore mentioned to assist in their development, but also give us 15-20 games when needed, as injuries/suspensions are bound to come for our defenders.
Be interesting to see who gets Captains armband?
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Thank goodness, he was pretty poor all season. Save us some money.
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Agreed. I said all last season that he was the weak link in the defence and not good enough or responsible enough to be captain. I think Clayton McDonald or Steve Jones would be good shouts for captain. I also hope that we will seek defensive cover with the money that his departure gives us. Not so sure we’ll be seeing Julian Gray at the banks’s next season though unfortunately.
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While I agree that Hughes’s form wasn’t the best last season and he definitely shouldn’t have been captain, I think he would be reasonable as back up to Clayton and Manny.
Also I don’t actually think he’d have been on a great deal so we’re not ‘saving’ much by his departure. To me its yet another position we need to strengthen when we should be finalising our squad.
Another season of inconsistency beckons.
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should of stuck to our gun’s and removed the offer when we said we would instead of hanging on and on for these money grabbing get’s
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I agree. Should have removed the contract offer on the deadline given and not waited around as always. Certainly wont be missed!
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