[SOLD] Will Hughes

Am personally surprised the criticism of Hughes. Personally I think he has one of the main reasons our form changed last yr and he is excellent at playing the ball out of tight areas, his passing is excellent and he rarely gives the ball away. He may not have too many stand out moments, but I think he would have been very useful at finding space & threading balls to our pacy forward line. That said it looks like, on paper at least, that we have found replacements that will be better - so hopefully no great loss

 

He's gash and I hope Palace get relegated.

 

Just listening to Adam Levanthal on Twitter space.

It appears there was a route back into the 1st team squad for Hughes but he chose not to take it. They were expecting more interest but it was only Palace who approached so it looks like both Vernazza and Hughes painted themselves into a corner and had to push through the move.

 

A shame, though I'd like to think now that we've got Sissoko, Kucka and Etebo for more or less the same amount in fees and wages as we recouped for Hughes, that we're stronger for it

 

I try to just rise above it. We're literally the most oppressed minority in society these days. The Woke Gino Brigade won't give us any peace.

 

90 starts in 4 years isn't great though. That suggests not favoured and/or injured. Not worth breaking your wage structure for. Was given a decent deal but decided the sh1teh0le of Stinkhurst Park was more appealing. Hope he enjoys mopping Zaha's fevered brow and tidying up after he's scattered his toys around his pram.

 

You mean as quoted here? https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...-thanks-watford-fans-crystal-palace-transfer/

 

Thats not the sentence I was referring to when I said I was sick in my mouth. I was referring to the person above who has said...'In Gino we trust and prosper.'

 

Sorry I've only read the last 30 odd posts on this thread so didn't see the post Jumbolina quoted.

 

None of us really know went on behind the scenes that caused Hughes to want to leave us, however at this moment in time I am very disappointed that he chose to do so as he does not appear to have really moved to a better deal or club.

My theory, which is quite possibly way off the mark, is that he became unsettled because his advisors said he could move on to bigger and better things. Then when nobody but PalARSE, showed any real interest in him, he realised he had painted himself into a corner and did not want to lose face by signing, what appears to be the superior contract we had already offered him, hence he has shuffled off to become a bench warmer at PalARSE rather than a regular starter here at The Vic

 

I don't like to admit it but Palace are a bigger club than us, not by much admittedly.

Still while I don't hate Palace it does rankle a bit that he chose Palace over us. I could understand it if it was Newcastle, Leeds, Villa, Southampton or even Brighton (all teams likely to finish bottom half this season) but that lot!?

 

Not sure the first two have achieved much at all to be honest.

Kucka has won the Italian Charity Shield with Milan where he was for a couple of seasons and they finished 6th and 7th. The rest of his career has been in smaller teams in Italy (including a relegation), in Slovakia and Turkey. I'd say Will Hughes getting to an FA Cup Final is on a par with that.

Ozan Tufan has played his whole career in Turkey, including several years at one of their biggest teams and hasn't won a trophy from what I can see.

 

Both have a huge amount of caps for decent nations. Kucka played 70+ times for Milan and has played in the Champions League and Europa League.

Tufan has captained the biggest his country, and the second biggest club in Turkey. Also played in the Champions League and Europa.

Personally don't think Hughes will go beyond lower-mid-table PL starter/squad player, which imo is a lesser accomplishment

 

Well, international football is hardly a fair comparison given Hughes can't play for Turkey or Slovakia! Pretty sure neither of them would have a single cap for England, same as Hughes.

And perhaps we view achievements differently but simply playing in the Champions League and Europa League early rounds doesn't seem like that much of an achievement to me. Obbi Oulare has played the same amount of European football as these two but I wouldn't say he's had a better career than Hughes.

 

Tbf I think Kucka has had a better career than Hughes, who's been decent in the Prem, but he's been little more than decent for a side whose highest finish was 11th, and as good as that Cup run was, cup competitions always have an element of fortune about them, we had a pretty favourable draw until the semi so I'm not sure it's enough to put him above someone who played for a giant (even if they were at a low ebb!). However, just like how debates over which club is 'bigger' than another is basically means nothing in comparison, I don't know how relevant that is given Kucka is 34, and even if he is better than Hughes, which I think he may well be, he'll do well to stay injury-free. It's harder to compare with Tufan, who's played for one of the biggest clubs in Turkey, but not outside of Turkey yet, a gamble of a signing, but an educated one who I hope will do well for us

 

I think it's fair to say Hughes would have a fair few caps if he were Turkish or Slovakian! Maybe Kucka would have got a cap for England (Chalobah got one without ever doing much in the top flight!), although Hughes has never got close to the England squad despite a lengthy U21 career

 

Personally think it's unlikely Hughes would have 63 caps for Turkey, if he happened to be Turkish. And he's the same age as Tufan now. Agree to disagree on whether Tufan/Kucka would have played for England. Personally think a regular for Milan would get a few caps.

Personally think playing in the CL for a big club is a big achievement, and doubt Hughes will get to that stage.

 

Not under the current manager!

 

Think we'll have to agree to disagree! I don't see playing 6 games in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League for Sparta Prague and 2 games in the preliminary rounds for Fenerbahce respectively as being particularly impressive. Neither has ever played in the Champions League proper. I'd put that on a par with playing a handful of times for Rangers or Celtic in the Champions League and it's pretty obvious that Hughes would be the standard to do that.

 

Fair enough. I just think personally if I was going to choose a career (so far) I'd choose captaining those big clubs/nations and playing regularly for my country.

But respect your opinion, agree to disagree!

 

Kucka or Tufan aren’t going to need to do an awful lot to outperform Hughes and Chalobah’s achievements with us. Neither were ever even our first choice midfielders for the entire time we were in the PL. it’s great they popped up and performed tor half a season in the championship, but they were never first choice ahead of Doucoure and Capoue. We may as well be rolling the dice on some new midfielders because if we couldn’t stay up with those two we sure as hell weren’t with their understudies.

 

Think Hughes on his day would have improved our midfield today tbh...

 

Definitely. It's so frustrating that he'd prefer to warm Palace's bench.

 

Devastated for the lad.

 

Nobody was polishing that turd today

 

He could have been a stalwart of our midfield this season, possibly the designated team captain, and maybe even on the road to Watford legend status with his 5 year contract.

At the end of the season, after many off-the-bench cameo appearances for Palace, I hope he looks back and realises he’s f——d up his career.

I hope the few extra ££’s for the signing on fee was worth it Will..

 

Still no minutes for Hughes this season, mystifying......... wonder what he must be thinking about his move ?

 

“I wonder what the best investment strategy is for my wages?”

 

We’re only three points behind Palace and he can’t get a sniff there. The idea that he could’ve been the star of our midfield this season doesn’t really hold water. Anyone who has Will Hughes as the star of their midfield will essentially be by definition a team grinding it out at the bottom of the table, which is fine if that is the the limit of your ambition, and what people quantify as being a star, being a standout player at a bottom three club.

But I’d take a WC winner and CL finalist over him every single time.

 

Lets be generous to him, perhaps he's injured

 

So would I, but one of our CL Finalists now looks like he survives on Krispy Kremes and we havent got a WC Winner.

 

I was talking about Sissoko, but you’re right actually, he wasn’t in the WC squad, but he did get the the Euros final with France two years earlier and was back in the team again after the WC.

Meanwhile Will Hughes is about a million miles from playing at international level.