Jovan Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 53 minutes ago, bt50 said: Gray by no contest. Don't get me wrong, Hughes was as disappointing a signing as you could get but he had a lot of bad luck with injury. Gray wasn't injured, he was just genuinely shit and not even close to a league standard. If Hughes wasn't shit then how couldn't he force his way into squad more let alone starting. Having said that no comparison to Gray. He was extremely shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 3 minutes ago, Jovan said: If Hughes wasn't shit then how couldn't he force his way into squad more let alone starting. Having said that no comparison to Gray. He was extremely shit. At least Gray could get himself on the training field so that his playing ability could be assessed. Hughes couldn't even do that. Except when a free holiday somewhere to be with the Northern Ireland squad was on offer. And Gray was an Aloisi signing, when the latter was an absolute novice. Not so with Hughes. IMO our worst ever visa signing, because it appears that we had learned nothing from the accumulation of past mistakes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Le Cube Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 24 minutes ago, jw1739 said: At least Gray could get himself on the training field so that his playing ability could be assessed. Hughes couldn't even do that. Except when a free holiday somewhere to be with the Northern Ireland squad was on offer. And Gray was an Aloisi signing, when the latter was an absolute novice. Not so with Hughes. IMO our worst ever visa signing, because it appears that we had learned nothing from the accumulation of past mistakes. Hughes hasn't been listed as injured since 13th of February (3rd Derby), and even then he was only out for 3 weeks, its not like he needed a month or 2 to return to fitness. My understanding is that he has been training fully for the past 2 months and just hasn't been selected. He was good enough and fit enough to play friendlies against Wales and Slovenia in late March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiro Kompiro Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 3 hours ago, Jacques Le Cube said: Hughes hasn't been listed as injured since 13th of February (3rd Derby), and even then he was only out for 3 weeks, its not like he needed a month or 2 to return to fitness. My understanding is that he has been training fully for the past 2 months and just hasn't been selected. He was good enough and fit enough to play friendlies against Wales and Slovenia in late March. That's because marking Djite is tougher than marking Bale. We couldn't the risk on Hughes marking Djite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSeater Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 (edited) 5 hours ago, bt50 said: Gray by no contest. Don't get me wrong, Hughes was as disappointing a signing as you could get but he had a lot of bad luck with injury. Gray wasn't injured, he was just genuinely shit and not even close to a league standard. Oh don't get me wrong, Gray was by far the worse player in terms of ability. In his day Hughes was one of the better centre-halves in the world, and that class was still probably there somewhere. But in terms of who was the worse signing I'd go with Hughes. Gray was much younger when signed, and I'm assuming for a lot less money and with less of a reputation. Hughes was brought in specifically as a top-notch defender to solidify our backline. Gray was brought in as a decent centre-back who would be backup. Stupid to use a visa place on a backup, but that was Heart. Hughes was cooked when he arrived. Was old and injury prone and well past his best. It was also apparent very early that he was only here to prolong his retirement long enough to have a crack at Euro. Also lets not forget who he replaced. Was brought in as a visa defender straight after we had let go of three visa defenders in Safuwan, Jaliens and Weilaert. Jaliens was clearly better, Safuwan was arguably better and Weilaert was about the same. So we dropped two visa defenders who had shown that they were capable players in place of an over the hill, well past it player who wasn't even getting minutes in the championship. I would argue that he is the clubs worst ever signing, maybe on par with Mifsud. EDIT: And just reiterating the fact, this is coming from a Newcastle United fan who has always loved Hughes. I don't hate him at all, I just think us signing him was a shit move. Edited April 29, 2016 by GreenSeater 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bt50 Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 5 minutes ago, GreenSeater said: Oh don't get me wrong, Gray was by far the worse player in terms of ability. In his day Hughes was one of the better centre-halves in the world, and that class was still probably there somewhere. But in terms of who was the worse signing I'd go with Hughes. Gray was much younger when signed, and I'm assuming for a lot less money and with less of a reputation. Hughes was brought in specifically as a top-notch defender to solidify our backline. Gray was brought in as a decent centre-back who would be backup. Stupid to use a visa place on a backup, but that was Heart. Hughes was cooked when he arrived. Was old and injury prone and well past his best. It was also apparent very early that he was only here to prolong his retirement long enough to have a crack at Euro. Also lets not forget who he replaced. Was brought in as a visa defender straight after we had let go of three visa defenders in Safuwan, Jaliens and Weilaert. Jaliens was clearly better, Safuwan was arguably better and Weilaert was about the same. So we dropped two visa defenders who had shown that they were capable players in place of an over the hill, well past it player who wasn't even getting minutes in the championship. I would argue that he is the clubs worst ever signing, maybe on par with Mifsud. EDIT: And just reiterating the fact, this is coming from a Newcastle United fan who has always loved Hughes. I don't hate him at all, I just think us signing him was a shit move. I dont disagree with anything you've said other than he was a worse signing. I dont think he'd have been on more than 150k absolute tops, and i imagine Gray would have been in the 80-100k vicinity. For the sake of 50k for a bloke that was a proven EPL player and current international, I can understand taking the risk. Gray on the other hand was a complete nobody recruited on a whim, and taking up an all important visa spot. For mine, he's BY FAR the worst signing we've ever had because it was clear from the outset he was nowhere near it. Hughes was a gamble no doubt and one that bombed significantly. Hopefully we learn from it moving forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSeater Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 7 minutes ago, bt50 said: I dont disagree with anything you've said other than he was a worse signing. I dont think he'd have been on more than 150k absolute tops, and i imagine Gray would have been in the 80-100k vicinity. For the sake of 50k for a bloke that was a proven EPL player and current international, I can understand taking the risk. Gray on the other hand was a complete nobody recruited on a whim, and taking up an all important visa spot. For mine, he's BY FAR the worst signing we've ever had because it was clear from the outset he was nowhere near it. Hughes was a gamble no doubt and one that bombed significantly. Hopefully we learn from it moving forward. I can't imagine Gray was on that much though, we did sign him from Dandenong Thunder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, bt50 said: I dont disagree with anything you've said other than he was a worse signing. I dont think he'd have been on more than 150k absolute tops, and i imagine Gray would have been in the 80-100k vicinity. For the sake of 50k for a bloke that was a proven EPL player and current international, I can understand taking the risk. Gray on the other hand was a complete nobody recruited on a whim, and taking up an all important visa spot. For mine, he's BY FAR the worst signing we've ever had because it was clear from the outset he was nowhere near it. Hughes was a gamble no doubt and one that bombed significantly. Hopefully we learn from it moving forward. IMO the issue is not whether the risk was 100K or 150K but that that it was an invaluable visa place. Especially with another visa player already occupying the JG Treatment Centre most of the time. Anyway, no use crying over spilled milk, but FFS let's hope we don't repeat the mistake again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embee Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, GreenSeater said: I can't imagine Gray was on that much though, we did sign him from Dandenong Thunder. That only serves to make the signing even more ridiculous in my opinion. Why use a VISA spot on a guy playing for the Dandenong Thunder? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSeater Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 1 minute ago, Embee said: That only serves to make the signing even more ridiculous in my opinion. Why use a VISA spot on a guy playing for the Dandenong Thunder? Remember that this is the club who signed some Brazilian guy based off Youtube highlights and signed a 5'4" Maltese bloke who's career highlight was a goal in the League Cup vs Man United to play target man... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embee Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 (edited) 5 minutes ago, GreenSeater said: Remember that this is the club who signed some Brazilian guy based off Youtube highlights and signed a 5'4" Maltese bloke who's career highlight was a goal in the League Cup vs Man United to play target man... Two goals haha Edited April 29, 2016 by Embee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSeater Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, Embee said: Two goals haha Ah yes you're right. Statement withdrawn, all hail the Maltese Messi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embee Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, GreenSeater said: Ah yes you're right. Statement withdrawn, all hail the Maltese Messi! Damn straight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Aardvark Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 23 hours ago, GreenSeater said: Remember that this is the club who signed some Brazilian guy based off Youtube highlights and signed a 5'4" Maltese bloke who's career highlight was a goal in the League Cup vs Man United to play target man... Which makes the Hughes signing slightly worse. At least with Gray in all likelihood if he hadn't have been signed we wouldn't have found a good VISA player to take that spot anyway. In Hughes case I'm sure we had a list of potential players with decent ability lined up if he didn't come. The opportunity cost of signing Hughes was much higher than Gray, and therefore he was the worse signing seeing as both had shite output. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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