Hughes comeback ‘simply not true’

Just over a week after the Belfast Telegraph back page headline of Michael Hughes telling the world that he wanted to make his Norn Iron return – which Lawrie Sanchez later said he’d be keen on – Hughes has told the SL that ‘News of me wanting to come back and play for my country is simply not true’
He went on:
“I enjoyed every moment of playing for Northern Ireland but I made my decision to quit and I will be sticking by it.”
“Obviously I was delighted that the boys beat England, however that has not changed my mind and so I will not be contacting Lawrie Sanchez asking him to recall me”

Sanchez on Wales and Hughes

On our next international:
“They are more on our level but after beating England people will see us as favourites.
“It must be remembered they are still way above us in the FIFA rankings.
“They have a new manager and he’ll be saying he’s experimenting.
“But I wouldn’t go for that because he’ll be afraid of finishing bottom of the group table and that’s for sure.
“And he knows that would put them in a poor situation when the draw for the European Championship comes around.
“I would assume that having got England and Poland out of the way he feels he can beat Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland to avoid bottom spot.
“That’s as much as he can hope for after our win over England.”
Sanchez is raging that Chris Baird will be missing after being booked against England:
“It was a ridiculous decision. The lad claimed with some justification that he couldn’t hear the referee’s whistle because of the noise [sorry boss – Steve].
“He insisted he was waiting for the whistle as a signal to take the free-kick.”
Baird’s suspension will mean a defensive rethink for Sanchez for the 8th of October clash:
“Keith Gillespie is an option as a wing back. He has played that role successfully in the past.
“And Michael Duff can also play there so while it may prove disruptive to the defensive set-up we had against England it’s not something we cannot overcome.”
“John Hartson, Craig Bellamy and Ryan Giggs could hurt us if we are not at our best. However being at home and going in on the back of such a great result against England, we’ll be in confident mood.”
On Michael Hughes’ comments about wanting to make a comeback for NI:
“I would never close the door on anyone playing international football.
“Michael has been a quality player for many years and if he wants to come out of international retirement I would love to hear from him”

A few words from Michael

“I have made my mind up now, there isn’t anything in particular that made the decision and that’s it for me”
“I could have had a last hurrah against Germany but I don’t really fancy getting into that sort of thing,” said Hughes.
“I played over 70 games; I am disappointed that we never qualified for anything, but there is no point in me playing an international game like it is a testimonial.
“I’ve had a good international career and now it is time for me to hand over to the younger lads who are more than capable of doing a good job for Northern Ireland.”
And even fewer words from Gareth McAuley, about NI speculation:
“It’s flattering to be linked with the Ireland set-up but that is something that does not concern me at this moment,” he said.
“All I am focused on doing is achieving promotion for Lincoln City”
Although I’m sure those aren’t even all his words as its only English people who still think we’re called Ireland.

Michael Hughes retires

The BBC are reporting that Michael Hughes is set to confirm his retirement from international football.
A great servant to his country, Hughes was out of the game for a long time due to a dispute between Wimbledon and Birmingham. He has served a 3-game suspension for getting sent off against Wales, but Lawrie Sanchez had recently told him that he was no longer part of his plans for the starting XI.
He made 69 appearances for Norn Iron, scoring 6 goals. Career stats
Hughes’ career as covered by AWS

Hughes inspires Palace to vital victory

Michael Hughes has been told by Lawrie Sanchez that the boss doesn’t plan on giving him anymore starts for Northern Ireland. Lawrie however may want to think again considering the right winger’s end of season form. Today Hughes again performed brilliantly as he captained his side to a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Selhurst Park – a vital 3 points which moved them out of the relegation zone in the English Premiership. Nigel Worthington’s Norwich beat Charlton 1-0 to keep them level on points with Dowie’s men, but A Wee Spot is firmly supporting Iain and Michael!

Tony Capaldi was the only NI player of note on target across the water today. He came on as a 64th minute substitute for Plymouth against Coventry and scored their equaliser 5 minutes into stoppage time, volleying home on his favoured left foot.
James Quinn nearly scored for Sheffield Wednesday but was denied by a fine save. Steve Davis was also denied his second Villa goal in two games with a fine save by the Bolton keeper who’s name I’m not going to attempt to spell after a great run by the Cullybackey midfielder.

A reason to go to Cullybackey
Warren Feeney got a League One winners medal as his new club won their league in place of Stuart Elliott’s Hull, who lost 3-0 today to Walsall. Feeney came on as a 33rd minute substitute as Luton beat Wrexham 2-1.

Luton players celebrate the title
And at this stage I’d just like to welcome Ken Ham to the blogging scene!

Davis gets his first senior goal

Steven Davis scored his first senior goal for Aston Villa this afternoon, completing a remarkable comeback for his side after they had trailed 2-0 to Southampton. With 72 minutes of the match played and the tie delicately poised at 2-2, Davis brought the ball forward from the midfield before spraying a lovely pass out to the wing. Davis continued his run into the penalty area and when the ball came back in he touched it through Niemi’s legs. Serve Southampton right for totally ignoring Young Baird for the last two seasons.
The biggest match in the English Premiership today was undoubtedly Iain Dowie’s Crystal Palace v. Nigel Worthless’s Norwich City. Palace took the lead early on and had two stonewall penalties turned down in the first half (“If that first one wasn’t a penalty I’m a Dutchman” – Dowie). Norwich got it back to 1-1 and that was the score at half time. The away side came out after the break and scored two goals in eight minutes to make it 3-1 but Palace captain Michael Hughes dragged his side back into the game with a lovely header, his second Premiership goal of the season (and pushed his own teammates out of the way when they tried to celebrate with him in his urgency to get an equaliser!). Andy Johnson then won and scored a penalty to make it 3-3 a send Selhurst Park wild. It was a game that neither side could afford to lose, but Palace nearly won it late on with Robert Green pulling off a tremendous save to stop an overhead kick by the player with the best nickname in the world: “One size” Fitz Hall.
Elsewhere, Stuart Elliott’s Hull were promoted for the second successive season and will be playing in the Coca Cola Championship next season after a 0-0 draw today. The let some other eejit take a penalty in the last minute, but of course he missed.

Hughes hits out at ‘snub’ reports

Michael Hughes has spoken out to clarify reports yesterday that he had snubbed a call up to the NI squad for Wednesday’s match against Poland. Hughes said:
“It is not a snub. What I won’t stand for are the lies and half-truths that are being told about my current situation. The facts are I spoke to Lawrie after our 2-2 draw in Wales last September and he said I wouldn’t be part of the starting XI in the future.
“He also insinuated I was getting old. I told him I wouldn’t play for the country again this season as I wanted to concentrate on keeping Palace in the Premiership.”
Hughes, who has earned 71 caps since making his debut 14 years ago, added: “Let’s be honest, there’s little chance of Northern Ireland qualifying. Was it really worth me going on a long trip when I have already been told I am no longer part of first-team plans?”

Hughes’ new contract

Iain Dowie has revealed more about Michael Hughes’ new contract at Crystal Palace:
“Michael’s wages have been considerably increased. He’s very much valued at this club and had a nice bonus for us going up.
“I want Michael to be here but we don’t know if he can play in the Premier League.
“If Michael plays a certain number of games, he gets a second year, so it’s immaterial to me. The chairman has already spent a lot of money on bonuses.”

Hughes to open contract talks

Midfielder Michael Hughes hopes to begin talks over a new two-year contract with Crystal Palace over the next few days.
The 32-year-old Northern Ireland international was instrumental in leading the Eagles to promotion via the play-offs.
Hughes will be out of contract at the end of the month but wants to end speculation about his future by staying at Selhurst Park.
He told the South London Press: “I haven’t had a formal offer as yet, but I’m sure there will be one. My position hasn’t changed. I want to stay with Palace. I’m happy at the club and had a great season last season.
“The ideal length of contract would be two years – that’s what I’m looking for.”

TEAMtalk

Hughes Interview

Michael Hughes is interviewed in today’s Belfast News Letter, ahead of this afternoon’s First Division Play-Off Final. Much of the interview focuses on his time out of the game and his anguish at not even being allowed by the FA to train with a club, as covered by Total Football magazine last year. However he also talks about his time at Crystal Palace and what a big influence Ian Dowie has been on him, and how he feels he could go on playing for another 5 or 6 years as a result of Dowie’s training methods.
“Ian’s a motivator. I’ve seen 20 professional footballers sitting quietly waiting for him to speak before kick-off and you can’t hear a pin drop (surely he means you could? – Steve). I don’t know any other manager throughout my career who’s ever held an audience or had that much influence over people. No-one else has had the same impact on me.”
Hughesy can even look back on those dark days with a positive attitude:
“It’s definitely driven me on. It’s probably lengthened my career and given me a great insight into what it’s going to be like when I end my career. I appreciate football now more than I ever have. Looking back I would probably go through it again just for those insights.”
Being a backward sort of paper, the News Letter isn’t online on a Saturday, so the only way to read it is to actually go out and buy it.