Bryan Hughes scored the equaliser in a reserves match against Burnley last night. As useful as such a goal may prove to the second string, and his general presence in the stiffs may be to the kiddlings also in the side, he should have gone months ago.
Hughes is sticking to the terms of his large contract, given to him by ex-chairman Paul Duffen when he signed, for free, from Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2007. The deal will almost certainly have contained a wage hike in the event of promotion to the Premier League, possibly because nobody at all could have envisaged that such an elevation would actually happen. Since Wembley, Hughes has played a negligible role in the Tigers' progress as a top tier team and has picked up a mega wage each week for, or in spite of, doing so.
Hughes has, of course, done nothing wrong, beyond a few deeply underwhelming turnouts for the first team in both the Premier League and the Championship. He is an employee who is entitled to stay under the terms of his deal and cannot be forced out without suitable recompense, agreed between both he and his club. But as Adam Pearson continues to report a very bare cupboard at the KC, focus turns on to the big earners who have no part to play in the club's future.
It's wrong and disingenuous when fans complain of Hughes "milking the club" for all he can. He isn't. He is paid this wage because the club was happy to do so in more ambitious, fruitful times. If he was playing football every week (or, more specifically, playing football reasonably well every week) then the wage would be less of an issue. He is nowhere near the biggest earner in the whole senior squad. But he is probably the biggest earner who has to do little more than train half-heartedly for the rest of his deal.
Hull City didn't help by refusing to give Hughes no squad number this season, thereby stating by stealth that he was unwelcome at the club and the manager literally had no plans for him. That action could easily have prompted a two-finger retort from the player and a promise to himself that he would stick around and take the club's money for every single week that remained of his contract in return for humiliating him. That depends on Hughes' own character, though it would be a surprise, given his experience, if that were his attitude.
If he goes prior to the nailed-on free transfer in the summer, it will be because the club has had to give him a mega lump sum to do so. It certainly won't be because another club has offered a transfer fee. Hughes is unbuyable. His lack of games, his age and the general fiscal climate in football - particularly in the Championship, which is where Hughes truly belongs - means that nobody at all will see him as an affordable and worthwhile investment, at least until he is a free agent and has less power to negotiate himself a fat wage.
Nobody should begrudge Hughes his money. The club is responsible for paying him and is also responsible for alienating him. The only crime he can take on the chin is not being a good enough footballer for the Premier League any more. But among the many deals still being thrashed out as January nears its final full week has to be the loan deal - such as the brief one he had at Derby County in November - that will divert responsibility for at least part of his wages and might persuade Hughes that the grass may be greener on a Championship football pitch rather than a stiffs one.
.jpg)
