Lescott: More a persecution than a pursuit; Stan the Man.
Byline: Stan COLLYMOREI ADMIRED Mark Hughes as a centreforward but I have not been impressed by the Manchester City manager's continued pursuit of Joleon Lescott.
I played against Hughes and met him many times - a huge thing for me as he was a big hero of mine in my younger days.
Hughes always showed a lot of class on the pitch and his side did likewise in their opening-day win at Blackburn with impressive debuts from the likes of Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. But Hughes's conduct in his pursuit of Lescott is nothing short of a disgrace and he should be hauled in front of the FA.
No one knows for certain if Hughes's determination to sign the Goodison defender was a factor in Everton's 6-1 humiliation at home to Arsenal on Saturday. But there's no doubt that the England man was far from his best.
And I found Sparky's latest comments about Lescott and Everton manager David Moyes very hard to swallow.
Hughes said there was no point calling Moyes to discuss a Lescott move because Moyes would only say no.
Well, the point of calling Moyes is that he is a straight-talking football man. Last time I looked, Lescott was under contract at a club who want to hang on to him. So rather than unsettling the player behind Everton's back using agents and go-betweens, I would urge Hughes to pick up the phone and discuss things with Moyes.
The time has come to resolve the saga one way or the other. And if Hughes doesn't ring him it shows a distinct lack of bottle. To continue the pursuit of the player but not go down the right routes is disgusting.
A phone call should definitely be made - but it might not be the best time to call Moyes after Saturday's hiding!
Don''t forget to listen to me on talkSPORT''s Matchday Live every Saturday 12-5pm
CAPTION(S):
DISGRACE Hughes needs to come straight
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
| Date: | Aug 17, 2009 |
| Words: | 329 |
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