Why Hughes has a harder job at QPR than you think, Thierry Henry is magic and there is a positive side to the Adeyemi incident

By Oliver Holt

Published 22:29 10/01/12

I’m a big fan of Mark Hughes as a manager, and he is an excellent signing for QPR, but the sacking of Neil Warnock does not reflect well on the club or some of their players.

Warnock did a brilliant job at Loftus Road, steering Rangers away from the bottom of the Championship in his first season and getting them promoted to the Premier League in his second.

There are some dark mutterings that he was undermined by an influential cabal of players, a cabal that Hughes has inherited.

He has a tougher job than some might imagine.

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The sight of Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi in tears at Anfield after he was subjected to alleged racial abuse by a Liverpool supporter was surely enough to make anyone aware of how important the fight against racism in our game still is.

Regrettably, it is easy to draw a line between the behaviour of that lone fan and the aggressive support Liverpool continued to give Luis Suarez even after he had been banned for racially abusing Patrice Evra.

At least one positive has come out of the Adeyemi incident.

Oldham have praised Liverpool and Merseyside Police for all the help, support and information they have provided to Adeyemi and the club since the incident last Friday and for the way they have investigated the case.

It is a step forward.

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Sometimes, you feel lucky to be at a certain stadium on a certain night.

Monday night at the Emirates was like that.

When Thierry Henry scored on his comeback and raced over to embrace Arsene Wenger, it was one of the best moments in the modern history of Arsenal.

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