Why Sparky will be electrifying at Fulham and who Martin O'Neill should sign to get Villa firing

By Robbie Savage

Published 23:01 29/07/10

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I was once asked what my specialist subject would be to go on celebrity Mastermind and not being hot on general knowledge, I said the life and times of Mark Hughes.

He’s my idol and there’s not too much I don’t know about him.

Knowing him like I do, I believe the time has come for Sparky to return to management.

You can wait and wait for a top job to become available in the Premier League, but it may not come.

Realistically, the Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea jobs aren’t going to come up and Sparky needs to get back into football.

He’s got a tough act to follow at Fulham in Roy Hodgson and they overachieved under him, qualifying for Europe and then reaching the Europa League Final.

It’s going to be hard to repeat that success at Fulham up against the big boys in the Premier League.

One advantage Sparky’s got is that Fulham aren’t in Europe next season and he won’t have any distractions that way.

He will also give Fulham his all and he is a workaholic, 24/7 manager.

I couldn’t believe how hard he worked when I was with him at Blackburn and he leaves no stone unturned.

Fulham may not be as big a club as Man City, but if he does well, which I’m sure he will, then it could lead to something bigger.

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It's not been a great summer so far for another of my old managers Martin O’Neill.

He had a great season last season with Aston Villa and in my opinion, they should have beaten Man United in the Carling Cup Final and who knows what would have happened if they had been given that penalty in the FA Cup semi against Chelsea?

Martin must have been hoping to build on that success this summer and instead he’s not signed anyone.

I’ve read the stories that Martin is unhappy with what’s going on and could quit.

Knowing him as I do, he is very much his own man. He won’t stand for anybody going over his head or interfering.

One thing he isn’t, though is a quitter.

He will want to see the job through at Villa, even if it seems tough at the minute with his rivals eyeing up his best players.

If I were him, I’d want to keep Milner. Although I think £24million is a lot for a player like James Milner, his value to Villa is greater than his value to City.

I think he should be looking to try and sign Craig Bellamy. Spurs want him and I think he would be great for Villa if City don’t want him.

I don’t know what money Martin’s got at Villa, but Bellamy is the sort of player who could help turn things round again.

Whatever happens, Martin has proved he can deliver success and I wouldn’t bet against Villa having another good season.

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