I have been a Manchester United fan since I was about 12 years old. Back then, watching games from Europe was not in the cards, so the few minutes I would get to see every week of my beloved Red Devils was special. Back then there was an hour long recap of the English First Division (this was even before the EPL) that came on Prime Ticket or some obscure Fox network. I would videotape every episode and watch them over and over trying to emulate what my idols were doing.

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It was at this time that players like Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin and Mark Hughes. As I  got to watch more and more of United, I began to realize that Hughes was the perfect United player. Skillful on the ball, hard nosed, scored bags of goals and he never gave up. In fact the picture above is from the FA Cup semi finals in 1994 when Hughes rescued United from defeat at the hands of Oldham Athletic. His late minute equalizer ensured a replay which United thus sending them to the FA Cup Final.

After a great career as a player at United, Marl Hughes has done incredible as a manager. His time with Blackburn has proved that he has made the jump from player to manager and that he has an incredible career ahead of him as a manager. With Sir Alex Ferguson heading into his last years in charge at United there has been a lot of speculation as to who will replace him. One of the names that had been put out there was that of Mark Hughes. I always thought it would be great to see him return as a manager and take over from SAF.

So with the announcement that he has taken the top job at Manchester City I can’t help but feel a little saddened that he will be leading out the troops from the blue side of Manchester. I always hoped he would make his triumphant return. Not sure if that will ever happen now, or if it should even happen now. Below is the goal that mark Hughes scored to send Oldham home and United through to the FA Cup Finals back in 1994.