"This decision to leave Fulham has not been influenced by any outside party," Hughes said at the time. "Neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club." That is of course not to say Hughes did not bat his eyelashes towards the former European Cup winners. Villa acknowledged it privately at the time, but were said not to have pursued him because they considered the manner of his departure unseemly.
Yet Hughes's is as nothing against McLeish's resignation by email from Birmingham City to join Blues' bitterest rivals. So where did Hughes go wrong? Well, Digger hears Villa was the wrong bigger club for him to move up the managerial ladder. Fans at Fulham's last game of the season, which confirmed an eighth-place finish in the Premier League, saw Hughes receive short shrift from Mohamed Al Fayed during the chairman's lap of honour. It was clear then that theirs was not a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately for any Villa ambitions Hughes may have harboured, Fayed is very close to Doug Ellis, who is still heard at Villa Park, and it is believed Fayed was asked to write a reference for the Welshman. Throw in the fact that Hughes is said to see himself enjoying a more generous budget than he received at Fulham (he did previously work for Sheikh Mansour) and it becomes clearer why he might have been overlooked in favour of McLeish. The Villa owner, Randy Lerner, is believed to be keen to reduce expenditure. For all these reasons Hughes misses out.
No parachute for Nolan
Kevin Nolan's decision to swap the Premier League with Newcastle United for the second tier with West Ham United will have been met with anything but enthusiasm by their Championship peers. The Football League had grave reservations about the £48m guaranteed income that is being paid to relegated Premier League clubs in parachute money from this summer: £16m in years one and two, £8m in three and four. Indeed it very nearly refused to accept the "solidarity package" by which every Championship side receives £2.2m. So many Championship clubs will no doubt view West Ham's financial muscle as a symptom of the deal they eventually agreed to. However, Digger understands that would be to misread the current situation. Davids Gold and Sullivan have apparently stumped up the cash for summer purchases in unsecured shareholder loans, meaning they would get in line with other creditors if the club for any reason goes into administration. This is because the consortium of five banks who at the last reckoning had loaned West Ham £26.5m (not much less than their likely first-year turnover in the Championship) have certain covenants over what secured loans can be taken up. With banks in this mood it seems that if relegated clubs already have big debt piles like the Hammers, they will find it hard to bring forward access to the Premier League cash with more borrowing.
Fans can't afford a share
An unintended consequence of Alisher Usmanov's £14,000-a-share offer for Arsenal shareholders has been to elbow fans out of the market for shares. Arsenal's Fanshare scheme permits supporters to buy slices of otherwise unaffordable individual shares. But even despite this collectivism, £14,000 each was considered too much. Usmanov's offer ends on Thursday but there is nothing to prevent him extending it beyond that date – and as Digger revealed on Wednesday the incentive to do so is strong: building his stake to 30% would give him access to the club's books for the first time. The Arsenal Supporters Trust, with whom the club operates Fanshare, now wants dialogue with both the owner, Stan Kroenke, and Usmanov in an effort to convey small shareholders' interests.
Getting shirty
With Liverpool's commercial department switching their shirt supplier, it is interesting to note Bayer Leverkusen's novel approach to sponsorship. Last season's Bundesliga runners-up have taken out a quarter-page advertisement in the Financial Times promoting an invitation to tender they have launched for shirt sponsorship. "We are convinced this could motivate companies to take a look at our portfolio," the director Wolfgang Holzhäuser has said. But firms looking for trophies are likely to be disappointed: one of Leverkusen's nicknames is Vizekusen, meaning runner-up.
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