Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

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Fox Talbot
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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Fox Talbot » 03 Feb 2026 18:56

I feel for him and for Tom Holmes. Both looked like they could have made 300+ apps for the club and become Parky-style legends, but ended up with ruined careers thanks to a Dai Yongge-enforced fire sale. See also Nelson Abbey.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Sutekh » 03 Feb 2026 19:53

NGW puts Northampton 1 up at Barnsley in 3 minutes.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by morganb » 03 Feb 2026 21:28

Adrian Mariappa will be part of the interim coaching team overseeing Watford's game at Hull City on Tuesday evening - despite playing for another club. The 39-year-old played 340 games in two spells for Watford during his career, and is now an academy coach, but still turns out for St Albans City in the Isthmian League Premier Division, making seven appearances this season.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by rabidbee » 04 Feb 2026 00:32

morganb Adrian Mariappa will be part of the interim coaching team overseeing Watford's game at Hull City on Tuesday evening - despite playing for another club. The 39-year-old played 340 games in two spells for Watford during his career, and is now an academy coach, but still turns out for St Albans City in the Isthmian League Premier Division, making seven appearances this season.

Scott Murray was playing for Bath City when he was part of the coaching set-up at Bristol City, IIRC.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by bcubed » 04 Feb 2026 08:08

Fox Talbot I feel for him and for Tom Holmes. Both looked like they could have made 300+ apps for the club and become Parky-style legends, but ended up with ruined careers thanks to a Dai Yongge-enforced fire sale. See also Nelson Abbey.


Yep, this.
I think most fans want players who give 100% and would choose them over more talented passers by every day. Although eventually we get frustrated with effort over lack of talent. See Andy Hughes


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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Crusader Royal » 04 Feb 2026 18:47

Tom Mc signs for Aberdeen in an attempt to get as far from Portsmouth as possible. Had been due to make his debut v Celtic but it’s been postponed.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Forbury Lion » 05 Feb 2026 09:34

bcubed Although eventually we get frustrated with effort over lack of talent. See Andy Hughes
I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by JedMaxwell » 05 Feb 2026 15:14

Forbury Lion
bcubed Although eventually we get frustrated with effort over lack of talent. See Andy Hughes
I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.


I always liked Hughesy and thought he did well when he played left-back for a few games. His problem was that he was a decent all-rounder but not outstanding in one position, so got shifted all over the place to cover.

I was pretty young at the time, but I seem to remember he was one of the key players in making Pardew's 4-5-1 work.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Forbury Lion » 05 Feb 2026 15:44

JedMaxwell
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bcubed Although eventually we get frustrated with effort over lack of talent. See Andy Hughes
I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.


I always liked Hughesy and thought he did well when he played left-back for a few games. His problem was that he was a decent all-rounder but not outstanding in one position, so got shifted all over the place to cover.

I was pretty young at the time, but I seem to remember he was one of the key players in making Pardew's 4-5-1 work.

One of my main memories of Andy Hughes was attending a Thames Valley Management Accountants talk at the Madejski Stadium in which the Reading FC accountant gave a talk about the challenges of running a football club and the fact it was the Chairman's money funding it and then Andy Hughes giving a talk about his career and how Big Sam phoned them to say he was leaving, how he ended up at Reading and so on..... but then taking questions and so many idiot accountants were asking Andy Hughes about football finance like has he thought about introducing a Reading FC credit card similar to what Celtic had introduced, to be fair I think he did bat a few away with "we don't have a big enough fanbase to make it work".


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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Sutekh » 05 Feb 2026 15:47

Forbury Lion
JedMaxwell
Forbury Lion I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.


I always liked Hughesy and thought he did well when he played left-back for a few games. His problem was that he was a decent all-rounder but not outstanding in one position, so got shifted all over the place to cover.

I was pretty young at the time, but I seem to remember he was one of the key players in making Pardew's 4-5-1 work.

One of my main memories of Andy Hughes was attending a Thames Valley Management Accountants talk at the Madejski Stadium in which the Reading FC accountant gave a talk about the challenges of running a football club and the fact it was the Chairman's money funding it and then Andy Hughes giving a talk about his career and how Big Sam phoned them to say he was leaving, how he ended up at Reading and so on..... but then taking questions and so many idiot accountants were asking Andy Hughes about football finance like has he thought about introducing a Reading FC credit card similar to what Celtic had introduced, to be fair I think he did bat a few away with "we don't have a big enough fanbase to make it work".


What’s Big Sam? Is that like Big Pharma or Big Data?

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Forbury Lion » 05 Feb 2026 15:51

Sutekh
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JedMaxwell
I always liked Hughesy and thought he did well when he played left-back for a few games. His problem was that he was a decent all-rounder but not outstanding in one position, so got shifted all over the place to cover.

I was pretty young at the time, but I seem to remember he was one of the key players in making Pardew's 4-5-1 work.

One of my main memories of Andy Hughes was attending a Thames Valley Management Accountants talk at the Madejski Stadium in which the Reading FC accountant gave a talk about the challenges of running a football club and the fact it was the Chairman's money funding it and then Andy Hughes giving a talk about his career and how Big Sam phoned them to say he was leaving, how he ended up at Reading and so on..... but then taking questions and so many idiot accountants were asking Andy Hughes about football finance like has he thought about introducing a Reading FC credit card similar to what Celtic had introduced, to be fair I think he did bat a few away with "we don't have a big enough fanbase to make it work".


What’s Big Sam? Is that like Big Pharma or Big Data?
Sam Allardyce.... like a Big Farmer rather than Big Pharma, was his manager at Notts County IIRC

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by bcubed » 05 Feb 2026 16:21

Forbury Lion
Sutekh
Forbury Lion One of my main memories of Andy Hughes was attending a Thames Valley Management Accountants talk at the Madejski Stadium in which the Reading FC accountant gave a talk about the challenges of running a football club and the fact it was the Chairman's money funding it and then Andy Hughes giving a talk about his career and how Big Sam phoned them to say he was leaving, how he ended up at Reading and so on..... but then taking questions and so many idiot accountants were asking Andy Hughes about football finance like has he thought about introducing a Reading FC credit card similar to what Celtic had introduced, to be fair I think he did bat a few away with "we don't have a big enough fanbase to make it work".


What’s Big Sam? Is that like Big Pharma or Big Data?
Sam Allardyce.... like a Big Farmer rather than Big Pharma, was his manager at Notts County IIRC


I did love Andy Hughes and hed always give his all but repeated mishit crosses flying into the stands did grate a bit

Perhaps because he would rather have been playing on the other side of the pitch!!

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by SouthDownsRoyal » 05 Feb 2026 22:51

Forbury Lion
bcubed Although eventually we get frustrated with effort over lack of talent. See Andy Hughes
I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.


Yeah, I don’t get the Andy Hughes hate at all.


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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by WestYorksRoyal » 06 Feb 2026 07:37

SouthDownsRoyal
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bcubed Although eventually we get frustrated with effort over lack of talent. See Andy Hughes
I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.


Yeah, I don’t get the Andy Hughes hate at all.

And we did know what his best position was. In 02/03 we played 4-5-1 with Forster up front. Hughes was the most advanced midfielder with license to roam and make runs into the box. He had an excellent season. We just never played that formation much again and couldn't find a home for him in 4-4-2.

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Dirk Gently » 06 Feb 2026 12:04

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SouthDownsRoyal
Forbury Lion I think part of the problem with Andy Hughes was that he was played out of position a lot. although I don't think he knew what his best position was and was happy to play where and how the manager needed him.
When they had no left backs, he put his hand up and said he'd played a few games there once before and so he got picked as left back. Didn't do a bad job there from what I recall.


Yeah, I don’t get the Andy Hughes hate at all.

And we did know what his best position was. In 02/03 we played 4-5-1 with Forster up front. Hughes was the most advanced midfielder with license to roam and make runs into the box. He had an excellent season. We just never played that formation much again and couldn't find a home for him in 4-4-2.


One of the reasons Andy Hughes got so much leeway was because of his spirit and personality - he was such a massively positive influence in the dressing room and the squad that managers were happy to compromise a bit on what he did on the pitch. He'd get the team going far better than a coach or manager could.

He always gave everything when he was playing although he wasn't always the most talented (qv "The cult of Parky").

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Sutekh » 06 Feb 2026 12:17

Dirk Gently
WestYorksRoyal
SouthDownsRoyal
Yeah, I don’t get the Andy Hughes hate at all.

And we did know what his best position was. In 02/03 we played 4-5-1 with Forster up front. Hughes was the most advanced midfielder with license to roam and make runs into the box. He had an excellent season. We just never played that formation much again and couldn't find a home for him in 4-4-2.


One of the reasons Andy Hughes got so much leeway was because of his spirit and personality - he was such a massively positive influence in the dressing room and the squad that managers were happy to compromise a bit on what he did on the pitch. He'd get the team going far better than a coach or manager could.

He always gave everything when he was playing although he wasn't always the most talented (qv "The cult of Parky").



Reading was the league side for which he made the most appearances (183) and scored the most goals (18).

He’s now 48 and the set piece coach at Leicester City :?

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Re: Ex Royals (No not prince Andrew)

by Crusader Royal » 06 Feb 2026 12:31

Sutekh
Dirk Gently
WestYorksRoyal And we did know what his best position was. In 02/03 we played 4-5-1 with Forster up front. Hughes was the most advanced midfielder with license to roam and make runs into the box. He had an excellent season. We just never played that formation much again and couldn't find a home for him in 4-4-2.


One of the reasons Andy Hughes got so much leeway was because of his spirit and personality - he was such a massively positive influence in the dressing room and the squad that managers were happy to compromise a bit on what he did on the pitch. He'd get the team going far better than a coach or manager could.

He always gave everything when he was playing although he wasn't always the most talented (qv "The cult of Parky").



Reading was the league side for which he made the most appearances (183) and scored the most goals (18).

He’s now 48 and the set piece coach at Leicester City :?


Are you sure he’s not their accountant ?

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