Yet another player that let fame and fortune get to his head.
Was a good player before we signed him. Type of person that did much more good than bad. The problem was he got a signing on fee of about 1m as well as a high wage IIRC. The money went straight to his head. Ended up another Fatwood type of player. More interested in partying than training. WBA bought him back for half of what we paid for him, giving him another decent payday. He wasn't the person he was the first time they had him though.
It don't take a genius to work out why he ran away from the scene and hid for a few days. Alcohol would have been out of his system well before he gave himself in. Panic is when you do something but then have a chance to think and then do the right thing. What he did was more than this. He should have got a long sentence and then made to serve it all because of the severity of what he did. It is not his fault he got off so lightly, but everything else was his fault. I believe everyone should get a second chance. I also believe everyone should pay the price for their actions. I also believe that the victims of crime should be given more consideration than they are. Is it too much to ask that he never plays against the club where he did what he did?
Personally I don't think he will play against us. When a club signs a player like him they know they are getting a decent player that has baggage. Is it worth the trouble it could cause? Is it worth the upset it would cause? Maybe some think he has paid the price for his actions. Many don't though. Let him carry on with his life, but keep away from where he killed and maimed. If he had a low profile job it wouldn't be as much of a problem. Just think of the victims for once.
And yes, I acknowledge that! I didn't say what he did was all well and good! But me personally, I don't know him, I don't want to know him, I don't know how he deals with himself day to day. He made a massive error, an error that led to the loss of a human life. He has to live with that.
The scumbag John Terry doesn't seem to give a shit about who he upsets every time he plays, whether it's against Anton Ferdinand, Wayne Bridge or anyone else he has upset in the past. I know it was a far more serious crime, but I can't see Lee Hughes being any different.
I've said before that footballers should have some sort of licence, like in Boxing, given to them by the F.A. If they continue to play up, like Barton for example, then fook them off, ta ra, you've had enough chances. Same with Hughes, i'm all for second chances, but he shouldn't then be allowed to play for a club again given what he's done.