When Mark Hughes walked out on Fulham last week, less than 24 hours after Gerard Houllier's departure from Aston Villa, the smart money - or, at least the bookmakers' odds - suggested he would soon be taking the top job at Villa Park.But, as it seems less and less likely Hughes will get the Aston Villa manager's job, question marks have been raised about what is next for the former Wales, Blackburn and Manchester City chief.
Fulham's west London neighbours Chelsea also have a vacancy, yet Hughes has not received a telephone call from the club's owner Roman Abramovich, according to the Welshman's camp.
Consequently, should he fail to net either post, he could find himself on the managerial scrapheap all by his own accord.
It might appear a foolish career move on his behalf. After all, Hughes needed to rebuild his reputation after being sacked by City. Fulham gave him the chance, for which he was openly grateful when he was appointed last summer, when he spoke about his frustration at being out of the game for a few months.
However, according to Hughes's agent, Kia Joorabchian, if you imagined his client was regretting his decision to walk out on Fulham, you would be well wide of the mark. In fact, Joorabchian stopped just short of saying that Hughes actually was doing the decent thing to Fulham by walking out on them. He also says Hughes considers himself to be capable of managing one the best teams in Europe.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "As a manager he has ambitions to really compete at the top level and be the best he can. [Fulham] are where they are. They are a great top-10, mid-table club and I think Mark really wants to be right up there competing in the Champions League. He'd like to win some cups.
"[The timing] was an unfortunate circumstance. The situation was such there were a couple of vacancies available. It had nothing to do with it whatsoever.
"Mark Hughes is a sincere man. He wouldn't do that. He sat down and thought about it. If he signs a two-year contract but all the time he is looking over his shoulder thinking 'well if a bigger job comes along...' he would be keen to move and that would be unfair to Fulham.
"He wanted to tell them and give them plenty of time. There was no better time to do so than at the end of the season. This has nothing to do with Aston Villa or Chelsea or any other club. Mark Hughes made decision to leave Fulham purely and simply because he didn't want to commit two years then look over his shoulder and disappoint them by leaving in the middle of his contract."
It is difficult to accept that statement, for while Hughes is a decent manager, can he really just expect to walk into one of the biggest jobs in football?
He took Blackburn to a couple of FA Cup semi-finals and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League with City, but if he thinks he will just walk into control of a team capable of competing for the Champions League, he is very much mistaken. Hughes's gamble to quit Craven Cottage, for whatever reason, could have backfired drastically.
