In the board's defense, Reed brought in the Clown, and stuck with him for months after he should've been given the boot, and on top of that let him spend almost £20 million to bring in his favourite donkey. Throw in the Forster contract, and other fiascos, and you can't blame them for not trusting him again. Having said that, giving Hughes a 3 year contract wasn't the brightest thing to do.