How exactly have I missed the point here? We always operated under asking people to apply for the job including every time there being a story in both local and national press, if John Hughes was interested he would have applied. Hughes was asked about this after Kerr was appointed and said he didn't think he should need to apply. He essentially tried to bypass the process by having someone just ask straight out of he would get the job and took the huff.
I am fully aware of the situation.