Their whole expression shouted Misery,Misery !

My seat is not too far adrift from them and had I been photographed, one and all would have seen an expression of disgust on my ageing face with my mouth forming a downward crescent.

FFS are you for real?

Hughes playing out of position? He's 28 and has played in midfield for the last 12 years, over 300 games no lower than the Championship and has England U21 caps.

To ask him to play a slightly more attacking role as one of 3 CMs is hardly playing him out of position.
The fact that he clearly hasn't the legs to get up and make late runs into the box is the issue.

Incidentally according to Wiki..
Hughes has been described as a "flair player" who uses through balls and mazy runs to create space for teammates and beat opposition defences in attacking positions.[5] He has expressed a "love of a challenge, a 50–50".

When Hughes started at Derby he was more of an inside forward and was seen as one of the most promising youngsters in the country with plenty of interest from the top clubs.
However, he encountered some nasty injuries which were a huge setback for his progress.
Upon joining Palace he gave an interview in which declared that he had to subsequently adapt his game such was the decline in his pace through the injuries.
Thus he became more of a sitting or holding midfield player.
He reads the game well , is a tidy passer and puts his foot in.
To my mind he’s looked at his best for Palace in a deeper role where his reading of the game and simple passes come to the fore.
The dangers are the silly free kicks he’s prone to give away around our penalty area and the fact that he doesn’t always track runners.
He was like a fish out of water when Roy played him in an advanced role.
He may make the occasional useful interception in the final third, but he’s never going to get away from defenders or make lightning breaks into the penalty area.
For me he has a role to play but I wouldn’t have him as first on the team sheet.

When Hughes started at Derby he was more of an inside forward and was seen as one of the most promising youngsters in the country with plenty of interest from the top clubs.
However, he encountered some nasty injuries which were a huge setback for his progress.
Upon joining Palace he gave an interview in which declared that he had to subsequently adapt his game such was the decline in his pace through the injuries.
Thus he became more of a sitting or holding midfield player.
He reads the game well , is a tidy passer and puts his foot in.
To my mind he’s looked at his best for Palace in a deeper role where his reading of the game and simple passes come to the fore.
The dangers are the silly free kicks he’s prone to give away around our penalty area and the fact that he doesn’t always track runners.
He was like a fish out of water when Roy played him in an advanced role.
He may make the occasional useful interception in the final third, but he’s never going to get away from defenders or make lightning breaks into the penalty area.
For me he has a role to play but I wouldn’t have him as first on the team sheet.