lastmanback
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Uwe Rosler's Grandad said:
suit wearing type managers :-)
Mark Hughes: Best in the League at...
- Thread starter NathanC
- Start date
suit wearing type managers :-)
jimmym_mcfc
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any1 see that on 2 good 2 bad last week with sam allrydyce and his swet pits haha classical
MCFCinUSA
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LOL, great post & thread - even the guy playing pocket billiards above
Wheelsy
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When's the next train to Sunderland?
Brucie Bonus
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Hughes to Bowen: I tell City's owners what I want, they flick the switch. 13th of October 2008.
The Manchester City training ground is not open to the public, but luckily I have been allowed to eavesdrop on a conversation between the City manager Mark Hughes, and his assistant, Mark Bowen. Almost overnight, the pair now find themselves in charge of the richest football club in the world, and that means elevated pressure and scrutiny for the manager and his staff. In spite of recently losing to Liverpool and Chelsea at home, City have made a promising start to the Premier league season and have also made it through to the group phase of the Uefa Cup.
Mark Hughes has a reputation for being something of a distant figure but, understandably, he opens up when talking to his assistant about the club’s new owners from Abu Dhabi, his style of management and City’s new Brazilian players.
Mark Bowen: People have this impression that you are distant and quiet don't they Mark.
Mark Hughes: I think it’s a consequence of the job I do. I’m never going to be as accessible as you are, because of the demands upon my time. I’m doing lots of other things, so players don’t have that access to me anyway. That’s not artificially created, but on the field of play I think it’s very important that you have that distance. You can’t have friendships with players, you need respect and trust.
I think I earn that trust by making sure that the coaches and the people I have working with them are absolutely top quality, and as a consequence they all know that my management team knows what they are doing.
Bowen: A club could not work properly without someone having the overview vision, though.
Hughes: I’m in charge of the football part of this business. There have been lots of changes at Manchester City and there are going to be more in the future, but the one constant that will always be in place is the manager. I will make decisions and the club will act upon them accordingly — that’s how it should be. It has to be a clear direction to where we are going. That will obviously come from me and the input from my coaches only.
Bowen: The team we have here works exceptionally well.
Hughes: You are like a buffer for me, Mark. You recognise those things that I need to be made aware of but can’t be bogged down with: fielding phone calls or whatever. Everyone knows I’m not a lover of the telephone, but that’s part and parcel of the job.
Bowen: It’s enthralling that the staff is presented with new challenges every single day. Having a few Brazilian internationals at City is a fascinating one.
Hughes: They have a love of the game and they love playing, so it’s not difficult to prepare them for, say, a cold evening in our stadium for a Uefa Cup game. At the moment, everything is positive, and there is a real buzz around the place. You notice it, I notice it.
Bowen: On occasions, irrespective of the oppopsition and what time of year it is, it’s hard to get players going.
Hughes: But that’s why we have a half-time team talk, it’s an opportunity to reaffirm what we are supposed do from the first half - sometimes they just need reminding now and again.
Bowen: And once you remind them, more often than not you see a change.
Hughes: I think it’s quite possibly an old-school mentality to say that ‘he is a Brazilian, just send him on the field and go and play’.
Bowen: No, you just can’t do that.
Hughes: You have to let these players know what their role is in the team in any particular game, you must try and stimulate their minds.
Bowen: And anyway, you find that Brazilians are some of the best-prepared players and managers in the world.
Hughes: Remember when we watched the training of the Brazilian team the night before the game? (We were with the Welsh national team and weren’t supposed to be there). The Brazilians had all flown in from all over the world and they didn’t do a great deal — they jogged for about 20 minutes, very light, and then they were put in to their team shape and the ball was thrown in. And then we saw the coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, moving everyone around, making slight adjustments — a yard here, a yard there. “Rivaldo, you’re not quite right! You should be two metres this way.†He was frog-marching Rivaldo around!
Bowen: Yes, and then he would blow his whistle and off they’d go; they’ll try things again and again.
Hughes: To be honest, it is true that there are days when it’s a bit bleak and it’s blowing a gale in this open training ground and, well, it is not all that easy with people that are not used to that sort of weather. It doesn’t alter the message you are trying to get across for that morning’s training. What it does possibly change is the movement of the group. You must keep them moving, keep them warm and you have to make sure that you construct a session so the players aren’t hanging about.
We set everything up before the guys go out on to the field of play, once they have finished one part of the training session they move quickly on to the next part in a different area. Our job is basically that: to prepare things for players to exploit their talent and also to make them aware of what they are going to face. If they are not able to understand and combat that, they are going to struggle to make an impact. That is what tactics are all about.
Bowen: And now we are lucky that we have an even bigger pool of players to choose from.
Hughes: Manchester City football club is going to change a lot, starting with the appearance. We are having a major refurbishment of the training ground, a new gym that will cost a significant amount of money. The new owners want information, they have asked to be told what is needed and they will give us the resources to do it. You put the arguments forward and they will back you very quickly — you don’t have to wait for decisions or committees or board rooms! They just make decisions and the switch is flicked.
Bowen: You could have all the money in the world and the best gyms, but to have a title-contending team you must cultivate a winning mentality at the club. That is essential.
Hughes: The best players will always help you achieve that. It is also important to have empathy for the football club as well. I think we have a real chance to cultivate that at City because we’ve young players who have come up through the ranks. We are trying to get our levels up to the level we had at our previous club, and if we can do that, tied in with the technical ability of the squad, there is no reason not to think that we are going to reach the ambitious targets set by the new owners and ourselves. I can guarantee that a footballer who plays for us at Manchester City will have all the necessary tools to do the job.
The Manchester City training ground is not open to the public, but luckily I have been allowed to eavesdrop on a conversation between the City manager Mark Hughes, and his assistant, Mark Bowen. Almost overnight, the pair now find themselves in charge of the richest football club in the world, and that means elevated pressure and scrutiny for the manager and his staff. In spite of recently losing to Liverpool and Chelsea at home, City have made a promising start to the Premier league season and have also made it through to the group phase of the Uefa Cup.
Mark Hughes has a reputation for being something of a distant figure but, understandably, he opens up when talking to his assistant about the club’s new owners from Abu Dhabi, his style of management and City’s new Brazilian players.
Mark Bowen: People have this impression that you are distant and quiet don't they Mark.
Mark Hughes: I think it’s a consequence of the job I do. I’m never going to be as accessible as you are, because of the demands upon my time. I’m doing lots of other things, so players don’t have that access to me anyway. That’s not artificially created, but on the field of play I think it’s very important that you have that distance. You can’t have friendships with players, you need respect and trust.
I think I earn that trust by making sure that the coaches and the people I have working with them are absolutely top quality, and as a consequence they all know that my management team knows what they are doing.
Bowen: A club could not work properly without someone having the overview vision, though.
Hughes: I’m in charge of the football part of this business. There have been lots of changes at Manchester City and there are going to be more in the future, but the one constant that will always be in place is the manager. I will make decisions and the club will act upon them accordingly — that’s how it should be. It has to be a clear direction to where we are going. That will obviously come from me and the input from my coaches only.
Bowen: The team we have here works exceptionally well.
Hughes: You are like a buffer for me, Mark. You recognise those things that I need to be made aware of but can’t be bogged down with: fielding phone calls or whatever. Everyone knows I’m not a lover of the telephone, but that’s part and parcel of the job.
Bowen: It’s enthralling that the staff is presented with new challenges every single day. Having a few Brazilian internationals at City is a fascinating one.
Hughes: They have a love of the game and they love playing, so it’s not difficult to prepare them for, say, a cold evening in our stadium for a Uefa Cup game. At the moment, everything is positive, and there is a real buzz around the place. You notice it, I notice it.
Bowen: On occasions, irrespective of the oppopsition and what time of year it is, it’s hard to get players going.
Hughes: But that’s why we have a half-time team talk, it’s an opportunity to reaffirm what we are supposed do from the first half - sometimes they just need reminding now and again.
Bowen: And once you remind them, more often than not you see a change.
Hughes: I think it’s quite possibly an old-school mentality to say that ‘he is a Brazilian, just send him on the field and go and play’.
Bowen: No, you just can’t do that.
Hughes: You have to let these players know what their role is in the team in any particular game, you must try and stimulate their minds.
Bowen: And anyway, you find that Brazilians are some of the best-prepared players and managers in the world.
Hughes: Remember when we watched the training of the Brazilian team the night before the game? (We were with the Welsh national team and weren’t supposed to be there). The Brazilians had all flown in from all over the world and they didn’t do a great deal — they jogged for about 20 minutes, very light, and then they were put in to their team shape and the ball was thrown in. And then we saw the coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, moving everyone around, making slight adjustments — a yard here, a yard there. “Rivaldo, you’re not quite right! You should be two metres this way.†He was frog-marching Rivaldo around!
Bowen: Yes, and then he would blow his whistle and off they’d go; they’ll try things again and again.
Hughes: To be honest, it is true that there are days when it’s a bit bleak and it’s blowing a gale in this open training ground and, well, it is not all that easy with people that are not used to that sort of weather. It doesn’t alter the message you are trying to get across for that morning’s training. What it does possibly change is the movement of the group. You must keep them moving, keep them warm and you have to make sure that you construct a session so the players aren’t hanging about.
We set everything up before the guys go out on to the field of play, once they have finished one part of the training session they move quickly on to the next part in a different area. Our job is basically that: to prepare things for players to exploit their talent and also to make them aware of what they are going to face. If they are not able to understand and combat that, they are going to struggle to make an impact. That is what tactics are all about.
Bowen: And now we are lucky that we have an even bigger pool of players to choose from.
Hughes: Manchester City football club is going to change a lot, starting with the appearance. We are having a major refurbishment of the training ground, a new gym that will cost a significant amount of money. The new owners want information, they have asked to be told what is needed and they will give us the resources to do it. You put the arguments forward and they will back you very quickly — you don’t have to wait for decisions or committees or board rooms! They just make decisions and the switch is flicked.
Bowen: You could have all the money in the world and the best gyms, but to have a title-contending team you must cultivate a winning mentality at the club. That is essential.
Hughes: The best players will always help you achieve that. It is also important to have empathy for the football club as well. I think we have a real chance to cultivate that at City because we’ve young players who have come up through the ranks. We are trying to get our levels up to the level we had at our previous club, and if we can do that, tied in with the technical ability of the squad, there is no reason not to think that we are going to reach the ambitious targets set by the new owners and ourselves. I can guarantee that a footballer who plays for us at Manchester City will have all the necessary tools to do the job.
Uwe Rosler's Grandad
Well-Known Member
lastmanback said:Uwe Rosler's Grandad said:
suit wearing type managers :-)
Ha ha! Good point but look at these:-
Actually, when looking for pics of quality managers I didn't find many wearing tracksuits so I'm changing my mind on Hughes. He wears suits because he is pretending to be a great manager!
Wheelsy OSC Sydney said:LOL Nathan... I do remember you making that point on Sunday.
Gee the team is fucking shit, but look how immaculately dressed the man is! You're managing a football team, not going down the pub!
What does Mark Hughes think of this thread?
Loving that picture; I'm sure some comedy text will be inserted over the top soon...
BingoBango
Well-Known Member
Wheelsy OSC Sydney said:LOL Nathan... I do remember you making that point on Sunday.
Gee the team is fucking shit, but look how immaculately dressed the man is! You're managing a football team, not going down the pub!
What does Mark Hughes think of this thread?
Digging the chunky ring, too.