meldrew
Well-Known Member
Hughes bites back at unrest rumours
Chris Bailey
7/ 1/2009
CITY chief Mark Hughes has brushed off rumours of player unrest at Eastlands and whispers that he will swoop for unsettled striker Carlos Tevez from neighbours United.
Hughes has watched critics scurry to jump on the `City in Crisis' bandwagon following the 3-0 home FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest but is determined to ride out the storm and stick firmly to his guns.
And that means doing things his way, including an open-door policy for any disaffected players to air grievances they might have.
Hughes, like Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea who has this week lambasted leaks and rumours emanating from his allegedly disharmonious Stamford Bridge dressing room, knows that walls have ears at football clubs.
Even so, he was genuinely surprised by supposed tales of unrest
"I have no idea about players complaining to the executive chairman Garry Cook about anything but you are going to get these kind of stories when things are not going as well as we would like," he said.
Complaints
"At the end of the day, all the players know that if they have any complaints they can knock on my door. When they do they can discuss any issues that they have and they are resolved very, very quickly. That is how it has always been."
The manager wouldn't, however, be drawn on the Tevez situation at Old Trafford after the Argentina international intimated that he might leave if he is not offered a new deal.
"We have been linked with nearly everybody, I think, and Carlos Tevez is one that hasn't been so now that he has we will have the full set," he smiled.
"I don't talk about players at other clubs; there are those who are quite prepared to do that for us. We are trying to get players in that will help us, we are looking at targets that are attainable and realistic and that has always been our stance."
Hughes, although he refrained from naming individuals, revealed that the Blues had made bids for several players already in the transfer window.
Bids
"We have put bids on the table and some have been rejected at the level we have pitched them," he admitted.
"I am sure that this week we will be making more offers. What we are trying to do is make sure that when we do make those offers they are at a level that clubs will actually discuss. They are players that we want to attract so there is no point going in at a level that you know is going to be dismissed out of hand.
"It is about getting the balance and the pitch of the offer right and if you do that then more often than not a deal can be concluded more quickly. Long draw out deals tend to test everyone's patience so it is better to look at the market, look at what you think the club that has the player would want and go in at that level. If valuations are way out of kilter then it becomes more drawn out.
"I have highlighted players that I think will help and then that is taken over by Garry Cook and Paul Aldridge and they conclude the deals. Managers always want a turnover of players because new faces give everyone a lift."
The Blues boss is clearly determined to carry on adding new faces as quickly as possible following on from the arrival of Wayne Bridge from Chelsea. He would like Kolo Toure from Arsenal, Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn and either one or both of Scott Parker and Craig Bellamy at West Ham. He is also in the market for an experienced goalkeeper, though it is not his top priority.
Targets
"The targets and the areas we feel we need to strengthen still stand true after what happened at the weekend in the FA Cup. We have not swayed from that plan of acquisition which has been explained to the powers that be," he went on.
"That is why the message from me has always been consistent and constant for the last couple of months namely that some areas of the team need to be strengthened and those are the ones we are trying to address now in the transfer window.
"It is not an easy process, everyone knows that, or one that can be concluded quickly, though you always try and be as swift as possible. Clubs don't want their best players to leave. Getting Wayne Bridge in so quickly laid down a bit of a marker and there have not been many other deals done as a whole so far.
"It takes time to speak to clubs, to get permission to speak to players and their agents; so it is a long, drawn out process and much that we might want to get things done rapidly it is not always the case."
What he hopes has been achieved immediately is getting the Forest FA Cup defeat out of the system of players who were clearly crestfallen when they reported back to work on Monday.
"I would have been disappointed if they had not been down when they came in but you cannot dwell on what has gone you just have to make sure that it doesn't happen again and that preparation is right for the next game," stressed the manager. "You cannot allow defeats have a negative impact; you just have to be better next time out and that is what we intend to achieve.
Emotion
"Lifting the players is part of the job and when they came back to work on Monday morning what you try and do is take the emotion out of the result and look at the actual performance and the issues in the game.
"Those might be rather raw in the immediate aftermath of the match so once you sit back and take the time to review things in detail you can get a better indication of individual and collective performances.
"Sometimes it reinforces what you have seen or felt on the day and at other times it may be that the initial view is changed.
"What I have to do is take a detached view, review things professionally, make sure I understand what went on and then when everyone comes back address the issues.
"We all felt really badly about the defeat to Forest when we didn't get anywhere near the level that we know we are capable.
"There has been time to reflect on the game and we have watched it over and over again. The overall opinion hasn't changed but the cold hard facts of the contest are that Forest had four shots on target and scored with three of them. We had numerous efforts and didn't score any.
Consistency
"We have been looking for consistency all season and it is something we have found hard to get. When we do get it right we are very good and can cause problems to anybody - we have shown that.
"What we need is a level of performance that is constant and when we get that then we can build results and confidence will be raised with every game we play. At the moment we are little bit up and down and that is difficult.
"As a manger you are also looking for continuity of selection which hasn't always been available to me either because of injuries."
Hughes pointed to the long-term loss of Bulgarian internationals Valeri Bojinov and Martin Petrov and England under-21 midfielder Michael Johnson as severely weakening the squad in the opening half of the season.
"Bojinov was doing really well in pre-season and we were very hopeful that he would have a real impact this year but he has been unavailable and Michael Johnson has played very few games.
"Our strength and depth is not as strong as it needs to be and that is what we are trying to address at the moment."
Interesting read, at least he has finally come out and scoffed at some of the rumours of unrest!
Chris Bailey
7/ 1/2009
CITY chief Mark Hughes has brushed off rumours of player unrest at Eastlands and whispers that he will swoop for unsettled striker Carlos Tevez from neighbours United.
Hughes has watched critics scurry to jump on the `City in Crisis' bandwagon following the 3-0 home FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest but is determined to ride out the storm and stick firmly to his guns.
And that means doing things his way, including an open-door policy for any disaffected players to air grievances they might have.
Hughes, like Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea who has this week lambasted leaks and rumours emanating from his allegedly disharmonious Stamford Bridge dressing room, knows that walls have ears at football clubs.
Even so, he was genuinely surprised by supposed tales of unrest
"I have no idea about players complaining to the executive chairman Garry Cook about anything but you are going to get these kind of stories when things are not going as well as we would like," he said.
Complaints
"At the end of the day, all the players know that if they have any complaints they can knock on my door. When they do they can discuss any issues that they have and they are resolved very, very quickly. That is how it has always been."
The manager wouldn't, however, be drawn on the Tevez situation at Old Trafford after the Argentina international intimated that he might leave if he is not offered a new deal.
"We have been linked with nearly everybody, I think, and Carlos Tevez is one that hasn't been so now that he has we will have the full set," he smiled.
"I don't talk about players at other clubs; there are those who are quite prepared to do that for us. We are trying to get players in that will help us, we are looking at targets that are attainable and realistic and that has always been our stance."
Hughes, although he refrained from naming individuals, revealed that the Blues had made bids for several players already in the transfer window.
Bids
"We have put bids on the table and some have been rejected at the level we have pitched them," he admitted.
"I am sure that this week we will be making more offers. What we are trying to do is make sure that when we do make those offers they are at a level that clubs will actually discuss. They are players that we want to attract so there is no point going in at a level that you know is going to be dismissed out of hand.
"It is about getting the balance and the pitch of the offer right and if you do that then more often than not a deal can be concluded more quickly. Long draw out deals tend to test everyone's patience so it is better to look at the market, look at what you think the club that has the player would want and go in at that level. If valuations are way out of kilter then it becomes more drawn out.
"I have highlighted players that I think will help and then that is taken over by Garry Cook and Paul Aldridge and they conclude the deals. Managers always want a turnover of players because new faces give everyone a lift."
The Blues boss is clearly determined to carry on adding new faces as quickly as possible following on from the arrival of Wayne Bridge from Chelsea. He would like Kolo Toure from Arsenal, Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn and either one or both of Scott Parker and Craig Bellamy at West Ham. He is also in the market for an experienced goalkeeper, though it is not his top priority.
Targets
"The targets and the areas we feel we need to strengthen still stand true after what happened at the weekend in the FA Cup. We have not swayed from that plan of acquisition which has been explained to the powers that be," he went on.
"That is why the message from me has always been consistent and constant for the last couple of months namely that some areas of the team need to be strengthened and those are the ones we are trying to address now in the transfer window.
"It is not an easy process, everyone knows that, or one that can be concluded quickly, though you always try and be as swift as possible. Clubs don't want their best players to leave. Getting Wayne Bridge in so quickly laid down a bit of a marker and there have not been many other deals done as a whole so far.
"It takes time to speak to clubs, to get permission to speak to players and their agents; so it is a long, drawn out process and much that we might want to get things done rapidly it is not always the case."
What he hopes has been achieved immediately is getting the Forest FA Cup defeat out of the system of players who were clearly crestfallen when they reported back to work on Monday.
"I would have been disappointed if they had not been down when they came in but you cannot dwell on what has gone you just have to make sure that it doesn't happen again and that preparation is right for the next game," stressed the manager. "You cannot allow defeats have a negative impact; you just have to be better next time out and that is what we intend to achieve.
Emotion
"Lifting the players is part of the job and when they came back to work on Monday morning what you try and do is take the emotion out of the result and look at the actual performance and the issues in the game.
"Those might be rather raw in the immediate aftermath of the match so once you sit back and take the time to review things in detail you can get a better indication of individual and collective performances.
"Sometimes it reinforces what you have seen or felt on the day and at other times it may be that the initial view is changed.
"What I have to do is take a detached view, review things professionally, make sure I understand what went on and then when everyone comes back address the issues.
"We all felt really badly about the defeat to Forest when we didn't get anywhere near the level that we know we are capable.
"There has been time to reflect on the game and we have watched it over and over again. The overall opinion hasn't changed but the cold hard facts of the contest are that Forest had four shots on target and scored with three of them. We had numerous efforts and didn't score any.
Consistency
"We have been looking for consistency all season and it is something we have found hard to get. When we do get it right we are very good and can cause problems to anybody - we have shown that.
"What we need is a level of performance that is constant and when we get that then we can build results and confidence will be raised with every game we play. At the moment we are little bit up and down and that is difficult.
"As a manger you are also looking for continuity of selection which hasn't always been available to me either because of injuries."
Hughes pointed to the long-term loss of Bulgarian internationals Valeri Bojinov and Martin Petrov and England under-21 midfielder Michael Johnson as severely weakening the squad in the opening half of the season.
"Bojinov was doing really well in pre-season and we were very hopeful that he would have a real impact this year but he has been unavailable and Michael Johnson has played very few games.
"Our strength and depth is not as strong as it needs to be and that is what we are trying to address at the moment."
Interesting read, at least he has finally come out and scoffed at some of the rumours of unrest!