The *OFFICIAL* Hughes Poll

[Shooter 83]

Re: Struggling Mark Hughes remains under microscope

from The Times......

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article6939830.ece

If Mark Hughes had hoped the crisis in the Gulf would divert the attention of Manchester City’s Arab owners away from his malfunctioning team, the manager will be disappointed.

Sheikh Mansour, the City owner and Abu Dhabi royal, may have his hands full with Dubai looking to their neighbouring oil-rich emirate for a rescue package that will help to ease their £48 billion debts, but events in the Middle East have failed to mask a miserable run of results that has left Hughes facing arguably the biggest week of his managerial reign at City.

Hughes conceded yesterday that City’s billionaire owners are “frustrated” by a sequence of seven successive draws in the Barclays Premier League that has ensured that the club’s Carling Cup quarter-final at home to Arsenal this evening and the visit of Chelsea in the league on Saturday assume huge importance.

“Frustrated — that is the top and bottom of it,” Hughes said. “They [the owners] are frustrated that these draws have not been turned into wins. I discuss it on a weekly basis with Khaldoon [al-Mubarak, the chairman] and will after the game as well. It is one of those things and frustration is the word.”

Al-Mubarak has reiterated on several occasions that they are planning for the long term, but their patience is certain to be tested if results do not improve quickly. Hughes is confident he retains the full backing of the owners, even though he accepts his team’s poor form has placed them in the line of fire.

“At the moment, we have allowed ourselves, or given others the opportunity, to question where we are going,” he said. “You can put different angles on it and different spins. It could be viewed as seven drawn matches or it could be viewed as an unbeaten run, but that is not the way we are viewing it.

“We are frustrated because we have been in a winning position in four of those games, but we are not a million miles away from the targets we set ourselves. We have long-term targets and where we are now is near-as-dammit where we expected to be.

“I think the fans understand that it wasn’t going to be an easy progression, and that at times in the season we will struggle and things won’t quite go for us.

“I said earlier in the season that those times will come. We would like to think this is the one time when things won’t quite go as well as we hope, so if that means the worse part of the season is now then we will take that. I would like to think there is a resolution to this run and we are looking to get back to winning ways, which will be a big boost to everybody in terms of where the club wants to go.”

The importance of a victory against Arsenal’s young side tonight extends beyond a place in the semi-finals of a leading cup competition for the first time since 1981. Win and the picture will look very different for Hughes. Lose and the storm clouds will begin to gather before an enormous game against Chelsea.

“It only takes one positive result, I am convinced of that,” Hughes said. “We are just in the habit of drawing but we can quickly change that into a habit of winning.

“Getting to a domestic semi-final is really important and another step in terms of progress. We are up against two top teams and what we want to do is get the first part over then look at the weekend.

“Chelsea is not an easy game but one we are looking to go into in good heart. We need to win against Arsenal because it is a significant competition for us.”

''It will take one positive result.

So he really thinks what he has been playing the last 7 games will take off when we win a game. Stubborn come's to mind.

 

[johnny crossan]

Re: Struggling Mark Hughes remains under microscope

from The Times......

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article6939830.ece

If Mark Hughes had hoped the crisis in the Gulf would divert the attention of Manchester City’s Arab owners away from his malfunctioning team, the manager will be disappointed.

Sheikh Mansour, the City owner and Abu Dhabi royal, may have his hands full with Dubai looking to their neighbouring oil-rich emirate for a rescue package that will help to ease their £48 billion debts, but events in the Middle East have failed to mask a miserable run of results that has left Hughes facing arguably the biggest week of his managerial reign at City.

Hughes conceded yesterday that City’s billionaire owners are “frustrated” by a sequence of seven successive draws in the Barclays Premier League that has ensured that the club’s Carling Cup quarter-final at home to Arsenal this evening and the visit of Chelsea in the league on Saturday assume huge importance.

“Frustrated — that is the top and bottom of it,” Hughes said. “They [the owners] are frustrated that these draws have not been turned into wins. I discuss it on a weekly basis with Khaldoon [al-Mubarak, the chairman] and will after the game as well. It is one of those things and frustration is the word.”

Al-Mubarak has reiterated on several occasions that they are planning for the long term, but their patience is certain to be tested if results do not improve quickly. Hughes is confident he retains the full backing of the owners, even though he accepts his team’s poor form has placed them in the line of fire.

“At the moment, we have allowed ourselves, or given others the opportunity, to question where we are going,” he said. “You can put different angles on it and different spins. It could be viewed as seven drawn matches or it could be viewed as an unbeaten run, but that is not the way we are viewing it.

“We are frustrated because we have been in a winning position in four of those games, but we are not a million miles away from the targets we set ourselves. We have long-term targets and where we are now is near-as-dammit where we expected to be.

“I think the fans understand that it wasn’t going to be an easy progression, and that at times in the season we will struggle and things won’t quite go for us.

“I said earlier in the season that those times will come. We would like to think this is the one time when things won’t quite go as well as we hope, so if that means the worse part of the season is now then we will take that. I would like to think there is a resolution to this run and we are looking to get back to winning ways, which will be a big boost to everybody in terms of where the club wants to go.”

The importance of a victory against Arsenal’s young side tonight extends beyond a place in the semi-finals of a leading cup competition for the first time since 1981. Win and the picture will look very different for Hughes. Lose and the storm clouds will begin to gather before an enormous game against Chelsea.

“It only takes one positive result, I am convinced of that,” Hughes said. “We are just in the habit of drawing but we can quickly change that into a habit of winning.

“Getting to a domestic semi-final is really important and another step in terms of progress. We are up against two top teams and what we want to do is get the first part over then look at the weekend.

“Chelsea is not an easy game but one we are looking to go into in good heart. We need to win against Arsenal because it is a significant competition for us.”

''It will take one positive result.

So he really thinks what he has been playing the last 7 games will take off when we win a game. Stubborn come's to mind.

Our Sheikh has just described the Dubai crisis as " a small summer cloud" by that measure our winless run is a
few grains of pollen.

 

[leighton]

I think the next 3 months are huge for Hughes. I would bet all the money I have that if this run continues the players who Hughes has signed will turn on him. The players like Tevez , Robhino and Adebayor will all trow the dummie out at some stage and it is how Hughes reacts to this and how the owners react to it aswell. Those are there big 3 signing if they aint happy then they may think about a change. Unlike from years gone by we can now get the pick of the best managers in the world some of Hughes signings are highly thought of by the big teams in this league but I think it could be a case of Hughes not having that winning mentality that those players were used to while at there other clubs. Maybe he cant get the best out of them. The Carling Cup is a huge competition for Hughes IF we can manage to win this cup it will secure Hughes job for another season and maybe it will be the start of a domino efect which will lead to more trophy's over the next years. If not look around world football the managers who having a track record of winning trophys will be linked to Hughes job straight away and we will see 1 of them taking the job on.
Also in January we will see just how much money is made available to him if he has the full backing or not. No matter what Hughes has the greatest chance he may ever have to win some titles while at City. If he keeps spending the amount of money like he has done this season and nothing comes from it I dont think he can complain too much. It is a hard job football management it is ever harder if you have spent so much money and the owners see nothing from there investment will they be willing to splash another 200 million on top of that? Look at our rival managers in England. The top 4 managers all have a proven track record of winning cups. Then O' Neill and even Fat Harry have won a Cup of sorts we are the only team who has a manager who has yet to win anything as a a manager.

 

[stirlingblue]

I've calmed myself down a bit after Saturday and I'm still go for giving the man a fair run. I thought he should have subbed De Jong after his booking rendered him impotent and Bullard took over in midfield last Sat. Also, for tonight I would hope he does not risk De Jong getting himself booked prior to Chelsea. I may be mistaken but I think he's one booking away from a ban, so to play him would be lunacy imo with Kompany waiting in the wings.

ps Not totally sure if a booking will rule him out of Chelsea or the next game but hopefully Hughes does know!

 

[Bill Walker]

We'll never be a real top 4 team IMO with Hughes, even if we are we'll get dumped out of the chumps league, Our team is unbalanced and majorly lacking in confidence after 18 months of him and his weird tactics.

 

[EalingBlue2]

In

 

[Quinny851]

Absolutely, 100% out. i haven't wanted us to sack a manager so much since Stuart Pearce and he didn't spend over 200million

 

[C_T_I_D]

I'm not interested in his interviews anymore. I want to see actions, not words. He can talk till he's blue in the face, but if the results on the pitch don't match his words then his words are meaningless really aren't they?

 

[twinkletoes]

Re: *WARNING* 99% on here are likely to disagree with this post!

So it's a guess. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/2009/May/Top-six-our-goal-next-season,-says-Chairman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/20 ... s-Chairman</a>


Mark Hughes has been given a top-six target for next season by Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak as the club prepares for the next step in the challenge to join the Barclays Premier League elite.

With this season's final match against Bolton still to come, manager Hughes and Chief Executive Garry Cook have already sat down with the Blues supremo to discuss their shared ambitions to finish the 2009-10 campaign with a ticket back to Europe.

UEFA Cup quarter-finalists City can still finish ninth on Sunday after missing out on an instant return to Europe with the 2-1 defeat at Spurs, and the Chairman said: "I think a reasonable target next season is the top six.

"I think people see me as a reasonable and realistic man, and I think given what we have done this year and the ambitions we have this summer, a top-six finish next year should be a reasonable and achievable target.

"There will be money for new players this off-season. The areas in which the team needs us to invest are clear. We need more depth and to fill the weaker areas within the squad and plans are already advanced.

"I have been talking to Garry and Mark for weeks now. We are pretty clear on what we want, and I am clear on what Mark has identified as the areas that need to be supported, and we will step up.

"We all know we are not going to splash money around, because that model, that formula, doesn't work. You're not going to buy 22 new players and then the next year you win the Premier League.

"It needs to be done sustainably, with quality management, quality infra-structure and a quality manager by the pitch. That's what we are doing. The players will come, and the results will come."

But while Hughes will sign "more quality players" this summer, Khaldoon stressed that the Academy, which has produced stars such as Stevie Ireland and Nedum Onuoha, has a major role to play in the future.

He said: "We will not forget the Academy. It is key to our discussions. We have to be able to create that nice balance between a quality, strong first team with depth but at the same time retain the ability to bring in young, talented individuals.

"We have all seen what they (Ireland and Onuoha) have done since geting in the side. They have had fantastic seasons and there are more within the Academy. We need a good platform to bring the young lads into the team.

"Garry has done a wonderful job bringing in some incredible talent that will help take us forward. We have grown a lot as a team, and Mark has grown too. The foundations are in place for a very strong second season."

I wasn't guessing on Khaldoon's 6th place public statement, and you've confirmed it. Thanks.

It's not imagining too much to think that 4th is the privately stated target, seeing as very few businessmen are open enough to state their real target in advance, and the fact that several players have since mentioned the club's Top 4 aim for this season.

Also, the Platini ruling came out after this statement, and subsequent comments by Khaldoon and Hughes that we'd sped up our transfer policy ('3 windows in 1') as a result.

We're all guessing, but we can make intelligent guesses, and none of us will really know for sure until Khaldoon gives Hughes his P45. If he does.

Perhaps you have missed your vocation and you should become a journalist at The Daily Star, Mr Woulnough.

 

[Challenger1978]

I'm not interested in his interviews anymore. I want to see actions, not words. He can talk till he's blue in the face, but if the results on the pitch don't match his words then his words are meaningless really aren't they?

Spot on thats all that matters.