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John Hughes has lifted the lid on his life and times in Scottish football management.

In a candid interview, Yogi has bared his soul on some of his managerial ups and downs.

The former Falkirk, Hibs and Inverness boss claimed:

●Hibs chairman Rod Petrie made him sack goalkeeping coach and friend Gordon Marshall when he walked in the door then sold hitman Steven Fletcher to Burnley behind his back.

● Falkirk fans’ letter to the board of directors led to his downfall as Bairns boss.

● He felt totally responsible for Raith Rovers’ relegation to the third tier of Scottish football.

● He will never reveal the details of why he quit Inverness just 12 months after they had won the Scottish Cup.

(Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey)

Hughes insists he was undermined by Petrie during his year-long stint at Easter Road as manager between 2009 and 2010 – but says he bears Petrie no ill will.

Hughes said: “I loved managing Hibs but some things weren’t right straight from the off.

“I went on holiday to the USA and I got a phone call from Rod Petrie to sack the goalkeeping coach Gordon Marshall.

“Marsh was my mate. I thought ‘oh-oh, here we go’ as I was being undermined from the start.

“The first phone call I had to make as Hibs manager was to Marsh to apologise to him.

“The next phone call I got was from Owen Coyle who was the Burnley manager at the time and he told me that he had made a bid for Steven Fletcher. It was a bid in the region of £3million.

“I never heard from Rod until three or four days later.

(Image: SNS Group)

“I only knew about the Fletcher sale because I had been given the heads up from Owen because he is my mate and I worked with him at Falkirk.

“Instantly I had lost Marsh who was a friend and confidante and then Fletcher who was a top player at the time he left to join Burnley.

“However, I still felt I could get things going at Hibs.

“We also sold Anthony Stokes to Celtic on the last day of the transfer window and that gave me no time to sign players.

“I remember thinking when Stokes went out the door, ‘come on, work with me here instead of working against me’.

“I don’t think the Hibs supporters know these things.

“We still finished fourth in the table that season.

“I got Hibs into Europe and it is now a long time since they managed that via their league position in the top flight.

“We played Maribor in Europe and they were too good for us if truth be told.

“Eight games into the new season I was sacked. I wasn’t seeing eye to eye with Rod and there was one or two other things that I will keep to myself.

“I just said fine as I didn’t want to be at a place where I was not wanted. Hibs decided they didn’t want me and it hurt me a little.

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“I was bitter about it for a while but it has passed now.

“When I worked so hard to get there after captaining the club and giving my all, I just felt I could have been given a bit more time.

“We never signed the players I wanted to sign as Scott Arfield should have been a Hibs player.

“There was a total disconnect and I was being undermined as a manager.

“I never held it against Rod. I still speak to him as he just saw it the way he did at the time and that’s football.

“As for Falkirk, I was their most successful manager but towards the end of my spell it all went a wee bit sour.

“The club were slashing the budgets and it all came from the football side of the operation.

“Sports scientists, physios, masseurs and then players were all leaving.

“The last straw came when three Bairns supporters wrote a letter to the board of directors and demanded my resignation as we were fighting relegation.

“They felt I wasn’t motivating the players.

(Image: SNS Group)

“The letter went public and it turns out that two of them were fans’ representatives on the board.

“I knew then that my time was up at Falkirk. I felt let down.

“There are still one or two people at the club who I don’t speak to.”

Hughes also revealed he will have to live with the fact that he dragged Raith into League One after they lost a play-off to Brechin at the end of last season.

Hughes said: “I went into Raith for 12 weeks. I enjoyed being back in football.

“I wanted to get Raith up the league but it was very difficult to try to stimulate things and play a style of football that has brought me success in the past.

“I never had a window to freshen things up or bring in new players.

“It was a wonderful experience but I will take full responsibility and the blame for getting the club relegated. That is something I will have to live with.

“I am not scared of failure as that makes you the person you are and I will learn from it.”

Meanwhile, the 52 year-old – who guided Inverness to their historic first-ever Scottish Cup triumph against Falkirk at Hampden in May 2015 – is adamant he will never spill the beans on why he left the club at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.

And despite being relegated with the men from Kirkcaldy, he insists his managerial CV is comparable with most bosses.

Hughes said: “I left Inverness for reasons I will keep to myself.

“What I did learn from my time in Inverness was that sentiment and friendships should never come into football management.

(Image: SNS Group)

“You have to make decisions in your area of expertise that you think are right for the club.

“My two years in Inverness came to an end because I wasn’t getting the truth about certain things.

“I loved my time in the Highlands though and I worked with some good people.

“When I left Falkirk they were relegated the next season.

“When I left Hibs they were relegated two seasons later.

“I have left Inverness and they have now been relegated the following season.

“People ask me why? I’ll tell you why.

“It is because as a manager I set exceptionally high standards.

“People will always throw the Raith Rovers relegation in there now but my managerial CV is up there with most of the guys in Scottish football.”