Hughes: I was tainted by QPR so I know I'm lucky to get another chance at the Britannia



Mark Hughes is in something of a confessional mood as he reflects on his madhouse days at Manchester City and QPR compared with the relative sanity of Stoke City.

‘I don’t cultivate or enhance relationships by just talking on the phone,’ he says. ‘I’d rather sit and have a conversation person-to-person. That’s the way you should be able to speak to people. And that’s obviously when I think I am at my best.’

The message is clear. After struggling to cope with absentee owners at Manchester City and chairmen with international business commitments at Fulham (Mohamed Al Fayed) and QPR (Tony Fernandes), Hughes is happier in his new surroundings. Stoke owner Peter Coates is a genuine lifelong fan and still lives and works locally.

New style: Mark Hughes has been tasked with introducing a new style at the Britannia

Flair: The likes of Marko Arnautovic have been brought into the squad to add some much-needed creativity

NEW BRIEF

Mark Hughes was given a clear brief when he arrived at Stoke: change the playing style!

Just a month into the season it looks as though he’s pulled it off. These are the statistics which prove Stoke under Hughes are becoming far more pleasing on the eye than they were under Tony Pulis. 79 - Percentage of passes completed, more than in any of the five seasons under Tony Pulis. 397 - Average passes per game, also more than at any time in Pulis’s reign. 65 - Percentage of passes completed in final third, 13 per cent more than last season.

The job is a shot at redemption for Hughes, who turns 50 in November. A bright start to his managerial career with Wales, Blackburn and Fulham was overshadowed by the sack at City and then at QPR just 12 games into last season.

‘I’m grateful for the opportunity,’ admits Hughes, whose side play Arsenal. ‘My stock was low because of QPR. I did actually keep them up the previous season, but that seemed to have been airbrushed out. I seemed to get blamed for everything that went wrong at QPR last season, even the games they lost after I’d left!

‘When I spoke to the Coates family and [chief executive] Tony Scholes, they wanted to understand what went on at Rangers, and rightly so. But they had also done their homework, speaking to people who had worked with me before.



Redemption: The Stoke job is a second chance for Hughes after his struggles at QPR

‘Thankfully, they must have heard good things because I got the job. If they’d been swayed by public opinion, it would have been difficult for me.

‘A Premier League manager’s relationship with his owners and executives has to be strong. To have an absent owner you’d never see — and a chairman who’d fly in occasionally [at Man City] — meant I would have to cultivate a relationship on the phone. It was never going to really happen to the right level.

‘Maybe I didn’t give enough daily information which allowed them to be comfortable with me.

‘My managing upwards at City wasn’t great. I should have recognised earlier than I did that there was this prerequisite to phone [Khaldoon Al Mubarak] every day. But I was always of the view that if there’s nothing wrong, why should I phone?’



When he arrived at Loftus Road, Hughes was horrified by the lack of spirit. Fernandes backed him with money, but it happened too quickly. Despite signing 25 players in two seasons, QPR were relegated last summer after Hughes was axed following the first dozen winless games.

'The perception is that I brought in a lot of players at one time that disrupted the dressing room, and that was the reason they had a bad season. But the dressing room was damaged when I got there,’ says Hughes. ‘We’d got through the first season and stayed up, but I knew that group couldn’t keep us in the Premier League. I tried to add qualities I thought were lacking, brought in good characters. But, in the end, if the mix is tainted you can’t do anything.’

Huge turnover: Hughes brought in a large number of new players to QPR but many of the signings didn't work out

Joey Barton was allowed to head to Marseille on loan after going berserk and kicking players on the final day of the season at Manchester City.



‘I think there was a conscious decision, after that, that it was going to be difficult for Joey to stay at the club while I was the manager,’ said Hughes. ‘It was a decision made not just by me. We all agreed, rightly or wrongly. I’ve always made decisions I feel benefit a club long term. Given my recent experiences, people will probably say that’s laughable, but I’ve always done that.’

So far, Hughes has won over any sceptics at Stoke. Defeat at Liverpool on the opening day was followed by wins against Crystal Palace and West Ham. They dominated a 0-0 draw against Manchester City last weekend without a long throw in sight.

‘I realised they are capable of playing more football than possibly they’ve been allowed to in the past,’ explains Hughes. ‘I think that’s showing up in the way we play. I may have come here guilty of underestimating the talent. Having worked with them, I know there’s more to come.’

High maintenance: Hughes has a good record with players who come with baggage

Relationship: Hughes has got the best out of the likes of Craig Bellamy and Robbie Savage

After getting the best out of Craig Bellamy and Robbie Savage at other clubs, Hughes has embraced the chance to work with other supposedly high-maintenance characters at Stoke.

Jermaine Pennant, who served a prison term for drink-driving, was given a new contract after being frozen out by Tony Pulis.

New signings include Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic, said by Jose Mourinho to have the mentality of a baby; Dutch defender Erik Pieters, who sliced his arm punching a window, and Stephen Ireland, who invented the deaths of two grandmothers to get out of playing for the Republic of Ireland.

‘Earlier in his career, Craig Bellamy could be a pain for everybody,’ recalls Hughes. ‘But I knew he was a passionate football guy. He wanted to work to try to become one of the best players in Europe. If he was given sessions that had no thought or purpose to them, you’d get a reaction. A lot of players are like that, they just want to work and improve.’

Next stop: Hughes faces Arsenal and Mesut Ozil who will play his first match at the Emirates

The next challenge is Arsene Wenger, with whom Hughes crossed swords after a 2005 FA Cup semi-final when Blackburn were criticised for trying to kick Arsenal off the park.



‘We weren’t good enough on the day and did things to try to get back in the game. But it wasn’t the game-plan or at my instigation,’ insists Hughes. ‘There was a challenge by Andy Todd on Robin van Persie — he elbowed him — but it wasn’t intentional and he wasn’t given any sanction.’