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Mark Hughes: Southampton appoint former Stoke manager until end of season

Mark Hughes has taken charge of 445 Premier League games across five managerial posts
Southampton have appointed former Stoke boss Mark Hughes as their new manager until the end of the season.
The 54-year-old replaces Mauricio Pellegrino, who was sacked by Saints on Monday with the team one point and one place above the relegation zone.
They had won once in 17 games, with eight league matches left this season.
Hughes has been out of work since he was sacked by Stoke in January, leaving after four and a half years with the Potters in the relegation zone.

 

[Squiggles]

Hmm, he seemed to totally lose his way at Stoke after a bright start and actually getting them playing alright football. The task he has at Saints is releasing the shackles quickly and get their attacking game back which has been woeful all year. That Gabridini is a decent finisher. If Hughes can get him scoring then they should be alright.

 

[peekay]

 

[gkmacca]

Another foreign manager blocking the progression of young British managers. Er. How the hell does he do it??? He speaks like he's an emphysema patient, his teams would bore a hedgehog back into hibernation. He's a waste of space.

 

[Ryan]

Which young British managers?

 

[Fabio]

Which young British managers?

All the shit ones

(I honestly know little of lower league so I'm sure there's some. Gary Rowett often gets mentioned by the pundits appalled by hiring foreigners)

 

[Markeh]

Newly appointed captain of the titanic? Is there much he can do?

 

[Woland]

Manc rentboy

 

[Oncy]

That relegation stat is amazing. Kind if all makes sense now.

 

[Modo]

All the shit ones

(I honestly know little of lower league so I'm sure there's some. Gary Rowett often gets mentioned by the pundits appalled by hiring foreigners)

Graham Potter

 

[tombrown]

Its just a holding position for him until the inevitable Mourinho fall out this summer or next Christmas at the latest, then he will return to lead the Mancs to never ending misery

 

[manwithnoname]

Newly appointed captain of the titanic? Is there much he can do?

They're not even in the bottom 3. Hardly "game over" is it?

 

[Insignificance]

That relegation stat is amazing. Kind if all makes sense now.

But it is scary that they actually don't keep their jobs if they don't go down with the clubs and keep them safe? And if Pardew is sacked before may will that mean that neither him or Pulis has anything to do with WBA relegation?

 

[hmmmmm1]

He seems like an odd fit for the saints. They wont go down but the style of play may be an issue.

 

[gkmacca]

Which young British managers?

It's what they say whenever a foreign manager comes in. Apparently there are all of these brilliant young British managers in the lower leagues, as well as Sol Campbell of course., whose path to greatness is blocked by all these nasty foreign bods. Which tends to overlook the number of jobs taken by the likes of Allardyce, Pulis, Pardew and Hughes.

 

[gkmacca]

Newly appointed captain of the titanic? Is there much he can do?

It really puzzles me why he keeps taking jobs. He seems utterly joyless. He's got enough cash by now, so I doubt it's money that makes him do it, but he never ever seems to get anything positive out of the game.

 

[jan]

I wish more teams could get relegated this season

 

[KopRed]

Do the managers even care anymore? It's turn out to be a massive musical chair played amongst the same bunch of mediocre managers.

If you get sacked you know you are going to get another shot at it because someone else is going to get sacked and so on.

 

[manwithnoname]

It really puzzles me why he keeps taking jobs. He seems utterly joyless. He's got enough cash by now, so I doubt it's money that makes him do it, but he never ever seems to get anything positive out of the game.

I think for most of them, they genuinely love the buzz and everything around it (a bit of personal pride and glory too), and it's not just about the cash - as you say, given the payoffs and whatnot, they probably don't "need" the money (although that's a separate discussion).

Look at Wenger, or Woy. They're like 70 odd. Neither need the aggro, or money, but they just can't give it up, despite the abuse and brickbats and pressure involved.

And God knows, those two miserable fuckers don't look like they enjoy it, but they surely must.

 

[gkmacca]

Yes, that's probably right. But at least Hodgson and even Wenger, sometimes, seem to get a bit excited. Hughes just never seems anything but marinating in misery.

 

[manwithnoname]

Yes, that's probably right. But at least Hodgson and even Wenger, sometimes, seem to get a bit excited. Hughes just never seems anything but marinating in misery.

Yeah, but that's just Hughes.

He looked like someone had just told him his wife had left him and his cat's died, even when he was scoring one of his "trademark" volleyed goals that he did about once a season.

 

[Silver Sean]

He's a fucking berk. Amazing how these merry-go-rounds develop in each generation of football. Remember when Alan Ball used to keep getting jobs regardless of the fact he clearly had zero talent for the job? There have been loads. Rioch, Mike Walker, Keegan, Dave Bassett, Brian Horton, Brian Little, Martin O'Neil, Bryan Robson, Alan Curbishley, George Burley, Souness, Hoddle, Dave Jones.
Eventually they fall of the merry-go-round and a new batch comes along. Easy money if you can do it.

 

[Actonian]

I've seen a few Gary Rowett teams at Brentford. They're well-organised, disciplined and essentially negative, the main tactic seems to be to nick a goal and sit back on it. I think he's at his level. The best young British coach is already in the top flight; Eddie Howe. He's got them punching about two divisions above their weight. Someone who is doing the same is Nigel Clough at Burton. He should really have been manager of the year last year for keeping them up and, even having lost some of their better players, he's kept them in touch this year. Lee Johnston at Bristol City has done well this season and Brentford's Dean Smith has the Bees punching a league above their weight and doing it by playing good football.

 

[gkmacca]

If Southampton stay up, Hughes gets a £2m bonus. Maybe the money WAS an attraction!

 

[rurikbird]

I've seen a few Gary Rowett teams at Brentford. They're well-organised, disciplined and essentially negative, the main tactic seems to be to nick a goal and sit back on it. I think he's at his level. The best young British coach is already in the top flight; Eddie Howe. He's got them punching about two divisions above their weight. Someone who is doing the same is Nigel Clough at Burton. He should really have been manager of the year last year for keeping them up and, even having lost some of their better players, he's kept them in touch this year. Lee Johnston at Bristol City has done well this season and Brentford's Dean Smith has the Bees punching a league above their weight and doing it by playing good football.

What about Sean Dyche? Surely he has to be in the conversation for the best British manager.

 

[Fabio]

What about Sean Dyche? Surely he has to be in the conversation for the best British manager.

Dyche, Howe and (from across the sea) Rodgers seem to be the lads for the future.

 

[Athens]

He's a fucking berk. Amazing how these merry-go-rounds develop in each generation of football. Remember when Alan Ball used to keep getting jobs regardless of the fact he clearly had zero talent for the job? There have been loads. Rioch, Mike Walker, Keegan, Dave Bassett, Brian Horton, Brian Little, Martin O'Neil, Bryan Robson, Alan Curbishley, George Burley, Souness, Hoddle, Dave Jones.
Eventually they fall of the merry-go-round and a new batch comes along. Easy money if you can do it.

I remember a few seasons after Bryan Robson got relegated with Middlesbrough, then the most expensive side to get relegated, he took over another relegation candidate and someone on TV said "If anyone can keep them up, Bryan Robson can".

What?

 

[gkmacca]

Dyche, Howe and (from across the sea) Rodgers seem to be the lads for the future.

It's going to be really interesting to see where Rodgers goes next. He'll surely want one of the big clubs, but I'm not sure which one would be an option. Spurs, I guess, if Poch gets poached by Real, but of course Rodgers did say he'd turned them down in the past because he didn't like the set up. Arsenal would be a gamble for both parties. He gets on well with Abramovich, but surely the Chelski set up is not his thing at all. I suppose he might try Spain, but otherwise there's not a lot of options, and he surely won't want to stay at Celtic much longer.

 

[Fabio]

It's going to be really interesting to see where Rodgers goes next. He'll surely want one of the big clubs, but I'm not sure which one would be an option. Spurs, I guess, if Poch gets poached by Real, but of course Rodgers did say he'd turned them down in the past because he didn't like the set up. Arsenal would be a gamble for both parties. He gets on well with Abramovich, but surely the Chelski set up is not his thing at all. I suppose he might try Spain, but otherwise there's not a lot of options, and he surely won't want to stay at Celtic much longer.

I think he's tailor made for arsenal.

 

[gkmacca]

I think he's tailor made for arsenal.

I just think it might be the wrong time. They're intent on never letting another manager get the control that Wenger had, so they're readying a new hierarchy where a DoF will be in situ, and that sounds precisely the kind of arrangement that Rodgers insists he won't tolerate, so I guess he'll have to change pretty drastically to fit in there.