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Hughes confirmed as new City boss

Mark Hughes was confirmed as Manchester City manager on Wednesday after being given a glowing tribute by the club’s Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

Hughes, 44, agreed a three-year contract worth £9 million (US$17.5 million) to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson at Eastlands and was presented at a press conference yesterday. City had to pay around £4 million compensation to Blackburn Rovers to secure the services of Hughes, while his Rovers assistant Mark Bowen and two other members of his coaching staff are set to join him.

Thaksin is adamant Hughes will make the expense worthwhile. Despite being strongly linked with Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, the former Thai prime minister insists Hughes was always his first choice. Chelsea were also believed to be interested in Hughes, so Thaksin moved quickly to tie up the Welshman.

“He’s an outstanding manager, who has achieved many things with Blackburn,” Thaksin told the Daily Mail. “Mark was always the first choice of our new executive chairman, Garry Cook. Together they will make a great team. They will both prove to be excellent acquisitions, I’m sure.”

The former Manchester United and Barcelona striker met Cook on Tuesday to rubber-stamp the deal and was told he will have a substantial budget to bring in new players.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark on board. In our view, he is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our No. 1 target for the manager’s job,” Cook told City’s Web site. “He made it clear to us from the moment we met that he shared our vision and ambition to make Manchester City one of the top sides in the country. The Club intends to invest in new players, as well as securing the long term services of key members of the current first team squad.”

“Mark has already identified some of the players and backroom staff that he wants to see here at City and we will begin the process of recruiting them immediately,” Cook said.

Hughes’ first targets could lead him back to Blackburn with offers for England winger David Bentley and Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz.

City fans were unhappy with the ruthless way Thaksin axed Eriksson after the Swede led the club through their best season for several years. But Thaksin is convinced he had to make a change to ensure City can compete with the Premier League’s big guns and Hughes, regarded as one of the best British coaches, fitted the bill.

“These are exciting times for Manchester City and I hope the supporters can understand that I share their goals,” he said. “That sometimes means making ruthless decisions. Now we can go forward to a new era, with a new management structure and great hope and ambition.”

Blackburn conceded they had no option but to let the former Wales coach leave to further his career. Rovers chairman John Williams will now turn his attention to finding a successor to Hughes, with former Newcastle United boss Sam Allardyce, Croatia coach Slaven Bilic and former Blackburn striker Alan Shearer among the bookmakers’ favorites.

“We have enjoyed a first class, mutually beneficial relationship with Mark. He leaves the club in a strong position with three consecutive top 10 finishes and an excellent squad of players,” Williams said. “In turn, we have helped Mark to establish himself as one of the most sought after young British managers in the business, having previously had no club management experience. We wish him well. We would have liked him to stay on, but he made it clear he wanted a fresh challenge.”

“Now our focus switches to the search for a successor,” Williams said.” We have enjoyed eight years of success and stability with Graeme Souness and Mark and now it is important that we build on our strengths. We must make sure it is three successful appointments in a row.”
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