Mark Hughes Comments Today on #QPR and #Stoke

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STOKE CITY OFFICIAL SITE

y May 30, 2013

10:54

stokecityfc.com:  Welcome to stokecityfc.com as we bring you live updates from new manager Mark Hughes' first ever press conference.

10:58

stokecityfc.com:  Stoke City Player camera's have already sat down with the new boss - so keep your eyes peeled for that interview, which should be online shortly.

11:02

stokecityfc.com:  Peter Coates: We have thought long and hard about this decision, and we have the man that we feel is the right fit for this Football Club. We have given the decision a great deal of thought, and we have analysed to death Mark's career. We are satisfied that his cv is very, very impressive.

11:03

stokecityfc.com:  Peter Coates: We have analysed everything he has done, and we feel that he has a remarkably fantastic record as a manager. We looked at what he did at Fulham, and Blackburn in particular. They are similar Club's to us in many ways, and we feel that he is coming here into a similar environment.

11:06

stokecityfc.com:  Peter Coates: There is no new direction here at the Club. What we are trying to do is have a professional structure for the scouting and recruitment of players, to give the manager the best opportunity of bringing in the right players. To clarify, Mark will have the decisive say on who goes in and who goes out, in terms of players.

11:07

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: I am absolutely delighted to be here at Stoke. The Coates family have given me this opportunity and I am really grateful. They have looked at my career as a whole, and I am delighted to have the opportunity of working with great people.

11:07

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: You need good people behind you, and I know I have that here. The Club is incredibly close to the community, and that is something I am looking forward to getting involved in too.

11:09

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: I don't regret moving to QPR. A lot of managers have gone in there and found it difficult. It was tough, and mistakes were made. I made mistakes and other people made mistakes too. I was given the task of keeping them in the Premier League and thankfully I did that. Twelve games later though I lost my job, because we didn't get the results we wanted at that time.

11:09

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: If I am honest, we all tried to run there before we could walk, and that was the mistake that we made.

11:10

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: I've had something like 270 games as a Premier League manager, but people do tend to look at the last year or so. If anything it gives me greater determination to go out there and prove people wrong.

11:11

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: I have always been at Club's with good expectations, and it is something that I enjoy. Maybe occasionally it has hit me on the backside because my ambitions have been too high. I am determined to move this Club forward.

11:11

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: Tony enjoyed huge success here, and because of that I have a better chance of succeeding here. He has left a very good Club behind him. He has done a wonderful job here.

11:12

stokecityfc.com:  Peter Coates: We want to have a sustainable model here, but there is definitely money available for the new manager.

11:14

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: There's a strong squad of players here. It's not a case of me coming in here and wiping away all of the hard work that the Club have done. If anything I will hope to make the team more adventurous. I like to score goals, and that is a problem that I will look to address.

11:15

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: Sometimes you get labelled wrongly and I can see where Tony was coming from when he said that. Fans pay good money to come and watch football and my philosophy has always been to attack, create chances and win games. I will endeavor to do that here.

11:16

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: We will look to bring good quality players here to the Club, and I am sure that we will look to do that if the deals are right.

11:17

stokecityfc.com:  Peter Coates: There is a certain amount of risk to changing the manager. Tony and I got on very well, we are still good friends I hope. We both felt, on balance, that a change was the right thing to do.

11:17

stokecityfc.com:  Peter Coates: We feel we have made the right choice, a good choice, and I am really looking forward to working with Mark over the next three years.

11:19

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: We want to hit the ground running. We will have a good pre-season, put some good quality work in and hopefully get off on the right tracks. We want to get into the top ten consistently. That is the aim.

11:19

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: It will take a lot of hard work from the players, from myself, from my staff and from the management, but we are determined to achieve the success that we want to achieve.

11:21

stokecityfc.com:  Mark Hughes: I acknowledge that I made a mistake in leaving Fulham, but coming here feels right. The set-up is absolutely outstanding and everything is in place to allow me to do the job that I want to do.

11:25

stokecityfc.com:  After 23 minutes the press conference draws to a conclusion. Mark Hughes appears incredibly determined to take the Club forward, and Chairman Peter Coates firmly believes that he has the right man at the helm to achieve the Club's ambitions.

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11:16

stokecityfc.com: 

Mark Hughes: We will look to bring good quality players here to the Club, and I am sure that we will look to do that if the deals are right.

11:17

stokecityfc.com: 

Peter Coates: There is a certain amount of risk to changing the manager. Tony and I got on very well, we are still good friends I hope. We both felt, on balance, that a change was the right thing to do.

11:17

stokecityfc.com: 

Peter Coates: We feel we have made the right choice, a good choice, and I am really looking forward to working with Mark over the next three years.

11:19

stokecityfc.com: 

Mark Hughes: We want to hit the ground running. We will have a good pre-season, put some good quality work in and hopefully get off on the right tracks. We want to get into the top ten consistently. That is the aim.

11:19

stokecityfc.com: 

Mark Hughes: It will take a lot of hard work from the players, from myself, from my staff and from the management, but we are determined to achieve the success that we want to achieve.

11:21

stokecityfc.com: 

Mark Hughes: I acknowledge that I made a mistake in leaving Fulham, but coming here feels right. The set-up is absolutely outstanding and everything is in place to allow me to do the job that I want to do.

11:25

stokecityfc.com: 

After 23 minutes the press conference draws to a conclusion. Mark Hughes appears incredibly determined to take the Club forward, and Chairman Peter Coates firmly believes that he has the right man at the helm to achieve the Club's ambitions.