Stoke: Mark Hughes returned to management on Thursday after being hired by Premier League club Stoke. The 49-year-old Hughes, a former Manchester United and Chelsea striker, was fired by Queens Park Rangers in November. Now how he is replacing fellow Welshman Tony Pulis, who left Stoke earlier this month after seven seasons following a 13th-place finish.
No details of Hughes' Stoke deal were given ahead of a media conference later Thursday. Hughes, who also played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich, will be hoping to revive his managerial fortunes, which have been patchy since making his debut in the dugout with Wales. After playing 72 matches for Wales, Hughes took charge of his country in 1999 and the team came close to reaching a first major tournament since 1958.
He left in 2004 to move into club management at Blackburn, transforming the northern English club from relegation candidates into a side that twice qualified for the UEFA Cup through top-six finishes. Hughes was enticed to Manchester City in 2008 but, after a change in ownership to Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour, he was fired the following year having failed to deliver a title despite more than $300 million being invested in players.
Hughes was back in work with Fulham ahead of the 2010-11 season, but resigned at the end of the campaign to "further my experiences. That turned out to be managing London rival Queens Park Rangers from January 2012. After keeping QPR in the Premier League on the final day of that season in May, Hughes was fired in November after a dismal start to the new campaign that saw the club fail to win in 12 games. From afar, he saw QPR ultimately relegated earlier this month.
At Stoke, Hughes will be expected to carry on the work done by Pulis, who guided the team into the Premier League and stabilized them. Despite an FA Cup Final appearance in 2011, when Manchester City won, some fans had grown tired of what they considered a dated style of football and a parting of ways happened once the latest season had ended.
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