Mark Hughes vows to be with QPR for the long term
Mark Hughes has promised longevity in his new role at Queens Park Rangers after saying “he’s in the job for the long term.”
Hughes was appointed as the new QPR manager on Tuesday after 7 months out and at today’s press conference he promised his long term goal is to turn QPR into an established Premier League team.
Admittedly one of Hughes’s frustrations is that he’s not stuck with clubs for long enough in the past; in previous jobs he’s been left frustrated after putting his ideas into place but not being around to see the conclusions.
Hughes said: “My intention is to be here for the long term. Obviously my last couple of positions haven’t lasted as long as I wanted them too but I’m looking for longevity now and to stay in a position for an amount of time where I can really make an impression.”
After his acrimonious departure from Manchester City and Fulham you wouldn’t be wrong to assume Hughes’s spiky character creates fractious relationships between himself and his Chairmen. Hughes replaced Neil Warnock in the manager’s role at QPR and gave his condolences after taking his role on the hot seat.
“Neil has done a fantastic job he had a great deal of success and made a huge impact on the club at his time here and will always be remembered for the job he’s done. But from my point of view I’ve benefitted from that but Neil is somebody I’ve come across and I’ve also found him very amenable and I wish him well in the future.”
Hughes left Fulham because he stated the club didn’t match his ambition but he now joins a club sat 17th in the table without a win in 9 games, so something must have been right to take the job, and as it happens he’s be granted funds along with the license to operate in the transfer window.
“I’ve been made aware that there are funds available, which is important, it’s a very very strong league and you have to make sure that you have the means to go into the market if you can and spend the money well, and I like to think I’d be able to do that.”
Carlos Tevez played under Hughes at Manchester City encouraging speculation that QPR would be in the hunt to sign the Argentinean striker but it was a story that was quickly dismissed by club as the reported £30m transfer budget was shot down as nonsense. Kia Joorabchian, Tevez’s advisor is also Hughes agent so the established link was enough for the question to be asked and Hughes facetiously replied: “I’ve already put a word in for with my agent for Tevez, but I think that one is of the scale don’t you think.”
QPR’s decision to make a new appointment was made in a timely fashion with the start of the new manager’s regime coinciding with the January transfer market. If you read between the lines you could say Warnock was not trusted to bring in the right player, whereas Hughes has a history of good signings, with Chris Samba and Roque Santa Cruz at Blackburn just a couple of them.
The new Rangers gaffer is confident of making deals in transfer window, but remains stubborn when asked if he’d share with us some names. “There are lots of players out there that could come in and help us but it would be wrong for us to talk about them, but it’s fair to say if there’s a quality player available and attainable then we’ll try and do that.”
Sparky is either respecting the players and their current club or keeping his cards close to his chest, and I think it’s the latter. It’s been confirmed that QPR have made an official approach for Nedum Onuoha and it seems possible that Rangers have a keen interest in Chelsea’s transfer listed Alex. Hughes said: “There’s interest in top quality players the one you mentioned [Alex] is very much in that category and we would hope to bring that quality of player to the club”. Again if we read between lines you’d expect an approach imminently.
There were also rumours that Joey Barton’s status as captain would be in a vulnerable position after the change of manager, as not all agree with player’s colourful character and hostile reputation. His Twitter exploits also create a media circus which engulfs the club but these issues are of little significance to Hughes who laughs them off with a rise smile.
“I’ve not had the opportunity to speak at length with Joey because it’s been a whirlwind as you can imagine but I have no issue with either the captaincy or his Twittering, he’s a very accomplished player and I’m going to look forward to working very closely with him”
Hughes was impressed with his first training session and praised the ethic of his players on his arrival to work. “They showed great enthusiasm today, everybody was trying to impress me so I hope this continues, but it’s a good group they want to work hard and they want to stay in this league which is the hardest league in world football and we’ll work hard to ensure that happens”
QPR are passionate about retaining their Premier league status and strongly state that they made absolutely the right decision for club by bringing in Mark Hughes. This is something that we will no doubt be left to judge in the next few weeks and months.
James White @JRWhitmun
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