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Mark Hughes Friday morning Newcastle press conference

7 years ago
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Mark Hughes is now in his fifth season as Stoke City manager.

I can’t say I like him (it all started when he played against Newcastle for Chelsea and Manchester United…) but you have to give him credit for the job he has done at the Potters.

After three seasons where Stoke finished ninth each time and amassed at least 50 points, 2016/17 saw ‘only’ 44 points and a 13th place finish.

Mark Hughes had also transformed Stoke’s playing style from the Tony Pulis days, yet despite that, last season and into this summer the fans were showing clear signs of falling out of love with their manager.

A month into the season though and he appears to have got them back on board and this Friday morning at his Newcastle press conference, Hughes said ‘We are really pleased with how we’ve started, we look really bright in our work and performed against very good sides’.

They may have a point less than Newcastle but after beating Arsenal, drawing against Man Utd and a decent draw at West Brom, it is a decent set of results. The only defeat coming against big spending Everton on the opening day.

Mark Hughes made big decisions in the summer and it looks to have paid off, a major change in personnel saw the likes of Bojan, Whelan, Arnautovic, Walters, Given, Bardsley and Joselu(!) all head out, whilst major signings such as Fletcher, Jese and Wimmer came in.

Hughes says they have to ‘be ready’ for a Newcastle team looking to make it three wins in a row.

In his time at Stoke, the current manager has picked up two draws and a 5-1 hammering at St James Park and Newcastle fans will surely see a point or better as a great return to keep the momentum going.

Playing with three centre-backs in a 3-5-2 system, Geoff Cameron is already ruled out and Mark Hughes confirmed this morning that Ryan Shawcross is very likely not to make it either.

All eyes will be on Joselu and whether he can take advantage…

Mark Hughes:

“We are really pleased with how we’ve started. We look really bright in our work and performed well against very good sides.

“We have a really good platform in terms of our defensive work and congratulations must to go to all the players for the solidity we’ve shown.

“Mame Diouf has been here a number of seasons now and it was important to sign him up for longer. He’s a fantastic guy and professional.

“It was an easy decision to hand Darren Fletcher the armband last week given his experience and the way he leads by example.

“It’s touch and go with Ryan Shawcross for this weekend. He’s missed a bit of training time unfortunately. We’ll check him again today.

“Newcastle have picked up a couple of good results in their last two games and will be looking to make it three so we have to be ready for that.

“We are in a good place ourselves though and will go to Newcastle looking to pick up a positive result.”

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