Stoke City on Thursday unveiled Mark Hughes as its new manager. The former Manchester City, Fulham, and Queens Park Rangers coach has been brought in to replace TonyPulis on a three-year deal. At the unveiling, the British press fired question after question about the acrimonious end to his time in charge of QPR, which ended after 12 games lastNovember.
“It was a very difficult time at QPR and mistakes were made,” the 49-year-old said. “I made mistakes which I have learned from. I had the task of keeping them up in the PremierLeague and I did that but 12 games later I lost my job. That was understandable and was a regret. If I had been given more time I think I would have turned it around.” He added: “I’ve had around270 games managing at Premier League level and in recent months people have wanted to define my managerial career based on 12 games at the start of last season.”
The former ManchesterUnited and Chelsea player tried to focus on the work he did elsewhere. “I felt I did a very good job for my other clubs and there are similarities with those clubs in terms of solidity of ownershipand management and that reassures me,” he said. “You need that to give yourself an opportunity to be successful on the field.”
Hughes added that he admires the passion ofthe Stoke City faithful and said that he aims to keep the club in the top 10 every season.