Painfull reading, what comes out of Beard and Hughes' mouths are cringeworthy at best Mark Hughes eyes the chance to become a 'great manager' at QPR • Welshman excited ahead of first match in charge • Chief executive sets sights on Premier League title Jamie Jackson Sat 14 Jan 2012 23.00 GMTFirst published on Sat 14 Jan 2012 23.00 GMT This article is over 7 years old please log in to view this image Mark Hughes poses for photos shortly after being introduced as the new Queens Park Rangers manager at Loftus Road last Wednesday. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters Mark Hughes takes charge of his first game as Queens Park Rangers manager at Newcastle United on Sunday with the Welshman stating he wants to become a "great manager". His ambition is matched by Philip Beard, the chief executive, who stated that winning the Premier League is the west London club's "ultimate goal", and that in Hughes QPR have made the first important step towards that aim. Hughes saved Blackburn Rovers from relegation, then finished in seventh with them in 2008 before joining Manchester City and being sacked in December 2009 when they were sixth. Last season he left Fulham after finishing eighth. Hughes said: "People view me now as a competent Premier League manager and at the end of my tenure here when ever that might be I would like to think they will think of me as a great Premier League manager." The Welshman outlined how he will attempt to arrest a slide in which QPR have taken only one point from the last 24. "It's about the environment that I create that enable teams to prosper," he said. "In the past when I have [arrived at a club] players have maybe had to raise their game somewhat and perhaps that's the case here. I need to be organised and consistent. That's what players need – they need structure. My first year at Blackburn was probably the best we did and that will sustain us here." Of the challenge posed by Newcastle, who are 10 places above QPR, he said: "They're playing very well at the moment and it won't be easy. It is a tough one to start with. But we haven't won enough home games. The stadium here creates a great atmosphere and there's no reason why we can't drive the season on from here. A little bit of confidence needs to be lifted to change things quickly and we're looking to create." Asked if the owners –Tony Fernandes, the majority shareholder, and Lakshmi Mittal, the world's third richest man – have told Hughes winning the title is an ambition, he said: "Not in those terms. If we're all still here in the next five, six, 10 years, then we can have that conversation. You have to have ambition." Beard, however, set out the club's ambition clearly. "Winning the championship has to be the ultimate goal," he said. "I joined QPR because of what Tony Fernandes and the Mittal family are trying to do here and, if I can help by building a new training ground and building a new stadium, [that would be great]. But what you have to get right is what happens on the pitch and over the last few days we have brought in a man with a team behind him who can help develop the club and certainly get us to stay in the Premier League this season and then grow. "It's crazy to speculate how long it will take to get to the stage where we are competing for the title and Champions League places but, if you don't have those goals, there's not much point in doing this." Beard said that the plans to move to a new training ground within 12 months and to a new stadium within four years are vital to the club's development. "Staying at Loftus Road or the Harlington training ground is not going to get us where we want to go and I don't think it would have got us Mark Hughes either. We have owners who are ambitious but they are realistic as well. What we are trying to do is grow and develop the squad." The proposed move to a new training ground is taking shape, he said. "We have identified a site and have plans in place. We are looking at two or three options for a new stadium and are now looking at options to fund it and making the numbers work. "It won't be simply a football stadium. Our intention is to build a multi-use stadium where the main tenants are QPR. It will be great for the area and that's what the current climate needs." https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/jan/14/mark-hughes-qpr-newcastle
Ah, I really miss Meticulous Mark and his expansive football. Didn't he once say that we should be grateful to have him as there was no one else queuing up to be here ?
Made me chuckle reading that now. The only bit of truth in that was his comment that the stadium creates a great atmosphere. It does now, thank you, but not due to Hughes’s contribution whilst at LR.
Just for laugh people. We are in a great place at the moment, let's enjoy it knowing when we make it to the big time we've done it proper.
