Fergie talked Hughes back into management

MARK HUGHES has revealed how a pep talk from Alex Ferguson helped him climb off the scrapheap.

The new Stoke boss admitted an hour-long chat with Sir Alex helped him through his nightmare months after being sacked by QPR last November.

Hughes, 49, confessed he doubted himself after leaving Loftus Road — but Fergie put him back on track.

That left Welshman Sparky admitting he had made a mistake by not consulting his old Manchester United gaffer more often.

Despite saving Rangers from relegation a year ago, Hughes failed to win any of his first 12 matches last season and was axed.

But he got together with Fergie just after New Year — and last week took over as Stoke manager.

Hughes said: “I had the opportunity to go and speak to Sir Alex for an hour, which I hadn’t done for many years, and I enjoyed it. You do wonder if you’ve still got it. That’s understandable — at times you have self-doubt.

“But I was just really pleased to be in his company because it’s something I should have done more in the past.

“I understood the value it gave me. I left feeling better.”

 

So will Fergie be our new director of football

 

For all Fergies irritations and hypocrisy, the support he appears to give to others in the game is quite humbling. There are many things I hate about him, but the more I learn about him the more I come to reluctantly respect and admire him. There are many in the game who are the first to say how much he has helped them; I guess behind the ultra competitiveness is a decent guy, still partly hate him with a passion though

 

that ultra competitiveness is what makes him the best manager in History, he always got his team to rise to a level that other teams cant.

 

I agree Shanks.
When Shawcross had that incident with Ramsey I remember Fergie being the first one to call him to console him. People can say what they want about him he is a diamond geezer!

 

Right up to the point where you cross him, which is fair enough in my book.

 

He also seems willing to help managers at all levels of the game. Apparently was one of the first to call Liverpool in the aftermath of Hillsborough too offering any help he could. He is a very intelligent man and one of those natural psychologists who knows how to manage people. Spoke at Harvard business school too; no doubt many could learn so much from him............. still hate his hypocrisy though, guess with having that psychological knowledge can make you a wee bit manipulative, which seems to be part of his make up.

 

I remember him admitting that he learned a great deal from our own Sir Bobby Robson back in the late 70s early 80s when he was manager of Aberdeen. We were drawn to play Aberdeen in the 1982 Eufa Cup and 3 or 4 days before the first leg, Sir Bobby invited Sir Alex down to our training ground! You would never do that sort of thing nowadays and for the record they dumped us out over the 2 legs!

 

Sir Bobby was the epitome of showing you could be successful and dignified at the same time. A true great who's smile was just so warm and genuine, sadly taken way too early.