What a Stoke fan had to say about Hughes on another forum:
I don't think Hughes would be all that bad for Southampton. In fact, he could be extremely good. A lot of the problems at Stoke were very much from in the end transfers not happening for the players needed/wanted for the formation.
He wanted attacking fullbacks/wingbacks and all he had at his disposal was 1 recognised (defensive) left back in Eric Pieters, not the best suited to getting up and down the line constantly. Glen Johnson was on the scrap heap, Josh Tymon was nowhere near Premier League standard. To start the season Mame Diouf was our first choice right back, and various players were getting a go in that position because we had no right back. Lemina opted for Southampton over Stoke and the clubs 3 big signings to try and provide Hughes with a strong spine in Wimmer, Berahino and Imbula turned out to be catastrophic. Hughes went along with the transfer vision the club decided on when getting rid of Tony Pulis, and they let him down massively. Ultimately at the cost of his own job. With the signings added in January, I actually think Hughes could've quite comfortably kept Stoke up.
The squad at Southampton is more suited to how he likes to play.
I don't think Hughes would be all that bad for Southampton. In fact, he could be extremely good. A lot of the problems at Stoke were very much from in the end transfers not happening for the players needed/wanted for the formation.
He wanted attacking fullbacks/wingbacks and all he had at his disposal was 1 recognised (defensive) left back in Eric Pieters, not the best suited to getting up and down the line constantly. Glen Johnson was on the scrap heap, Josh Tymon was nowhere near Premier League standard. To start the season Mame Diouf was our first choice right back, and various players were getting a go in that position because we had no right back. Lemina opted for Southampton over Stoke and the clubs 3 big signings to try and provide Hughes with a strong spine in Wimmer, Berahino and Imbula turned out to be catastrophic. Hughes went along with the transfer vision the club decided on when getting rid of Tony Pulis, and they let him down massively. Ultimately at the cost of his own job. With the signings added in January, I actually think Hughes could've quite comfortably kept Stoke up.
The squad at Southampton is more suited to how he likes to play.
