Sparky: I’m still the man to keep Stoke up
UNDER-FIRE Mark Hughes has warned that Stoke won’t find anyone better if they sack him.
Boss Hughes claims he is still the best man for the job – despite his side losing five of their last six league games.
The Potters host fellow strugglers West Brom today, with Hughes understood to be one more defeat away from the sack.
But when asked if there was a better manager out there for the club, the 54-year-old said: “Not in my view. No one knows this group better than me.
“I have proved over these last four years I can pick up points in the Premier League, I have proved it ever since I have been a manager.
“Familiarity can sometimes be a positive – or a
negative. It can be viewed with a bit of contempt, when people have been around for a long time.
“I don’t think that’s the case here. We are just a bit frustrated that we have not achieved the results we expected, but it’s within our means to try and do something about it.
“You guys in the media set timelines and timetables, but that’s not what’s happening in the corridors here in my view.
“We are not where we expected to be, we all acknowledge that.
“I would be more concerned if I felt the side itself didn’t have the capability to put points on the board.
“A lot of comments come from people who have not even bothered to watch our games.
“It’s things they have heard and they have embellished things.” While Hughes is fighting for his job, he believes other bosses near the bottom of the table are getting off lightly.
Newcastle have slipped into the bottom three under Rafa Benitez, while Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth have not won in their last six and are level on points with the Potters.
“There are others as well in similar situations – maybe they’re untouchable,” said Hughes, without naming names.
“There’s a lot of clubs down there that are not having the season they would have anticipated at the beginning of the season.
“For whatever reason, a lot of those clubs have changed managers. This club hasn’t, correctly in my view.
“So maybe I’m the next in line. Everyone else has gone and I’m the last man standing!”