I WANT TO GO OUT ON MY TERMS – HUGHES
NEW Bradford City boss Mark Hughes has admitted that failure at Valley Parade could see him written off as a “busted flush”.
Hughes shocked the world of football when he agreed to become manager of the League Two Bantams ten days ago.
The 58-year-old counts Manchester City, Stoke City, Southampton and Fulham amongst his former clubs and had never managed outside the Premier League before.
“If I’m not successful, people might say I’m a busted flush and that’s the end of it,” the former Manchester United and Wales striker told the Official EFL Podcast.
“But I wasn’t prepared to just walk off into the sunset and not have a go. This game is very quick to retire you before your time and I’d like to have the option to retire myself from the game and not the other way around.
“Was I anticipating offers from higher up? Yeah, I was, if I’m honest.
“I think sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s very much who you know in this business. It’s your connections and your network and, maybe at the top end, I did exhaust my network to a certain extent.
“I was always of the opinion that if you get me in the room, then I’ll convince people that it makes sense.
“But, for a long time, I wasn’t even getting an
opportunity or a conversation. Then I’d see the appointments that were actually made, and was scratching my head in some cases. You just have to accept that’s how the football business works sometimes.”
On why he joined Bradford, who began the weekend 15th in League Two, Hughes added: “I think sometimes when you walk into a club, you get a sense of where it’s at and if they really want you to do well or if you are just another manager that’s coming along and they’ll soon be on to the next one. I don’t get any sense of that.
“When I met the chief executive, Ryan Sparks, and had a conversation with the owner, I just got a sense of a club that wants to do the right things.
“I was impressed with how they went about their business and in the end I just got a sense that, actually, I want to do this.
“It’s fair to say probably that was an initial fall when it was mooted to me, but the more I thought about it, the more engaged I was so I’m really pleased that I made that decision and came to my senses.”