Hughes: No Stoke criticism STOKE boss Mark Hughes says any compliments about the technical ability of his players is no insult to predecessor Tony Pulis. Some fans have interpreted his comments as a sly dig at the previous regime. But Hughes says that is not his style and, if anything, he was pointing a finger at himself. The new Stoke boss explained: “I think I was having a dig at myself for not giving them enough credit for their technical ability. “There certainly wasn’t any point I was trying to make. I have had it done to me in the past, but that’s certainly not something I would do.” Hughes says there is a different emphasis in training to increase attacking options, but again that is not a judgement on previous methods. “We are working hard on things they maybe haven’t done in the past, so you can’t throw too many new ideas at them too soon,” he added. “But I’ve been pleased with the way they have been grasping things and that shows they are intelligent footballers. “Some things will come off for us and other things won’t. There will be occasions when you make mistakes because that happens with change, but I think people will see we are trying to play a certain way and create more opportunities. “I have always tried to create teams that dictate to the opposition and if we can do that we will have a good season. “But it won’t be easy because we are in the hardest league in the world. But I think we have good players able to do that.” Hughes paid tribute to his predecessor for the attitude and application he has encountered during his first fortnight with his new players. “The group is really strong. There is a fantastic work ethic and that’s been instilled by Tony before I came here. “That gives us a base and what I want to do is allow a bit more opportunity to express themselves in the final third.” Hughes has played down reports of an imminent £8m move for Hannover’s Senegal striker Mame Barim Diouf to improve that goal output. Hughes has registered an interest in the 25-year-old former Manchester United player, but added: “If you have any slight connection to a player by making tentative inquiries then agents will, on occasions, make news out of it that will create headlines. “A lot of it is unsubstantiated and you have to accept that.”
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 09:43:15 +0000
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