Money can’t ensure success: Mark Hughes

Big—spending Manchester City manager Mark Hughes tells DNA that he has got the men he wanted to produce the results.

You played for Man Utd and you are coaching Man City. How do you look at the two roles?
I enjoyed 13 years as a player at Manchester United. But those experiences did not come into my thinking when I was asked to come to Manchester City as manager. I joined City because of exciting opportunity.

You coached Wales, you are coaching a club. Which role is more challenging? And why?
Managing a national team and a Premier League club are challenging in different ways. With a national team, you have the expectation of a whole nation on your shoulders. But you don’t get the players together too many times over the course of a year. Here you spend most of your working week with the players coming from all corners of the globe. I thoroughly relish the challenge. Both roles are extremely rewarding.

City’s buying spree has taken everyone by surprise.
Buying stars in itself won’t bring success. Success will only come if we can turn a group of players into a team. And our team is not just made up of players who have been purchased from elsewhere. Our player of the year last season was Stephen Ireland, a product of the Manchester City academy system. We also have Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who all represented the Manchester City’s youth teams prior to joining the first team.

Is a top four finish a reality?
Our challenge this season is to improve and ensure we do the very best we can in each and every game. Where that takes us remains to be seen. The squad I’ve been able to assemble has the ability to match the very best.

Last season Robinho’s entry was highly anticipated. This year there’s Carlos Tevez, Emanuel Adebayor. How will it affect the club?
Robinho made a huge impact in his first season with us. I’m confident he will be an integral part of our challenge this season. Our new signings, including Tevez and Adebayor, have immense ability to help push us forward and provide excitement for our supporters.

Wouldn’t it be difficult to pick a final eleven?
Every manager needs options in positions around the team, and that’s what I’ve tried to give myself at City. We have strengthened our squad in a number of areas. Picking a team from our squad will be a difficult task at times, but one I am relishing.

Ferguson said that Tevez wasn’t worth £25mn...
Players are worth different values to different clubs. Sir Alex is entitled to his opinion, as is any manager. I feel that Carlos Tevez brings a great deal of quality to Manchester City.

He also said that your team doesn’t pose a threat for the title.
We are looking forward to the season, to challenging the big teams and attempting to make as big an improvement as possible. How far we can go this season remains to be seen, but we hope to be competing for honours on all fronts.

The way money is being splurged on players is unbelievable. Can money guarantee success?
Of course money cannot guarantee success. It can obviously help recruit players who can strengthen your side, no one can escape that fact. But success requires an incredible amount of hard work on the part of the players, coaches, staff and everyone connected with the club.

Experts are suggesting having a cap on players’ salary.
Whether a salary cap would have a good effect on football worldwide is debatable. The transfer market for world class players has always been competitive and that continues to be the case. To compete for the best players, clubs are often prepared to provide good salaries.

Which club can take the Premier League title this season?
It’s always difficult to predict a winner, but I would imagine the big four of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal will be looking to challenge for the title again. We will be doing our utmost to break into that top six of the Premier League for the first time.