Hughes puts move south on hold

10 June 2009 16:20
After signing a three-year contract on Monday, Hughes was officially unveiled at Easter Road on Wednesday morning, the stadium he used to sneak into as a wide-eyed child while growing up in Leith. The 44-year-old went on to play for and captain the club and left after four years in 2000 with a burning desire to return one day as manager. While at Falkirk, Hughes repeatedly stated his ambition to test himself in England but he is now ready to put a move south on hold indefinitely. He said: "I think you have to be ambitious; I want my players to be ambitious. I think I've got a bunch of players at Hibs who want to go and play in the English Premier League. "But I've got three years here. Let's make sure that I'm here for three years. "And if I'm here for another three years and another three years after that, and happy at my work, then I'll be delighted. "Right at this moment in time, that English dream's right on the backburner. "I'd like to think if that English thing ever comes up, it would be because we've done a fantastic job at Hibs in the three years or five years here." Hughes was among the favourites to succeed Roberto Martinez - set to be unveiled at Wigan - as Swansea manager, and he has revealed he had been tentatively sounded out by people connected with his former club. He added: "You keep all your options open but as soon as the phone call came from Hibs, there was only one place I wanted to be. "The transformation in this club since I was here as a player is day and night. The support structure that's in place, the infrastructure that's in place, the training facilities, it's absolutely fantastic and it's inspiring. "When I left here as a player in 2000, I always wanted to come back as manager. "It's all right talking about it and having those dreams; you have to go and work at it, and I've worked very hard since then." Hughes was lauded for the brand of football Falkirk played during his six years in charge and he vowed to stick to those principles at Easter Road. "That's my job and that's the message I'm trying to put through to the supporters," he said. "I'm Leith born and bred and climbed over the wall to try to watch all the Hibs teams; I've come on and played for the club and captained the club. He added: "I've loved all that Leith stuff and I'll never get away from it; I've still got that Leith twang in my voice and get my words mixed up. That's part of my character." Hughes' first task will be persuading star men Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones to sign up. Scotland striker Fletcher this week urged Celtic to resurrect their interest in him, while speculation is rife captain Jones is set to return to England. Hughes confidently declared: "I think Steven Fletcher will want to work with John Hughes. I might be wrong on that. "But he's under contract so what he needs to do is come back here, knuckle down and go and enjoy himself and score goals." He added: "I'll sit down with big Rob as well. I know he's possibly wanting to go back down south for family commitments. "If that is the case, you have to respect that, but why can't John Hughes inspire him as well and get him to sign another year's contract?"

Source: Team_Talk