Manchester City Football Club

• Nickname:Sky Blues
• Founded:1887
• Manager:Roberto Mancini

• Ground:City of Manchester Stadium
• Capacity:47805

Cook repeats Hughes backing

23 May 2009 - 11:48:38

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Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook has again stated that manager Mark Hughes still has the full backing of the club's mega-rich owners.

Doubts over Hughes' future at Eastlands continue to do the rounds, but Cook says that the Welshman will be staying and will be in control of the club's transfer dealings.

He told The Times: "Mark had an appraisal of his performance for the year, like any employee. We didn't fill in forms, but we talked about challenges.

"When you go through that process of review, names come up, but that is only ever done internally. There was no need to take that process externally because we have a manager in place that we're very happy with.

"We have never talked to Jose Mourinho or anyone else. The only manager we have spoken to is Mark Hughes.

"People talk about a (transfer) list like it's the back of a fag-packet and some names. We have thick files on each individual.

"It's a rigorous process and it always starts with Mark. It's not us saying 'hey, Mark, we've got a great guy who would be great at Disney. Fit him in'.

"We might look to sign people who can lift the profile of the club, but only if they have the ability and the character to fit into Mark's structure."