It was inevitable Hughes' focused, no-nonsense style would be at odds with the laid back days of Sven-Goran Eriksson's regime.
And so it has proved. Gone are the agents, formerly free to stroll around City's Carrington HQ. Gone are the friends and family, offered access to give their favoured ones a cheery grin. And gone too, for the time being, are the club's own employees.
So extensive is the work being done to change City's main training building that the media wishing to speak with Hughes ahead of the UEFA Cup qualifier with EB Streymur were requested to present themselves at Sale Sharks' training ground instead to await the former Blackburn boss' arrival.
There was something novel about attending a rugby union club's training facilities to preview a match involving City that will take place in Yorkshire. But when it comes to outlining his vision, Hughes is deadly serious.
"The training ground should be a working place," he said. "It is our football factory.
"Most people are not allowed to see their mates when they are working in a factory, so why should they come into ours? That is the idea behind it."
Hughes did not mention Eriksson by name but his reference to the former England coach was clear.
"We have closed off a lot of the looseness in the building and the way it worked," he said.
"Before people had access to the inner sanctum. Apparently agents and every other Tom, Dick and Harry were allowed into the building.
Structured
"That is not the case now. It is not an open door and everyone understands it. That is how it needs to be."
But it is not just the interlopers who have felt the brunt of Hughes' approach.
As a hard-man centre-forward, Hughes never used to take a backward step. For all his calm demeanour, it appears he remains the same as a manager.
The way he chuckled as he delivered his statement on the current method of training suggested any dissenting voices have now been silenced.
"It has been a wake up call for a number of players who possibly don't understand how I work," he said.
"Now they are very much aware of how I like things done.
"I am not one for putting down strict guidelines. What they have to understand is that there are certain boundaries that should not be stepped over.
"If certain structures are not adhered to you end up with anarchy."
Attention
Hughes claims there is nothing revolutionary about the way he operates, which may well be true.
However, there is a single-mindedness and attention to detail, which it is easy to imagine being shared by his former team-mate, and now Premier League rival, Roy Keane.
"When a new manager comes in there is always a period where players do not know what is expected of them," he said.
"But we have gone through that process now. Everyone knows where we want to go.
"I think what has taken the players back most of all is the intensity of the work.
"It is not about flogging dead horses, it is about making sure we do work of quality at the right intensity which allows them to compete from start to finish in a very long Premier League season."
With a two goal lead from the first leg, City should have no trouble in progressing to the final qualifying round where they will meet marginally harder opposition.
Hughes might be tempted to give some of his youngsters, such as Wales Under-21 international Ched Evans and England Under-19 star Daniel Sturridge a valuable taste of first-team combat, a theory he did not dispel as he assessed the task ahead.
"I will pick a team I think will win the game," he said.
"We want to get through to the next round. We want to put the tie to bed. I will pick the best team to do that."
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Cracking Sparky ,they wont know whats hit them, about time they played hard and wore the shirt with pride and give 100 per cent if they dont Sparky will have them out,welcome to the new regime and City,Good times ahead me thinks,
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS WITH THE WELSH DRAGON!!! CTID.
Go on Hughesy,get the wheat sorted from the chaff.Give em what for and make them graft.sounds like we may have a team this season that works hard for 90 minutes.How novel.
i hope some of them will now,wear the shirt with pride
MH has certainly laid down the law! That's fine with me. Definitely no slackers allowed. The team need to be disciplined in all aspects of their game.
Is this the Northern sequel...instead of "you tryin' to mug me off" it'll be "Wat u ona bout u dick.."
About time too.
We have watched too many players with lazy attitudes over the past few years.
Remember that Keegan had the players telling him what training methods they wanted. Even Psycho's reputation and persona as a hard-man didn't come over with his players.
I think that what we saw with City in the second half of last season was very similar to the final couple of years with Sven's England. Too much trust in, and consultation with, players is a dangerous thing.
End result ? A laissez faire attitude.
Look at all the successful Managers over the past few years. None of them have stood any messing about.
Name me a 'nice guy' who ever won anything during the past 20 years or so.
I can see one or two exits coming up.............
MEGA
His Blackburn teams were always fit, fast and 100% committed he's brought that to City and all we need now is the grafting on of that to the skill levels we already have and we should become a formidable outfit. The more I see the way he's running our Club the more I think he's the perfect guy for the job and just what we needed.
CTID
Oustanding comments from the manager, and just what the doctor ordered literaly. Mark Hughes is the strict manager this club has lacked for too long. Sven who?????
i very much like the sound of this i wonder if it was not only sven were slack maybe pearce and kk as well.now it sounds like the holiday atmosphere is over and time for some GRAFT go yosser
This article gives an insight into the workings and general philosophy of both Mark Hughes and Sven, and one of the reasons why Eriksson failed, both in the England job and at City. The casual atmosphere in training and throughout the club generally led eventually to a steady decline in poor performances on the pitch. Mark Hughes is correct when denouncing the spectre of anarchy permeating the club, and it appears one of the essential differences between the two men. Its a curious fact that this disciplinarian aspect of football is often overlook for the more glamourous aspect of the game, but in essence just has important.
word of warning,players and squads can make it difficult for the best managers in the world if you come down to hard with the old iron fist,but i agree the bolt needs tighting up as frank would say.
Tal Ben Haim has signed according to the official website
Great interview. Great to get inside MH's head, to get an insight into his methods and his management philosophy. The thing that really impresses me is that he speaks like someone who has been in business all his life with vast experience of management, not a spoilt footballer closeted away from the real world. He is obviously a natural manager, a hard-nosed grafter with his head rooted in the real world. In his 2 previous jobs, he has got his teams to punch way above their weight. Here we are given a glimpse of how.
The interview also indicates what was going wrong under Sven's reign - no clear boundaries, no set standards, not enough hard work. I think Sven gave the team too much respect and not enough direction. It worked well at the start of the season, but when the wheels fell off, this philosophy couldn't get them back on track. I also believe Sven wasn't as committed as he needed to be. MH cetainly is. I really think this guy will get the best out of her players, particularly our youngsters. I can't wait to see how good Richards, Corluka and Johnson are because under MH we will find out. The future is bright, the future is Blue!
The only suprise in that report is that things were so bad in the first place. Could never understand what so many saw in Sven, I believe he is the greatest con artist ever, persuading so many for so long that he could do so much when he actually knew so little. The massive network of contacts built up over the years because he is everyone's friend and every players best friend because under Sven it's do what you want. Any player doesn't like this regime aint made of the right stuff for City, any bets on the first player to spit his dummy out lol!
Nice one Hughsey! Players Agents, and the Media put in their place! No messing.
Us Blues need to be patient and give this guy time to stamp his "mark" on the team. He is going about things in the right way turning us into a professional outfit. Start with strong foundations (good work ethic, great stamina, aggressive style and positive attitude) and then he will add the skill and the guile.
It all takes time. He has already given his list of targets to Garry Cooke so we are all waiting to see who comes in. IMO he may have to sacrifice a few of the "fan's favourites" to get the players he wants but I think he's got a big set of "Jamie Pollocks" on him and won't worry about shipping out some of the more established players which may upset some fans.
It was obvious why Thaksin brought him in. He felt the players lacked discipline and were lazy. Sounds like Hughesy is "tightening the bolts" himself in Frank's absence!
Gods Advisor,
I'm generally past the Sven debate but calling Sven a con artist and know nothing when he managed to win so many trophies is, well, I hope the big man doesn't listen to you.
Gods Advisor, manchester
30/07/2008 at 16:18
'Could never understand what so many saw in Sven, I believe he is the greatest con artist ever, persuading so many for so long that he could do so much when he actually knew so little.'
Ok then why were we in the top 4 at Xmas. Why did he sign the likes of Elano and Corluka who we had never heard of. And why were the players so fond of him? Give the guy some credit!
Although MH is seemingly doing the right thing at City I can't help but have a feeling of "heard it all before" when KK spent loads and the players had it free n easy, our attcking flair play went out the door when we couldn't progress up the league the way we wanted to. In comes SP and everyone thinks "he'll sort them out we'll we harder to beat, we'll have some steel", which became true and we lost the flair in our play. SGE arrives and the sexy football (for a while) is back, Things go wrong so we go back to the hard line approach!
It will be interesting where we finish this season and whose approach works better. For me I would take the approach of Sven it sounds he trusted men to be men and not like kids although I do not like the idea of the revolving door. Looks like MH will rid Carrington of that however will some players like it? For instance Elano, now I don't know how he is as a person - he might like the army drill strategy for training, he might not. I'd say it's usually the flair players who prefer an easier training schedule simply because they want to express their skill. Thus you may unwittingly hasten his exit from City as well as others of a certain ilk. This we do not want. Otherwise we'll end up with a team of players all just "putting in a shift". Unless he builds us into a top5/6 team I don't see MH attracting the best players in the world as easily as SVen could.
I hope he does. I hope he makes us a machine, but a crafted one, one with vision.
Lets find out.
Interesting really, I am not sure this approach will go down that well with the top clubs. Apart from furious Fergie most top club managers, i.e. Scolari, Mourinho, Wenger, Benitez tend to try and build friendly relationships with their players. I have often read how Juande Ramos also takes a friends approach.
Having said that, Capello and Fergie have been successful with a more aggressive management style.
Fingers crossed Sparky's the man. Hopefully the British up and at em attitude wont put players off though. Time will tell.
Why the mention of Roy Keane? is that realy relevant?
Sounds like Sven ran a holiday camp - No doubt started by Keegan!
Well done Mr Hughes we have not had a manager like you since Mercer and Allison. The actions you have taken are brilliant I am sick to the back teeth of agents and players who want to take all the time and not give. I dislike Ferguson but he rules with an iron fist and this is what City need, players who dont like it can clear off with their agent and family & friends (hangers on) I would suggest. I suspect Richards and Ireland might buckle down now and do what they are paid. If it is too hot in the kitchen they can always leave!
Not to upset you too much, but he's an understudy of Fergie to a great extent. No nonsense and not afraid to make the tough decisions. It nearly cost Fergie his job in the early 90's, but now he's built a powerhouse with longevity.
Hughsie is capable of building that same structure and team mentality.
Without the approach he's taking, you either become a spend, spend, spend, Chelski type team or you're a mid-table team.
It'll be a tough year for City. They are good enough to be mid table right now, but success means hard choices, strong leadership and moving in the right direction. That's Hughes' blueprint for his entire career.
If Hughes is left to do his job and isn't fired after 1 tough season of rebuilding, you'll be a force.
Hopefully, you do fire him and ManU can have one of their lost boys come home to carry on a legacy. :-P
I hope it is a "Silver factory!"
Bit by bit, day by day, the MuEN is slowly changing its views.
Having organised the ludicrous Save Our Sven campaign at the end of last season, it seems that our intrepid reporter has finally seen the light (yeah, the one that our owner spotted six months ago!) that Sven was just not the man for us.
Don't get me wrong, I was very happy with the appointment at the time, but it was clear that from New Year on both parties wanted to go their separate ways, and it looks like Chris has finally sussed out the reasons why.
Maybe next time they'll think before they act. That's the way a mob operates, not how a supposedly leading newspaper acts.
Oh, and just reading that article makes me even more convinced that we are finally on our way. Just let's not get impatient.