Stoke’s Hughes rues lack of top jobs for British managers

REUTERS – Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has no doubt that British managers are not winning major competitions only because the top jobs in England do not come their way.

Hughes won 15 trophies as a player but success has proved much more elusive since he took over managerial roles.

“As a manager, it’s more difficult,” the former Manchester United player told reporters. “There’s a debate around British managers and the opportunities they have. If you look over the years, the top jobs in this country haven’t really become available.”

“At Man United, Sir Alex (Ferguson) was there for a long time, Arsene Wenger’s still (at Arsenal), Chelsea don’t appoint British managers and Man City was an opportunity which unfortunately was taken away from me.

“A lot of foreign managers are able to build their CVs domestically, so when people look, they can say they’ve won cups and leagues – for British managers, that is a bit more difficult.”

With Stoke preparing for Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final clash against Liverpool, Hughes said he was ready to lead the club to his first Cup final as a manager after failing in three previous semi-finals.

“I haven’t been able to make that last step into finals and as a manager I’d love to get some silverware next to my name,” Hughes said.

“Hopefully, in the future, these are the games we expect to be involved in. It’s a big challenge against these big teams, but something we are doing well at.”

After Tuesday’s League Cup clash, Stoke travel to take on second tier side Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday, followed by home Premier League games against to Norwich City and leaders Arsenal.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)