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Mark Hughes: Glad to be out of City
Hughes was installed at City by former owner Thaksin Shinawatra in June 2008 but just three months later the club was bought by the Abu Dhabi United investment group, changing the face of football at Eastlands forever.
But it turned sour for Hughes as the pursuit for Champions League football led to him being replaced in December 2009 in controversial circumstances. Hughes was back in the game this summer when replacing the Liverpool-bound Roy Hodgson at Fulham.
Hughes felt that he should have stood up for his beliefs more during a turbulent 18 months at the City of Manchester Stadium, and not "toed the line'' against his instincts.
"It's good to be at a club now where I am not being pulled in different directions,'' Hughes told the Daily Mail. "Eventually, I understood it was a feeling of relief that it was over (at City). I wasn't enjoying it there at the end. I had no bitterness, no regrets, but I was relieved to be away.
"How was I treated? At times, I had support. At times, I needed support and I didn't get it. And then there were times when support that was there was withdrawn ... especially towards the end.
"I toed the party line more than I should. I compromised my own values more than I should. It won't happen again but I'll say this: it has made me a better manager.''
On the appointment of Roberto Mancini as his replacement, he said: "Top clubs won't appoint British managers because we don't have trophies. I watch some of the teams in the Champions League, with managers who have won trophies, and I know I can set up a team to beat them.
"Competing in the Premier League is more difficult than winning trophies in plenty of countries abroad. Who is the better manager ... one of these Champions League guys with a trophy from Holland, France, Switzerland and places like that - or me, in this league, the hardest, most high profile league in the world?''
via ESPN Soccernet
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