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Sky Sports reports that Mark Hughes is close to being appointed manager of Southampton on a full-time basis, with a three-year contract on the table for the former Stoke, Manchester City and QPR boss.
Welshman Hughes took over at St. Mary’s in March on a short-term contract after former manager Mauricio Pellegrino was sacked with the club in the relegation zone, and managed to steer them to Premier League survival, as they finished 17th.
Now it looks like his reward is a new deal which will tie him to Southampton until 2021. The club’s chairman, Ralph Krueger has acknowledged their debt to Hughes saying that he had dragged them away from the “abyss” by saving them from relegation, helping them gain 11 points from 10 games to maintain their top-flight status.
Ironically enough, one of the clubs that was relegated, Stoke City, has less flattering things to say about Hughes, with many putting the blame for their club’s demise at his front door and his poor transfer policy.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.