Hughes excited by keen competition

Tue, 20 Oct 13:26:08 2009

Mark Hughes expects the battle for Premier League honours to be more keenly contested than ever this season.

Hughes is aiming to have a big say in the final shake-up with Manchester City. Tottenham and Aston Villa have already served notice they have equal ambition and with doubts remaining over all the usual "big-four" contenders, Hughes is ready for an exciting campaign.

"This year has the potential to be as open as it has ever been," he said after City's 1-1 draw at Wigan. "The top four teams will drop points. That has been evident at the beginning of the season and it will continue."

He added: "What everyone is trying to do is get into a position by March or April where you are still in contention and you can be a factor.

"There are going to be a lot of games of real significance at the end of this season rather than it just petering out really for some teams.

"That has to be good for the Premier League."

City's hopes of registering their first top-flight away win at Wigan were wrecked by the dismissal of Pablo Zabaleta for a second bookable offence 25 minutes from time.

But, while Hughes did think Zabaleta's first caution for a foul on Maynor Figueroa was harsh, and also claimed the visitors should have had a penalty when the same Wigan man sent Shaun Wright-Phillips flying near the end, he resisted the temptation to attack Alan Wiley, preferring instead to praise the under-fire referee.

"He was in an excellent position - he had kept up with play very well," he said.

"He made a wrong call but his positioning was excellent. Well done Mr Wiley."

 

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  1. comment 3

    burnley
    sunderland

    u fffff in juvenile, if­ u cannot comment in an adult way and not the usual­ manure robotic taken from the manure wot to say on a­ forum phrase book then dont.

    u lost and drew to the­ teams above, not because ur @#$% just because u did.­ doesnt mean ur not gonna win owt does it.

    omg, city­ drew at wigan, thats it we aint gonna win jack.....grow­ up, perhaps u should change vegas to vegetable.

    From bryanshaw68, on Tue 20 Oct 8:32PM

  2. FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW

    From XS, on Tue 20 Oct 6:25PM

  3. we had a bad day at the office and we will put our­ habds up and admit that, but the referee was a­ disgrace, but fergie makes me giggle coz the ref was­ his best mate a couple of weeks ago in the derby but­ obviously old bacon face didnt slip him enough reddies­ in his packet and now hes the worst referee ever, and­ the comment from howard stringer, not a red by any­ chance are we ? still a thorn in the red side after all­ theese years, proud to be a blue, CTID ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !­ !

    From darren, on Tue 20 Oct 3:48PM

  4. Oh paul f, the real tests are

    Wigan away = 1 pt
    Villa­ away = 1pt
    Man U away = 0pt

    Fulham home = ???
    Brum­ away =???
    Burnley home ==??

    Picking up 3 pts away from­ home is the real test which Hughes cannot fail

    From paul g, on Tue 20 Oct 2:50AM

  5. Same story as last year -- who is Hughes gonna blame­ this year for his own­ inadequacies.
    Richards?Zabaleta?Bridge?Robinho?
    Take­ your pick because when his seat gets hot, Hughes begins­ the BLAME GAME

    The biggest point is this; TOP4 or its­ the sack,. £220 + million = top4 Hughes and dont forget­ it.

    From paul g, on Tue 20 Oct 2:47AM

  6. City have yet to really fire on all cyclinders but­ encouragingly, we're still in touch
    and have only­ lost once, in dubious circumstances.

    However, too many­ draws against average sides take their toll in the end­ as Liverpool found to their cost last year.

    It is a­ worry that the array of striking options have thusfar­ not really delivered too many goals other than v­ Arsenal but hopefully the upcoming games against­ Fulham, Scunthorpe and Birmingham will see to­ that.

    The real tests are the games after that v­ Liverpool and Chelsea.

    Villa will get found out sooner­ rather than later - you can't go an entire season­ looking to do well at set pieces with precious little­ else to offer. A very average if well drilled side -­ they'll finish 7th.

    From Paul F, on Mon 19 Oct 8:41PM

  7. BLUE MOON....................YOU STARTED SINGING TOO­ SOON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From vegasmufc, on Mon 19 Oct 8:36PM

  8. the ref gets banned about a beachball goal then the­ worse ref in the league A WILEY GETS OF SCOT FREE this­ guyis so bad he should never be allowed to ref another­ game he will cause a riot one day SAF was right about­ him but head of refs keep sticking up for him they even­ won't SAF booted out of football I would love them­ to try it

    From John, on Mon 19 Oct 6:57PM

  9. Mr Hughes is taking the p*** about the ref and­ continuing to have a go at Sir Alex - good luck with­ that one Hughesie.

    Am I still the only one in the­ country who can see that the Emperor is wearing no­ clothes? How many of the Man City Galacticos (yes they­ have been called that on national telly!!) have­ actually been INSTRUMENTAL in winning any trophies?­ Tevez was a bit part player in a trophy-winning team­ but who else has played any real part in any success?­ 200 million doesn't buy much quality does it? Villa­ and Spurs will both do better than City with a lot less­ money but both with far superior managers..

    From howard.stringer, on Mon 19 Oct 4:23PM
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