Yogi vows to excite Hibees

JOHN HUGHES today unveiled his vision for Hibs, a blueprint which has been eight years in the making.

As he slipped into the managerial hot-seat at Easter Road, the new Hibs boss revealed he'd been working towards that moment since being told his days playing in his beloved green and white shirt were over. While not entirely unexpected, the news devastated Hughes, born and bred in Leith, who has proved his vow made on that day, May 8, 2000, to one day return to manage the club he once captained was no knee-jerk reaction at the time.

Today, having cut his managerial teeth at Falkirk, "Yogi" disclosed he believes the time is now right for him to take charge of a club which has remained close to his heart but, in doing so, he promised Hibs fans the John Hughes of today is far removed from the player they knew and loved.

He said: "There's more to John Hughes than the heart on the sleeve stuff, that was a tool I used to intimidate opposition players. I can't always change people's perceptions of me but I am not a ranter and a raver.

"To that end, it was important for me to come away from all that ex-Hibs stuff. I'll never forget where I have come from, that was my upbringing and that's what has made me the guy I am.

"But I had to get away from Leith, I didn't want to carry all that baggage. Everyone thinks they have got a bit of you and that's great, I am all for it. Don't get me wrong, I was privileged to captain the club but this isn't a case of me being John Hughes the ex-Hibs player.

"I have to be able to stand back as manager of this football club and manage it the way I feel it should be managed. I have been working on that for a number of years, and even when it was announced on television the other night my wife had a tear in her eye as she told me: 'You said you would do it and you have done it'."

What fills Hughes with pride is the fact his appointment as successor to Mixu Paatelainen was based not on what he had achieved as a player for the club but the managerial ability Hibs chairman Rod Petrie and his fellow directors believe he possesses.

He said: "I feel as if I have served my apprenticeship, I was the second-longest serving manager in the SPL at Falkirk after Jim Jefferies. Like most things in life you have to be in the right place at the right time and the timing also has to be right.

"I said when I left as a player it was always a dream of mine to come back to manage the club. It may have seemed fanciful at the time but I am a real ambitious guy. I have worked hard over the years, put a lot of stuff in place to get me back here.

"I've been working towards this moment since I left.

"I had to go and learn the business, the commercial side of things. Football is a business, at the end of the day there's one big pot in terms of budget but so much comes out of it. I had to learn about spread sheets and pie-charts, all that sort of stuff.

"I think we did a lot of good stuff at Falkirk and I'll bring a lot of that with me."

Talk of budgets raises the question as to how Hughes will approach life at Easter Road given a tightening of purse-strings was said to be one factor behind his predecessor's decision to leave after less than 18 months in charge.

But it's a prospect which doesn't cause Hughes any hesitation before delivering his reply. He said: "I've never been a cheque book manager. In six years at Falkirk I think I spent £120,000 and £50,000 of that was a tribunal decision when we signed Alan Gow from Airdrie.

"Other than that it was bits and pieces. I've always worked within the restraints of a budget. I'll say to the supporters we cannot go out and buy the English Premiership players. There's a market and I have to go out and work the market.

"But, if there's one or two bits of movement, I will try to bring players to the club that will excite the supporters. I might need to buy myself a bit of time and bring in one or two players who will get you through for a year.

"I feel I have plenty of strings to my bow, I feel I worked the loan system well, getting players like Anthony Stokes, Tim Krul and Kasper Schmeichel while I have also built up a lot of good contacts."

Hughes, however, insisted he was excited by the squad he has inherited from Paatelainen, vowing to bring a "freshness and innovation" to Hibs as he seeks to instil a style of play which will excite the supporters.

He said: "You cannot just go and play and hope it happens in football, you have to make it happen. I want to bring a real excitement, high-energy style of play. I'd say this to Hibs supporters, every time they played my Falkirk team, no disrespect, but I always felt we gave as good as we got and sometimes even better.

"What I didn't have at Falkirk was enough goals in the team and that's what really excites me coming back to Hibs. I look at the strikers up there. Derek Riordan towards the end of the season was getting right back to his best and, if I can inspire him, have him enjoying his football, playing with a smile on his face, to go and express himself and play with a freedom then I am doing my job.

"The same goes for the rest of them, Steven Fletcher, big Colin Nish. I also thought Benji and Merouane Zemmama were away but if they can come back to the club and their mindset is right then what a strikeforce we'll have up there.

"Then, holding it all together are the likes of Rob Jones, Chris Hogg and Ian Murray. I want my full-backs to be like Daniel Alves at Barcelona, full of energy, having the freedom to go the whole length of the pitch to get on that back post. It's all down to hard work on the training ground. I've been in the game long enough to know you don't win every game, you can be battering on the door then a long ball, a flick on, a mistake and it's in your net. I understand that.

"But I also feel the fans are educated enough to see what's happening, what we are trying to do and if that happens I am sure they will get right behind us."

Admitting he'd love pre-season training to be beginning today rather than July 2, Hughes promised his players – with everyone of them starting afresh under his management – it will be hard work, but that they'll also enjoy it.

He said: "I can tell the players they won't be running round Arthur's Seat or up and down sand dunes – at least I am 80 per cent sure they won't be. There will be a couple of 'character' runs in there to see who is up for it and who is trying to duck out, that tells you a lot about them. But otherwise there will be nothing more than 400 metres. It's all down to less recovery and more runs but they will love it. The ball will be out on the first day. Why ask them to be brave and get on the ball if I am not going to give them it? I am confident they'll enjoy training."

While all that is said, Hughes is the first to admit success won't be guaranteed. He said: "There are so many obstacles that can be put in your way in terms of injuries and the like and sometimes you cannot get your best 11 on the pitch, but that's all part of management.

"How do you measure success? I really don't know but I think if we can make sure we are always up the SPL table, banging on the door for Europa League football and making the latter stages of the Cups then that's the benchmark of what we'll be trying to do."

As someone who admitted he stood in the Hampden tunnel in tears having seen Aberdeen end Hibs' hopes of lifting the Scottish Cup for another year, Yogi knows better than most just what bringing that piece of silverware back to Easter Road would mean.

But, again, there were no promises. He said: "It was soul-destroying but it would be very dangerous to start making predictions and raising expectations. I know what the Scottish Cup means to this club and it would be nice in my time if it were to happen but let's just keep our fingers crossed we can have a go at it and if it comes our way then . . ."