Hughes learning the hard way

When Mark Hughes took charge of the Welsh national team in 1999 it was his first job in football management. Then 35, Hughes was playing for Southampton FC in the FA Premiership and initially took charge for just one match in a caretaker role alongside another former Welsh international, Neville Southall.

Challenge
Subsequently handed the job in a full-time capacity, Hughes has failed in his one major challenge to date – to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals – but, given his limited resources, it would be churlish to criticise this young manager who has achieved some progress since taking the reins.

Distinguished playing career
Despite his relative inexperience as a coach, what Hughes – who is still playing in England’s top flight, for Blackburn Rovers FC - does not want for is respect given his distinguished playing career. Hughes is associated most closely with Manchester United FC, where he had two successful spells over a 15-year period between 1980 and ’95. Hughes joined United as a schoolboy in 1980 and scored 119 goals in 345 league appearances for the club, an association interrupted only by two seasons spent abroad, with FC Barcelona and FC Bayern München.

Medals collection
In England, Hughes appeared in six FA Cup finals - a record shared with four other players – and holds another record as the only player of the 20th century to have won four winners’ medals in the competition. He also memorably scored United’s winning goals in the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against his former club, Barcelona, to add to his medals collection – and later experienced success in the same competition as a non-playing substitute for Chelsea FC in their 1998 win against VfB Stuttgart. Such feats earned Hughes recognition in both 1989 and 1991 as the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year in England, and in 1997, he was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services to football.

On the volley
A muscular centre-forward, best known for his ability to retain the ball with his back to goal while bringing his team-mates into the action, Hughes also had a happy habit of scoring spectacular volleyed goals – notably a remarkably acrobatic effort for Wales against Spain in a World Cup qualifying match in 1985. In a 17-year international career, Hughes represented Wales on 72 occasions, scoring 16 goals. As coach, he took sole charge after sharing the role with Southall in a EURO 2000™ qualifier against Denmark in June 1999.

Won just once
However, in combination with his playing duties at Blackburn, he has taken to the role with some distinction, even if the side's results may not have fully demonstrated that fact. The current squad lacks the quality of previous Welsh sides Hughes himself played in and, after finishing fourth in their qualifying section for EURO 2000™, Wales were fifth in their six-team World Cup qualifying group. They won just one of ten matches - at home to Belarus – yet, on the bright side, secured six draws, a sign of durability if nothing else.

Uphill task 
So Hughes – who can call on only one truly world-class player in Ryan Giggs, his former Old Trafford colleague - faces an uphill task in attempting to lead Wales to the finals of EURO 2004™. Judging by his fierce competitive streak, however, if Wales should fail, it will not be for want of trying. In a 17-year international career, Hughes represented Wales on 72 occasions, scoring 16 goals

Baptism of fire 
As a coach, Hughes had amazingly had no experience of management, either domestically or internationally, when Wales came knocking at his door for the UEFA European Championships tie with Switzerland in June 1999, a match that he took charge of with his former international team-mate Neville Southall. However, in combination with his playing duties at Blackburn, he has taken to the role with some distinction, even if the side's results may not have fully demonstrated that fact. Hughes does though face an uphill task in attempting to qualify Wales for EURO 2004™, even with the likes of Giggs and company available to be called upon.