Pool Choose Former Hibee Hughes As New Boss

Hartlepool United have confirmed the appointment of former Hibs gaffer John Hughes as manager at Victoria Park.

The appointment was seen as a bit of a surprise with Phil Brown, formerly of Hull City and Preston having been widely tipped to take over from Neale Cooper who resigned after a poor start to the season.

48 year old Hughes has been keen to take his chances in English football and had been tipped for the Burnley job whilst still in charge of Hibs after Owen Coyle departed , however, as a lifelong Hibee he dismissed the speculation stating he was ‘in the best job in the world’.

Having previously managed Falkirk prior to his move to Easter Road, Hughes was sacked in October 2010 despite leading the Leith outfit into Europe in his first full season, albeit the European adventure was over after a heavy defeat to Maribor, losing 6-2 on aggregate.

The loss to the Slovenian outfit in the first leg (3-0) saw the then boss come under heavy fire from the supporters after playing Colin Nish as a lone frontman, leaving the 40 goal pairing from the prior season of Derek Riordan and Antony Stokes on the bench.

Following his dismissal from Hibs, Hughes failed to get another managerial post until February this year when he teamed up with another former Hibee, John Collins, at Livingston.

Collins was appointed Director of Football with Hughes in charge of first team affairs.

Hartlepool, famously supported by Sky presenter Jeff Stelling, are currently on a dismal run of form, their last victory coming back on September 1st when they defeated Scunthorpe United 2-0.

Since then Pools have embarked on a run of 16 league and cup games without registering a victory, a sequence new manager Hughes will try to end this Saturday when they entertain recently relegated Coventry City.

Russ Green, Hartlepool Chief Executive, told their official website upon Hughes’ appointment ‘We’re convinced we’ve got the right man in place to take the club forward.

‘Everybody knows that this appointment was a crucial one for the club so we have taken our time, assessed our options and John is the choice we are all extremely happy with.

‘He has a vision for the football club, he has a passion and a drive to succeed and we hope that the fans will be as excited as we have to have him in place.’