Soccer

Stoke sack Mark Hughes after FA Cup exit at Coventry

Premier League club say they will look to appoint a new manager as soon as possible

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has been sacked. Photograph: Reuters

Sat Jan 6 2018 - 20:43

Stoke have sacked manager Mark Hughes, the Premier League club have announced.

The club decided to sever ties with the former Manchester United forward following the 2-1 FA Cup third round defeat by Coventry.

“Stoke City can confirm that the contract of manager Mark Hughes has been terminated with immediate effect,” the club said in a statement on their official Twitter feed.

“We would like to thank Mark for all he has achieved for the club over the last four and a half years, notably in guiding us to three successive ninth places finishes in the Premier League, and we wish him every success for the future.

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“The club will look to appoint a new manager as soon as possible and will be making no further comment at this time.”

Hughes was appointed at Stoke on May 30th 2013, taking over from fellow Welshman Tony Pulis.

He leaves the club 16th in the Premier League standings and with only one win in their last eight games in all competitions.

Hughes had exactly 200 games in charge of the Potters, following spells in charge of QPR, Fulham, Manchester City, Blackburn and Wales.

The Welshman thought the FA Cup defeat at Coventry might be a blessing in disguise for Stoke — but hours later the result got him the sack.

The beleaguered boss suffered third-round embarrassment as Jack Grimmer struck to hand the Sky Blues a 2-1 win.

Stoke's Charlie Adam had equalised with a second-half penalty after Jordan Willis opened the scoring but, despite a late rally, Hughes saw his Potters dumped out by their League Two opponents.

Shortly after 8pm, Stoke said Hughes’ contract had been “terminated with immediate effect”.

He may have seen that news coming, but Hughes still looked to find positives after the humiliating cup defeat.

He said: “The fact we’ve gone out, even if it’s a little bit raw at the moment, might help us.

“At the moment we don’t want to discuss Premier League games, but maybe when we wake up on Monday the reality clearly has to be our league form.”

He questioned whether result would affect his future, and added: “It just highlights we need to do better.

“But in the long term, certainly until the end of the season, it might be a blessing for us.”

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