Stoke City boss Hughes battles perceptions as former manager comes to town
Stoke City boss Mark Hughes faces a pivotal game on Saturday as he attempts to arrest his side's appalling start to the Premier League season.
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City, who are bottom of the table, welcome West Bromwich Albion to the Bet365 Stadium and are seeking their first victory of the campaign.
West Brom, led by the former Stoke manager Tony Pulis, will arrive in confident mood following their 4-2 victory over West Ham United on 17 September.
By contrast, Hughes has spent the prelude to the clash flighting fires after reports emerged that Manchester City loan signing Wilfred Bony had failed to settle at the club and had been criticised for his attitude.
"Because of our results, we're fair game at the moment for easy headlines," said Hughes. "It's all very predictable ... player unrest ... problems in the dressing room. It all comes up in this situation. We've had a run of results that we're not happy about but to question players - it's untrue. Wilfred has come in and had a positive impact on the group. We've been delighted with his character and what he's shown."
Bony moved to Stoke after being told that he would not feature in the plans of new Manchester City manager pep Guardiola. The Cote d'Ivoire international has played three times for Stoke but has yet to score.
"Wilfred is getting up to speed and that is all that is happening," added Hughes. "To question his attitude is totally wrong, so we need to stop that line of thinking right away."
Hughes, 52, replaced Pulis as Stoke City manager in 2013 and has steered the side - nicknamed the Potters - to three consecutive ninth place finishes.
Such a lofty position for Stoke appears distant as Pulis comes to town celebrating his 1,000th game as a manager. Leading Stoke City accounted for 464 of those fixtures and the 58-year-old Welshman highlighted flexibility as the key to his longevity in a career spanning two decades.
"I think football is a reflection on life and society and you have to move with the times," he said. "I've moved with the times, I've had to. People are different now to how they were 20 years ago, that's for sure and there are different priorities.
"There are things I've kept in place in my management and my repertoire and I want those things to stay in place.
"Discipline and respect and hard work are not bad words. I expect that from everybody - especially the players who are in fortunate and very lucky positions. They live in a bubble and they live in a world where they get everything really. They've become film stars."
Pulis spent a season at Crystal Palace after leaving Stoke before taking up the reins at West Brom in 2015.
"That the milestone drops like that, at a club where I had a wonderful time, is amazing really," Pulis added. "I'll go there and I'll enjoy it. I'll be nervous before, as I always am, and I'll be nervous during the game but I'll have a glass of wine after it.
"It'll be a tough game because Stoke have got some good players and we will have to go there and play well."
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