A couple of seasons ago the plucky young manager on the tip of everyone’s tongue was David Moyes but now everyones attention has switched to Mark Hughes, who has successfully converted his playing pedigree to the managerial dugout.
Staying in Lancashire – another playing legend, Scottish firebrand Graeme Souness has been tipped to fill the void at Wigan, and the moans from press and fans alike have been audible all over this Scepter’d Isle. So according to accepted current thinking, Souness’ managerial skills are far far less than the mighty Mark Hughes; or so you would think?
The Times’ stat-meister Bill Edgar disagrees with the perception that Hughes has transformed Blackburn from the grotty shambles that Souness created. In the three seasons that Souness was in charge at Blackburn Rovers Edgar tells us that Blackburn finished sixth, tenth, and fifteenth, exactly mirroring Hughes’ record at Blackburn: sixth, tenth, and fifteenth. And the icing on Edgar’s statistical cake is the fact that Souness brought Blackburn up from the doldrums with instant promotion, and even won the League Cup in 2002. Hughes’ cup record? Three cup semis.
So is Souness really equal (or superior) to Mark Hughes?