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City confirm Hughes stay
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has confirmed Mark Hughes will remain as manager next season.
Hughes' position has been the subject of intense speculation since the Abu Dhabi United Group, headed by Sheikh Mansour, became owners.
However the chairman has left no room for any doubt over Hughes' future by reiterating that he has complete faith in the manager's ability to steer the club to greater heights next season.
difficult season
He told the club's official website: "I have been surprised at all the speculation, because I have always been consistent with everyone on the subject of the manager.
"Every time I have spoken, I have said the we have the highest confidence in Mark, and I would like to re-iterate that now. Mark will be our manager next season - nothing has changed.
"It has been a difficult season with all the rumours about Mark's future and the number of players that we have been linked with.
"There has been incredible and unnecessary pressure put on Mark from outside the club, especially from the media, but I recognise that it comes with the game and with football."
The Chairman stressed that, while City's Barclays Premier League finish will be no higher now than 12 months ago, he is satisfied that strides have been taken, particularly behind the scenes, that will reap valuable benefits in the long term.
He added: "From my perspective, I think we have come a long way, and I am very much looking to a big finish to the season next week against Bolton.
"When you consider how things have gone since January, I think we have accomplished things and now we can start focusing on next season.
"For once this club can have a pre-season. This is a club that has had ten managers in 15 years - it is hard to believe we have ever had a real pre-season.
"So this time we will have that, and we will do so with a year's experiences behind us. That will make us stronger. I think next year is going to be better than this one. The club has a lot more stability."
Meanwhile City chief executive Garry Cook is confident of attracting players despite a lack of European football.
City's 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur means they cannot finish seventh in the Barclays Premier League and will not qualify for the revamped Europa League next season but Cook views the failure as a blessing in disguise.
With the money from their Abu Dhabi-based owners, Cook still feels the club will get the players manager Mark Hughes wants.
next piece
Cook said: "The club is building. The chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who was here (at White Hart Lane), and the owners, are committed to the long-term building of the club. We are relatively pleased with the year. It has given us a good chance to consolidate.
"The club is now on a firmer footing than it was 12 months ago and with that said, we will continue to build for next year.
"I don't think necessarily getting into the Europa League is going to change the impact of whether we are going to build.
"That is not going to make a difference. In fact, in some ways it might give us the chance to get to the next piece of rebuilding. We have spent a lot of time this year rebuilding and restructuring and as we moved forward, it is all part of the building process. Our ambitions are higher than this, of course they are. Everyone's ambitions are bigger.
"You always want to reach for the highest possible achievement you can. But, at this moment, we have had a good year.
"The chairman loves his football. The owners love their football and they are quite pleased with this year. They are committed to what they set out to do.
"At the start of the year, they said we will build this thing slowly and we are looking forward to next year. Now we can begin the hard work which is the pre-season."
While Cook is looking for the positive side, goalkeeper Shay Given admits the players are disappointed not to finish seventh.
He said: "We're disappointed we can't qualify for Europe because that was the aim. We have been one of the best home teams in the Premier League this season, it's just our away form has let us down."
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has confirmed Mark Hughes will remain as manager next season.
Hughes' position has been the subject of intense speculation since the Abu Dhabi United Group, headed by Sheikh Mansour, became owners.
However the chairman has left no room for any doubt over Hughes' future by reiterating that he has complete faith in the manager's ability to steer the club to greater heights next season.
difficult season
He told the club's official website: "I have been surprised at all the speculation, because I have always been consistent with everyone on the subject of the manager.
"Every time I have spoken, I have said the we have the highest confidence in Mark, and I would like to re-iterate that now. Mark will be our manager next season - nothing has changed.
"It has been a difficult season with all the rumours about Mark's future and the number of players that we have been linked with.
"There has been incredible and unnecessary pressure put on Mark from outside the club, especially from the media, but I recognise that it comes with the game and with football."
The Chairman stressed that, while City's Barclays Premier League finish will be no higher now than 12 months ago, he is satisfied that strides have been taken, particularly behind the scenes, that will reap valuable benefits in the long term.
He added: "From my perspective, I think we have come a long way, and I am very much looking to a big finish to the season next week against Bolton.
"When you consider how things have gone since January, I think we have accomplished things and now we can start focusing on next season.
"For once this club can have a pre-season. This is a club that has had ten managers in 15 years - it is hard to believe we have ever had a real pre-season.
"So this time we will have that, and we will do so with a year's experiences behind us. That will make us stronger. I think next year is going to be better than this one. The club has a lot more stability."
Meanwhile City chief executive Garry Cook is confident of attracting players despite a lack of European football.
City's 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur means they cannot finish seventh in the Barclays Premier League and will not qualify for the revamped Europa League next season but Cook views the failure as a blessing in disguise.
With the money from their Abu Dhabi-based owners, Cook still feels the club will get the players manager Mark Hughes wants.
next piece
Cook said: "The club is building. The chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who was here (at White Hart Lane), and the owners, are committed to the long-term building of the club. We are relatively pleased with the year. It has given us a good chance to consolidate.
"The club is now on a firmer footing than it was 12 months ago and with that said, we will continue to build for next year.
"I don't think necessarily getting into the Europa League is going to change the impact of whether we are going to build.
"That is not going to make a difference. In fact, in some ways it might give us the chance to get to the next piece of rebuilding. We have spent a lot of time this year rebuilding and restructuring and as we moved forward, it is all part of the building process. Our ambitions are higher than this, of course they are. Everyone's ambitions are bigger.
"You always want to reach for the highest possible achievement you can. But, at this moment, we have had a good year.
"The chairman loves his football. The owners love their football and they are quite pleased with this year. They are committed to what they set out to do.
"At the start of the year, they said we will build this thing slowly and we are looking forward to next year. Now we can begin the hard work which is the pre-season."
While Cook is looking for the positive side, goalkeeper Shay Given admits the players are disappointed not to finish seventh.
He said: "We're disappointed we can't qualify for Europe because that was the aim. We have been one of the best home teams in the Premier League this season, it's just our away form has let us down."