Falkirk should build a statue of me, says bullish Hughes

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 23:00

JOHN Hughes has claimed Falkirk will have to build a statue of him after the work he did there, as the Hibernian manager prepares to welcome his former club to Easter Road tomorrow.

Hughes quit the Bairns during the summer to take charge of his boyhood idols and he reckons this weekend's should be paying homage to what he achieved during his six-and-a-half seasons in charge.

He said: "I'm not one for blowing my trumpet but: most successful manager in the club's history; got them in the SPL, kept them there; won the Challenge Cup; produced many a young player; Scottish Cup final; two CIS Cup finals; Europe.

"In fact, next time I go through there, I'll have to stop to polish the statue they're going to have to build of me."

Despite his success at the Falkirk Stadium, Hughes left the Bairns under something of a cloud after a minority of supporters wrote a letter to the club's board demanding his removal. "At the time, it was very infantile in terms of what one or two people did," said Hughes, who led Falkirk to a semi-final and final in the cups last term but only avoided relegation on the last day of the SPL season.

"But it's water off a duck's back. No disrespect to Falkirk, I'm in a bigger and better place now, a place that I want to be, so I've got a smile on my face."

Falkirk have struggled since Hughes' departure, winning their first SPL game under new boss Eddie May at the 12th attempt last weekend. Hughes, meanwhile has flourished at Hibs, who lie just three points off top spot. The 45-year-old nevertheless retains fond memories from his time at Falkirk.

"It's the first result I look for," he said. "I had great times through there, some great friends. My best friend in life is the wee kit man at Falkirk, wee 'Cheb' (Steven Sproule], so I'll have a bit of banter with him. I wish them all the best, I really do wish them all the best – obviously after Saturday."

Hibs are on an eight-match unbeaten run but Hughes is unhappy with the number of draws his side have recorded in recent weeks. "Over the last month, I don't think we've been playing good football," he said, despite acknowledging a point at Rangers, Hearts or St Mirren was a good result. One or two teams think we're a scalp, resulting in them getting stuck into us. Once or twice, we've come off second best."

Hughes' bid to rectify that tomorrow could be aided by some inside knowledge of this weekend's opponents. "A lot of the players there, it was me who brought them to the club," he said. "I know their strengths and weaknesses."

After six months at Hibs, he can now say the same of his current squad. With the January transfer window just around the corner, he said: "You're always looking to see if you can strengthen. Even if nothing comes in over Christmas, I'm quite happy with what I've got."

He added: "You're losing big Sol (Bamba] for the African Nations Cup. Saying that, we've got Ian Murray, who can slot in left centre-half, left-back – possibly even young (Paul] Hanlon can cover us left centre-half."

Hughes expects to welcome back Merouane Zemmama from injury tomorrow and will give a "50-50" Kevin McBride until the last minute to prove his fitness.