Trip to Thailand was real eye-opener for John Hughes

Published on Sunday 19 February 2012 00:00

IN THE Scottish football wilderness for more than a year, new Livingston manager John Hughes says it was a trip to Thailand which helped him sort out his priorities and reignite his love for the game, writes Moira Gordon.

Since leaving Hibs in October 2010, golf had been his primary pastime but a recent trip to Asia as a football missionary gave Hughes greater perspective and renewed his zest for football again.

“It was a fantastic experience. Truly humbling, being over there, back on a coaching pitch and getting the best out of people, it was perfect. Two guys went with me [from Scotland] and we had eight Koreans and four Pakistani boys. We were over for three and a half weeks.

“We were in an area that was badly hit by the floods, coaching schoolkids too, but the main purpose was to put a team together and take on local teams – helping a few of them get a contract hopefully. I wanted to see what Thailand had to offer, in football terms and as a place. It’s humbling to see the poverty and to play against Thai teams who were technically first class, played the game in the right way, wanted to pass it, and got on with it despite playing on pitches that maybe weren’t the best.”

That’s now what Hughes wants from his Livingston squad as he seeks to bring success and crowds back to Almondvale. With his golf buddy John Collins installed as his director of football, he believes he can use the tactical chats which peppered their daily rounds and the life lessons garnered from his time in the sun to help him do that.

“What we have to do here, first and foremost, is establish the right culture. One or two will think they are better than they are and that’s dangerous. You have to knock that out of them and start from scratch. We’ll make them humble. Because when you’re humble you take that out on to the pitch and are prepared to give everything. When you have 11 guys like that you’re on to a winner.”

Of Collins, another former Hibs boss, he said: “He’s been a right good influence on me. He just wants people to be as professional as they can be. I talk to him about Monaco, how they train and what they do. He doesn’t let go when he’s got his teeth stuck into something. He’ll be 100 per cent hands-on here. We’re a team and we want to drive Livingston forward.”

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  John Hughes already had one of the broadest grins in Scottish football, but last night his smile must have been just that little bit wider.

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