John Hughes is good enough to manage in English Premier League, says admiring Nacho Novo

Published on Saturday 26 December 2009 20:14

THE rise of Hibernian this season has not come as a shock to Nacho Novo. Indeed, the Rangers striker claims to have predicted that this would happen when it was announced that John Hughes would succeed Mixu Paatelainen as manager at Easter Road.

And he says Hughes is destined for a job in the Barclays Premier League. Even so, he will be attempting to overcome the object of his admiration when third plays host to first this afternoon.

"This will be a big challenge," he said. "Hibs have been doing fantastic but if I'm being honest I'm not surprised.

"When Hibs went out and signed John Hughes I thought that was a terrific appointment because he is one of the best managers in Scottish football

"I remember playing against him when he was at Falkirk and although he is a hard man he is also a nice person. I've always had an admiration for him. I used to play against him. His teams always played good football and that impressed me a lot. He is a top manager and you can see the work he has done with Hibs.

"Scotland? I think he can manage in the English Premier League. He can be a top manager because he has been successful at clubs where, for financial reasons, he has not been able to sign big players. He has not had the resources of Celtic or Rangers but he has always found good players and developed young Scottish boys as well.

"You see that he's able to give confidence to those young players and when he does that his teams improve. He is also good at helping some players get their careers back on track by giving confidence to them. It's obvious his players want to play for him."

Novo also believes that Hibs can make a genuine challenge for their first championship in 57 years. "Why not?" he asked. "Everything is tight up there and Hibs have been doing very well. Hearts were up there a few seasons ago and they will want to do the same. It will be tough but I think they have a good chance to be there until the end of the season.

"Rangers, Celtic and Hibs are quite close. I think it will be more healthy and interesting for Scottish football if they were to challenge."