At 22.34pm on Wednesday evening Soutampton FC confirmed the new manager of the club as Mark Hughes, it was the worst kept secret of the previous 10 hours.

Saints issued their press statement late on Wednesday evening although the media had been calling it since lunchtime, so why it took so long is anyone's guesss.

The statement read.

CLUB STATEMENT
Wednesday 14th March 2018

Southampton Football Club can today confirm it has appointed Mark Hughes as
its new First Team Manager.

Hughes has agreed a contract with the club until the end of the season and will
take training at the club’s Staplewood Campus for the first time on Thursday.

The 54-year-old will bring extensive experience of the Premier League, having
managed at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers
and most recently Stoke City, taking charge of almost 450 top-flight matches
and achieving eight top-ten finishes in his career to date.

The club is confident that this appointment will allow the complete focus of the
manager, players and staff to be on the remaining games of this season.

Hughes, who made 60 appearances for the club as a player, will be joined at St
Mary’s by Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki. They will take the roles of
Assistant Manager and Assistant First Team Coach respectively alongside
existing First Team Assistant Coach Kelvin Davis, Head of Goalkeeping Dave
Watson and Head of Sports Science Alek Gross.

Mark Hughes said: “It's a challenge I'm excited by. It's a great opportunity to come back to a club I know well, and a club I've got real affinity with, and I
couldn't turn that down.

"I bring experience of the Premier League. I understand what it takes in this
league to win games. But first and foremost I think it's about coming in and
maybe being that different voice, that different message from myself and the
staff, that will enable the players to recognise and focus on what needs to be
done in this key period of the season.

"The objective clearly is to remain in the league and make sure we're a Premier
League club next year. That's where this club needs to be, that's where it should
be, and that's our intention to make sure it remains there."

Hughes appointment has provoked a mixed reaction amongst Saints supporters, but most agree that at this stage of the season something had to be done and that the club was in no position to take their time in choosing.

So Hughes job will be to get the squad all kicking in the same direction and instilling a winning mentality, Saints supporters now need to get behind him and the team and help him achieve his targets.

Yes there may still be some who bang on about Les Reed etc, but now is not the time to do that, now is the time to get behind the club and help Hughes and his team emulate the Great Escape season that Hughes took part in in 1998/99.

Whilst Hughes might not be the glamour appointment some may crave his record at Stoke in motivating and managing a squad to some top half finishes over a period of tie actaually makes him a better candidate than most other names mentioned.

In his first three seasons at Stoke le lead them to 9th in the table and last season a respectable 13th only two points behind Saints. So Hughes record up to this season has been as good as most in the Premier league outsideof the big clubs and Saints.

So Good Luck Mark Hughes !

Photo: Action Images via Reuters