Hughes for Cats . . if he was 15 years younger!

Aug 31 2008 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

IF Mark Hughes were 15 years younger, Roy Keane would be on the phone trying to sign him!

That’s how highly he rates his old Manchester United colleague, who comes to the Stadium of Light this afternoon as the new boss of Manchester City.

Hughes — known as Sparky — made his name with United as a tough targetman with a knack for scoring spectacular goals and his career also took in spells at European giants Barcelona and Bayern Munich at a time when few British players played on the Continent.

And the Welshman was already an established star who was in his second spell at Old Trafford when Keane joined United in 1993, where the pair were team-mates for two years before Chelsea came calling for the striker.

Keane said: “I had no problems with Sparky. I had some good days with him — and some good nights!

“He was a brilliant player and a great fella to have in your dressing room.

“I remember going to places like Elland Road and Anfield and thinking, ‘I’m glad he’s up front for us.’

“Sparky scored great goals, but he was the best in the world at making the ball stick. He brought people into play and he was a brilliant team player.

“He was a top striker — in fact, I could do with a Mark Hughes now.

“He might not have been as boisterous as me or Brucie (Steve Bruce) or Robbo (Bryan Robson), but he led in the way he played, how he led the line and made his mark on defenders.”

Now the former team-mates have both graduated to management, with Keane just two years into his first job while Hughes cut his teeth in charge of Wales before spending four years at Blackburn.

He left Ewood Park to take over from Sven-Goran Eriksson at City this summer and Keane is backing him to bring success to the blue half of Manchester.

“He’s done a brilliant job as a manager,” said Keane. “You look at the job he did at Blackburn and now he has the opportunity at City.

“He faces different challenges now, of course, like trying to win silverware or deal with a different board.

“But I’m sure he’ll do very well there.”

As an ex-skipper of City’s fierce rivals United, Keane could be forgiven for seeing today’s game as an extension of that inter-city battle but he insists that is not the case.

He said: “I want to beat City like I wanted to beat Forest, Tottenham and like I wanted to beat Liverpool.

“I had good battles with City, particularly when I was at United and I wanted to beat them.

“But, to be honest, I don’t get an extra buzz from beating certain teams.

“We lost to City twice last year and we just want to make sure we do better this year.”