Hughes defended ahead of return to QPR

QPR manager Harry Redknapp has defended his predecessor Mark Hughes ahead of the Welshman’s return to Loftus Road.

Hughes’ Stoke City side face Rangers on Saturday and he is sure to receive a hostile reception from home fans who blame him for their club’s relegation from the Premier League the season before last.

Redknapp replaced Hughes in November 2012 after Rangers had failed to win a match despite heaving spending by the Tony Fernandes-led board.

The current boss has defended Hughes on several previous occasions and did so again, saying: “I hope he gets a good reception. Mark is a great lad and a top manager.

“He did okay here the first year, but then he had a difficult start to the season and that can happen to anybody. Anyone has got an opinion about everything – you can’t please all people all the time.”

A number of signings during Hughes’ time at the club failed to produce, with the likes of Esteban Granero and keeper Julio Cesar disappointing, while former Chelsea man Jose Bosingwa was a hugely unpopular figure among supporters.

But Redknapp said: “He [Hughes] wouldn’t have brought all those players in. He wouldn’t have been responsible for the whole group of players in that spell.

“It wouldn’t all be down to Mark. He inherited some of them and some of them came in. He’ll take the blame as he was the manager. That’s football.

“Mark has done a good job wherever he’s been, it just didn’t work out here and that’s what can happen.

“You’ll never get the perfect group and it was probably a difficult time for him. He’s done a good job at Stoke and I think they can finish in the top half.”

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