City boss: Hughes still calls shots

Sep 6 2008

Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook insists manager Mark Hughes will retain full control of all footballing matters at the club.

Kevin Keegan and Alan Curbishley this week quit their posts at Newcastle and West Ham respectively citing differences with their club boards over transfer policy, but - following City's take over by the Abu Dhabi United Group - Cook states Hughes will still have the final say.

Cook told the club's official website, www.mcfc.co.uk: "Mark talks about moving the club forward and we could not have a better vehicle for doing that. There is no reason for that to change, he is far more knowledgeable about football than all of us!"

He added: "We should not forget that the club has moved forward considerably over the last two years, and he is excited to be in this position, every manager would like to be in that position.

"He has made it quite clear to everybody outside the club that he runs the football side of the business, and he is anticipating nothing changing from that."

The club have also been linked with multi-million-pound bids for a number of players since the Abu Dhabi takeover on Monday.

Cook admits it is a highly exciting time for the club but is determined to keep everyone's feet on the ground.

He added: "Manchester City is in the news for all the right reasons at the moment, and everybody is very excited at the club.

"People may talk about the dynamics changing, but staff at the club are still working very hard and Mark is back coaching the team as normal."