Mark Hughes broke British transfer record for Robinho at Man City.. now he’s planning a League Two promotion challenge

MARK HUGHES admits this summer at Bradford has been his most exciting since he was at Manchester City.

Sparky stunned football by agreeing to manage in League Two in February — despite having never spent any of his managerial or playing career outside the top flight or international football.

And this summer he has already made FOURTEEN signings as he attempts to make this Bradford’s fourth and final successive season in the ELF’s basement division.

But it is all a far cry from the days Hughes was City manager when the mega-rich Abu Dhabi United Investment Group took over in 2008.

Then he was breaking the British transfer record by bringing in Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5million as well as household names such as Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and countless others.

Now he is signing players such as striker Vadaine Oliver from Gillingham and Jake Young from Forest Green.

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However, on paper, he is assembling the strongest-looking squad in League Two — midfielder Richard Smallwood dropping down from the Championship with Hull and winger Harry Chapman doing likewise from Blackburn.

Sparky told SunSport: “This has been as exciting as Manchester City because I’m building a team and whenever you’re involved in that process it’s great to get deals over the line.

“We’re happy with where we’re at. We’ve a good squad and feel stronger than last season so that’s encouraging because we finished 14th.

“I came in with 13 games left and that gave me the opportunity to look at the strength of the league and the squad.

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“I was confident if we made certain improvements and got more quality we’d have a good season.”

With so many new additions, Hughes will be hoping his team can gel quickly — although he did manage to get the bulk of his transfer business done early.

Typically, in League Two, clubs do most of their business later in the summer window.

And the Bradford boss said: “I was more comfortable trying to get as many players across the line in pre-season and give them time to gel — rather than what other clubs in this division usually do and conduct their business towards the end of the window.  It’s important to hit the ground running.”

The Bradford boss brought in his former Wales assistant Glyn Hodges as No2 and recruited Stephen Gent as head of recruitment. Both know the EFL well — Gent from his time working in recruitment for Middlesbrough and Hodges, who managed AFC Wimbledon.

Hughes’ managerial career has also taken in Wales, Blackburn, Fulham, QPR and Stoke — but he has been out of the game since being sacked by Southampton three-and-a-half years ago.

But the Welshman found further opportunities scarce and the Bradford interest only came after his agent and son Alex sent the club a speculative email.

And incredibly this chance was almost missed because his message ended up in the club’s SPAM box — which finally got spotted by chief executive Ryan Sparks.

His appointment has certainly caught the imagination of the Bantams faithful with the club breaking their League Two season-ticket sales record with more than 14,000 being snapped up.

He said: “It’s not just the amount of season tickets the club sold but the welcome me and my assistant Glyn Hodges have received is unprecedented. I’ve been at clubs where they’ve wanted me out before I’ve even turned up so it makes a pleasant change.”

Their average attendance last season of 15,582 was higher than 11 clubs in the Championship and only four teams attracted more in League One.

Hughes said: “This is what excites me. We’ve a huge fan base at this level, we’re the best supported club in League Two.

“With that comes expectations. I don’t have a problem with that because I’ve always worked with expectations at previous clubs and that comes with anticipation as well. 

People demand we have a good season. 

“We’ll work with that but raising expectations has always been difficult because you can disappoint people — but we’re aiming to do something that hasn’t happened for years, which is to get out of this league.”

Bradford have previously been something of a basket case and are in League Two for a reason — namely mis-management that saw them rapidly decline after their two seasons in the Premier League from 1999 to 2001. 

This is their TENTH season out of 16 in the bottom tier and Hughes is their seventh permanent manager in just four years.

Asked if he is at Bradford for the long haul, he said: “I haven’t come here on a whim. I’m here to make this club successful. 

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“If it’s not this year, then we’ll try again — if I”m allowed to do that because this club has a reputation of not keeping their managers. 

“That’s football and I play by the same rules as everyone else. If I’m not deemed to be doing the job then you don’t keep it.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk