Hughes bites back as Mancini prepares City spending spree

MARK HUGHES has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Manchester City’s owners after claiming the club had been plotting his dismissal for “some considerable time”.

The Welshman was dismissed by City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, with the club suggesting a run of results including two wins in 11 games had not been in line with targets set before the season.

But Hughes, who revealed the first he knew of his dismissal from Eastlands was after the 4-3 win over Sunderland and not before, as had been reported, disputed that interpretation of his tenure, and insisted the Abu Dhabi-based owners had been too hasty in replacing him with Roberto Mancini.