Hughes' touching tribute as he takes Hibs job

JOHN HUGHES today reveals the moving ritual he'll go through whenever he is seeking inspiration in his new role as Hibs boss.

The proud 44-year-old will take a short stroll to a nearby cemetery behind Easter Road, wander a well-worn path to a familiar grave - and kick his dad Michael's headstone five times!

It's a touching tribute to the father who first taught Hughes how to play football as he grew up in Leith, dreaming of pulling on a Hibs jersey one day.

Michael Hughes was Yogi's first ever manager with Leith Dockers Boys Club and his Celtic-supporting dad must have been an inspirational gaffer in his own right.

Because he managed to instil a love for the game in his son which burns brighter than ever, 35 years on.

Having fulfilled his ambition of playing for Hibs, then captaining the Easter Road outfit, Hughes has returned to his spiritual home as manager, within touching distance of those who matter most to him on and off the park.

Yogi said: "There's a great Leith saying 'I'll see you behind the goals'. It's something you come out with if you bump into someone and it basically means 'I'll see you later'.

"But I also wonder if they might be referring to the graveyard behind the goals at Easter Road when they say that.

"My parents and lots of other relatives are buried there, right behind the goals and a lot of people, past and present, from where I've come from will be very proud of where I am today.

"All my uncles and aunties were Hibees and I'm sure there will be a tear in their eyes when they read this.

"Whenever I go and visit my dad's grave I go through a wee ritual where I kick the tombstone five times because that's my lucky number.

"My sisters have been on the phone, telling me to go and give the grave a wee kick for luck.

"It's nice when you come to Easter Road and I can look down from the stands and see it. My dad will be very proud. I'll be visiting the cemetery and speaking to both my parents because my mother Pruie is also buried there.

"Now here I am, manager of Hibernian - John Hughes, one of the Leith boys who used to climb over the wall to get into the ground!

"My older brothers could take a 20-yard run and get up over it, but I was only small then and needed a lift up.

"Now I'm Hibs manager I'm going to manage the club in the way it should be managed - with dignity and honour.

"I'm proud to be Leith born and bred and I still have that dialect. It's part of my character and now I just want to excite our supporters, in the same way this club excited me when I was growing up."

Hughes was six years old when he fell in love with Hibs after watching them thrash Sporting Lisbon 6-1 in the 1972 Cup Winners' Cup.

Jimmy O'Rourke scored a hat-trick and the atmosphere was so electrifying, Hughes left Easter Road buzzing about Eddie Turnbull's side.

Now he intends to bring his own boundless energy to the job as he attempts to recreate those glory days.

He admitted: "Alex Edwards, Alex Cropley, Pat Stanton, Jackie McNamara senior and John Brownlie were my earliest heroes.

"Ralph Callachan was another and I got the chance to play alongside him at Berwick Rangers when he came there and I was just starting out.

"Even big Tony Higgins. He was one of my heroes, I loved that big robust style and having met him since he's an absolute gentleman.

"But there have been some wonderful players at Hibs over the years. I love the history that goes with the club, but I'm not going to get caught up in that.

"I'm coming in here and I'm away from all that heart-on-the-sleeve stuff now.

"There's a time and a place for the hairdryer treatment. But the boys will know there's a manager in there with them who knows how difficult it is."

Another ex-Hibee, Brian Rice, below, will be crucial to Hughes' Easter Road revolution once he completes the formalities of his move from Falkirk as No 2.

The pair go back a long way and Yogi admits his assistant's worth was never more evident to him than last season.

As the Bairns diced with SPL relegation, a small, but vocal group of Bairns fans demanded the manager be binned.

Hughes confessed: "It was paramount I got Brian beside me here because the two of us work very closely together. I feel we had six years of great success at Falkirk and a massive part of it was down to Brian.

"He is excellent at the things I am not good at and vice versa, so the partnership is strong.

"Last season could have gone the other way, but I think I needed to go through that experience as a manager.

"When you are under pressure to get results, all that stuff, I needed that pressure because it makes you stronger in the long run.

"I was thankful to come out the other side and keep us in the SPL, but it taught me a lot about who was standing with me.

"That's where Brian came into his own. Sometimes a manager has to put the tin hat on and you have to have a skin as thick as a rhino's.

"There's plenty of flak and you can't always get it right. You have to stand above that. It was a great learning curve for me and Brian.

"When I first came across him I was watching him playing for Hibs while I was standing on the terracing. I still remind him of that - the fact I used to watch him playing left midfield for Hibs, pinging the ball about.

"He takes great delight in the fact I used to have to pay to watch him, but I never did because I used to climb the wall to tell you the truth!

"At the moment he's heading back from a holiday in America but, Brian being Brian, as soon as he comes off one plane he'll be on the next one to go and do his coaching badges at the European Under-21 Championships.

"But first and foremost he'll be scouting for Hibs. I'm looking all over for players. I've already started to see if there's anyone I feel could enhance the team.

"I've done this for years. Everyone goes on holiday and you think 'Right I'll get a jump on them'. You think you can do all your work in the summer, but then you phone up other managers and find they're away on holiday.

"I said to Rod Petrie I was due to go on holiday on Saturday but I'd give that up. But he said 'No, away you go'.

"The support structure is in place here and if there's anything that needs done it can get done instantly.

"If I want to bring in one or two new players and it means shuffling the pack, I've done that for six years. I take great enjoyment from doing that.

"I spent £120,000 in six years at Falkirk and £50,000 of that was on Alan Gow at a tribunal.

"That's the type of guy I am, I like seeing what's out there and get the best deal for my club.

"As for our players, I don't believe I'll just be bringing on good young players for other clubs to benefit from.

"But just look at what's happening to Manchester United over Tevez and Ronaldo - and that's the top club in the world!

"Business is business and I like working the business."

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