Safety-conscious Hughes goes from zero to hero

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Swansea City v Southampton - Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Britain - May 8, 2018 Southampton manager Mark Hughes celebrates after the match Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

(Reuters) - It says much about an eventful season for Mark Hughes that in a week during which he has won so much praise for almost certainly keeping Southampton in the Premier League, he has also found himself being blamed for taking his previous team down.

On the day Saints won their crucial relegation showdown with Swansea City, Hughes' previous club Stoke City, who had their relegation confirmed last weekend, released a statement from their owners suggesting they should have sacked him earlier.