The most hated man in Swansea this morning must be the manager of the Marriott Hotel who set off a chain of events that rather than upset Saints motivated them.

The big news story ahead of the game was all about how the Marriott Hotel had cancelled Saints booking forcing them to stay at a hotel some 40 miles away, then Saints had to deal with heavy traffic after their police escort to the game mysteriously also didn't show, but if that was not bad enough, stewards at the Liberty Stadium refused to let the Saints team coach drive into the secure area reserved for the team coaches and told them they would have to wait around 25 minutes before they could drive into the area.

Mark Hughes though is made of stern stuff and he used these underhand tactics to motivate his side, he took them off the bus and marched them into the ground on foot creating a mood of defiance that ultimately backfired on Swansea.

"It helped our focus. We used it as a motivating factor," said Hughes.

"We suspected that maybe some of the dark arts were at work but we didn't let it affect us."

“I am not for one minute suggesting Swansea had anything to do with that but maybe it’s overzealous Swansea fans in positions to affect our hotel booking maybe."

“Those things you can use to your own benefit and use it as a motivating factor."

“We got held up a little bit outside as well because we were first here on the coach and supposedly we were supposed to wait for Swansea but we weren’t going to do that."

“We were focused so we got off the bus and walked the 100 yards into the ground."

We weren’t to be denied or messed about tonight.”

“We were getting held u, .we were on time and we have got timings we want to stick to."

“We were a little bit worried and had already been on the bus for an hour.

“We were ok with the traffic and were here on time and they were trying to hold us up so I said we’ve just got to get off."

“The point was made.”

Photo: Action Images

welhamdowed added 10:37 - May 9 Thanks to whomever cancelled the hotel booking, worked a treat for us. I love the walking off the bus masterstroke from Hughes. "We're here, we're ready. Let's go boys" I can just picture it now.
7

CovSaint added 10:49 - May 9 Nice words welhamdowed... cue the scene from Reservoir Dogs, with the boys marching up the road :-)
6

arfurdent added 11:04 - May 9 hope the plod who did not show do not get paid
0

patred added 11:55 - May 9 turned out a good advert for the Marriot.. "One of the poorest hotels we stop in" Hughes.
6

BoondockSaint added 14:49 - May 9 The Marriot aside, the police escort and stadium security are issues the FA should address. Every team, no matter what the circumstances, should be afforded the same courtesy and security. It's completely unprofessional, and possibly dangerous. I'm starting to love Hughes' press conferences, besides the fact he actually answers questions (unlike the last two managers), he makes sure to get a really good dig in, whether it's the refs or the Marriot.....we should change his nickname to Snarky.

5

SanMarco added 16:28 - May 9 I wonder where Stoke are staying at the w/e? Agree with you Boondock -there are some serious issues and we are only laughing because we won...
3

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls